#redigitized

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Redigitized turned 2 today!

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who do you ship koushiro with? I got curious lol

i ship koushiro with taichi mainly, but also with hikari bc idk idk idk i just think they’re so cute together. but really, other than that, i really don’t ship him with any of the dd girls (def not with sora and i’ll be long dead before i ship him with mimi). 

oH WAIT i ship him with miyako. kouyako ftw! :D

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Character Analysis: Ishida Yamato

And after more weeks than I’d care to count, here’s Yamato’s very own post!

Age: 11 (Adventure), 14 (02)

Family: Ishida Hiroaki, Takaishi Natsuko, Takaishi Takeru, Takaishi Michel, Ishida Kinu

Crest: Friendship

Partner: Gabumon

Yamato is possibly one of the most complex protagonists of Adventure; a good chunk of the series shifts between his role as Taichi’s right hand, sometimes rival, sometimes loyal partner. As opposed to Mimi (and this is something I’m only consciously verbalizing as I write it), all of his relationships to other characters are extremely complicated, and his whole individual arc is pretty much about developing them.

In the English dub this development is a little simplified but I personally didn’t care much for that, as I find it a little exhausting in the original sub. Here, he is portrayed as a kind of a rebel kid, a “too cool for school” sort of attitude, a definite aloofness to his personality that in the sub, just isn’t there in such a measure. He is also portrayed as a little vain, a little vapid and in some episodes plain rude and a little dumb (although I love it, lol). Let’s not forget the whole Cherrymon thing and his little comments like “no autographs, please”. In the sub, Yamato is a quiet child, timid, mature, independent and a bit of an introvert. He is the son of Hiroaki and Natsuko, who have separated at least three years prior to the events of Adventure (I could be wrong, but I’m almost positive it happened in 1996). Upon the divorce and when asked whom he wanted to go with, Yamato himself chose to live with his father while his mother took Takeru and likely moved away from Odaiba (a fact I will revisit later due to its importance).

At the beginning of the anime, his relationship with Takeru is strained, formal and a little stiff – Yamato is only learning how to be an older brother to a kid he barely knows, and it shows in their awkward interaction and how self-conscious he is about taking care of Takeru. He is shown to be a private person, quiet, observant and fiercely proud (though that may be, again, a front for his insecurities). During the first season Yamato’s role varies constantly between friend/rival/quite near antagonist to Taichi, the second most respected voice of the group and a sort of de-facto leader in lieu of Taichi. This is also something that plays an important role in his development and the understanding of his crest.

A lot of people often debate on the veracity of Yamato’s crest being Friendship and while I believe that everyone is free to interpret what they see in the way they choose, there are some observable facts that must be considered. Before anyone starts with that (quite frankly hilarious) meme: “has Crest of Friendship, steals best friend’s love”, let’s get some things straight. Despite the ambiguity of Taiora and its canonicity, the whole fan-conflict of him stealing Sora is just a little dumb. Though Taichi may have had a crush on Sora (or vice versa, Bokura no War Game! certainly raised some important points on this topic), that still means nothing in regards of Sorato being canon. Even if he had, and I’m not saying that he did, there’s absolutely nothing wrong in Yamato also having feelings for Sora and having his feelings reciprocated. They were 14, and there’s absolutely no reason why Sora couldn’t change her mind, Taichi couldn’t get over it, or Yamato couldn’t make a decision that was frankly completely appropriate for a kid his age.

With that out of the way, the importance of Yamato’s crest lies in the role his friends play in his personal development. In the beginning, Yamato doesn’t know or care about these strangers but he is stuck with them and he makes a point in trying to keep them safe. The ties that they make during their time travelling together and how closely they resemble a real familial dynamic is mainly what helps Yamato overcome most of his negative feelings about his parents’ divorce and perceived abandonment on behalf of his mother. It is through making friends with this bizarre group that Yamato finally comes to terms with his own feelings and is reassured that whatever his faults, there are people that will understand him and will love him. More importantly, he finally reconnects with his estranged family (somewhat) and is able to accept and trust people to share in his life.

