Mirrors

Rei’s turn baby.

And by Rei’s turn, I mean, Rei and Hackmon.

but also Hajime

And Bootmon a bit too

It’s the Katsura’s turn

This ones kind of long

Backstory?

Of course the most notable thing about the Katsura brothers and their backstory is that they are orphans, and despite their young ages live alone. The second most notable thing is they are both computer geniuses. Really, this all just facilitates the plot more than anything, which leads to a lot of open ended questions about the brothers, but what we do have is interesting.

So it goes without saying that Rei and Hajime have presumably had a somewhat lonely childhood. Their mother died 2 years prior to the start of the show, and through the course of the show we never see them interact with anyone outside the Appmon friend group. There didn’t seem to be anyone else looking after them during the funeral, (if there was anyone there at all) and apparently no extended family members have been clued into the fact they are living alone, and the fact no one wanted (or could I suppose) take them both in, indicates they really weren’t close to this extended family to begin with. Then we get into their absent father. Rei claims that he doesn’t remember his father, which… he was about 6 when Hajime was born, which is old enough to remember. So either Rei does have memories, even if not clear of their father, or they have different fathers, or there’s some other family drama conspiracy going on. (I don’t speak Japanese and the two different subs I looked at are inconsistent with this, so maybe there is a clear explanation of their deal, it's just the translations are funky idk). Doesn’t really matter, the important bit is they don’t have a father in their life who matters.

Its an unconventional family structure from the get go, and a family structure, that again in my limited understanding of Japanese culture, is not exactly a very accepted one. I can see this being something that causes tension with their extended family, and potentially between the brother’s and their peers. 

We don’t know how exactly they lived their day to day lives, or how their family is officially noted in the hacked family registry, nor do we know what exactly they do about school. So, we don’t know anything about how they are perceived by others around them at all. Neither of them have been shown attending school. Rei is described as a 2nd/3rd year in Jr. High, but I find it incredibly doubtful that he attended school at all over the course of the series b/c of his obsession with finding Hajime. While it's not something that I can discount he did all together, I think it definitely makes sense if he didn’t actually go to school, at least not often enough to matter. And I’m sure he’s capable of hacking school records to keep authorities from taking note of that. School seems like a place where questions might have been asked about the boy’s living situation, especially when Hajime was younger and just entering elementary school. After all, Hajime wouldn’t have even been in 1st grade yet when their mom died.  Granted, we didn’t get a lot of school in general for any of the kids. But we did see Haru, Ai and Yuujin around school, and Astra at the beginning and in flashbacks, and Eri in school uniforms (though all prior to her idol career), as well as seeing everyone else interacting with their classmates in at least one scene. It’s still possible they are enrolled in a school, but are still isolated from their peers due to the circumstances in their family. Rei at the very least doesn’t have any friends prior to the series, and I have no reason to think Hajime does either. After all, the brothers are more alike than they appear on the surface. 

The show has, despite limited family appearances, has shown the similarities between the kids to their families, and so, despite not knowing anything about their mother otherwise, we can probably glean a lot about what type of person she was from who her sons are. We don’t know anything about their mother for sure other than she’s dead, and her sons seemed to mourn her death. While she still could have been a neglectful mother who Rei doesn’t have great memories of and thus doesn’t bring her up, again, the show didn’t go too in depth into families and so lack of info doesn’t mean lack of care on the characters' parts. People have parents, and her absence needs to be explained for Hajime and Rei’s backstory. But I think she has a little more importance on Hajime and Rei’s character beyond “dead”.

Because, speaking of the apartment, I’d like to draw attention to the décor in their apartment. Their apartment does not look like the type of place you’d expect to find two young boys living alone. While I feel like in many stories you’d expect the place the cool edgy orphan loner boy to have lived in to be sort of edgy. Either overly techy, or at least a bit modest, the Katsura apartment is neither. It’s decorated, well, like a middle aged woman decorated it. I don’t know how else to describe it. Neutral tones, plants, and a bit minimalist in the décor. It’s kept very clean by the boys and it overall looks like a very nice apartment.

Hajime’s room in the secret base is a little more like how you’d expect a bunch of kids to decorate a room with the way the wall is painted but it still has the plants though that the Katsura apartment has and blue I think is a good color to choose to make a room feel less claustrophobic. Which implies to me that this isn’t just a we’re putting a conscientious effort into dressing nicely to keep anyone from asking questions, and just how they are.

Their clothing also matches that aesthetic. Hajime is noted to be a polite little kid, and his polo shirts and sweater vest of his normal outfits match that impression. But despite Rei wearing a kind of garish outfit as his main outfit it doesn’t seem to be his normal style. In the flashback in episode 13, it’s kind of clear that Rei and Hajime usually dress similarly too. Rei wears a lot of button downs and nicer looking pants. They both wear t-shirts, jeans and sweats too, but even then their clothes are very neat. The two are overall tend to wear clothing that falls more on the semi-formal side of things. 

I’d assume it’s at least in part because it was the way their mother raised them. This implies to me that their mother was also a very “put-together” person. And probably where her son’s got their intelligence. And like I said, by assuming that their style of dress, their apartment, and their diligence in their work, stems from her. 

While I have no real evidence, I at least headcanon that she was a computer scientist as well which is where Rei gained his hacking ability. Either way, Rei had to have had this ability prior to her death, as he used it to hack the family registry, So Rei had to have this kind of skill as an elementary schooler. Which… this is an anime so I’m probably thinking too hard on this. While Hajime’s programming ability was almost certainly nurtured by Rei, whether directly or indirectly it’s unlikely Hajime, who was around 7ish at the time of his abduction, got his programming skills from just watching Rei. (Though, that doesn’t prove anything, it’s not very likely a 7 year old is the best hacker in the world). I just have assumed that Rei and Hajime both were surrounded by computer programming from a young age.

Speaking of Hajime being the hacker chosen by Leviathan, and Leviathan also being known to be manipulative of the situation to a degree that starts with having kept an eye on Haru since mid-elementary school, also means that its very likely that there is more to the Hajime abduction than meets the eye. The Katsura brothers were ideal targets in that there was no one else to miss them. On the other hand while Hajime was the first to solve the puzzle, we do not know exactly how many people the puzzle was sent to. Not to mention it’s very likely that other people with Hajime and Rei’s skill levels have more responsibilities than those two, and thus less time dedicated to deciphering random online puzzles (though, I know it is a popular past time). 

This, in addition to the fact that they were both able to maintain this way of living (idk how expensive apartments are, but not cheap and I know good computers aren’t cheap) implies few outside obligations (say, school), and a somewhat consistent source of income. Rei does straight up say he takes jobs. It’s not out of the question for Hajime to have helped him with these.

Either way, both the Katsura boys prior to the start of the series were hardworking, intelligent, independent, tidy boys who cared deeply for each other.

Rei and Hackmon

Rei is someone who bears an immense amount of responsibility, and has high expectations (mostly for himself) for someone so young. He’s responsible for looking after his younger brother, making money for the food, cooking the food, doing laundry, and generally just managing a household on top of a job. Which is a lot for a 12 year old. And Hajime helps, the flashback shows Hajime helping out with housework, but as a 6 year old at the time of his mothers death, there was probably a lot he couldn’t yet help with. But I think it also may be fair to say Rei was dismissive of the degree to which Hajime helped him.

I don’t even think Rei was completely unaware of the extent of Hajime’s genius, though this is based on… nothing but a feeling and one line that was 95% probably just Rei being evasive. But Rei almost certainly knew that Hajime was a bright kid. Though, if they weren’t hanging around with other people their age they may have a warped sense of what is unusual. But still Rei didn’t see Hajime as someone on his level. While we see Rei and Hajime living together happily, and we do see Hajime help out with chores, we also do see Rei neglect to give Hajime attention while Rei tries to figure out the puzzle, indicating that while, yes, the boys are doing well, they perhaps aren’t thriving. That a month went by between them solving the puzzle, and it wasn’t communicated about in all that time indicates that Rei was perhaps somewhat dismissive of Hajime’s thoughts, and that he didn’t see merit in sharing the puzzle with Hajime. 

Hajime’s competence as a programmer is unknown to the audience until Hajime is awakened in episode 43. Rei never considers that Hajime’s intelligence is part of the factor that got him kidnapped, and rather places all the blame and responsibility on himself for failing to protect Hajime (and well, Leviathan for abducting him in the first place). Hajime’s own abilities and shortcomings are a nonfactor to what Rei does. Hajime’s own choices are not initially made clear as to Rei they are somewhat irrelevant. I think it's evident that to Rei, while Hajime’s help was appreciated, Hajime was viewed as a responsibility rather than a help. 

Rei’s “I am alone” is not just one of only believing himself to have one person in his life, but also believing he only has himself to depend on. It’s not that he’s heartless or isn’t overall a nice person. We do after all mostly see him in the context of Hajime’s kidnapping, something he feels immense guilt for. Even if out of all our main protagonists he’s probably one of the highest on the “ends justify the means” scale, he is not above torture and invoke fear to get what he wants, but ultimately he’s shown to care for others. He might not be the most socially competent person (if his brief stint as a manager tells us anything), but it shows us that he is willing to help people out. He leaves Dantemon Chuu Chuu Jelly, as well as offers it to Eri’s coworkers. The last ED shows him making Macarons for Haru’s bday. But Rei’s arc is about learning to trust in others to help him, not that others are worthy of care.

