You know what? As I am reading so much about adultism and the oppression of children right now, I cannot help but think about how Digimon deals with it. Especially as Beatbreak right now has a ton of actual things to say on this topic. And I find it somewhat interesting how the series traces this specific issue. So... Let me just ramble on it.
Digimon Adventure starts off as an isekai and like a lot of isekais of the time, it just puts the kids for the moment into a world without adults, so adult supervision is something the show has not to worry about for the moment. Yes, those kids normally have adults. Yes, those adults do occassionally parent them. But that is not important for the moment.
It becomes important though in the latter half of the series, when the kids are back in the real world. And there a big theme is first them keeping the Digimon secret, but then also - as the parents find out - to assert their own agency over the parents.
To this day, I find it somewhat sad that we never see Jyou interact with his father, though. Given so much of Jyou's arc is about him being unable to fit (arguably unreasonable) expectations of his father.
Though that is generally a bit of an issue in Adventure. Because while it addresses things where the children were suffering due to the action or neglect of their parents, this is something the children have to overcome as part of their character development - rather than something the adults are confronted with.
I find Taichi the best example here. Taichi is insanely parentified. We see this. And we can also look at the flashbacks of Hikari ending in the hospital and him getting punished for it was unfair, because he should not have to have been the sole keeper of his sick toddler sister when he was like 8. I am all for freedom for children - but man, that is just too much for a kid of that age to deal with. He should not have to deal with this. But the series never acknowledges it this way. Instead it is just that Taichi needs to overcome his associated trauma.
02 does not do a whole lot with most of the parents. Daisuke's parents are there, but that's it. Miyako's parents as well. Iori's father is dead (which is a part of his story) but his mother is not that much of a character. Though his grandfather is, technically. The parents of Taichi and Hikari are once more mostly sidelined. The two parents that have a tiny little arc about it are Ken's parents, who actually do have to face that maybe the way they dealt with their children being geniuses was actually detremental to those two kids. Which is actually kinda nice.
And, well... the parents of Takeru and Yamato do interact with the plot and are supportive of the kids. Though there is still not much of them facing any failures as parents.
The main reason I got so attached to Digimon Tamers kinda was the fact that the kids in this series felt like they actually existed in the real world, mostly because their social environment (and especially Takato's social environment) was such a big factor. We know for all three main characters a lot about their parents. We know that Takato's parents own the bakery, and that they made the active decision to only have one child. We also know that the father is a bit more lenient than the mother. And we also know that the mother has Ryukyuan roots.
For Jian we know that his father is a computer scientist, and his mother is a graphics designer. We know the father is from Hongkong, while the mother is Japanese. We know they wanted a lot of kids - which is why they have 4 kids.
For Ruki we know that her father is absent from her life, and her mother - who became a mother as a teenager - is kinda not emotionally ready to be a mom, which is what is kinda part of the main issue for Ruki. Because Ruki wants a parent, but her mother acts more like a sister, while expecting Ruki's grandmother to parent her. And Seiko does parent Ruki to a certain extent, but for the most part she just let Ruki do whatever.
Hirokazu's and Kenta's respective parents are not as detailed in their background. We know who they are. Their names. Their ages. But that is it.
But then there is also Juri. And I actually have to say that one of the main things that I still love so much about this series is this: Juri's parents are abusive. Not in an actively malicious way, but by being callous with her. And this is why Juri is traumatized. And it is why D-Reaper uses her as a host. And Juri's father is confronted with this, and does realize that actually, yes, what he did was wrong. And he has to apologize for it. And explicitly it is acknowledged that his crime was not even outright screaming at her or anything, but simply emotional neglect. He is a Japanese man. He has never been taught how to communicate his feelings. So when his wife died, he was not equipped to handle the household, food, and the emotional well-being of his daughter. He was overwhelmed. There was no structural support for him. And this traumatized Juri. She never had a safe environment to grieve her mother. Her father remarried quite quickly - partially so that Juri could have a mother again - but this made it even worse, as Juri now was under the impression that she had to be okay, and had to acknowledge this new woman as her mother. And the show looks at all of this, makes the viewer understand this, and goes: "What the father did or rathere did not do was wrong. Juri is not to be blamed for it, but he."