There is a point in the Dark Masters arc where Yamato chooses to go on his own after Takeru has successfully defeated Pinochimon. He is shocked that out of the entire group, he was the only one who doubted that Takeru could take care of himself at all and it is this which prompts him to go on his own for a healthy dose of introspection. This is also a point where everyone is sort of finding themselves and figuring out how they feel about this new, seemingly endless fight, and the series shows us how each of them comes to terms with their role as saviours of the Digital World. This is the first time Yamato voluntarily leaves, something that all of them had done before when they were looking for Taichi.

As I mentioned in Mimi’s  character analysis, familial relationships are very important in Digimon, and Yamato’s is specially focused on this. His family is arguably the most dysfunctional (divorced parents, workaholic father, estranged mother), and this is what I meant about him having complicated relationships with the people in his life. Yamato was hurt by his parents’ divorce and is especially sensitive of his lack of a relationship with his mother and brother. He feels unloved, misunderstood and separate from the rest of his family and peers, which sets the basis for him being aloof and a little guarded. I also mentioned before the parallelisms between Mimi’s and Yamato’s nature (a tiny but important fact, for me), in that he is highly sensitive, emotional and empathetic, perhaps the most emotional one next to Mimi. The difference is that his family dynamics have taught him differently than her, and it takes him a long time to finally feel comfortable expressing his feelings and verbalizing them in healthy, non-confrontational ways. By 02 we see him comfortably accepting Sora’s feelings and, during what little screen time they get, quite easily adapting to his budding relationship with her.

His official character profile states he is:

“A cool boy who excels in both academics and sports. He can be very serious and has a strong sense of responsibility, so is sometimes overly cautious in exploring the Digital World.”

Which really tells us that Yamato being an astronaut in the epilogue (a decision I personally detest) isn’t really that out there. I think his personality would’ve fit the military perfectly and he definitely would excel in a position of authority, as the series canonically portrays him as Taichi’s right hand and a veritable group leader. I would’ve much preferred Air Force pilot or engineer instead but at this point, I’m over these bizarre decisions (it’s why fanfiction exists). Still, seeing Yamato change from the quiet, introverted and complicated child he was at the beginning of Adventure really shows how committed the writers were to making these characters work. Throughout the series he is consistently observant, clever (if a little hot-headed) and a good strategist, watchman and fighter. He is also consistently proven to be a good friend as he interacts with the rest of the group and shows on several occasions that he understands them and their needs, ie. he is the one most conscious of the group’s morale and energy levels, of their emotional charges as seen when Mimi is making graves and when Sora’s crest hasn’t glowed, and of the things that have to be done.

I am especially fond of how he outgrew his rivalry with Taichi, as it was something that always had me eye-rolling at their interactions. I understand that a lot of it came from his unresolved insecurities but boy, was I glad to see that go. By 02 Yamato is more open, has friends and interests outside of the group (as it should be!), and is overall much more comfortable in his own skin and with his family. He and Takeru have become closer and both Hiroaki and Natsuko seem to be a little less awkward, too. 02 Yamato is a little ridiculous, is seen making jokes (often about Daisuke), laughing and being laughed at for things like Jun, and while I was happy to see him doing so well, I prefer interpreting Yamato as somewhere between Adventure and 02, it feels like a more natural transition in the few years between both seasons (this is a personal preference though, and often limited to my obscure fanwriter career).

Now that we have established all of this, let’s talk about the fanon misconceptions about Yamato. First, we have the different character impressions delivered by the English Dub and Japanese Sub, and thus, two different interpretations to his character as seen in fanfiction. I don’t necessarily prefer either one; I accept them both as canon and quite frankly, the only Yamato I can’t reconcile with is CD-drama tap-dancing Yamato and that’s only because it goes completely out of character for either version.

Then there’s the whole Taichi-Yamato issue and the age-old question of them being best friends. While I do believe that they share an unbreakable bond that goes beyond that of other characters (DNA evolution will do that to you), I don’t necessarily agree that they’re best friends. Canonically, Taichi and Sora are best friends, as are Taichi and Koushiro. During the series Yamato is shown to be very comfortable with Jyou, and he is the person Jyou most confides in, so I don’t think it’s a far stretch to imagine that Jyou would consider him his best friend, too. Maekawa Atsushi, one of the writers largely responsible for writing Yamato, also wrote Sora and Jyou too, which somehow leads me to believe I’m not that wrong when I get the feeling these three are very similar and fit well together. This brings me to another point that I will likely develop at another time: Jyou and Yamato have such a fantastic dynamic and I will be forever disappointed that people ignore his participation in the Dark Cave in order to take that as exclusively Sorato foreshadowing.

