I like how they're demonstrating the dangers of being a Cleaner. Tomoro has zero focus on the battle, and nearly got straight-up shot in the head, forcing Reina to jump in and save him, tho she injures her ankle in the process. Not helping her is that Gekkomon keeps jumping into the fray but it's more of a hindrance.
Digimon Beatbreak Episode 4 Review - How To Be A Family
Now, this feels like a low stakes episode compared to the previous one as it’s mainly a bonding episode between Tomoro and the younger members of Glowing Dawn. Tomoro has to get used to being a part of the team, whether he likes it or not. It’s a small step towards his character growth.
I do like that Reina is the one who feels like past Digimon MCs with her headstrong and hotblooded personality while Tomoro is more emotional and prefers to be alone akin to the rivals. And Digimon fans should know what happens when hot-blooded meets stoic—they clash. And that’s what Reina and Tomoro do. They butt heads a lot in this episode. However, I do like that both sides are at fault and not strictly just Tomoro. Both sides don’t understand each other, so Kyo and Makoto try to be the ones to help them do so. Reina never had a family, which is why she’s the most gung-ho about trying to make Tomoro be a part of the group, but she learns that Tomoro has nowhere to go and he’s still not used to his new environment, which was why Reina was able to be in tune with him in the second encounter with Machmon. She was like him in a way in the past where she had no place to call home, but found it within Glowing Dawn. For Tomoro, he understands that family is important to Reina because his family, specifically Asuka, were the only ones of importance in his life as he never had a friend.
I also liked learning a lot about the Digimon lore in this episode. Because Glowing Dawn doesn’t delete Digimon or turn them in to the Ministry, they only receive half of the bounty pay. It really does make me wonder what caused Kyo to have this policy and where the baby Digimon go when they’re in Glowing Dawn’s hands. Since Kyo was in the backseat in this episode, maybe he gives them to Yoshimura who then takes them to a sanctuary or something? I’ve seen some discussions on how people find Kyo suspicious and I do understand why. He does have those dead, lifeless eyes, after all. He’s either traumatized and trying to reform or he’s a twist villain.
Another aspect about Digimon is that they’re a reflection of the Sapotama owner they’re born from. This means that underneath the emotional baggage, Tomoro is a silly boy who likes to eat. It’s just hard to express his true self when he’s been alone and never really had someone to show that sort of self too. Actually, we did see some of the “sillier” side in a flashback in the first episode where he was trying to prove to Asuka and his band members about wanting to practice more drumming. He behaved like how a little brother would. I guess Gekkomon would be an extension of that side. From what I saw of Pristimon, Reina does like acting like a big sister, and Pristimon sort of behaves like one but more mature.
It seems that the Owners causing havoc with their Digimon are lured by a mysterious black letter. This is the first mention of villains and it does make me wonder when they’ll show up. Though, the real question is if they’ll show up before or after Gekkomon evolves for the first time…
To be honest, my only real worry about Reina as a character is whether she’ll be downgraded to being a love interest and not have her own sense of identity. People already have pinpointed her having a small crush on Kyo and there are some Reina x Tomoro shippers forming. It worries me. Yes, people can be rather weird towards female characters and make them be used for shipping and only that. Fortunately, I think that what Appmon and Ghost Game did well is give the prominent female character their own sense of character and not have romance be too prominent. Heck, Eri from Appmon wasn’t a love interest and was her own character with her own goals and motivations—which is why I consider her one of the best female characters in Digimon. Ruli has her own agency and while she might have a small crush on Hiro, it’s not touched upon, opting for her to prioritize her bonds with her friends more. I like Reina’s character right now, so I hope that she’ll be explored more and not fall flat.
For this episode’s voice actor trivia, Machmon is voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama, who voiced BlackWarGreymon in Digimon Adventure 02! It’s always so fun to see past Digimon veterans returning for a new anime series. Other Hiyama roles include Veigue Lungberg from Tales of Rebirth, Adult Link from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Madarame from Bleach. His Owner, Nogi, the blond guy, is voiced by Ryohei Arai, who voiced Kunemon in Digimon Survive. His other roles include Leo Fourcade from Tales of Luminaria, Kuresawa from Sasaki and Miyano and Noah from Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
For Reina, she’s voiced by Tomoyo Kurosawa. Some of her roles include Mitsumi from Skip and Loafer, Naomi Orthmann from Metallic Rouge and Machu from Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuux. I think this is her first Digimon role. Pristimon and her evolution Wolvermon is voiced by Mutsumi Tamura who is legit a Digimon regular at this point as she voiced Koushiro from the Digimon Adventure tri series, Hiro from Ghost Game and even Aegiomon from Time Stranger.
But yeah, I can see this episode be a topic of discussion for viewers and fans alike due to Tomoro’s flaws. Heck, I’ve seen some only criticize Tomoro but not Reina (because they’re simps) because they find Tomoro’s personality irritating. Remember that this is all part of character development and it’s only Episode 4. You can’t expect the characters to do a 180 when we’re not even in the double digits in episode count! Anyways, let me know your thoughts on this episode.
