Vote For Whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

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.

Sorry for the delay, I've been fighting battles in the real world (boring schoolwork-related battles, but battles nevertheless). Honestly, when I finalized the Katsura's I was tired and was just going to call it a day. Which is a shame, because I feel like I didn't do them justice, but whatever. And I was going to do the same for Haru… but Haru’s section is the one I had the most issues with, to begin with. Simply because as our main character, he’s perhaps got the most going on, but also the most straightforward which is just overall not very appealing to write honestly. So Haru involves a bit more rewatching and I just didn't have time, (Most of the Katsura’s brother’s details are confined to a few easily identifiable episodes) so I just cast it aside. And Haru's relates a lot to Yuujin which. Hoo boy. I have a lot to say about him.

Anyway, without further delay here are my thoughts on our main protagonist.

Haru is the kind of boy who watches and admires hot-headed anime protagonists, rather than the kind of boy who is a hot-headed anime protagonist. Though he admires these characters greatly for their values and beliefs, Haru himself starts the show viewing himself as a side character. This is a point that is refuted in-universe by Yuujin, and out-of-universe by well, Haru being billed as the protagonist. “Are you a protagonist?” is the question that defines Haru’s arc, and Haru spends the season proving his response of “yes” true to himself and those around him. But Haru’s assessment that he's more of a side character is not inaccurate when it comes to his personality. He can be somewhat self-centered and prone to annoyance and embarrassment. He’s not very confident, he’s a bit cowardly, likes to read, not athletic but also not shown to be particularly intelligent. He’s not shown to be dumb, or anything, just nothing is really made of his academic abilities and he’s not shown to be particularly strategic. In fact, he on multiple occasions is shown to be fairly clever, but he doesn’t exactly make up for his more mild personality with genius strategic ability. He is able to come up with applicable search terms to situations, deciding to draw Shootmon’s attention using Puzzlemon, and using Navimon to track Mienumon. But He takes hours to solve Puzzlemon’s puzzles (though he does solve them which is more than Astra or Eri can say.

Haru’s story is about becoming a protagonist. Though at the beginning of the series Haru decides for himself he’s going to be a protagonist, this is a fate that was out of his hands. Though we don’t know it at first, Haru has a very personal connection to this whole thing, as Haru’s grandfather is responsible for this whole mess, but more importantly, Haru has been monitored by super AI since he was a small child. Super AI who manipulated events throughout the entire season, for all our protagonists, but in particular have been manipulating the events in Haru’s life since he was in 4th grade at the least. He himself is an ordinary boy, but he’s part of an extraordinary situation, even if he doesn’t know it at first. A situation where knowingly or not Haru has been monitored and groomed to be an ideal protagonist. While we don’t know to what degree Haru has been influenced, if really much at all (purposefully) prior to the series start beyond monitoring, AI has unknowingly played a huge role in who Haru is.

But even so, Haru’s nature as a kind, fantasy-loving, boy is genuine. His desire to be a protagonist is real, even if potentially encouraged even indirectly, by Leviathan, the machinations behind Haru himself is the one who takes these steps to be the kind of hero he wants to be. Kind and brave.

And while I said, Haru starts the show as cowardly, that doesn’t actually mean he’s any less prone to reckless behavior later in the series. Haru’s reckless in the same way many protagonists, Digimon or otherwise are. While Haru may not have realized it, Haru’s admiration of the protagonist's values makes them his values, even if Haru initially lacks the same emotional strength to follow through on these ideals. While Haru starts out as a quiet bookworm, (and those traits don’t just disappear, although certainly overshadowed by everything else going on in his life) Haru makes a constant effort to be better. To make the right decisions. To reach out to those that are hurting and offer a helping hand. When he chooses to help save Christmas for Ai, or becomes dedicated to helping Rei with Hajime, or diving in to help Gatchmon as he drowns in the L-Virus. But these actions gradually require more and more action on Haru’s part, until we reach the end and Haru, Haru, who started the series cowering under his covers, is leaping off the top of a building on the slim chance it will help save the world. The one who has the courage to look his best friend in the eye and say I’m sorry, but I have to do this, but I will make it up to you.