Which leaves us with the most important point I need to make about Yamato’s crest. If you will take nothing home from this frankly unnecessarily long analysis, take this and this only: there is nothing more mind-boggling and ridiculous than assuming that Yamato spent the entire length of his adventure and subsequent life in complete ignorance and denial of Mimi’s existence. He is shown (fact, fact, fact) in the series to be well-intentioned, an understanding leader and generally a fiercely loyal and protective friend. So how, how could anyone think that he and Mimi aren’t friends? Their lack of onscreen interaction is merely because the show was too short and things that weren’t directly plot-advancing are not included, not to make a point that they’re not friends. When Taichi disappeared, Mimi (not Koushiro, not Jyou, not Sora), Mimi is the last to leave his and Takeru’s side. Which means that they at least spent several days with no-one but each other for company; what, you pretend they never actually talked? Okay then.

This is, to the day, the biggest mystery I have faced in this franchise. I honestly can’t imagine how someone can pretend to love and understand his character if this isn’t the most glaringly obvious fact about him: Yamato loves his friends.

He is the Bearer of Friendship.

Friendship.

Now let’s all wait for Tri to break my heart again.

PS. I am not stating that Mimato was romantically obvious lol omg no, what I am stating is that if you don’t think all of these digi-idiots are in friendlove with each other, I feel very sorry for you, friend.

+ Mimi

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Day 07: A coupling you can’t stand

Ahh, I really didn’t want to answer this question, mostly because there’s still a lot of animosity in this fandom when it comes to couples (both canon and fanon). I am, however, strangely vindicated by the use of the word ‘coupling’ instead of couple. And I don’t think it’ll be important to anyone, but it does matter to me; I’m a fan of semantics and syntax. 

More complete (and likely unpopular) answer under the cut.

Shipping in Digimon has always been kind of strange to me because the series never really went that way for me, I guess. I vaguely remember thinking Mimi and Yamato looked fantastic together but that was mostly because I loved Mimi and I kinda digged Yamato, so it felt natural for me to assume that my favourites should be together. Then the epilogue happened and I was so shocked, lol, because I never expected to see them as adults. Worse even, I never expected that, of all possible combinations in the world, Yamato and Sora would’ve been endgame. Sure, lots of people have spent hours analysing the series and quoting one of the creators and explaining why it’s such a vastly misunderstood ship and what have you (what do you know, maybe one day their ‘subtlety’ will be recognised as genius writing), but at the end of the day, it’s still out-of-left-field and rather bland to me (whatever planning was behind it, the decision still feels rather arbitrary). 

Now that I’m older, I realise that the coupling rubbed me the wrong way because I can’t see them going anywhere exciting in the future. I know this is my personal opinion and that canon shippers will disregard it (I’ll give it to them if they do, too), but I do think that they could’ve been a little more flexible in this decision. It always feels a little lazy, like they both could’ve done better. I mean, whatever, the epilogue is canon and that’s fine, but it’s like surviving on tofu because it goes well with veggies but never actually trying meat and just, never having a good steak. Kind of a pointless existence, if you ask me.

But I get it. I get it and … and that’s it, really. I just get it, and it really suscitates nothing else. Most of the time I’m indifferent to the couple, other times I’m a little disappointed. The fact that it was planned from the start made me go ‘oh, so that’s why those arcs are so choppy and dramatic, ok’, instead of ‘wow! totally perfect for each other!’, and I wonder how much of their story was written exclusively for this reason. Suddenly, the inconsistencies that kinda bugged me about them make a little more sense. Then again, I’m a crack shipper and the more unintentionally perfect for each other two characters are, the harder I ship them. I do headcanon them as being friends but it’s a very particular friendship and, if I had to be honest, it’s one of the best I envision, simply because of how similar they can be at times. When I have the time, I’ll write me some good ol’ fashioned friendly Sorato, even.

