Ken and the Legacy of a Gifted Child
Okay, let's do my darling from the first two season: Ken.
And I want to start this entry with one clear statement: y'all do not give enough respect to Yoshimura Genki. I mean, I do not think it is a contentious statement to say that everything Ken-related was easily one of the best, if not THE BEST part of Adventure/02. And that was all her doing. The story of Ken, his seduction to darkness, and eventual redemption was all stuff that originated with Yoshimura, and yet, most Digimon fans do not even know her name. So, I want to just start by correcting this: respect Yoshimura. She did really amazing work on Digimon Adventure/02, and also has been the only woman who was a main writer for Digimon. (There were other women writing episode scripts, mind you. But out of the "series composition" folks she was the only woman.)
But with that: Let's talk about Ken, about the concept of "genius" in Japanese society, and the story of his family. Alright?
Social Cohesion and the Gifted Child
One of the first things we learn in 02 about Ken is that he is super gifted, does amazing in athletics and in school. And then we learn another thing - something that quite a few people probably have first learned here: Japan does not allow skipping grades.
Before I go into this a bit more, let me quickly say: in the last couple years the Japanese school system has shifted a bit allowing for a few rare exceptions. But back in 2000, when 02 came out, it was generally not possible to either skip a grade or repeat a grade. So a child who was bored in class just had to deal with being bored at class. And child who struggled following along was just expected to go to cram school until they did. If a kid cannot go to school for health reasons... well, though luck. They still need to go along.
The reason for this is once more this collectivist idea on which Japanese society has been built. For one, there is the general idea that "a nail standing out is going to be hammered down". Meaning: If you stand out, it is considered as right and normal for society to push back on this - even if that means bullying. So yes, being a genius is nice at all - but you should not make it too much of a thing. Just be one with the group. Use your genius to help others. But do not become prideful about it.
And then there is the aspect of skipping grades. The Japanese schooling system generally is very invested to have the kids in the same age range for school time. If you watch anime, you know the entire senpai/kouhai system, where age and academical advancement are supposed to be associated with age as well.
Additionally, of course, there is another aspect we need to keep in mind: gifted kids - in real life - tend to be neurodivergent in some way or form. Of course, back when 02 was written, this knowledge was not common place, of course. So this would likely never have figured into how Ken was written. Yet, there is a good chance that some people were at least subtly aware of how "genius" kids might often struggle with certain things. But that probably was it.
We Need to Talk About Osamu
So, I have always seen a lot of hatred directed at Osamu, for Osamu being a shitty older brother. And here is the thing: people hating on Osamu are not really fair about it, is it? Osamu was about 11 when he died. He was a child. A child that undoubtedly struggled with his own issues, and as a child just did not have the reference for what it all meant.
We know that both Ken and Osamu got a lot of pressure to perform academically. It is not quite clear how much of this expectation came from Osamu clearly being a gifted child, and them then starting expect more and more of him. Or if they had already expected a lot from the start - with Osamu being able to perform to their standards, while young Ken does not.
Osamu is once again a ghost that haunts the narrative. All we see of him is flashbacks - of course. He is dead after all. And it is hard to say what the everyday life of Osamu and Ken, as siblings, looked like outside of blowing bubbles and those moments when he was a dick and taking stuff from Ken.
Here in the west we would obviously use the world "golden child" to describe him. Osamu was the golden child of the family. And Ken meanwhile was just... a child.
Osamu likely excelled in just the way Japanese society likes: he did well academically, but also was a child who followed what adults told him, was obedient and good mannered, not being ungraceful towards others. Chances are that him lashing out against Ken was funded partially in him swallowing a lot when it came to adults and possibly also his fellow students at school.
All of that was not fair towards Ken. But it also was likely not fair towards Osamu.
(On an unrelated note: do you think Osamu got isekai'd as well? He was hit by Truck-kun after all! I mean, technically it is just a vehicle - we never see it. But the way it is framed... it is so Truck-kun-coded)
Raging Against the World
Something that stands out to me about Ken in the first half of 02 is exactly how he relates to his status as a "gifted child". But I think to talk about this we might also need to talk about Ken's original visit to the Digital World. Or rather his visits.