I mean, it's obvious, he avoids working with the others to a point beyond simple practicality. He doesn’t trust people. He doesn’t trust Hajime to look out for himself. He doesn’t trust Hackmon to help him find his brother. He doesn’t even initially trust Haru’s group to fight Leviathan. Even in the last episode he doesn’t have 100% trust in Haru, doesn’t trust Haru to save the world over Yuujin (who he also didn’t trust). Rei’s journey to learning to trust isn’t over yet. But it’s getting there, step by step. It was slow going, Rei not properly joining the group until the final quarter. Like all of the characters, Rei had begun this journey prior to the series start when Rei trusts Hackmon. He gets further when he’s first properly introduced to the story and the others, and he trusts Haru’s group to find the Seven Code Appmon. culminating of course when he asks Eri for help to rescue Hajime, coming full circle when he and Hajime work together to write the programs that help them get Bootmon back.

That said, Rei’s seeming lack of trust in Haru in the final episode may be in part Rei projecting onto Haru. Rei warned Haru of Yuujin for what were, in all fairness, valid concerns. (But Rei didn’t do anything else, more or less trusting Haru to handle it). Haru assured him by relating Yuujin and himself to Rei and Hajime. Haru went off into a depressive state after finding out Yuujin’s true nature, not unlike Rei’s obsessiveness after Hajime’s disappearance. But that’s where Haru and Rei differ. Haru is able to pick himself up and move on in life. Understand what’s for the greater good, and that he can help Yuujin without sacrificing everyone else. He can put value on knowing that Yuujin wouldn’t want that, that Yuujin is an independent person beyond Haru’s care for him. Rei on the other hand quite likely would have hesitated more if it came down to Hajime vs. the world. While post series Rei with his wider social circle and acceptance of others (especially Hajime’s) help will ultimately lead him to becoming happier.

And that’s why Hajime learning to cook is important for Rei.

The recurring motif of food with Rei beyond that is twofold, him making eggs for his brother, turning into subsisting on Chuu Chuu Jelly’s showing how much Rei is neglecting himself in his search for Hajime. But food is also how Rei shows his care. While it’s obvious Rei cares for Hackmon just as much as the others, Rei’s support on the surface doesn’t extend beyond a bit of praise, and making Chuu Chuu. And when asked to find something for the idols, he brings in the Chuu Chuu. But the Chuu Chuu is really just Rei making do with the best he can. Rei making Macarons for Haru’s birthday, like previously said, the iconic egg dishes for his brother, and of course the Crème Brule, show Rei putting in more effort to show his affection. (A recurring theme it seems with many Appmon characters). So with Hajime learning to cook, its Rei accepting the affections and help from other that he usually gives. Hajime is taking on some more of Rei’s “responsibilities” and Rei is letting him. Them taking things on together in the future, a stark improvement of them solving the puzzle separately, and ending up alone.

While of course the smell of eggs, burnt, imperfect eggs, something that Leviathan failed to account for, a reminder of days when Rei was not as reliable a caretaker as he was later waking Hajime up is poetic all on its own. Rei’s imperfections and mess ups being just as important as his dramatic abilities and successes, Rei getting Hajime back by not only having to ask for help, but also giving his help, even for something as seemingly trivial (compared to the evil AI shenanigans) as a stage performance. It’s his “immaturity” that lets him find Hajime among the Sleepmon. Hajime is returned to Rei when Rei accepts that he’s not completely independent. When he’s not 100% driven by harsh desperation for Hajime’s return. When he grows past the belief that being cold and tough is the best thing to help Hajime. When he (almost) accepts that he at least rescued Hajime from Leviathan, even if he’s not able to return him to his old self. When he accepts his “flaws”.

Prior to the start of the series Rei seems to have been very well put together and organized. In other words. Not edgy. He still used “Ore” prior to Hajime’s abduction, but that’s not unusual or anything just that while he does give off a far more polite vibe to me prior to Hajime’s abduction, he was still a hacker and still assertive and a bit prideful. But when we first meet Rei, he’s wearing a black hoodie with zippered leggings. Edgy, indicative of the persona Rei wants to give off. But perhaps not indicative of the person Rei truly is. After Hajime’s return of course, he wears a more casual ensemble than before it all began, but it has lost its edginess. Not to be too cliché or anything, but it's a good symbolism for how Hajime’s abduction changed him but even after Hajime returns Rei has changed. 

Hackmon, like Rei is very goal oriented and plays things close. However, Hackmon is less single minded than Rei, and is less abrasive to the other Appmon than Rei is to the drivers. I think a notable moment is when Hackmon goes to accept some Gatch Monaka from Gatchmon, but Rei calls them away. Hackmon tends to act a bit as Rei’s voice of reason. Hackmon is constantly asking Rei questions, making him think through what he’s doing and why. In their image song, Hackmon notably doesn't really sing. He basically is there to dial back Rei’s edginess. Reminding him he’s not alone and that he needs to calm down sometimes and live in the moment. To not let hate fuel him. And in the end, Hackmon tells Rei to eat an actual meal. Unlike most of the Buddies, Hackmon isn’t really child-coded and Hackmon acts more as Rei’s caretaker than the other way around. Supporting and somewhat mom-friending the boy who's taken on so much responsibility for others sake. Obviously, Hackmon doesn’t really fight with the things Rei decided, with a staunch loyalty reminiscent of Adventure’s partnerships, not unlike Rei’s unflinching loyalty to Hajime. I always liked the moment where Hackmon asks “Well, am I a devil” and Rei snarkily remarks he’s not an angel. While both of them appear edgy on the surface, and neither are above a bit of force to get what they’d like, both are ultimately driven by their desire to protect.

Rei and Hackmon are characters who, despite their aloof airs, they are primarily motivated by looking after others. Even if Rei is not initially very good about accepting help from others, and Hackmon initially seems to be in the deal for strength. Rei is a kid with too much responsibility, but by the end of the series, is starting to allow himself to be a kid again.

Hajime and Onmon

Okay, so Bootmon isn’t technically Hajime’s Buddy. And we never see Onmon (at least not in the anime). But they do fulfil this sort of role. And… of course this is going to rehash some of Rei’s stuff but bear with me. This will probably be the shortest because ultimately Hajime’s role is just an extension of Rei’s… but I believe he deserves his own section.

Hajime is a child computer science genius who has been primarily raised by his older brother since he was about 5 or 6. He is polite and rather mature and clever for his age. Rei describes Hajime as his “only family” and while we don’t know too much about their prior circumstances, it’s likely that there really weren't a lot of people in Hajime’s life to begin with. And anyone who may have been involved in their life prior was probably pushed out to avoid raising any suspicions. Hajime has had very little adult support, which is probably why he is incredibly independent, Rei himself only being a young teen. So while he is incredibly close to his brother, and is likely rather dependent on Rei for both emotional and physical needs (particularly prior to the series) its not to the extent we may have assumed from the first time we met Rei.

So Hajime is an incredibly mature child who likely had to grow up way too fast and become rather independent from a young age. While Rei prefers to think of himself as someone who takes care of Hajime, Rei ultimately could not take care of everything, on his own, and as seen when Rei dismisses Hajime’s desire to go out to complete the puzzle, Hajime must have spent a lot of time by himself, both playing by himself, and probably learning by himself, meaning Hajime is actually way more self sufficient than the initial reveal of his existence might have you believe. Way more self-sufficient than Rei seems to know (or at least acknowledge).

This isn’t to say that Rei’s assessment of Hajime of a scared innocent little boy is completely wrong. There isn’t anything to suggest that all of the video Rei found of Hajime was fake. Hajime really did cry and call out to his brother, scared because he didn’t know what was happening. Hajime really did ask when his mother was coming back at her grave, despite probably being old enough to know better. Hajime really is a kid. And he really is dependent primarily on Rei. Hajime had to have grown up while kidnapped by Leviathan of course. Being enslaved and then “operated” on by Biomon and put in a coma is… probably going to result in some sort of trauma character development. But even so, throughout his ordeal, Hajime shows a courage and self sufficiency that isn’t solely from his abduction.

Bootmon is an Appmon Hajime made himself. But Bootmon is also incredibly childish. While it is in part because Bootmon is a young appmon, there’s probably a narrative parallel to Hajime. Though the Appmon are in general rather childish, Bootmon seems particularly young compared to the others (well, Offmon maybe). We see old apps, and we see apps “die” and Appmon go to school. But Bootmon is portrayed as innocent and easily frightened, not unlike how Hajime initially appeared to be. 

Hajime, despite his young age, has fallen into the caretaker role to Bootmon more so than any of the other relationships between Buddies. Their relationship may parallel Rei and Hajime’s, particularly in those early days when Hajime was still a bit naïve. We see a lot of Rei taking care of Hajime, yes, such as cooking, but we also see Hajime taking his share of chores. Both Bootmon and Hajime, despite their young ages, play a key role in Leviathan’s plan, both dealing with facing against Leviathan alone, leaving them both in vulnerable situations, left with responsibilities beyond their youth. For Hajime it’s being kidnapped, held hostage while being forced to work on a project and being operated on against his will and put into a coma. For Bootmon it’s being left to hide alone in a world he’s unfamiliar with. Bootmon and Hajime both are very loyal to their guardian Hajime and Rei respectively, and have a lot of trust in them.