Aside from the connections between humanity and AI, Appmon has another big theme of choice. Haru has to make a choice. The first choice Haru makes is to assert that he is a protagonist. The last choice is to do his duty as a protagonist and make the choice. Generally speaking, a good protagonist is one who actively pushes the direction of a story, actively makes choices that have consequences. It’s why we associate many protagonists as leaders, while being the leader and the main protagonist aren’t mutually exclusive they overlap in the way that they make decisions that affect the story and their teammates. I’m sure we all remember that moment in Digimon Adventure where it’s Taichi who has to make the choice of which card to use to take them home. The choice Taiki made to rescue Shoutmon. The moment where Takuya makes that choice to go home (another series about choice). Choices are important. While the choices Haru and the others make are certainly influenced by the AI, Denemon notes that Minerva likely gave the questions as a prompt in the right direction rather than as the deciding factor in choosing them, but ultimately they are the ones making the decisions. Leviathan gives Haru the choice between Yuujin and humanity under the mistaken belief of being able to predict Haru’s choice. (And is proven wrong yet again when it's Yuujin who pulls the plug). But Haru proves humanity, life, as fully capable of defining their own lives with their decisions. Haru growing into a protagonist involves him growing more proactive, which is the detail Yuujin comments on in episode 2.

But it’s not Haru’s growing courage and confidence that marks him as the main protagonist of Appmon. It’s his kindness, the trait that he had from the very beginning that facilitates his growth, and the Appdriver’s successes. His kindness is what Yuujin uses to label Haru as the protagonist. Haru is the one who gathered the Appdrivers together, who reached out to Rei. Who reached out to someone who was once, and possibly still, his enemy once he had been betrayed. Haru’s kindness is what won him Yuujin’s genuine admiration, to the point where Yuujin was willing to die for him. This is a kindness that he’s had since elementary school. In a story about the questions of the dangers of AI, and the growing connections between humanity and AI’s, Haru’s kindness is the answer Appmon gives. It’s this charisma that makes him the natural foil to Charismon. It’s this genuine kindness that brings others to his side and inspires actions to protect others. Not to mention that beyond Haru’s kindness, Haru wasn’t the type to be easily discouraged even prior to meeting Yuujin, learning soccer even though he wasn’t very good at it. It’s this determination that pulls him through difficult RPGs, and spending hours on puzzles.

Haru isn’t a total nice guy. He’s capable of selfishness at times. He’s capable of being annoyed with others, (often Gatchmon). Particularly earlier in the series before he realized his capability for helping others. For the first couple episodes, Haru regularly has moments where he expresses annoyance at his situation. Focused on his own embarrassment, and having to be prompted into action by Gatchmon. He’s a bit of a coward, to the point of actively trying to escape the fight, and rather pitifully insists he’s not fit for the situation. Similarly, while Gatchmon goes to find Haru to fight Leviathan, Gatchmon also starts with some somewhat cowardly behavior, being afraid to even say Leviathan’s name. The kind of behaviors that make you go “Hey, why would an AI choose him”. But Haru quickly grows into the role of the protagonist, out of a genuine desire to help others, Gatchman and Ai in particular. And when I say quickly I mean quickly (again growth as soon as episode 2). He still demonstrates some more selfish tendencies in those early episodes (wanting to read instead of taking a cooped up Gatchmon trick or treating in episode 4) but as others join Haru’s team they become less prominent. The moment he declares himself a protagonist he starts to live up to the kind of protagonist he wants to be, even if takes a little bit for him to fully grow into the role, demonstrating the power this subtle guidance had on Haru and the others.

Haru’s family, despite its plot relevance, is pushed to the background, which is kind of odd for a Digimon series, especially one set in the real world. For Haru early on we meet his mom and see his home. His mother is apparently a housewife who runs a blog. She seems to care about Haru a lot and is shown to be rather attentive, noticing odd sounds coming from his room on numerous occasions, including recognizing Denemon’s voice. She also seemed to be on good terms with Denemon, and was willing and able to tell Haru about him. That doesn’t really tell us a lot about Haru however, it does tell us that Haru grew up in a loving household and that Haru seemed to inherit his mild, but observant nature from her.