In the fandom, I generally shy away from the ship because there seems to be a rather petulant attitude around it that I actively try to avoid, and not very many high quality stories that I have read. A lot of it are just re-writes of canon things that we all pretty much know, and a lot of it feels fantastically OOC (but after those bizarre CD-dramas, what can we call strange, really?) Generally, I have found that, for some reason, this couple is better managed as background noise, just like it was on the series. I have found authors talented enough to have me ship them, even if it’s just for five pages or so, but it’s not the norm. I don’t think I’ve ever been really surprised by them, and while that may be too little for some, it’s all that really matters to me. That said, I don’t really care that they ended up being canon. At this point, a lot of this series is completely irrelevant to me, tbh.  I don’t think I’d ever say I can’t stand it; mostly, it just fades into the background for me.

I still think it’s pretty cool that people can find something to love about them even after all these years (and there are such cute fanarts, too!). Also I don’t think I need to agree with something in order to understand it, so it doesn’t matter to me when other people don’t find them as awkward as I do, lol. I also don’t expect them to see eye-to-eye with me on this, because I think that we do expect different things from the characters and that reflects in the ships we ship.

Ahh, coupling. What a good word to summarise my feelings on this.

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Character Analysis: Tachikawa Mimi

In honour of Tri and my dubious return to this fandom, I am going to dedicate an insane amount of hours to over-analysing this series and its characters. So in order to start this blog off the right way, this is going to include a personal analysis of all Adventure characters (02 could be included in a near future), taking several things into consideration such as: canon (sub and dub), fanon, fanfiction tropes and personal headcanons (I will make distinctions, I promise).

Age: 10 (Adventure), 13 (02)

Family: Tachikawa Keisuke, Tachikawa Satoe

Crest: Purity/Sincerity

Partner: Palmon

Mimi is arguably the most realistic character in Adventure, and one of the reasons why I loved this show so much as a kid. She is initially portrayed as a ditzy, sometimes spoiled, sometimes naïve little brat. This is more obvious in the English dub, where she is portrayed as a typical valley girl instead of the carefree, exuberant girl that she is meant to be in the Japanese rendition. Usually, I ignore the difference between the Sub and Dub because while there is significant contextual change, I don’t think a lot matters in terms of what you should watch; at the end, it all comes down to preferences.

Canonically, Mimi is the only child of the most loving, exuberant parents in the series and is the most vocal of the Chosen Children about the dangers and terrors of the Digital World. Mimi is constantly complaining about the hardships they had to suffer: the inclement weather, deficient food, lack of commodities, the constant psychological and physical beatings they were often forced to endure and is genuinely shocked and horrified by the idea of risking their lives and fighting against enemies they do not understand. At the beginning of the series Mimi is (understandably) upset and whiny, but she is also the only one in the group who behaves like a ten year-old kid should. To the others, this meant Mimi was immediately categorized with Takeru, a child with whom she clicked immediately.

Her crest being Purity/Sincerity goes a little deeper than others, too, in the sense that it is such a big part of who Mimi is. She is a naïve child who is not afraid to speak her mind about the things that she likes and the things that she hates. She never holds back from asking for a break, saying she’s scared, or hungry, or tired; she is quick to compliment, encourage and support and, if needed, she is just as quick to shoot an idea down. When Yamato decides he wants to go on his own, Mimi decides she will also go on her own in an attempt to escape the violence that has followed them since they arrived at the Digital World. In a way, they are both leaving to find themselves and how they can be useful in this difficult battle and in a way, they both find their answers in ways they never expected to. These parallel journeys were actually a fantastic example of how great the writing for Adventure really was.

Another important detail is Mimi’s relationship towards her parents. In Digimon, familial relationships are just as important to the general plot as friendship and personal battles, and it is curious that despite how odd the Tachikawas seem to be for everyone around them, they have the tightest, deepest, healthiest relationship shown in the series. Tachikawa Keisuke is a hard-working man (we can infer he does very well, for his wife doesn’t work and they are often seen travelling), devoted to making his wife and daughter happy. Satoe, a home-maker, is head-over-heels for her husband and they both fuss over Mimi enough that the girl has grown up quite different from the others, and it shows in the way they all react differently to thoughts about their families. Mimi often appears to be blunt or insensitive, but is really only unaccustomed to watching her tongue because her family has taught her to be transparent and always wear her heart on the sleeve. (Note: this is both parallel and tangent to Yamato, who despite the fact that he has grown up completely guarded and proud, is naturally the sort of person who wears his emotions right below the surface, something that he becomes more comfortable with as the series advances.)