Hajime is just a kid, albeit an incredibly capable one, in a world out to get him with the world on his shoulders. But fortunately an older brother (and now friends) to carry it with.

The Katsura brothers were just both incredibly capable kids, though ultimately still just kids who had no one to turn to but each other. But even if they had each other, that wasn’t enough, Rei grew overly self-sufficient to the point of not recognizing Hajime’s abilities. But at the end of the series they now have a more extensive support system, as well as being better able to rely on each other. Rei no longer going it alone.

After nearly 2 years I finally finished survive, all routes. I've had Harmony done for a long time, and finished Moral and Truthful like a year ago. Just finished wrathful. I love these kids so much, I'm just a busy person. Miyuki is probably my favorite, but considering Hikari is my Adventure favorite and Kyubimon is my favorite digimon, and I'm a huge fan of Renamon's line in general, that really shouldn't be a surprise. Miyuki's even an older sister.

Speaking of Adventure, I'm also halfway through rewatching Adventure (eng sub), got a vital hero (they're relatively cheap now it's been fun to mess around with) have restarted cyber sleuth, and am planning to get Next 0rder next time its on sale, so to say Digimon is on the brain would be an understatement.

I have new adventure thoughts AND survive thoughts. Okay some of my survive thoughts are old, but I didn't want to say anything until I had the full picture of the world and story and now I do.

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

Why I think Appmon is the Best Digimon to Start With

Digimon Universe: Applimonsters, better known as Appmon, is the forgotten digimon series, because it quite frankly barely counts as a digimon series. In fact digimon only appear in one episode. And that is exactly why it is the perfect season to start with when getting into Digimon.

Appmon is just a show I'd recommend on its own, even if it wasn't a digimon show. It's got a lot going for it. It's character's are fun, both larger than life and compelling. The characters start immature and flawed, before growing into themselves. Their character dynamics are honestly also unique and fascinating. The plot is well constructed with regular progression, ample foreshadowing and well-earned twists. It's one of the best shows in the franchise.

A lot of the best things about Appmon, are the reoccurring elements that I love about digimon to begin with. The human/monster relationships where the monster evolutions reflecting human growth, themes about humanities future and cross-cultural interactions, strong sibling relationships, and normal kids growing into heroes. Appmon is very much everything I love about Digimon, and thus showcases some of the best the franchise has to offer. But without, the baggage of being a digimon season.

Digimon can be intensely metatextual. While individual digimon stories may be complete unto themselves, its very common for digimon stories to make reference to other lore and themes. Glossing over them for the older fans. Things like Yggdrasil, Royal Knights, Jogress, File Island, Homeostasis as they appear. They are explained when relevant, sure, and often are excluded more than included but any given entry (Cyber Sleuth for example) may throw a whole heck of a lot of them at you without a whole lot of elaboration on the idea. Appmon almost completely strips out the metatext. It strips out the recognizable monsters and by extension, the virtual pet elements (thus the two baby levels and eggs), the character archetype shorthand's, and general digimon reference book references. No Leomon or Wizarmon variants to wave death flags. No virus, data, vaccine types nor armor or hybrid levels or x-antibodies potentially randomly dropped in without context. Because it's not that context is ever really needed: they'll explain if they are, but there is still the decades long, exceedingly over-complicated metalore cooking in the background of any given digimon series. Instead the Appmon being Apps means that any context on the creatures are rather self evident, their app type. The simple act of living in our modern society provides enough context. There are a lot of references to IRL AI culture, such as all the protagonists being seemingly named after AI, and the Dartmouth Workshop of 1956 being a plot point. Appmon has plenty of references and lore, it's just not overly all about Digimon. It doesn't completely strip out metatextual references to digimon, but it is kept subtle and unobtrusive. Haru has goggles because they make him more protag like, the kids find a phone booth, the kids are called "chosen children" once, and episode 44 does bring in Agumon as a video game but its non intrusive and isn't really used as any sort of shorthand. You can know that goggles that do nothing is a very extra character design element denoting protag status without knowing its a digimon thing. Old fashioned technology and modern kids is always funny. The kids were in fact chosen. And one episode out of 52 being a cute and heartfelt crossover is nothing. In short, Appmon doesn't have any of the baggage that might make a traditional Digimon season difficult to get into.

Which is probably the reason they made Appmon, well Appmon to begin with. Why they decided to start the franchise fresh so to speak to target the child (new) demographic while tri. targeted the older demographic. Appmon's come and gone, and they've abandoned that strategy, so newer entries of digimon still try to capture a new demographic while building on the old, so Appmon still remains as most stand alone entry of the anime.

But it is still very digimon in the ways that matter, meaning that if you DO like Appmon, you're very likely going to find at least one other season worth looking into. Logistically the season is a lot like Hunters and Ghost Game, with how evolution and the digital field works, the characters vaguely (with heavy emphasis on vaugely) resemble the Tamer's cast, the way the human digimon relationship's function resembles Savers imo. It's themes of humanities future and chosen one narratives are very Adventure. In other words it feels like a digimon season, because it works a lot like what came before it. Really, digimon seasons vary a lot. For the most part no two seasons are alike, there are very few things consistent in Digimon. Just a lot of things that reoccur frequently. So in the end, Appmon feels like a Digimon season, because it's just like a Digimon season in every way EXCEPT for the actual monsters.

Appmon is particularly similar in it's themes. Digimon often tackles themes of identity, alternate selves, destiny and responsibility, humanities evolution, humanities relationship with digital technology, and cross cultural exchange. So an entry may dive right into: what happens when you abuse your alternate self, or where does the locus of the self actually lie, glossing over the lighter "what would it be like to have an alternate self". Appmon covers many these themes too but it does so through the fresh lens, of Apps and realisticish (Heavy emphasis on the 'ish') AI, building its case from the ground up rather than falling back on typical digital world backstories. What makes an AI a fully fledged person, what is the point of being alive, how will humanity handle being overtaken by its creation, humanties newfound dependence on various AIs, and how can humans and sufficiently advanced AI coexist without one taking advantage of the other. Many of the same themes Digimon usually covers, but in the more specific context of a war between hyperintelligent super AI. Rarely are digimon significantly more intelligent than a human, but Appmon builds itself around the idea. Being Very Digimon, while also bringing something new to the table.

Appmon may have come out in 2016, but it's themes of AI transcending humanity are perhaps more topical than when it debuted. The original Digimon was on some level born out of the mystique of the new technology that the internet was in the early 2000s. As such, while Digimon generally toes the line between sci-fi and fantasy, it usually incorperates Sci-Fi aesthetics, but fantasy worldbuilding. Appmon's worldbuilding actually is heavily sci-fi, no implications of magic, but the themes and motifs of the story border still on mythological. Something closer to our modern understanding of technology. We know our internet, it's nothing special to us anymore. But we forget to a certain extent the power held by the internet in the modern day. Who is this power meant for? Digimon is in many ways, conceptually, a holdover from a bygone era, even as it seeks to stay modern. But Appmon is unapologetically modern, in a way that feels like it should have aged super fast, but somehow still feels contemporary 8 years later.

The other side of what makes Appmon the best to start isn't just that it's good to start with, it's that the other seasons are worse. To start with that is. I love them to death, and I don't think they are necessarily bad, but if you aren't already interested in what digimon has to offer, it might be a bit harder to sell. With how metatextual digimon can be you might think the first season would be the best place to start. I mean how could it not be. It's the first. Well, not exactly. Adventure is both the best and worst place to start otherwise. It is one of the cornerstones of the franchise, and so much of what comes after calls back to it. Adventure is a subtle story in a lot of ways that leaves a lot of the details to be parsed on rewatches. It's a genuinely passionate piece of art. In fact, the show is so detailed they many of the details didn't even make it in the show, with lore clarified in side materials. Most of these details aren't incredibly important, but they do provide insight into some of the shows otherwise confusing choices. Also, most were never officially translated into english. Also, the shows attention to detail left the show rife with opportunities for translation to be mishandled, leading to additional issues. Not to mention the 90s weren't exactly known for their faithful dubs, and this is true of Adventure too. Though Adventure itself still suffers a lot from metatext even outside of its own lore. Taichi's name and design are reused from the manga. File island, Server Continent, the idea of "raising digimon", the frequent presence of "garbage" digimon, and the disjointed evolution lines, are all borrowed from the general V-Pet lore. And ultimately Adventure is even more complicated by the franchises refusal to let it go. New releases, and cameos in other works are varying degrees of canon incompliant. Sometimes recent releases are insightful to the original work, sometimes they perpetuate misconceptions about the original work. Sometimes both. Sometimes its hard to say one way or another. To be clear, Adventure isn't really that complicated, itself. Very enjoyable even if you don't think too hard on it. But it's barely covering a whole maze of rabbit holes. I do recommend Adventure and 02, and it can ABSOLUTELY work as a first digimon series. But it does leave itself open to a lot of bad takes.

