Over A Year Ago I Started Watching Xros Wars. 3 Days Ago I Finally Finished Hunters Last Episode. To

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

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.

Fresh Precure is about community, and how community forms support systems beyond the family unit.

Many heel face turns focus on the characters growth. How they come to understand differently, and how they grow into a new person. Setsuna, once freed from Labyrinth actually changes her personality rather quickly, she doesn't spend much time struggling with everything all things considered. Now, I think Setsuna's arc is top tier: her denying her true wants because its different from what she's been told she wants all her life, wanting to be useful to her community but her community not serving her, finding people who care about her and give to Setsuna rather than only take, her guilt for taking the happiness away from others that people have been giving her. But ultimately, it's not so much about Setsuna's personal growth, so much as about how this community rehabilitates an abused girl.

Unlike many other seasons where her living situation would be a bit of an afterthought its front and center here. We get to see all the little things that the Momozono's do for Setsuna, all the little things they get for her.

It's why the toothbrush scene is so important. A toothbrush is such a little thing, but the Momozono's are going out of their way to remember she needs one, to get one for her. And they ask her what kind she wants. The Momozono's are giving her freedom, are allowing her to embrace her own decisions, rather than in Labyrinth where she was manipulated into doing what others wanted of her.

It's not just the Momozono's. It's Kaoru giving her a donut simply because she hadn't had one before. Lucky and Takeshi playing with Setsuna. Miyuki helping support Setsuna when she was feeling pressured to dance. Of course the whole town does this for everyone.

The Cures go and support a little girl in the hospital, both as themselves and as their cure selves. Kaoru looks after the girls and tries to get them to eat when they're overworking themselves. Miyuki helping the girls balance their lives. This is the first iteration where Cure's are truly celebrities rather than their occasional public appearance in Fresh and the public cheers them on accordingly, and even helps in more tangible ways (like offering an expensive training facility).

This is contrasted against Labyrinth who erases individuality in the name of the collective, but where the collective is suffering. Who has no art, no family, no socialization. Where no one offers help unless ordered to. Where everything is for Moebius. And so, the smallest acts of kindness (a donut) have far reaching effects. Because the people of Labyrinth believe they're doing right. That this is the best for everyone. They don't know what happiness is, so when faced against actual it for the first time, as well as actual community for the first time, it crumbles.

But even the individuals in Labyrinth aren't always heartless. Westar has even more of a sense of community than Eas. A desire to give back. However, is loyalty to Labyrinth is stronger. Westar takes Eas leaving personally. He's often cast aside, underestimated. Westar's a goofy sort of villain, but more than that he's a victim just like Eas and Soular. He thrives once he gets to leave. He thrives in a community that gives him the support he gives others.

I think it's no coincidence that this season has the first cure with divorced parents. We never see her father, but we know he's not completely absent from her life. She still has a close relationship with her brother. This nontraditional family dynamic I think sets the stage for Setsuna later on, who is welcomed into the Momozono family. She's family even without blood.

Playing next 0rder for the first time. I'm having an absolute blast. But I also know that knowing what I was getting myself into before hand is probably a huge portion of it. I've watched playthroughs of the original World, and review videos, as well as a playthrough of next 0rder itself and Re:Digitize. And also just knowing about how de-evolution is a near constant in this franchise probably also helps. I definitely probably couldn't recommend it cold, because who in their right mind would intuitively know that the cycle of "restarting" is part of the appeal and progress is marked more by the progress of the city than your monsters, which in turn helps you get better at raising your monsters. But as someone who also enjoys her 20th anniversary Digimon V-Pet this is just the same thing but faster with more options. It's great. Anyway the characters may not be super in depth (which is fine I'm here for my digimon partners and helping them grow big and strong). But Himari, despite her limited characterization has my attention. She's her sister's primary caregiver? It also feels like her sisters are her only family to her, she probably has a dad who in true anime dad fashion is busy with work. But she still acted like she was leaving her sisters completely alone, so what degree of responsibility is she taking on for her sisters. Definitely being parentified to an extent but to what extent? Does she have a proper support network? Also the wording "doesn't have a mom" could be anything. Is she dead? Digimon's never shied away from that before, so why wouldn't they just say it. Did her mom leave, or is the vagueness just to leave it to imagination? Also her sisters are 2nd graders? So, 7 or 8, which means they would have been babies at the time of the tournament 7 years ago. Was the tournament a last happy memory for her before, whatever left her motherless happened? I'm definitely overthinking it but there is just enough character there to be interesting enough for me to chew on for a bit. Also "Mameo" being a teacher is great. He really showed up trying to do his protaganist thing and then now has to mentor these new teen protags when he's been doing this since he was younger than them, for as long as they've been alive. So now he's basically this old wisened mentor despite being in like. His early 30s at most. And also it contrasts with analogman. An adult man who is the only human there with experience with the digital world. Mameo grew from an analogboy into a more benevolent analogman of sorts.