Denemon, while plot-relevant, died when Haru was very small, and so while he has everything to do with the situation Haru is in now, he doesn’t seem to have a whole lot to do with the way Haru is. And really they are opposites in a lot of ways, Denemon being a passionate and ambitious person while Haru is more reserved and at the start of the series significantly less ambitious. That said, Denemon and Haru do have a few similarities. Both are somewhat forward-thinking and curious people. Haru’s Buddy is a search Appmon. To search for answers, to find something you want to know. Denemon built Minerva to help solve problems, which serves a similar function to a search app if you think about it. Furthermore, both Haru and Denemon are very open-minded and put a lot of hope in the future of humanity to live alongside AI. Of course, by the end of the series, Haru comes to share in his grandfather’s interest in AI as well as his more hard-working nature.

We never meet Haru’s father, despite being Denemon’s son, and presumably still around in some capacity, due to being mentioned neutrally when discussing Haru’s relationship to Denemon, but there really isn’t enough there to extrapolate from. But Appmon’s finale, and Yuujin’s revelation give us the implication that Haru was not the only one being monitored by Leviathan, which may suggest there are others like Yuujn to monitor other people in Denemon’s life. After all, Yuujin seems pretty geared to monitoring Haru specifically. Even if there aren’t other androids, Haru is not the only person from Denemon’s life who Leviathan paid attention to. Haru’s father, Denemon’s son, is a likely candidate as well. But of course, we don’t see any of that, so that’s left to the realm of theories and fanfics.

If I were to wager a guess, part of the reason Haru grew so entrenched in the Appmon situation is in part due to his age. As Denemon’s grandson, Haru was probably by far the youngest of those who Leviathan deemed important enough to monitor. Which also made it difficult to monitor. If Yuujin is the only android, he probably is an android because it's difficult to recruit children to befriend a target the way an adult would. And if he’s not the only android, Yuujin still would have involved the most upkeep and attention due to the fact Yuujin had to age. Either way monitoring Haru was probably a bit more of an endeavor than any other character. On top of that his youthful open-mindedness (and free time) was definitely an asset for him bridging the gap between humans and AI, with both Yuujin and the Appmon. Though, all of that is just speculative.

Gatchmon is very aggressive when compared to Haru, which while an uncommon Goggle Boy/Partner pairing, isn’t really new either. Gatchmon assertive "ore". While Yuujin is definitely who Haru imagines as a protagonist type, Gatchmon is more in line with a typical shonen protagonist with his recklessness and aggressive nature. This is a role swap that has been done before, notably in Xros Wars where you could consider Shoutmon to be the real main protagonist. But it’s still somewhat refreshing (and done much differently than in Xros Wars anyway). Gatchmon isn't always the most sensitive or the most selfless, as he gets irritated by Offmon and is a general nuisance to Haru in some of the early episodes. Gatchmon is the one who gives Haru the strength to take action to protect and become the person Haru wanted to be. Gatchmon also shows a desire to get involved, his investigation leading him to Leviathan and eventually to Haru, the way Haru desires to be a protagonist. They share the same desire (that all of our main trio does really), to be people who make a difference. Gatchmon’s thematic connection to Haru is highlighted in the finale, where they are tied by their search for something.

“It was a destined encounter, arranged by a greater power” Those are among the first words Haru speaks in the series, referring to his encounter with Gatchmon. But Appmon is unique among Digimon series in that we see no hide or hair of a power that could be what we consider a god. We know who arranged this meeting, and it is perhaps fair to refer to Minerva and/or Leviathan as a higher power. But that’s the thing about Appmon. The grand forces that rock the earth, with their perfect schemes and subtle influence are ultimately man-made. The final form of Appmon are “God Grades”, and mostly derive their names from human gods. But they too are man-made. While I could probably say a lot about Appmon’s discussion on how humanity's greatest influencing factor, the one force closest to a real god, is something we made ourselves. But nevertheless, Haru as the grandson of the creator of these “higher powers” proves humans worth. A war of ideals battled out between Denemon’s children, children who have grown past him. In Greek mythology, the gods are repeatedly overthrown by their children. Zeus overthrew Cronus, who overthrew Uranus. The God Grades just so happen to be largely named for Greek deities.