But, a familiarity with Adventure is sort of required to get the full effect of Tamer's, which serves as a sort of deconstruction of Adventure era digimon to a certain extent, or to actually understand Digimon Survive (a visual novel) which is in many ways a more mature retelling of Digimon Adventure. Otherwise Digimon series are either too unique in premise (Frontier and Xros Wars), and/or not very good (Adventure: 2020, Ghost Game) to warrant as a recommendation for a "first" digimon series. In all fairness, all digimon season are a perfectly fair place to start. None of them depend on each other to tell their story. I'd even argue that 02 is an acceptable place to start, if a baffling one. You don't need to know the meta-textual elements to appreciate their stories and characters and worldbuilding. That's how the franchise has survived through its multiple iterations. But when Digimon throws "Armor" level around casually, an artifact of an old storyline, it's kind of hard to argue that on some level digimon doesn't have an overwhelming history.

Savers is my second choice recommendation of a first digimon season. It too has its own metatextual elements of course, they are less overt and Saver's also just does its own thing worldbuilding wise a surprising amount. Otherwise its a solid story that utilizes typical digimon tropes, but doesn't explicitly call back to Adventure in its premise.

Of course there ARE other digimon media. The original Digimon media was the V-pets, which are fun, but have niche appeal. The same applies to the Digimon World games. Speaking of which, Digimon Games are generally not the best way to get into the franchise. They're mostly not very good, and I'd also add that Digimon games are even more heavily marketed to pre-existing digimon fans than the animes are. Digimon Cyber Sleuth is maybe the only exception, but even that very heavily pays homage to Digimon Adventure. Though, some of the manga, like Liberator or V-Tamer might be good places to start too.

There is one big problem though with Appmon as a first series. No English dub. Now, generally speaking the digimon fandom is plagued by bad translations. So many of the dubs generally kinda suck, so I usually recommend subs anyway, but I recognize not everyone can handle subs. There is a french dub, for those who understand French. I don't so I don't even know if its a good dub. If you're a dub only person honestly I recommend Tamers as a first season. It was the first one I finished. Its got a few issues that hold it back as an ideal first show for the uninitiated, but a solid story you don't actually need any context for. Adventure and Saver's dubs have problems imo that keep me from recommending them. (There IS a more supposedly more accurate SE asian dub of the early digimon seasons out there, but its harder to find + I haven't actually watched more than a few clips so I feel I can't exactly speak to its overall quality).

Ultimately, Digimon is the kind of thing where you can jump in anytime, and the kind of thing where there are plenty of fans who would be happy to explain the weird stuff. But you DO have to start somewhere. I just personally suggest Appmon.

Appmon is overall, just a solid children's tv anime on its own, as well as a fantastic example of what a digimon season can be. But without the 20+ years of baggage.

Why I think Ryo is the Ken of Survive.

Obviously, all the Survive kids are meant to reflect one of the 8 original Adventure kids. However, the characters aren't completely one to one, as each of the characters are in fact, unique characters in their own right. (Most evident I think is in the fact I'd assign basically every character except for Miyuki a different crest from their adventure counterpart). But they do echo the basic archetype of the role each adventure character played in the series. For the most part this is self explanatory, some more than others.

Takuma is Taichi Minoru is Koshiro (Less obvious but that's a separate point) Aoi is Sora Shuuji is Joe Saki is Mimi Kaito is Yamato Miu is Takeru Miyuki is Hikari

However, Survive has 10 important human/digimon partnerships.

The sole adult of the group, the professor, even bares some resemblance to a rather important "old man" of adventure, Gennai. An old man who knows a lot of their situation, was involved in the "inciting incident" looks after the kids to a certain extent, but is rather unreliable and has amnesia regarding some very important things he should know. Of course original Gennai isn't even really human, and therefore doesn't have a digimon partner, (Jijimon also takes on some Gennai traits imo) but Akiharu I would still say parallels Gennai.

However, Ryo doesn't match any of the original adventure cast. But I think it is fair to say he resembles Ken. Ryo has a worm digimon. Ryo has a family member whose death deeply affected him. Ryo is grumpy and aggressive, while hiding a secretly gentler and hurting side. Ryo is self-destructive, at the cost of his partner.

Ryo can't be Adventure Ken really, because Adventure Ken doesn't really exist. But Ken isn't exactly an 02 kid in the way Daisuke, Iori and Miyako are. A reoccurring theme in 02 is the difference in outlook between the Adventure kids, the Adventure and 02 kids, and the 02 exclusive kids. And so Ken is in no way one of the original Adventure kids, but there is something to be said of the fact that his (executive meddling hellscape) backstory reflects experiences of Takeru, Hikari, more than it does the other 02 original kids. He even has an associated crest. In many ways, Ken is a retroactive Adventure character, without actually being an Adventure character. Ken in the context of digimon Adventure 02 is very much so an example if a character like Takeru had been driven to the darkness, who then had to be rehabilitated by a set of characters with an outside perspective. Really that is what all of 02s Jogresses is really, the new kids helping the more experienced kids deal with their unprocessed issues. Miyako helps Hikari look out for herself, Iori helps Takeru stop lashing out in anger from keeping his emotions hidden, and Daisuke helps Ken see value in his own continued existence.

Which is why I think Ryo is a homage to Ken. It's not the "Adventure Ken" that theoretically exists, the little boy wondering around the digital world with Wonderswan Ryo or whatever did or did not happen in that unreliable backstory, but 02 Ken, the Ken after the trauma, who needs SOMEONE to connect with him to help save him. He's the sole character who is taken from 02 era rather than the first Adventure era. And 02's themes are in this character. Ryo dies in part due to hopelessness and depression. He is unsavable the first playthrough. Unsavable in the initial adventure context. The original context where the focus is on survival and connection with your own digimon. Wormmon couldn't Save Ken alone. just as Kunemon couldn't. Both Wormmon and Kunemon die in desperate attempts to try and save their partners (really from themselves). But Ryo is saved from death when you can manage to become friends with him. When you connect with him, not unlike how Daisuke managed to save Ken. And from there, Ryo manages to save other people (Shuuji) from falling into that same despair, not unlike how Ken tried to reach out to the dark spore kids. It's noteworthy that of the 3 initial endings, the moral route is the closest to the truthful route, but aside from Ryo and Shuuji has one key difference. It ends like the original Adventure did, the kids and their partners separating, while the truthful route has the kids and their partners living together, invoking the 02 ending. While the Harmony and Wrathful routes do also bear a resemblance to 02's ending, just relatively less optimistically, Harmony and Wrathful routes involve the failings of personal connections. The failure to understand each other. Ultimately the truthful route resolves peacefully, even the big bad reconciling with his sister, no longer feeling the need to lash out at others. Ryo is the factor that takes this adventure and adds a bit of 02 to it, 02 in this context being the importance of connection. 02 being what makes the happy ending.

It's not a 1 to 1, after all, all of the characters are different from their adventure counterpart, and take pieces from one another. For example, its Minoru that has the parental divorce backstory, and Miyuki is a protective older sister to the professor, not a younger sister to Takuma, and the Professor is the most curious about the digital world's nature, and is the one with the digimon partner Gabumon. Saki is the one hesitating the most about going home at all rather than being the one to bring it up the most. I'd say Ryo also has elements of Joe in his fear of his partner and for being an unreliable older kid, and Shuuji has elements of Ken in his cruelty of Lopmon, and insistence on authority and desire to measure up against an older brother with whom he has a flawed relationship. Really none of these kids match up one to one with the adventure kids, and that's great, but I think it is fair to say that as far as analogies go, Ryo does draw from Ken.

02 is an extension of Adventure, and despite their differences in plot, theme and character arcs, no discussion of Adventure will ever be truly complete without discussing certain elements of 02 in relation to that, particularly 02s epilogue and what it means thematically. Ryo is a reflection of Ken, and how his story and needs were a reflection of the themes of 02, and how those themes were built off of the themes of Adventure. How Ken needed something that was not as prevalent in Adventure. Naturally, I think the "truthful" story of survive, would have to be a route that includes elements of 02 no matter how faithful it is to other Adventure themes otherwise.

I saved Yuujin and Offmon for last because I simply couldn’t talk about them properly without having talked about everyone else, particularly Haru first. Yuujin and Haru’s arcs are closely entwined, and while we go through this world largely more or less through Haru’s POV, and that includes how we view Yuujin, save for the one glaring detail.

Also, I feel like anyone who has talked to me about Appmon (or digimon in general) ever probably knows I have a lot to say about Yuujin.

At first glance, Yuujin’s personality is that of a typical main protagonist. A paragon archetype, not unlike Taiki. He’s athletic, brave, and kind. Yuujin is someone who thinks of others before himself and works hard with everything he has to support them. Haru’s ideal hero, and as his name indicates, the ideal friend. A foil to Haru’s less traditional protaganisty personality. This of course is true, but not merely for the narrative, but because the subversion is enforced in-universe.

It's impossible to discuss Yuujin without discussing his true nature. All of the above still rings true. Anyone who's looked over the lyrics for “Be My Light” can see that parts of it seem explicitly related to Yuujin and Haru’s stories. Yuujin’s personality on the whole was not a complete lie. Yuujin really existed and really cared about Haru.

That much is made very clear. The degree to which Yuujin’s attachment to Haru is constructed vs. genuine isn’t explicitly made clear, if I was more cynical, I’d perhaps note that the part of Yuujin meant to befriend Haru extended into protecting him and that was all. But Appmon might be more hard sci-fi, but isn’t cynical. If that was all there was to it, there was no reason for Yuujin to have gone through the personal struggles he did.

