I reallllyyy liked your post on Mimi!! I never much cared for her or Matt when I was a kid watching the series. While I never quite grew out of my aversion to Matt, I did find slightly more respect for Mimi when I rematched as an adult. I don't know if I'm sold on her being the most realistic (at least in the English dub), but I definitely see her in a much better light for who she is and how she grew. And I always liked her a lot in the second series because I felt her growth was realistic. =)
To me, the problem with the English dub isn’t all the change in dialogue or context (does it really matter if they’re even more friendly in this version? It’s still canon for the dub, so I can never understand why some people need to be pretentious about the Sub), but how they dumbed down the series and characters a lot, tbh. This is especially true for Mimi, who is made to be dumber and pretty much useless, which is a shame because she’s such a great character!I try not to be dismissive of the others and their development but I do think hers is more tangible if you look at the series from an outside perspective.
Yamato is a difficult character because you need to not only understand but also excuse a lot of slight iconsistencies and little things that can really get bothersome. His whole jealousy and rivalry with Taichi seems petty until you consider this kid feels pretty much like the unwanted, unloved child since his parents’ divorce (I’ll touch up on that when I write up his analysis.)
Sorry for rambling, I have a LOT of feelings about this show, and especially about Mimi and Yamato! I’m glad you liked the post, hopefully you can reconcile with Yama-kun also. :))