But unlike those stories in which the gods do everything they can to prevent being overthrown by their own children, Denemon does not begrudge the AI the chance to grow and surpass him. He and Haru, and all of the Applidrivers, put their trust into building connections and putting their trust in the AI, helping them to grow stronger. While Leviathan does take advantage of this, allowing the children to grow stronger to then consume the god grades, the god grades come about because the kids weren’t afraid of the AI having more power than them. They were perfectly content with living together. Unlike many of your more conventional protagonists, Haru isn’t exactly the most aggressive kid. Haru’s not a leader in the traditional sense. Haru is far more inclined to follow the leader, which makes him exactly the kind of person who is fine with not being the most powerful or important person in the room. Appmon’s big central question is of the singularity, the fear of being overtaken by the AI we created. So it's fitting that Appmon's protagonist, is a character who solves their issues through conflict, but through reaching out. Who breaks the trope of the self-fulfilling prophecy that's repeated over and over again throughout the history of storytelling of trying to destroy those who are predicted to destroy you. Who better as a Digimon protaganist?

Over a year ago I started watching Xros Wars. 3 days ago I finally finished Hunters last episode. To be fair in the interim I also watched... every other digimon anime in its entirety (except for some movies), finished Cyber Sleuth and played the entirety of Hackers memory.

But I do have some thoughts about Xros Wars, or at least how I'm interpreting things.

So. Taiki.

Taiki's is a “Paragon” type of hero whose biggest flaws are being too dedicated to helping people and as such sometimes collapsing. Admittedly far from my favorite type of character, even when done well. Xros Wars fortunately does make this a flaw that causes them issues at times. Unfortunately though, in my opinion, it does not properly acknowledge this flaw. 

It causes problems in the Lake Zone, when it puts him out of commission. But aside from that it doesn’t really come up. It also sort of comes up again during the Death Generals arc, both with Gravimon’s core, and Yuu’s game. Two instances where it really is Taiki’s life vs. their goals. And the answer seems to be “Taiki is worth more healthy than he is sick/wounded/dead”. Which I think is a good take on the “too good” archetype. And it is something Taiki seems to do less as time goes on.

But I do think Taiki does have a different arc, that does actually get handled better that this ties into. Taiki’s final arc in relation to Apollomon boils down to sometimes, tough decisions have to be made. And I think this is what they were trying to do in episode 25. However, the situation that they are presenting isn’t really a “no good answers” deal, as much as it is Kiriha being an asshole. Taiki learning to have to make tough decisions is a great one for him. The only thing I would wish for in this regard is perhaps a better build up to this. But again, I think this is just a smaller piece of what is supposed to be Taiki’s main arc. But the core of this, is Taiki is someone who can’t turn his back on injustice, can’t turn his back on people. But is willing to throw himself into harm's way for other people. And these two points are related. It parallels Nene and Yuu’s relationship, in which Nene would do anything for Yuu, but in doing so fails to recognize Yuu’s autonomy which ends up hurting everyone involved. It foils Kiriha’s narrative in which he takes responsibility for being too weak to handle things when really he’s a victim.

While I don’t think it’s handled the greatest, I do think this is one of Xros Wars main points. You are not responsible for the actions of other people. You are worth just as much as any other person. Other people can be at fault. Other people can help you out. Everyone is an individual. 

Taiki in episode 30 is not properly giving Akari and Zenjirou the space to make their own decisions. They can’t come anyway, but he’s not really allowing them autonomy. In fairness, Taiki accidentally put them in danger in the first place and it would make sense that he feels guilty for that. But Akari and Zenjirou are their own people who can make their own decisions, and I felt like Taiki grasped that at the end of that arc, or was at least on his way there. Which is why Taiki keeping things from Akari and Zenjirou in Hunters is dumb, although I'm not really judging questionable Hunters decisions in the context of judging Xros.

This also extends to Taiki’s “traumatic backstory” in which Taiki felt guilty about the decisions someone else had made. Manga Taiki had a similar incident, but that incident Taiki was at least a little more involved in the events that transpired. But in both cases, Taiki takes responsibility for something that is not his own fault, in what on the surface seems to be altruism, but is really egotistical. While I think I like the manga’s take on this better, the anime has its own charm in being such an insignificant incident that Taiki latched onto. Either way I think Taiki’s real arc in Xros Wars is coming to realize that he is just one person and that he can’t make decisions for other people. You might even be able to consider the final episodes of Xros Wars, when he willingly patches the torch to Tagiru to be accepting he can’t do it all (or the fact he’s literally too injured to do anything or a half-baked excuse to justify Tagiru, your choice). 