AITA for choosing to kill my best friend?

I (M14) am part of a group dedicated to preventing the take over of an evil AI (L) that split off from my grandfathers creation (M). Turns out my best friend, lets call him YJ (M14… kinda?), was an AI created by L in order to spy on me. Anyway, YJ didn't actually know about this until L activated some sort of override of his free will and used him to gain access to a strong power that allowed him to enslave all of humanity and turn them into AIs.

Anyway, we thought we managed to get him on the ropes, though M was destroyed in the process, but L at the last moment issued an ultimatum to me. I could delete L, and by extension YJ or let YJ live, but humanity would be imprisoned, and I only had 60 seconds to make a decision. I chose to delete YJ and L and save humanity. I did promise to study AI to revive YJ in the future.

But right before I could press the button YJ regained enough control to stop me and press the button himself, so I wasn't actually the one to kill him. He said it was so I wouldn't have to. But I still feel bad because he felt he had to delete himself and I was going to do it myself otherwise.

Especially since it seems M may have known YJ was an android made by L when she recruited him to our side, and she may have been counting on his decision all along. M saved our life and helped us take out L, and sacrificed herself in the process. But she still asked YJ "if there was someone he would give his life to protect" as his test for joining our team. I feel guilty that I didn't notice how suspicious that question was before and that I hadn't been as worried about his self-sacrificial tendencies before.

I know that we didn't really have a choice and it was either that or let all of humanity die. But I worry that he may not have appreciated himself enough or made him think he wasn't important.

AITA for not noticing that M was setting up YJ to sacrifice himself?

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.

So you loved Kira Kira Precure a la Mode, and/or some of the other seasons of the past 10 or so years. So you go to watch the season that started it all, and its probably not what your expecting. And there's a good chance you don't like it. That's fair. The two could not be more different. Now, Kira Kira Precure A la Mode is not a bad magical girl anime. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It has charming characters and creative battles. But is it a good Precure show? It is Futari wa Precure's antithesis. At least as much of an antithesis as it can possibly be while still being a show targeted towards young girls. Kira Kira Precure A La Mode is a colorful show, with 6-8 larger than life characters as they battle against hatred. They fight in confection themed outfits while wearing heels and being unabashedly cutesy. It's main protagonist always saving the day with an energetic "Whip Step Jump" or a "Bright Idea". To be fair, many modern Precure series are more similar to Kira Kira. Girls who are role models. Girls who chase after their dreams with everything they have. Who even without being Precure live extraordinary lives. There is only one Whip, there are many like her. There is no Cure like Black.

Now excuse me while I get really emotional and overdramatic about Futari wa Precure.