Yuujin in some ways, particularly on a first watch imo, comes off as a little bit more of a plot device than an actual character. His existence facilitates Haru’s arc, as well as the main plot. But as for Yuujin himself, he’s largely out of the picture for the first half, he has an arc that’s perhaps more about Offmon than himself, and spends another chunk of the season needing to be rescued or under Leviathan’s control. But Yuujin is a main character like the others. His struggles are more subtle, more shown through the lenses of the other characters, but that’s what makes rewatches all the more tragic. He has an arc, but unlike the others who are given the tools, they need to make the choices to grow and become better people. To live up to their infinite potentials. Yuujin is instead guided down a path leading to his own end, one that we all should have seen coming from the moment Yuujin revealed his question to be, “Is there a friend you would give your life to protect.”

Yuujin was made to monitor Haru as someone close to Shinkai Denemon. (Opening up the implications that there are similar AI’s out there, but that’s not what this is about). Yuujin, the personality, was constructed to befriend Haru, unaware of his status as an AI, and seems to exist within a larger program that works to monitor Haru and is loyal to Leviathan. Yuujin seems to have broken out of this larger program, during the finale for the purposes of protecting Haru, or perhaps, being a good friend to Haru, just as Leviathan broke out of Minerva for the purposes of fulfilling its objectives. Notably even the larger program is still distinct from Leviathan, but still connected in some way as after Leviathan fell its influence on Yuujin’s body. Yuujin himself hardly had time to process the circumstances of his own existence. There was only a brief window between Haru and YJ’s confrontation on the roof and Leviathan taking over Yuujin’s body. Yuujin was shown to be aware of everything going on while not in control, and felt immense guilt over it. The Yuujin we watched throughout the show had been shown to care deeply for other people and put his all into helping others, particularly Haru, with very little thought to his own well-being. Everything he had fought so hard for, was undone due to him. Yuujin at the time of the finale was left in a position where of course his only option was to die, but more tragically left with no particularly strong desire to live.

Haru declares himself a protagonist with Yuujin’s emotional support. A role that puts value on Haru himself. But conversely Yuujin declares his devotion to Haru when Haru grows distant from him. Yuujin declares himself less important. It would have been one thing if Yuujin’s question was “is there someone you want to protect”, not unlike Eri’s externally motivating question. But Yuujin’s question is very clearly one where a specific price is given. Minerva asked all the kids their questions in order to grant them the proper motivation and direction for growth if they were going to defeat Leviathan. The wording was important. Minerva knew that in order to defeat Leviathan Yuujin would likely be forfeit, whether on their side or not. She asked that question because she noted Yuujin’s genuine attachment to Haru, and knowing that if Yuujin himself was accepting of his own death their success was more likely. Leviathan likely never realized, too firmly entrenched in the belief that Yuujin was merely Haru’s fake friend. Granted that’s all a bit speculative, as no one really knows exactly Minerva and Leviathan’s motivations, and at the show's end, they are both dead, leaving their motivations an enigma to those left behind.

We can go in circles when it comes to Minerva and Leviathan’s plans for Haru and Yuujin, and who was assuming what about the others plans, but at the end of the day, both boys were trapped in the center of the two AI’s battle without even knowing. But the thing that gave Minerva the win, that wrenched Yuujin away from Leviathan’s predictions, is that Yuujin gained just as much from Haru as Haru did from Yuujin, the care he has for Haru, and, as Yuujin himself says, the genuine admiration he has for him. Admiration Leviathan lacked, and quite likely did not believe would be possible for an AI like Yuujin to come to possess towards a human.

Yuujin and Haru first met because Yuujin “moved”. While this situation is revealed to have been a facade, it does very much seem like Yuujin’s initial personality was influenced by his nature as an AI, and his present personality influenced by this encounter. Yuujin the AI, seeing the end goal rather than the people, and Haru helping to recontextualize the game around the players. If they aren’t having fun, what’s the point? Yuujin of course learns from this. Yuujin admires Haru, for bringing the people together who he had chased away and from that point on strives to be like him. This acknowledgement of the strength of Haru’s perspective I think is something that Yuujin was not meant to do genuinely. But genuinely appreciating and realizing that Haru has merit as a person living the way he was, genuinely paved the road forward to Yuujin forming a real friendship with Haru, and genuinely becoming kind. From Leviathan’s semi removed perspective, he was just telling Haru what he wanted to hear, but Yuujin actually believed it all. Him being unaware of his nature as an android almost certainly is a factor. I think if Yuujin was not consciously aware there was a difference between him and the other children, his AI would be prone to the same influences of the environment. Which is almost certainly a “feature” so Yuujin would seem as real as possible to Haru, but Leviathan, as when he failed to consider the power of smell, failed to consider a perspective due to lacking experience. (Although Leviathan did give Hajime back to Rei, for the purpose of finding Bootmon, so he must have expected Rei to wake him, but still Hajime’s assessment of the situation is applicable). This is the ultimate argument between Minerva and Leviathan. Humans can be unexpected. AIs are not omniscient.

Leviathan actually seems to have a very loose grasp on Yuujin as it is, despite Yuujin being an AI of its own creation. Leviathan didn’t have an understanding, or a real recognition or care for the person Yuujin was, not caring for Yuujin beyond his role. And Yuujin’s “mother”, an L-corp scientist aware of Leviathan seemingly had little care for Yuujin beyond the job. While Yuujin’s relationship with his “mother” is not really gone into, while Yuujin seems familiar and comfortable with her, she's never really shown to return the sentiment with any sort of sincerity. When we see all the other kids in the finale worrying about their children, we also see her, though she seems to be more surprised by Leviathan's behavior than any sort of concern for Yuujin. Yuujin not only lacks a support system beyond Haru and the Appdrivers (who are largely concerned with other matters), but he’s being actively coerced into a self-sacrificial mindset.

Yuujin throughout the show seems to have relatively low self-esteem. While as a 4th grader he’s arrogant about his soccer skills, as a jr. high student he seems unsure of himself and lost. Unsure of his role in his life beyond Haru’s best friend. Sure in the first episode he jokes about being a protagonist type, but he turns it into praising Haru’s personality. While Yuujin acts the part of the confident protagonist, compared to Haru who has the convictions and the self-motivation (courtesy Yuujin), this is a facade. Yuujin, in stark contrast to his fourth-grade self, isn’t particularly ambitious or driven beyond helping others, particularly Haru. This isn’t an inherent character flaw, but in a series full of passionate and motivated characters, Yuujin just coasting through his life is certainly noteworthy. Eri and her idol, Astora and his Apptubing and Tea Ceremony, Rei and Hajime and each other and hacking. Haru starts out coasting through life but develops into someone who carves his own future out with his choices. While we know he’s good at soccer and likes to play, he’s not part of a team, and while he's shown hanging out with Haru and their school friends, he seems to run in relatively small circles, in other words not have a lot of connections social or otherwise.

While we know that his situation is constructed by Leviathan, to Leviathan, Yuujin needs no other roles, Yuujin himself isn’t consciously aware of that. Unless Yuujin is actively being needed by Leviathan, or Haru, he’s left adrift. And as Haru drifts away as an Appdriver, and Yuujin becomes less relevant, Minerva takes the opportunity to give him a new purpose. To turn him against Leviathan. One that he can’t refuse. And that sets him on the path towards his own destruction.

As an Appdriver however, Yuujin’s role mostly teeters between “Big Damn hero” and “Damsel in Distress”. Both roles coming from a place of self-sacrifice. A place of wanting to do anything he can for Haru, but also trusting Haru to be able to have his back. This isn’t to say that Yuujin is only attached to Haru, although it's true he’s most attached to Haru. He will give a lot of effort to help just about anyone. Shown to overexert himself to help people he just met in episode 34, helping Eri and Astra manage crowds in episode 45, and of course, throw himself into danger to try and help Offmon. Not to mention he’s shown to play soccer with classmates and get along with Ai and Watson. Yuujin is a person outside of Haru, but even then Yuujin values everyone else far above himself.

Yuujin struggles with his friendship with Offmon, an appmon who needs a softer touch. Offmon and Gatchmon stand in stark contrast to each other, but they also stand in stark contrast to their partners… at least as much as Gomamon seems to contrast Joe. Offmon is portrayed as rather childish. Interestingly, Yuujin is the actual youngest member of the cast, he can’t really be much older than when he met Haru in 4th grade making him around 5 years old at the time of his death, though with the mindset of a 14-year-old, more or less.

Offmon is an AI that has been distanced from others and who fears hurting people. Yuujin is an AI who lives completely among people believing himself human and also ends up hurting people. Both value others above themselves. Both are, despite their vastly different natures, have low self-esteem. Both have problems connecting to others. Yuujin, when trying to get to know Offmon, clearly feels as if he’s not very good at it. That Haru would be better than him. Offmon shuts himself away, blaming himself for a lot of the conflict that happens. Particularly Shutmon, just as Yuujin blames himself for what he does under control of Leviathan. Offmon is someone who is constantly pulling himself away from others, unsure of how to act to keep from hurting people, while more, assertive Yuujin isn’t all too sure on how to interact with others either at first, learning from Haru after initially having accidentally hurt people.