The infamous Mimi-hime episode:

This is a turning point for some fans, because it is something that is extensively brought up as a show for how immature Mimi truly was. And they’re right, she was. In this episode we can see that with too much attention and no-one to check on her, Mimi became sort of power-hungry and a bit of a digi-dictator (might be where Ken got the Digimon Kaiser idea). She turns against Taichi, Agumon, Jyou, Gomamon and even Palmon, at some point, and it isn’t until Sora comes along and reminds her that this is not who she is, that she is a sweet, caring and understanding girl, that Mimi realises how unfair she has been to the Geckomon that have so kindly taken care of her, and her friends. Note that, until now, Mimi is the only one who had no trouble accepting they were wrong once it became clear, and apologized from the bottom of her heart.

(This is also the first indication we have that Mimi is musically talented, something that for some reason was buried in the confines of canon until the announcement of Digimon Tri. But we’ll come back to that when we have to.)

After this, Mimi’s growth is more painful and more obvious than anyone could have expected from a character that initially seemed to have no internal conflict, as opposed to the very angsty arcs the other children had. Mimi is the first of them to show any emotional and psychological strain due to the sheer amount of death they have been exposed to; Taichi shows how far he is from understanding the needs of his charges and Yamato is shown to understand and support how she feels, another hint that he is more observant than he lets on. Mimi is shown to be sensitive and respectful, digging small graves and making crosses for all of their fallen friends. Again, she is the only one to be shown crumbling under the strain in a healthy, non-aggressive way.

One of the truly incredible parts of the Dark Masters arc is when Mimi and Jyou go off on their own and we get a glimpse of how attractive her personality is, how she manages to recruit countless friends only with her sweet demeanour and the firm belief that what she is doing is the right thing. At some point, even Gomamon mentions it while Mimi remains oblivious, to an extent, to her considerable charm. This proves to be very useful too, when during the final battle she arrives with a whole army that has rallied behind her, ready to help her friends. By now it is clear that she is suitable for leadership, although it is in a way much different to Taichi’s.

So Mimi has very contradictory characteristics, yes. She can be selfish but she is also shown to be empathetic, understanding and compassionate. She learns how to give in and not throw tantrums. She doesn’t want to fight but she does not abandon her friends, not for a moment, when they need her; she does not break down and instead, becomes more independent and driven instead of shying away from confrontation. And she does all of this without ever compromising who she is and what is important to her.

In 02 we see so very little of Mimi but what little is shown, is nothing short of perfect for her. She has moved away and yet, her friends welcome her with smiles on their faces. She accepts and is accepted by the new Digi-destined with no problem whatsoever, achieving some sort of senpai status for Miyako and the respect and admiration of her other kouhais. She is the only one to trust Digitamamon, even after he hurts her, and is the reason why Miyako can find and use the Digimental of Sincerity, only after meeting her. She is also the first of the Original to be vocal about trusting Ken, which is so important, when you stop and think about it. How many of them would’ve given him a second chance so easily?

In one of the CD dramas we also learn that while in America, Mimi has befriended several other Digi-destined since running into them at the 9/11 disaster, a tragedy none of the Original Eight were present for. Mimi becomes a volunteer clearing out the city and helping as many people as they can with the other American digi-destined, perhaps including Michael. Despite how OOC the CD dramas often feel (some things do feel a bit too absurd), this part especially was flawlessly done.

Out of all the characters in Adventure and 02, Mimi is the one most often exposed to death and tragedy; yet she has remained an optimistic, sweet and understanding girl. She is, without a doubt, one of the most complex and realistic characters in the series, an example of good writing and a much needed breath of fresh air from the otherwise traumatizing childhood experiences that are the rest of the Digi-destined’s family situations. It’s so important to have strong female characters like her, and I have so much respect for the fact that she can show such a rich range of emotion and character depth without resorting to the age old ‘but she’s a girl’ trope.

I can understand when people don’t like Mimi, I really do. She’s the sort of character who sort of has to grow on you, but I think that’s exactly what makes her so special. She is both complex and transparent and such a sweet, perfect example of what character growth should look like (her development is so subtle and so palpable, it’s ridiculous). Now she’s back, more fabulous and intense than ever and I am so excited to see her on-screen, I can hardly wait.

Tachikawa Mimi is the actual Digimon Queen and I am fully expecting five out of those six OVAs to be fully dedicated to her.

+ Yamato