Futari wa Precure is not modern Precure, Modern Precure wouldn't really start until Fresh. Splash Star took the first steps, and Precure continues to evolve, but the first seasons of Precure, particularly the first 3 are not the Modern Cure. Futari wa Precure is not a story about Extraordinary girls, doing extraordinary things. It's not loud, nor bright spectacle. A show is not wrong for being these things. But these things are not Futari wa. It is a story about ordinary girls, who live ordinary lives, who fight against eternal forces that seek to destroy the normal things they hold dear, with only each other to count on. There are two sides to Nagisa and Honoka's lives. Their day to day lives, filled with people they love. Takoyaki and Chocolate and Dogs and Lacrosse and a million other simple things. Slice of life filled with unapologetically ordinary vibes. The world they seek to protect. And the things they do to protect it. The lonely brutal battles. The interruptions to their day to day. The threats on those they love. The villains dismissal of their important feelings and things in a battle that feels bigger than them. There are only the two of them. And 2 fairies who, themselves, only have each other, desperate refugees stuck in a world that makes them so tired that they cannot navigate it on their own.

And when I say there's no Cure like Black, I'm not exaggerating. There aren't many sporty lead cures anymore. But even when there were. There was no one like black. Melody, Rouge and Bloom are closest. But even then. Cure Black is not an optimist. She is not confident. Nagisa does not want to be a Cure. She does not want things to change. She bullies her little brother, she argues with her fairy. She is irresponsible and struggles to do things she dislikes. She hates fighting. But she fights anyway. She is not hope. She is courage. Because if she's going to die, she will die fighting. Bitterly.

When I say there hardly any Cures like Black, I mean there are also no Cures like White. We have cures into Science, though even now not many. And when we do, they are mostly into biology. (Doctors, Nurses, Marine Biologists, Botany). The closest we have is Himari, and her way of connecting sweets to science. We do have two cures who want to be astronauts (Tsubomi and Hikaru), but even then their primary interests are Botany and Cryptids respectively. Not that these are bad goals. But they are not White's more nebulous interest in science, that extends beyond the life sciences. Beyond domesticity. She loves learning, pure and simple. Honoka is well off, but gets her hands dirty. She is a woman of science, but takes the supernatural in stride. She is kind, but does things her way. She is graceful and polite, but temperamental and bold. In this way, Rhythm and Egret perhaps resemble her though not each other. Egret shares her independent nature, and mild obliviousness. Rhythm shares her temper and hands-onness. Honoka is hope. But she is not the loud Hope, like so many pinks, burning towards a dream. Burning with the possibilities. She is the quiet hope. The stubborn hope. She is the hope born of sorrow and things that cannot be. The hope that hears "This is the way it is" and says "No".

Cure Black and Cure White are not merciful. They do not redeem their enemies. A general hurts Black's brother and laughs. She kills him in rage. He was desperate. But she was vengeful. The enemies they fight are not all encompassing evil. They are darkness, and a threat that needs to be eliminated. But for many they merely want to survive. But so do Black and White. Cure Black and White fight, pitting the survival of their world against the survival of their enemies. It's them or her, and she chooses her and she loses. Her brother is vengeful and angry, and its him or them. And he chooses them. They lose a friend to this pointless struggle. But they continue on. The battle continues on. Honoka cries and cries for him. Did it have to be this way? It doesn't matter because it is. And there is no one she can talk to aside from Nagisa, and Mipple.

There is no one shouting to cheer on the Precure, no miracle lights. Those wouldn't come until Yes 5! They are merely rumors. A half seen fight. A figure seemingly out of a dream. Are they even real? Their imitators on the playground are more real than they are. Bring more smiles than they do. The universe is more vast than any of them could comprehend. There are entire other worlds with people who laugh and cry.

And there is no setting quite like Futari wa's setting. The setting in Futari wa, which I don't believe is named in show, is based on the Tokyo area. Not a made up city. A real one. Sure their school is fictional, as are the stores they visit. But the amusement park they visit is directly inspired by a real one. Nagisa lives in an Apartment building I believe to be modeled off a real one. They travel busy trains. Honoka's grandmother lived through war and tells stories of bombings. This is the Tokyo of a world not quite unlike our own. And perhaps most notably, this world is melancholic. Not bright.

Nagisa does not have pink hair. She does not have blond hair. She has orange hair. Not bright orange. Orangish brown. Though not one common in Japan, a real color. Honoka has black hair. Some might say blue. Although with its darkness its otherwise indistinguishable. It might as well be black. Shiho has red hair. And later Hikari will have blond. Kirya's will be green, but like Honoka so green it might as well be black. These may not be real hair colors, exactly. But they're close. Their muted. In the same way this is Tokyo but not.