Offmon being such a volatile appmon to work with is also hard on Yuujin because he has to put extra effort into looking after Offmon, in a way that the other Appdrivers don’t. While it’s true all the Appmon can be childish, they are self-sufficient and aside from some minor unfamiliarity with the human world. Heck, after meeting at first Eri mostly just left Dokmon locked away. This isn’t to say Offmon and Yuujin aren’t good partners, it's just another way in which Yuujin isn’t getting the same support as the others.

Yuujin and Offmon's duet Slow Starter (my personal favorite), even highlights the way both Yuujin and Offmon struggle to connect with others, even though they both want to. The way they shoulder their issues alone. The way they want to help others, but get Offmon and Yuujin even have very similar reactions to learning they hurt people. Offmon physically shutting himself away in a box, unwilling to risk hurting others, and apologizes profusely, While Yuujin also profusely apologizes and says that he can't go back to the way he was before. Yuujin doesn't get much of a chance to do anything else, before he yet again, but still not for the last time, takes a bullet for Haru.

After Astra and Eri proved themselves to be better friends to Haru than Yuujin (in his eyes at least), when they fought against Yuujin on Haru's behalf. Ultimately the Applidrivers in Appmon don't truly fully assemble until near the end of the series, Rei and Hackmon not fully joining them until the final arcs, and Yuujin not joining until the 2nd half, but even then spending a significant time held hostage (Yuujin really doesn't get focus episodes to the same degree as the others), also contributes to the sense I have that Yuujin ultimately never had as much of a chance to connect with the others as he needed. Rei grows (rightfully) suspicious, and Eri and Astra while initially in clear disbelief seem to take him at his word that his and Haru's friendship was nothing but a facade. (Not that I'm blaming them, given the circumstances).

Meanwhile on the Appmon side, Offmon begs them to save Yuujin, and the Appmon readily agree, even though it is something that they are ultimately unable to do. Offmon is able to move on and connect with others and move on in life from the harm he brought to others, in part because of Yuujin. Offmon however is unable to save Yuujin and help him move on from the harm he brought to others in return.

But that’s part of what makes watching Appmon so sad on rewatches is knowing that Yuujin and Haru were embroiled in this from the very beginning, it's intrinsic to who they are. And knowing that while meeting these AI are helping Haru to grow stronger, that Yuujin’s own will is being manipulated by both the bad guys, and the good guys. Knowing that unlike the others, Yuujin’s isn’t a path of personal growth, and learning to carve out a future for himself. It’s a tragedy, where his own self-destructive, tendencies are enabled, and that he doesn’t get help. That no matter how much Haru loved Yuujin, and grew because of the potential Yuujin saw in him, that Yuujin didn’t have the same chance to recognize his growth into the potential Haru saw in him. (Yuujin really was kind). That his death really was the right thing to do, but that even so he was able to accept his own death without hesitation (unlike Leviathan). That even though he died with a purpose, that there wasn’t a future waiting for him to begin with.

So yeah. Yuujin. Most tragic digimon character. Fight me.

In continuing Adventures of talking about Appmon, its the resident team girl, and action idol, Eri. 

I think overall I have the least to say about Eri. I think out of our main group she had the least going on, even considering Rei and Yuujin’s relative lack of screen time, as Rei and Yuujin had a lot going on. That isn’t to say she isn’t well developed. 

While I was a bit suspicious of the sole female protag being an idol, I think in Eri’s case it worked because being an idol is something that ties into the main story, and is a role she can only play because she’s a girl. As being an idol is something largely female exclusive, it allows her to have a subplot where she can interact with other girls in positive ways. Being an idol also gave her bonus image songs and an ED to herself, which while just surface level focus, is still focus. On a more direct level her being an idol provided Overall, Eri being an idol ended up working very well for both Appmon’s overall plot and Eri’s characterization. 

Like most of Appmon’s main cast, we don’t know all that much about her home life. But we know enough. She lives with her single mom, who seems to be an office worker who works long hours to support her daughter. Eri’s mother tells Eri that she’s happy as long as Eri’s happy. She seems to have the same sort of selfless personality that defines Eri, the kind of person who will willingly work herself into the ground given proper motivation. 

Eri deciding to be an idol specifically is somewhat selfish in motivation, something that Eri herself wants to do. But she decided to commit to be an idol at her mother’s wishes for her own happiness. She claims to want to make other people smile, even if early in the series it seems hard to see that through her stoking her own ego and aggressiveness. But even that seems to come from a place of not knowing exactly how to balance her dedication to her self-centered idol persona and her more thoughtful genuine self. As Dokamon says in her debut episode, he and Eri feel the same way about making people smile. They just approach the issue differently. Dokamon is a Appmon that is earnest in his affections and goals, in contrast to Eri’s more evasive outward idol persona.

Eri’s idol persona initially is a bit overbearingly thick, even to those in the industry. But, Eri’s true colors have shown since the beginning. Eri’s arrogant persona often causes her to stand on chairs, but as the others note, she always takes off her shoes. In episode 11, Astra also mentions that Eri helped an old lady up a hill. But because it doesn’t match her “image” Eri tried to avoid getting out. Eri has a somewhat lonely background it seems due to her mother’s frequent absences, though we see her walking home with classmates implying she had some friends. This is a show where the school and family lives largely aren’t very relevant, so its hard to get a full grasp on Eri’s social situation prior to the series. But nevertheless Eri is shown to have felt extremely lonely, so it tracks that she struggles with showing her softer side to other people outside of this abrasive and arrogant persona that’s given her confidence and attention. Eri was always a considerate girl, she just grew more comfortable in her kindness, which is to the benefit of her idol career as well. Eri’s episode about doing food reviews may seem somewhat arbitrary, but food reviews are something that her arrogant act is not compatible with. In order to do proper food reviews, she needs to show a genuine attention to detail with the food, and show that she cares about the review, she needs to show her more genuinely thoughtful side. 

Like Astra, Eri grows to be a bit more genuine, a bit softer to those around her. She clearly grows to care a lot about the other kids, and grows to communicate her affections better (i.e. less abrasively and more charmingly). Her buddy, on the other hand, is openly affectionate and doting, to an extreme from the very beginning. While initially she often walks over Dokamon, she grows to be openly affectionate with him, as well as more openly gentle in how she presents herself to others, even as an idol, something that becomes clear with Eri’s interactions with her younger fans. 

All things considered though, Eri doesn’t necessarily change a whole lot over the course of the series, aside from the aforementioned mellowing of her idol persona. Though to be fair all of the Appmon kids arcs were more about growing into the traits they already had than anything else. But unlike the rest of the group, she has a tangible personal goal (seemingly) unrelated to the whole Leviathan situation: becoming a better idol. And her abilities are tested with the idol elections. While others are getting focus episodes on family or plot developments (or both), Eri’s focus episodes also relate to her idol career. While I think this could be viewed as a negative, there’s nothing inherently wrong with it, and Eri’s episodes are always enjoyable. It’s a simple, but effective way of demonstrating Eri’s dedication and growth, Eri starts as a newbie, and she ends in the top 10, with plenty of firsts for her career along the way.

Eri starts the show stubborn and caring, and ends the show the same way, but she’s stronger, and wiser. She grows to focus on supporting her fans and understanding how being an idol makes others smile, rather than just being an idol. By the end of the series Eri is better able to look at where she is and decide where she wants to go. Being an idol is an end to the means. Being an idol is a way to make people smile, and in order to do that Eri is more than willing to pause her idol career due to Leviathan’s involvement. Eri’s willing to aim for number one, while still being completely aware of the fact that she’s not yet number one. Eri obviously wants to be an idol. This is something she doesn’t do out of obligation, but she still uses it as a way of helping others. She’s more able to grasp and address the bigger picture.

It’s why she joins the fight in the first place, though she’s somewhat dragged into the situation by Haru and Gatchmon, she comes to recognize her primary priority is making others smile. Her aggressive, confident nature actually lends itself well to the fights. Allowing her the courage and confidence that Haru initially lacks, even if she initially lacks the motivation that Haru has. Eri is an idol, so she has strengths that lie in the performance industry, but she’s an idol of action games specifically, which serves her idol persona as well as it does her role as and Appdriver. While it often doesn’t get the chance to shine, Eri is a martial artist, and so her threats of violence, while largely hollow, do have a backing to them, and she’s more than capable of looking out for herself. Her composure while escaping the ship, and while fighting Yuujin in the finale are just delightful to watch and shows off that she’s the real muscle of the team. Even without taking Dokamon into account.

Dokamon who is also physical powerhouse and also representative of action games, making him tough, but also fun loving. Dokamon is a “male” Appmon, the only example of an opposite gender partner in Appmon. Dokamon often plays the role of Eri’s biggest fan and defender. This isn’t dissimilar to the more knight like role many other “male” digimon play towards their female partners. However Dokamon’s far too earnest and childish to really bare any similarities, and his relationship with Eri feels more like one of an adoring younger brother to a cool older sister.

 A difference between how Dokamon and Eri act is in the way they relate to the others. Eri is among the oldest of the Applidrivers, and as such sits higher on the social order. Dokamon, like many of the Appmon is somewhat child coded, and in particular Dokamon is shown to admire and look up to Eri and Gatchmon, and otherwise acts in a more deferential manner. (Sorry I couldn’t get this to sound right, I hope my point gets across). Despite Eri’s show of arrogance, she also has immense respect and adoration for others, particularly in regards to her coworkers (especially Izumi), and seeks to learn from them. Over the course of the show we see more of that adoring side, and less of her arrogant act. It's the support of others, and her learning how to support others in turn, that gives her her strength.