I am grouping those those two together, as there is not a whole lot to be said about Frontier. As Frontier is 100% isekai, the parents mostly show up in flashbacks and do not really have a role in regards to the character arcs. Takuya has parents. That is all we know. Kouichi and Kouji have parents who got divorced. Kouichi's mother is struggling financially. Kouji's struggles with his step mother. But that is it. We do not see a whole lot of interaction. All of it is backdrop. Izumi's parents moved to Japan from Italy, but we never see them. Junpei's parents are never mentioned as well. And Tomoki does miss his mother, but his real world backstory has more to do with bullies and his relationship to his brother.
Savers is meanwhile a bit... weird. Yoshino is 18, so off age. So while we know theoretically about her family, we never see her parents. Touma has a dead mother and a father who gets minor villain role later, but this, too, is less defining of him. The show basically runs under the presumption that because he is a genius he does not need to be parented by adults.
Masaru meanwhile actually is a character who has a mother - and of course his father will eventually become a central player within the story. But even with him... While the mother is there, she is not a figure who tells him much of "you should not do this, this is dangerous". Nor does Masaru going to school ever come up as much. We see him in his school uniform, but that is it. (I noted before: Yamaguchi does seem actually have beef with the concept of mandatory schooling - a good beef to have, mind you, because mandatory schooling kinda sucks - but it is quite noticable.)
The one character whose family and relation to it is actually brought up interestingly is Ikuto. Because his parentage is brought up. Yukidarumon was his mother, and treated him as her son. And when he is dealing with having human parents, the show actually gives him the grace of saying: "Yes, those people are your parents. They are going to love you. But you do not need to be instantly alright with this new arrangement. You are a person of your own, and get to do this on your own timescale." Which is actually quite nice.
Xros Wars, Applimon & Ghost Game
Jumping over the Adventure remake once more as I did not watch it enough - though in what I watched the adults were just not there.
Those three do generally have a lot of overlap in this regard, though. Xros Wars once more is a show primarily set in the isekai. From what I remember: while the families or rather the lack thereoff was a plot beat for Nene and Yuu, and the entire "rich family" thing also was a Kiriha backstory thingie, for the most part this was a show that was just utterly uninterested in the social life of those kids before or after the digital world. It was kind of one of the main reason I hated this.
Applimon did have parents. Haru has a mother. Eri has a mother. Astra has both parents. And with Rei the absence of the parents is kinda the point. But generally this show also just vaguely handwaved at the idea of parenting, then shrugged, and then moved on. There are single episodes were the parents are affected by Appmon shenanigans, but the show is not interested in exploring the idea of agency of youngsters in a world where usually youngsters are living under constant supervision.
And Ghost Game, well... Ghost Game put two of the three characters into a boarding school. Hiro's dad is technically involved in what little plot there is, but is never actively there as a parent, and the teachers, too, are kinda absent. And Ruli's parents... uhm. Did they even show up? I don't remember.
Beatbreak is actually kinda interesting because while this series is very inherently defined by the absence of most actual parents, this is the series were it is making the point. Beatbreak very explicitly engages with the concept of youths and children being oppressed in this system, and them basically being unable to win within it.
School was a bad experience for Tomoro. School did not work for him. Arguably because of neurodivergence. Makoto ran from his home, partially because he was not able to keep Chiropmon while at his home, but he generally made the active choice of choosing his partner over his family. Reina was abandoned by the family she had left. And Kyo - who is still very young - is actually parenting those three by being kind and allowing them freedom and agency in a way that most adults would not do. When Tomoro says: "School does not work for me." Kyo says basically: "Yeah, that is alright as well." From all we see, neither of our main trio goes to school, and this is not framed as a failure, but a free choice those kids made.
And we also see with the Tactics Team Seven, how the three of them are abused and exploited by the capitalist military system they are in.
The thing I really find the most fascinating in the series so far is Raito. Because the show puts him up, shows you how bad he is, and how much he is willing to risk the lives of others. And then the series goes: "Okay, but you get that this is an abused kid who is just acting in this way because it was all he was ever taught, right?"
The series is so far quite interested in how kids are experiencing this post-apocalypse in a way that feels quite deliberate. And I am quite interested to see where this is going.