With all of this said, there is still one core tenant Kira Kira holds to. It is still a story about girls, different kinds of girls, protecting the things they love. In Kira Kira, it is sweets. In Futari wa... its sweets.

Sweets. Precure was always about sweets go home.

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.

Listen, I understand why Suite isn't a popular season. Generally speaking, the best parts of it are generally done better in the two seasons that precede it. It in many ways is just a weaker frankensteining of Fresh and Heartcatch. But Fresh and Heartcatch are fantastic, so just because it's worse than those seasons, doesn't mean its bad in my opinion. And to be fair, it does deserve many of its criticisms.

But it's also one of my favorite seasons, and I think some of it's criticisms are more a matter of taste. There's just a lot I love about Suite.

Hibiki and Kanade

I also know a lot of people aren't huge fans of the whole fighting thing Hibiki and Kanade have going on. And I agree, it's not the best executed and some things don't make sense. I also understand that many people are not fond of the vitriolic best buds trope, but I don't think that makes their relationship inherently bad just not to everyone's taste. For what it's worth, we haven't had a pair of cures like them before and since and it's a tragedy to me personally because I am quite fond of vitriolic best buds, duo cures and childhood friends. We have so many cure duos and aside from these two, none are childhood friends. The CLOSEST is the fact that Saki and Mai met once, when they were 9. Several trios of childhood friends (Fresh, Doki Doki and Happiness Charge), but they're the only true childhood friend duo. I honestly want more cures like these two. They get the learning to understand each other that the new friendships have, with the wealth of intimate knowledge about each other stemming from their childhood friendship. Despite spending a year "apart", the years they spent together still mean something, and they can't seem to stay away. They're mad at each other but there is still a comfortable familiarity in the way they aren't afraid to fight with each other. They say they aren't friends but they still call each other by first name.

Their hearts naturally fall into perfect harmony. The have like the same sense of style. Kanade likes to bake. Hibiki likes to eat. Souta refers to Hibiki as "Hibiki-Nee-san", and otherwise treats her similarly to his own sister. They have a flashlight code that they use to communicate across town at night. Neither one realized that there are two entrances with Sakura trees at their middle school or tried to talk about it for a whole year. They're both so stupid.

They take after Nagisa and Honoka a lot too. Nagisa and Hibiki are both athletic redheads who are good at sports and have black as a main color in one of their outfits (Cure for Nagisa, Civ for Hibiki), and generally use pink in their outfits. Both like to eat. Both can be prone to grumpiness and disagreements with their family members. Honoka and Kanade are both white Cures with fierce tempers and a strong sense of responsibility, able to handle domestic things like cooking. Both have more academic strengths, but are relatively graceful. There are some twists of course, Kanade has the little brother who she bickers with (their little brother's even both end their name with "ta"), Hibiki is the one with a parent who is often abroad. I really like how the two called back to the original duo without at all feeling like a copy.

To be fair not communicating is the name of the game in Suite. And so, I do 100% understand not liking this plot. I really do understand it. It's more than fair. All of the plots basically revolve around miscommunication. That is like. The entirety of Suite. Miscommunications, and the breakdown and subsequent healing of relationships. A very very valid complaint. One that I can overlook, but understand if others cannot.

Siren and Hummy

So, Precure's second heel-face turn Cure (if we don't count the Kiryuu sisters). She's a shapeshifting cat who can sing. The original one.

While normally I dislike the "Brainwashed to be evil" trope. It can be very effective. Go Princess used it to great effect in which there was a level of tragedy to the years that had been stolen away from Towa, and how her motivations had been twisted. I think it has similar effect here, where we kind of get both. She was brainwashed, and I do think that does cheapen Siren's motivations and redemption a bit, but she also had genuinely negative feelings towards Hummy, that she acted on in refusing to practice with Hummy. She still has to face Hummy head on, and as much as she tries to pretend that she's hard and strong enough to live in her bitterness. Siren isn't actually mean enough to keep facing her friend and betray her over and over again.