Taiki is capable of denying others help, to a certain extent. Taiki denies helping Shoutmon, at first, because he doesn’t think Shoutmon is someone who's actually in trouble. At least, not to the point of prioritizing him over Zenjirou and Akari, who he stuck in another world, and that takes precedence. He thinks Shoutmon is asking for help for something unnecessary, for his own selfish dream. Taiki’s manga backstory actually makes more sense here because Taiki’s dream lead to hurting others, and that could make him more critical of self-aggrandizing dreams. But that’s a different story. Regardless, Taiki is easily persuaded and it seems it was the “Bigger” problem of Akari and Zenjirou that kept him from easily agreeing to help Shoutmon.

It’s also not as if Taiki is incapable of asking for or accepting help from other people, Akari in particular. In fact he depends on Akari’s help to do what he does. (Even if the show doesn’t acknowledge it past the first arc). But he definitely avoids drawing other people into problems, supporting those that are already involved.

Apollomon and Beelzebumon I think make this come full circle to Taiki. Beelzebumon died because he wouldn’t rest, but he made that decision for himself, a decision that Taiki earlier in the show was willing to make himself. And Apollomon suffered because Taiki refused to do something that he wouldn’t hesitate to do to himself if the roles were swapped. 

There are hard decisions that need to be made in war. But the goal isn’t merely to disregard life when there’s bigger stakes. It's to accept that there are people who are willing to make sacrifices just like you are and accepting their autonomy in being part of these hard decisions. (If this makes sense?)

If we look at Shoutmon’s desire to be King, a King is fundamentally a person who makes decisions on behalf of a group of people. Shoutmon is perhaps a little more honest in his goals. Shoutmon wants to become king so others don’t suffer, and recruits people to his side to accomplish this task. Shoutmon deeply values his friends and allies inputs and wants to be strong enough for their sake, to be a leader. (Thanks episode 25). Meanwhile Taiki is recruited by others for their own goals, because he believes that he owes others his strength.

To be honest, I’m not sure if I’m reading too far into this or if this was obvious to everyone but me. 

Taiki’s “thing” is his ability to hear the melodies of dying digimon. It’s not really explained why he can, nor does it need to be. It’s just a version of Takuya’s degree of spirituality, or Masaru’s excessive digisoul, or Taichi’s fateful digimon encounter. A thing that sets him apart from the crowd. I actually really like this concept, as Xros Wars does touch on the idea of different people having different destined roles. Being chosen children in unique ways. Xros Wars doesn’t quite do enough with this, or its music motif in my opinion, but this is a really good take on it and a good way of explicitly demonstrating Taiki’s empathy. I think it could be used a little more often, especially later on, but that’s neither here nor there.

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.

Mirrors

Haru once calls Yuujin his Hajime to Rei. And as far as narrative parallels go its true. I’d argue all of our main protags have a person. For Haru that’s Yuujin, and for Rei its Hajime. And for Astra and Eri it’s each other, though they aren’t as clear an example for numerous reasons, and are not the clear parallel Haru and Yuujin are to Rei and Hajime. 

Haru is to Rei as Yuujin is to Hajime.

This parallel is also furthered by Yuujin and Hajime’s appmon. Offmon and Bootmon(Onmon). I’d also like to draw attention to their lines, as they're the ones that didn’t get full focus for logistical reasons. Offmon goes Super with Hackmon(Rei’s buddy). Onmon goes super with Gatchmon (Haru’s buddy). So… their super partners are the buddies of the other “main protag.” I mean, I think it's also game/marketing logistics because in the 3DS game, which I kind of assume many of the logistics were designed for (though I’m sure the anime was also being planned concurrently) because they are also the buddies of the main protag and the rival in the game, so giving their supers the anime protag buddy and the anime “rival” buddy just makes sense but I digress. 