This is once more the moment to note that while we know that Ken's adventures in the Digital World in 2000 involved Ryo and Millenniumon. But other than that we know little, as it is fairly clear that the events do not track perfectly with the events of the games.
It seems, too, that Ken was actually in the Digital World twice at least, given that in the different flashbacks he wears different clothes in the Digital World. So, it is quite likely that the events occurred over the course of at least two visits.
And maybe it does not exactly matter what happened. After all, Ken suffers from amnesia. Though it obviously also leads to the question of what actually happened with Ryo. Was it still the events somewhat comparable to D-1 Tamers in one way or another? Did he end up between the universes? We might never know.
But Ken? Well, we know he got infected with the Dark Seed, which allowed him to be a genius. To be the golden child for once.
And this is where we come back to the "the nail standing out gets hammered down". Because I feel that this did not necessarily translate well. After all, our western understanding of the gifted child is largely: "How cool that this child is so intelligent and can do those things? That is amazing! An individual being amazing and standing out is great and should be encouraged!" But this is not how people relate to it in Japan.
In Japan the genius child does have to largely perform this gymnastics. Yes, being great academically and being able to support the society at large, but without standing out too much. Standing out too much is being punished. And Ken's reaction to this is somewhat to assert individuality. The Digimon Kaiser is him asserting individuality and agency.
And I think this was a general theme that showed in 02 at several times: how the entire societal system and culture in Japan asks children to perform all those contradictory roles, and how desperate children are to do it, as they feel that parental love and affection is conditional on this. And this breeds resentment in them. It generally stands out to me that 02 - while still at large not putting a focus on how adults fail children - is very kind towards children and their suffering under this system.
Yes, the Dark Spore is what makes the kids nominally lash out. But I think in the end the Dark Spore is very much related to this idea of how children are being expected to perform all those roles. And how it allows anger to fester inside of them. It is a metaphor more than anything.
Ken's Redemption
Ken's redemption arcs is easily one of THE redemption arcs, I think. At least for people who have grown up with this show. I am rather certain that for a bunch of us (not all of us - for those people who cannot read and are about to type "well, actually, my first redemption arc was..."), it was likely the first redemption arc that we ever encountered in media. And it is quite an interesting redemption arc, I gotta say.
I never cannot compare it to the probably most well-known redemption arc: Zuko in Avatar. And I do personally like Ken's arc a lot more - partially because it does largely acknowledge that the other chosen children are not the main people harmed by Ken when he was the Kaiser. That were the Digimon. Just as the redemption arc largely acknowledges that redemption is about Ken realizing what he did wrong. Yes, forgiveness also plays a role - especially with Iori - but that is not actually the main part of what is happening here.
The most interesting part of it is, that the arc focuses very heavily on his guilt over what he has done. And this relates in a way to the arguably most poignant theme of 02 in general: how to deal with the Darkness?
Adventure 02 is silly at times. It is a silly little show that has really weird comedy filler episodes - and some weird comedy even with episodes that are not really filler. But it has also a clear theme, that in the moments it is good really knows how to handle well: the darkness everyone carries with them.
While - as we all know - the Dark Ocean is never fully used to the potential that is there, it a theme that caries for several characters: how people (especially, but not exclusively children) often carry those dark emotions inside of them, that get hidden away on the inside, as it is not seen as a proper thing to show them. And how those negative emotions will quite literally grow roots inside of you, if you are not careful.
A good part of Ken's redemption is focused not only on his guilt and how to live with that - but also on how he fears his own darkness. And this is to me probably the strongest point 02 makes: that you need to learn to live with your own darkness, without allowing it to take over your life.
For Ken this comes - in the end - through him making true friends and having those friends remind him that the darkness is not all there is. There is light and kindness too. Redemption should not be him completely erasing the darkness, but to learn to focus on the light.
And I think in this, the show was surprisingly mature. Which is something I can appreciate.