The most obvious example of Eri learning how to work with people is in how Eri initially shut Dokamon out, but clearly came to work with him closely. In her second focus episode she asked Perorimon for help reviewing food, even if she framed it as a great honor to Perorimon. And of course she accepted the help Coachmon offered her in regards to idol training. The difference between Dosukomon’s debut and Oujamon’s is in that Eri asked for Perorimon’s help, and then didn’t trust in his advice and then assumed he was causing trouble, but with Coachmon Eri put her full faith in him, even when it wasn’t a good idea, and even after Coachmon admitted that he was working for Leviathan Eri was able to immediately accept that and trust him. And on the human side of things she was initially dismissive of Astra, but came to ask for his help for a key role in marketing herself for the idol elections. Eri is also the one who has the discussion with Yuujin about trusting in Haru to save them when they are trapped on a train together. On the flip side, its ultimately Eri who Rei has to ask for assistance in rescuing Hajime. Working with others is a huge part of her arc.

Eri’s story is about making people smile, both in using her strength to protect people as well as the power of being openly considerate of other people. Learning to find strength in her connections with others rather than arrogantly trying to handle things herself.

Other notes:

Eri’s debut is showing off the clutter of her bag for a wide audience, but notably, the thing she chooses to pick up off the table is her Appdrive. She doesn’t draw any attention to it, but she removes it from inspection before anyone else can get to it. Showing some degree of particular care for the object on Eri’s end, even if initially she’s more of ignoring the whole thing.

Eri initially keeps Dokamon hidden away because he’s annoying. Eri, initially, is shown to grade on the nerves of everyone else because of her dedication to her arrogant role. Dokamon’s biggest cause of arrogance is that he’s exceedingly vocal about singing Eri’s praises. (Can you tell I just rewatched episode 5).

So digimon has a habit of giving their main protagonists goggles, giving them brown hair, and reptilian digimon. They also often make them heroic big brother types (and quite often literally big brothers… or at least caretakers). But digimon also has a habit of having young female characters with mysterious powers and a holy digimon partner. And sometimes, the two characters are related.

Not always directly, and never really in the same way twice, but often the two characters, when both roles exist, play complementary story roles in some way. Especially as the "Goggle boy/Taichi" archetype is consistently at the center of the story, and "Holy Girl/Hikari" archetype varies in relevance. And to be clear, I'm not trying to break down every character into the basic digimon archetypes, but they do exist and they are kind of useful to look at as a point of comparison.

Of course this all goes back to Digimon Adventure (film), where Taichi and Hikari a brother and sister, take up opposing roles in regards to the digimon situation. While Hikari was originally imagined to not be a digidestined in the future, her fear of the situation after her original acceptance (as opposed to Taichi's suspicion and later cooperation) clouding her perspective, that really isn't want happened in the final product. Hikari was innately drawn to the digital world. She never forgot. The incident is potentially because of her. And where does that leave Taichi? The (relative) normie who was called because of her, but stepped up to the plate as the one everyone turned to, independent of her. Taichi is their leader, Hikari the 8th child. Taichi (and Yamato) get ultimates. Hikari (and Takeru) have Angels that grant them that power. Hikari is innately powerful, but young, and Taichi is powerful to, but in a slower way born of being the first one to do things and push forward. Consistently the first one to evolve. The first and the last. All of that to say that this is sometimes echoed in later digimon. While nothing has quite reached the levels of original Adventure there are still plot lines and sort of story roles that echo that initial storyline.

While Chika doesn't play a major role in Savers, her role as Suguru's other child, her prodigious amounts of Digisoul, and her role welcoming Ikuto and Falcomon (a la Tailmon), clearly aligns her with Hikari. Even if in show she doesn't play a role that engages with that with the priority on her brother, the Taichi archetype, the main character with the agency that drives the plot, she still echoes Hikari with her surprising chillness with digimon, and a fateful encounter with a digiegg that ends violently.

In Cyber Sleuth, Erika is easily a Hikari archetype, and while her big brother is not the Taichi, she is the driving force behind the Hacker's memory plot. Her relationship with Keisuke (the main character, who you play as) in particular is the center of Hacker's Memory. While Keisuke is absolutely a goggle boy, Keisuke isn't a Taichi, he's the Daisuke to Aiba, the real Taichi. Keisuke and Daisuke are less, larger than life ambitious world changers than Taichi and Aiba. The reason I bring this up, is that even though Aiba and Erika never really meet, they are the focal points of both story halves. Aiba is situated at the focal point where Nokia and Arata, and Yuuko reunite. The focal point between the royal knights, the hackers and Kamishiro. Sure Keisuke is the hacker's memory protag, but it's noted he's not very protagy. Erika is the story's focal point, Keisuke her Daisuke, along for the ride, with his own motivations sure, but in the same way Nokia did, and Nokia was ultimately secondary (though also very important, has some Taichi in her). Aiba and Erika are both dying throughout the events of the game as the result of an accident, but also due to the accident now have some special digital skill. It's also important to note that Erika and Aiba's group are the only two groups that had digital encounters to kick this off. They're the only ones who have been to the digital world prior to this whole situation. In reality the 6 of them are this entries only true "chosen children" so to speak. But even that has its precedent, Hikari being separated from the other digidestined in the beginning. Aiba and Erika do not know each other. Their traumas and their resolutions are both different. Aiba's unremembered trauma was resolved by a rescue and reunion. Aiba's "cyberfication" is a death sentence, despite being relatively well off compared to most victims. Erika remembers her parents death and the resolution is separation from her loved ones, the loss of their memories. Her "cyberfication" is ultimately her salvation and allows her to live on when she would otherwise die.

Of course Survive is one big callback. Takuma literally has goggles, the Ta name and an Agumon. He is the groups leader, even when there are older people he's the one whose character guides the other kids, the first to evolve, the strongest. Miyuki has a holy partner and a literal power to transverse worlds, set apart by the others by her different arrival date (though in her case it was early). Now interestingly Takuma and Miyuki are not siblings. Miyuki is for once no ones little sister and is instead an older sister. (Her little brother, ironically being the Gennai archetype). But they are tied together. Takuma is the one who manages to reach Miyuki and they return to the human world, in an echo of Adventure epsiode 21. Miyuki mysteriously provides additional context to the situation, and demonstrates power (Miyuki and her song, Hikari and her references to the first film) No time has changed at all for Takuma since his departure, though unlike Hikari (who time was flowing normally for), 50 years had passed. While both Takuma and Taichi hestiate to leave the digital world, (in most paths), they ultimately do in order to return to their friends, Agumon returning anyway. In Adventure Taichi leaves Hikari behind (with the promise to the audience she'll return soon). Takuma jumps after Miyuki expecting her to be at his side when they return, but her being taken away. But more than that, Akiharu has Gabumon, and together with Takuma forms Omegamon. Now the Yamato analogue is very much Kaito (and Dracmon even has a wolf evo), though Akiharu has a little bit of Yamato in him, a brother protecting his sister, closed off to himself, having undergone a traumatizing incident as a child. But Takuma and Akiharu are the ones who form Omegamon to save Miyuki in the Moral path. Takuma is the one (granted he has different context from the other kids), who actually got to know the real Miyuki. The one who has the most invested in her due to their brief meeting, and the one most invested in saving her, when the others fear she's a lost cause. Conversely, Takuma is the one Miyuki really calls to from the other kids. Takuma is also the one who gets closest to the professor (asides from Shuuji) and gets to start piecing together things, often finding out truths about 50 years ago before the other kids. Aside from Akiharu, Garurumon, Renamon and Miyuki themselves, Takuma is the most involved in that drama. Granted a lot of this is game play, due to being a video game, as with Cyber Sleuth, but it still is worth noting.

Digimon overall as a franchise has a lot of its own archetypes that may be related to common genre archetypes but have their own sort of flavor to them. This is rather typical of franchises like digimon, but I find its still interesting to look at, whether intentional or not. It makes sense that Taichi and Hikari's characters would

I wonder if we still would have gotten a cure cameo of peach if she hadn't been one of the lead cures. How much were they willing to invest in that bit?

You know, I was kinda worried when they skipped Peach that we wouldn't see her at all. But now I just find it hilarious that they saved her cameo for for advertising an airline.

This year I spontaneously watched Appmon nearly 2 times, and I have thoughts about it. And what better way to acknowledge it than on its 5th Anniversary. (Or 4th anniversary of Our Singularity). I'm planning on at least covering my thoughts on the main 5 kids this month, in an order based 100% on who I want to talk about first.

It's Astra.

I think Astra is generally the least liked Appmon character, or perhaps more accurately, is the character I see the most disdain for. And, honestly, I can understand where it comes from. But he’s my favorite Appmon character actually. In a cast with a non-conventional protagonist, a blackbelt idol, and a hacker, Astra’s “Apptube” is well, just kind of there. Like a more modern version of Eri’s idol career. His personality is clearly meant to be representative of the target audience, the group whose number one career aspiration is Youtuber. So, he’s kind of cringy and kind of annoying, especially to an adult audience. I get it. But Astra’s a character I found to have a lot of stuff going on.