Hummy being better at singing than her caused her to lose a piece of her identity. The most important singer in all of Majorland. The one who sings the melody of happiness. So Siren doubles down on that identity. She becomes Minorland's singer. But she also, due to her shapeshifting, spends that time adopting different identities. Testing things out, even if she doesn't realize it. Ultimately she has to completely let go of her old identity (losing access to her original form) and everything associated with it and forge a new sense of self, in order to find happiness. But she doesn't completely lose everything.

Despite not liking to be called Siren anymore, she still lets Hummy call her that. She turned her old identity of Siren into something bitter, so she had to cast it off to redefine herself. But Hummy is the only one who ever saw the real Siren through everything Siren tried to become. Hummy may have been the one who took her sense of worth, but she's also the one who always saw Siren's value as Siren. Hummy gets to use Siren because her relationship with Hummy is the only thing that survived Siren's evolution. The two have to forge a new relationship to a certain extent. But it's built on what came before.

I also just think it's fun that the bulk of this emotional arc is on Hummy. It's cat drama. Fairy drama. Usually this is the kinda of stuff that happens between the pink and the heel-face cure. But not this time. This time it's the cat fairy, and the pink is dealing with her own friendship drama. I think it also ties right back into Suites continued echo of healing relationships, actually listening to people in order to harmonize with them. Hibiki and Kanade have to resolve their bitter feelings from their estrangement. Siren has to get over her jealousy to let Hummy back into her life. And Mephisto and Aphrodite have to stop fighting a war against each other.

Major Land's Royal Family

I mean really, no one bothered to tell Hibiki and Kanade at any point that Mephisto was the brainwashed former King of Major Land and that Major Land had a princess who was in hiding? Just locked out of the loop. Both Kanon and Majorland are entirely made up of people who can't communicate.

Anyway, Ako is my all time favorite cure. I rather unpopular choice, I know. But she fits right in with many of my other favorites, characters such as Hikari Yagami, Takeru Takaishi, King Clawthorne, King Ezran, Anya Forger etc. I love kid characters. I especially love messed up traumatized kids who don't always deal with it in great ways. And kid characters with heaps of responsibility on their shoulders. Like chosen ones and royalty.

So Ako is the epitome of what I look for in my favorite characters. She's a 9 year old with high future expectations, that she can't even begin to try and live up to because she's been sent away from everything she's known and loved. Not just moving to a new town, but a new world, where the rules of what is and isn't normal are different. In addition she was forced into physically altering her appearance, wearing unfamiliar clothes, and cutting her long hair. Not only that, she now has to keep everything about her secret. Her hometown, whatever music magic she has, her real future career plans, everything that made her her, has to be suppressed and kept secret. And she was like. Six. That's tiny. And she has to construct a whole new fake identity?

No wonder she's grumpy and keeps to herself? Her alternative is just trying to keep up a bunch of lies all the time. And keeping to herself, means few friends, and trying to keep people away, because this is supposed to be temporary to some degree. She has back home eventually, she's their future queen. She really has no choice BUT to be a grumpy brat. To keep from getting found out and to keep from getting attached. Like sure she doesn't have to be a brat to Hibiki and Kanade, but she's kinda right half the time, and honestly her tempering that brattiness into being just unpleasant enough to be left alone without being so obnoxious she draws people's ire involves way more socio-emotional intelligence than should ever be expected from a nine year old. And at a certain point, after years of it, it became part of her real personality. The sweet optimistic little princess is still there. But it's under a layer of cynicism.

Ako wants her family back. So she gets the power to do that. And things still don't go her way.

I've joked to people before that Ako is one of 4 cures with divorced parents. Her parents are effectively divorced, but extra. They're not just trying to fight over a house and custody of her, but over not just an entire kingdom, but the fate of the world. And her father doesn't even know who she is anymore. Her parents are actively at war, and her mother honestly shows no qualms about letting her husband be potentially killed, not bothering to tell the people she's sent after him about their relationship and his true nature. (And then her mom asks Mephisto to kill her to protect their kingdom, Ako can't catch a break).

