Fresh Precure Is About Community, And How Community Forms Support Systems Beyond The Family Unit.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why I think Ryo is the Ken of Survive.

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

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

However, Survive has 10 important human/digimon partnerships.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.