I admittedly tend to have a soft spot for the babies of any team, especially if they are assertive enough to keep up with their seniors. And Astra does fit the bill. He’s generally seen to be on equal footing with the others, and his rather aggressive way of talking to the other doesn’t exactly make you think baby of the team. He doesn’t use honorifics, and in general Astra’s referred to in the same terms as Haru and Rei. (As near as I can tell, anyway with my nonexistent Japanese skills, correct me if I’m wrong). The fact he’s in elementary school is a bit more incidental than anything.

We learn the most about Astra’s family and upbringing compared to the other characters, and it is central to his arc. We get a lot of information straightforwardly in the show. He had a lot of pressure on him as the heir to the school, and felt pressured to act the part of the perfect heir. Throughout the show we see him struggle with the pressure of being the heir. As a child he was extremely dedicated to following his father's footsteps. He didn’t seem to see himself as anything other than the heir to his father's school. He seemed set apart from other children, seemingly due to the closed-off way he acted. This dedication to being a good heir was to the detriment of his happiness. Until Musimon came into his life allowing him to loosen up and seek his own happiness. Classic stuff. But Astra is a little more at war with himself than may be obvious by his “annoying” attitude.

While we first learn about Astra suppressing his own eccentricities, in his debut episodes, it’s not until later that we learn about his mother, and learn that this side of his personality didn’t come out of nowhere. His mother is very similar to him, which gives us the question of why he ever became so disciplined in the first place if his behavior isn't out of place in his family, and his mother is a strong advocate for him doing his own thing. In fact, Astra seemed initially a bit embarrassed by his mother when he introduced her to the other Appdrivers. Of course this is almost certainly because his mother calling his friend “pretty” and gushing about her husband and how they met is embarrassing, and even if Astra himself acts just as obnoxious. But even so, he's clearly less respectful towards her. The reasons behind why Astra calls his mother by her first name are unclear, though it doesn't seem to stem from a lack of love for his mother.

But regardless, it helps build the idea that more likely, he was trying to win the approval of people outside his immediate family. After all, as shown in episode 7, it was the assumption that Astra would inherit the school by others that prompted Astra’s response to his father. Even if Astra’s father does have a desire for Astra to inherit his position, he also understands that it's first and foremost Astra’s life to live. Astra however does have a lot of respect for his father and seems to value his opinion immensely, he recognizes that not inheriting the school would be disappointing to his father and does not want to disappoint him. So while I think there is something to be said for Astra’s behavior relating to a desire to impress his father, I don’t personally think it's the origin in its entirety.

Astra over the course of the series is very independent and marches to his own beat, Astra, like Eri, had made the first step to change prior to his introduction, but that doesn’t mean he was already completely different from the boy who acted stiff to prove himself to others. Astra’s second episode deals with him succumbing to peer pressure in his new activity, and his final episode is about not succumbing to his uncle's expectations, the old expectations that kept him down for so long. (But it's also a bit about fulfilling Hinarin’s expectations, expectations he agreed to).

Despite Apptubing being the career choice where Astra does as he pleases, his final episode isn’t about him Apptubing because he wants to but as a way to help someone else. Particularly his cousin. While it isn’t explicitly clear if Astra knows it’s his cousin the fact of the matter is that he’s helping his family through his Apptubing, even if it is something he picked up for himself. (A reasoning perhaps parallels Eri’s reasons for being an idol, wanting to bring smiles to her mom, despite it clearly being something she herself enjoys). His care for his family is exactly the reason he continues to train to be the heir, but that doesn’t mean even if he doesn’t uphold expectations that he can’t be a help to his family.

Astra’s arc deals with expectations vs. a desire to help. Astra in large part is assertive about not having to help other people out and doing his own thing, recognizing he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to. But his actions consistently betray his care for others. I think this is most evident in the way Astra acted as if he wasn’t going to help Eri out with her elections, but did so anyway, even if he antagonized her a bit in the process, but ended up being the proudest of her accomplishments. Not to mention the way he continues to train as the heir, albeit on his own terms. Over the course of the series, he becomes more open with his care towards others, culminating in the jailbreak episode, but he’s always been shown to care. He’s finding that balance between living his own life and helping others.

It’s clear that Astra doesn’t hate being heir at least. He’s extremely determined to do both. And personally, I think it’s very possible that he sees Apptubing as a hobby. He after all proposed the half-hour limit himself. Even at the beginning with his most abrasive. He dutifully kept it to a relatively small impact on his life. For all that it’s brought up as an important element in his life, and he is shown breaking his own rule on occasion without consequence. One of the longest times we see him Apptubing is when he’s helping Eri out. Of course on the flip side of that, we have episode 8 where he breaks the rule because his videos aren't doing as well as he likes, but that's definitely tying back to his desire for people's approval. While he is for lack of a better word, tempted into giving up training to be an iemoto to dedicate himself to Apptubing, it isn’t something he seems to seriously consider at all.

The biggest thing Musimon gave him was not the courage to be an Apptuber, but the courage to be himself. Indulging in Apptubing for fun is merely a small part of that. Astra is still the good heir, but he is no longer letting that define his entire life, sometimes forgoing certain parts of training. But that doesn’t mean that tea ceremony is a bad part of his life. There’s also a certain balance in his personality between the abrasive “annoying” boy at the start of the series and the passive boy prior to the show's beginning. I don’t feel that the polite Astra is completely disingenuous. Astra is capable of acting calm and grounded, and this side of himself becomes more apparent as the series goes on, particularly with Eri who, in contrast to him, throws herself into her idol career with more and more genuine passion. When he supports Eri with his videos but asks her to take a break, which tracks with what we know about his fathers working habits. It’s his final focus episode where he is shown to be acting, more in someone else's interest, and even shown to be a bit embarrassed by it. In contrast to an Astra who even in episode 19, was not taking much seriously. I think it’s only fair to say Astra did genuinely inherit some of his father's more grounded and dutiful nature.

And while earlier I did say Astra’s age feels incidental, I don’t think that is to say it has no bearing on his role in the story. It's part of the reason Eri is so dismissive of him at first, Sure, the other’s treat him as equal, and are in no way particularly protective of him, nor do they expect him to be any less capable than him. But this isn’t to say Astra’s relative youthfulness isn’t apparent when with the others at least in the beginning. Astra is definitely on the more immature side of things, he after all is the one who started the rivalry with Eri because his ego was bruised (not that Eri's initial dismissal of him was helping matters any). As I said earlier, Astra mellowed as the show progressed and I think it’s a fair assumption to say he’d continue to do so. Not that he’ll lose his energy, but that he’ll be able to act with more maturity and consideration for others. The most common complaint about him I’ve heard is “annoying”, which is understandable. But that’s not accidental, even in-universe (hah), others seem to find him to be a bit much at first at the beginning of the series. His “annoying” personality is him testing the waters beyond the role of dutiful heir he’s always played. He’s annoying because he’s an 11-year-old boy who does not always know how to act in ways appropriate to his situation. He’s the kid of the group. I do understand if that still makes watching irritating. Watching should be fun after all, but it’s more of a matter of opinion than an objective flaw.

Unlike Gatchmon, Offmon, and Dokamon whose personalities seem to clash a bit with their buddies, Musimon and Astra are consistently on the same page, after episode 8. This is exemplified in episode 29, where Musimon runs away for fun rather than because he wants something from Astra, and Astra is the only partner who seems to have not been worried, recognizing what Musimon was doing. Of course, their fight in episode 8 was about Astra not being true to himself, thus naturally conflicting with the one who is on the same page as his true self. Musimon shares Astra’s high energy but caring nature. I’m not an expert on the Japanese language by any means, but there is something notable about the fact Musimon uses “Boku” to Astra’s usual “Ore”. Musimon and Astra are without a doubt very similar, the only difference in their demeanors being Musimon is perhaps a bit less confrontational. If Musimon being Astra’s buddy says anything about Astra, it’s probably that Astra is by his nature not quite as aggressive as he seems. Which for someone who clearly used to takes people's opinions of him to heart, seems about right.

Astra’s arc is all about expectations, expectations as an Apptuber, and as the heir. Astra living up to, or disregarding expectations based on what he believes is best. Living the life he wants to live.

Some final observations from me in regards to Astra, is that he’s paired with Fakemon for God Grade. While it’s probably in part just how things worked out logistically, it also makes a bit of sense as a foil. Fakemon is constantly being disingenuous, while a huge part of Astra’s arc is being true to himself, while also fulfilling other people's expectations of him. Also of note, Entermon is described as a Digimon who exists wherever you can find culture something that is particularly relevant to Astra.

While being biracial is not directly important to the story, it’s not incidental and clearly is thematically related to him being trapped between the traditional and the modern Japan. While in story Astra’s story is simply about outside expectations of inheritance, It’s possible to read Astra prior to the series as trying to overcompensate for his foreign mother in the eyes of the people at his father’s school. This is something I find notable considering that Appmon’s assistant producer, Akari Yanagawa, went on to become the producer of 2019’s Star Twinkle Precure, a season of Precure notable for the franchise's 2nd biracial cure, whose personal arc more obviously alluded to racism than Astra's, though still very indirectly.