Yuujin is an AI who goes through the story as a “Human”. Hajime is a human who is converted to an AI. Yuujin was let out into the world to gather information and act as a double agent. Hajime was taken from the world to make use of his skills as a programmer. Both are used by Leviathan against their will. Yuujin is younger than he seems, and Hajime is more capable than his age would indicate. They are the characters whose existence acts as a catalyst to their “Protectors” future. At the beginning of the show Hajime’s abduction is what catalyzes Rei into becoming an Applidriver, and is his driving force for much of the show. Yuujin’s death at the end of the show is what catalyzes Haru’s decision to study computer science. That said, Haru’s decision to become an Appdriver is also influenced by Yuujin, declaring Haru has the potential to be a protagonist. Yuujin noted that Haru was changing, and that he had made new friends before he was brought into the fold, helping to highlight how Haru was changin even without Yuujin. Similarly, Hajime’s return at the end of the series seems to lead to Rei relaxing and truly appreciating all that he’s gained as an Applidriver when Hajime was gone. Even if he was already starting to appreciate everyone else beforehand.

Consistently throughout the story Haru was the one who understood that Rei’s priority was Hajime and was constantly reaching out to him to help with that. Haru was going to help Rei save his precious person. Yuujin was also kidnapped later in the story, and his rescue was helped by everyone, including Rei pitching in.

Rei thought he put Hajime in danger, but Hajime put himself in danger as Hajime was the one who “won”. Haru avoided telling Yuujin about Appmon because he wanted to keep him safe, despite the fact that Yuujin was his friend was because of the danger in the first place, and really, it being likely that if it hadn’t been for Yuujin Haru wouldn’t have become a “protagonist”. (Another case of Minerva and Leviathan’s circular 4D chess game). 

Hajime created Bootmon. Hajime is already proficient in creating AI. This is what led to his abduction. But this is something that Haru hopes to study at the end of the show in order to bring Yuujin back.

Rei worked himself down and stopped taking care of himself in order to rescue Hajime, and was reckless in his pursuit. Haru similarly did reckless stunts to save Gatchmon, the world, and Yuujin. Yuujin actually did sacrifice himself, twice to save Haru and everyone else. Not to mention stopping Shutmon. 

Yuujin’s sacrifice to save the world at the cost of his own life, ending Leviathan’s plans, is probably the series crowning moment, but Hajime also sacrificed himself to let Bootmon escape in an attempt to prevent Leviathan’s plans from coming to fruition.  All four of these boys were tied to the plot in ways they didn’t fully understand at first, and are all the types of people to put their all into protecting people, even at the cost of their own well being.

    Okay, but now that I’ve talked about the obvious plot players I’d like to talk about our final pair. Astra and Eri aren’t really as plot important as the other four. There really is no reason they of all people ended up as Appdrivers. They are both there to round out the cast so to speak. 

    Eri is the only girl of the group (as well as one of the oldest members of the group), and Astra is the only elementary schooler and somehow simultaneously both the season's token “traditional household” and the season’s token half-japanese diversity. They are both public entertainers, a role that stands in stark contrast with Rei’s intensely on the grid off the grid way of living. Their arcs both related heavily to making their decisions because of how much they care about their families.  They are also a bit similar demeanor wise. They both have obnoxious catchphrases, are as purposefully arrogant as part of their schtick. As I said before, neither of them have a particularly large stake in the fight against leviathan (besides the obvious) and so overall have the same place narratively.

    I mean, we didn’t know Haru’s connection to the whole thing initially, and it seems even Ai’s tangentially connected. But it can be said that Minerva somewhat purposefully chose someone she believed could be an idol to be an Appdriver because it would give them insider access to L-corp and the media. We know she’s not against somewhat far fetched plans (Yuujin for one). Which is why I think Eri’s idol career has a surprising amount of focus in the show because of its relevance to the plot. I can’t think of any reason why Astra would be a choice for an appdriver, beyond his social media presence, and… maybe a risk taken that didn’t pan out the way Minerva hoped (I mean, an elementary student, somewhat laid back, with little free time? There had to be some reason?). 

    Speaking of Minerva, Astra and Eri’s questions stand in stark contrast to each other. Eri’s question is related to deciding to support other people, and Astra’s question is related to following his own heart rather than people’s expectations.