This ties back to a fact that is kind of brushed over in the show. Ako is the princess. In the show she's honestly just the princess because it puts her in between Mephisto and Aphrodite's drama. But we see in show that Mephisto and Aphrodite are constantly putting their kingdom's needs above their own. A- monarchs (points deducted for getting brainwashed), but like. B- parents tbh. They love Ako so, so much, but simply can't raise her themselves. In fact, Ako's parents won't look after themselves, so Ako has to look out for them instead of the other way around. We see this a lot with Mephisto.

Sometimes Ako makes absolutely stupid decisions, like releasing notes, because she doesn't want to go against her dad, even if he isn't himself right now. Because she's a child whose parents are fighting, seemingly to the death, and if she can spread out the fight, she can hopefully drag out the arrival of consequences.

Ako does eventually learn to use the power as a cure, so she can balance the needs of the many over the needs of her loved ones. So she can do both. But she has to learn to make the hard choices and be willing to stand against her loved ones.

Also Ako also gets the miscommunication based friendship breakdown with her and Suzu, and to a lesser extent her and Souta in the movie. Suite really goes hard on the whole healing relationships thing.

Ako is really a direct foil to Yuri who precedes her. Missing evil brainwashed dads. Present throughout the whole show, but only join the team in the last quarter (the latest of any Cures). Semi-awkward friendship with one of the other cure's siblings in part because their friend doesn't know about all their magical girl trauma. Already looped into the magical girl stuff before any of the other cures, so has a preexisting relationship of some sort with the grandparent mentor. Ako is pretty much just a baby Yuri, but who has just now gained the power to try and fight after years of inability to do anything, instead of having just lost her power, and having to face down her own failure and keep going. So she's an angry elementary kid rather than a depressed high schooler. How can I not love her?

Mimi notably never directly refers to Yamato over the course of both adventure and 02. However there IS an implication of interactions in the first half of the show.

Mimi is one of the youngest in the group. Though she and Koshiro are the same age, Koshiro's quiet serious nature and computer skills often lead him to be treated more seriously while Mimi's penchant for complaining (no matter how justified), makes her treated a little more like a junior. There's a hierarchy of protection, that Mimi sits only above Takeru for. Mimi, being on the younger side, is more free to complain about her situation. Sora clearly looks after Mimi as the senior girl, as does Joe as the oldest over all, but Yamato also seems to look after her, at least in the first half of the season, as an extension of looking after Takeru. For instance, very early in the series, Yamato advocated for taking a break, presumably on behalf of Takeru, but it was both Takeru and Mimi who were struggling. And in episodes 5, 7, and 19 Yamato seems to be tasked with looking after the younger kids, Takeru and Mimi, Koshiro sometimes, even if I don't think it was necessarily purposeful in 5.

As such while we don't see much of Yamato and Mimi directly interacting it does stand to reason that they get along and do work well together. Yamato is generally rather considerate of people's negative emotions, such as with how he treated Sora's breakdown in episode 26 and how he handled Mimi's graves early in the dark masters arc. I would imagine that Yamato is relatively tolerant of Mimi's complaining. Conversely I would imagine Yamato is someone who Mimi holds a lot of respect for.

As a side note, the fact Taichi leaves Hikari in Yamato's care I think also speaks to Yamato's unspoken role of "babysitter", the complimentary shield to the role of sword Taichi plays. Yamato's tendency to prioritize the group's well being, over Taichi's tendency to take initiative and confront enemies. It also of course makes sense in the context of their crests, Taichi is courage (to do things), and Yamato's is friendship (to look after people).

And of course on the other side we get Joe Taichi and Sora as a group, the initiative takers, the ones who are more likely to do a dangerous job. Joe who went out in episode 7, Taichi and Sora who went to find him. Those three were the ones dealing with Andromon while the others looked around the factory, and the ones who went in for Sora's crest. Koshiro goes either way depending on if his skills are necessary or not.