    Specifically Eri became an Appdriver after discussing with her mother about how hard she was working and her mom assuring her that she was happy as long as she did as she liked. Eri of course, did do as she liked, choosing to be an idol because idols made her happy hoping she could share that happiness, particularly to her mother who was working to make her happy. Early episodes featured Eri meeting fans, or in other words those who she was making smile, thus fulfilling that role. While her focus episodes became more about Eri’s drive as an idol, to succeed in her career for her mom by the end, she was willing to give up being an idol to move out from under Leviathan and more plot reasons.

    Like Eri, Astra started out rather lonely, and became an Apptuber because watching an Apptuber made him happy. But unlike Eri’s initial episodes, which were about learning who exactly it was she was supporting as an idol, beyond herself (and mother) which made her efforts to succeed as an idol later on more appreciated. Astra’s first focus episodes were about him being himself learning not to try and be someone he’s not, even in his new role, and that he shouldn’t have to impress people. His later focus episodes then went to deciding that even if he was choosing his own path as an Apptuber, he was still holding to obligations because he wanted to hold to them, and finding ways to support his family as an Apptuber. Astra’s arc is a little harder to grasp due to the relative lack of focus episodes, and like the Katsura’s backstory, not really being explained in full, his motivations as a character are a bit multilayered.

And as I’ve said, each member of the cast has their “important person” who they’d potentially sacrifice the fight for. Yuujin and Haru for each other, and the Katsura brothers for each other. Despite having no deep backstory prior to the start of the show, and in fact kind of starting out at constant odds they form an extremely close relationship over the course of the show. Astra treats Eri with his trademark casualness (referring her to just Eri, which is something no one else does, but also, he treats everyone like this). But Eri quite notably refers to Astra as “Tora”. While she picks this habit up before she met Jenny, it’s interesting to note that Jenny also calls Astra “Tora”. (And Dantemon? For Whatever reason?). And for his part, Astra does not discourage her from calling him this, despite the fact it’s probably a rather personal nickname. I personally take this as sort of an indicator as the sibling-like relationship they have. (I think it’s very important that despite their numerous moments showcasing their relationship, there is never any romantic implication. I mean, it’d be kinda weird since it’s 3 years and they are still so young. But it's not unshippable by any means, and I’ve seen worse).

While Rei was shown to prioritize Hajime over everything throughout the show, and Haru’s internal struggle with fighting over his friend are clear moments of characters having to choose to do the right thing at the potential harm to their loved ones, Astra also has a moment like this in regards to Eri during his final fight with Fakemon. There’s also the way he reacts when he realizes she’s potentially in danger in episode 36. Astra cares deeply for Eri and despite the casualness in the way he treats her, it’s clear that he has a lot of respect for her, and the passion she dedicates to being an idol.

Another important moment is when Astra asks Eri why she’s working herself so hard. Astra of course knows his father who works himself to the point of the detriment to his health, and so this drive is something he is familiar with, but as Astra’s arc is the one that relates to him doing what he thinks his best for himself, and then the support to others working its way in from that. Eri’s arc is more about learning to work to others’ benefit as well as your own. So Astra being the one to ask her if working herself like this is really what she wants to do and thinks she should do.

Eri doesn’t have a similar dramatic moment over Astra, much of her growth involving less personal interactions between people. Again, Eri’s career is marked by inspiring more people, and perhaps being more big picture, Eri is frequently approached by fans, and is constantly building her presence. And while Astra has his fans, he’s rarely approached on the street and has relatively little fan interaction.

 Whereas Astra’s shown to have a more narrow minded focus on who he cares about, doing Apptube primarily to do as he’d like, getting over his focus on other people's opinions rather early on. His priority being his family, Musimon, and his friends (especially Eri). But Eri does seem to care for Astra in return. Her reaching out to save Astra during episode 15 was a moment where she reached out to someone first to help forge a bond.

Perhaps its because Astra and Eri are the characters meant to flesh out the cast, is why I find them and their dynamic so interesting. They aren’t part of this tragedy. But they, and to a lesser extent Haru’s friends, tie the cast back to the rest of the world, which I think was really important in Appmon.

The characters in Appmon relate to each other both in their relationships with each other and the parallels in which they go about protecting and supporting each other. In this way, connecting to each other, AI or human, learning from each other and changing how they act, they come to push back against Leviathan's idea of the predictability of humanity, and against fear for those we don't understand.