Comment on Something about Taichi

  1. Justice for Sora (Guest) on Chapter 6 Thu 12 May 2022 07:02PM UTC

    As a whole, Tri felt like a giant love note to Yamato as much as it was to the original viewers of Digimon Adventure...Tri somehow managed to take away everything Tai had done and all of his merits and qualities...Yamato takes over, and suddenly, it's like everything is hunky dory, and the only reason that Yamato didn't lead them to victory was because half of Omegamon was missing. Tri gave Yamato everything. The girl. The goggles of leadership. The bragging rights of saying he was right, always.

    I'm not sure I agree with this. Though only because I feel Yamato doesn't really have a character arc in Tri. He seems to exists here to be in conflict with Taichi over Meicoomon. And then that conflict just sort of ends when Taichi shows up for the finale battle. Granted, I feel everyone didn't have complete character arcs throughout Tri. But I do feel like there is some conflict & resolution the other characters go through. Though a lot does feel manufactured & the resolutions don't land as they should.

    I can't figure out what Yamato's arc is meant to be beyond: "Taichi is important to me", which he learned when he was 11. So IDK why we had to have scenes where Yamato questions their friendship. It's very strange even if you don't factor in 02, since Tri acts like it both did & didn't happen. Like what was Yamato meant to learn/grow.

    So I don't feel Yamato gets rewarded as a Gogglehead. If anything, I feel the finale emphasis that as much as Yamato might want to be leader, Taichi has that spark/ambition that makes him the true leader. And I don't feel Yamato gets rewarded as being right. He's been fighting to save Meicoomon & in the end has to agree that killing her/Ordinemon is the only choice they have. Making Taichi right.

    I do agree Tri seems very cynical & cruel. I get Toei/Bandai wanting something more "adult" for Adventure's 15th anniversary as kids grow up...

    But the original series wasn't something nonstop happy though. There is a lot of dark/sad things in Adventure99 & 02. And even if they wanted something darker...

    I don't know if you played Digimon Story Cybersleuth & it's sequel Hacker's Memory. These games were aimed at older fans & have a darker story. But it's also not cynical either. Not like Tri. Bad things happen but our heroes try hard to fight for their future. And I don't want to spoil it but despite tragedies that happen, these games managed to remember that people need hope. That being an adult isn't just doom & gloom. That responsibility isn't just accepting things as they are.

    And while they're the work of two different teams, they came out at around the same time & it amazes me how Cybersleuth got how to be dark/adult in a way that Tri did not.

    Because Tri has ideas that if done well could have been great. That's the thing that gets me the most. Some of the core ideas in Tri are solid. But there are so many places where improvements could be made & Tri winds up wasting a lot of it's potential. And I say this as someone who actually doesn't hate Tri! For all the problems, there are parts I like but there is a lot that could be fixed/cut/altered.

    And it goes back to the issues with Sora. Like Tri, it feels no one really wants/wanted to figure out how to tell a story about her that could at least respect her. I get there are cultural aspects to her story that as someone not Japanese I won't fully get. But like the issues with Sora & her mom...

    In 2017 there was a spin-off anime called Digimon Universe: Appmonster. One character has a similar background to Sora where his father is the head of a tea ceremony school. It's an important position & as his only child, this son has to learn to take over for the father. In this case, this son & father are much closer than Sora & her mom were though.

    But he discovers interests & things he wants to do beyond just taking over his dad's position. While also showing that he understand his responsibility to his dad. And the show handles it in a way that I feel is respectful but allows the character to grow. I don't want to spoil it but again, there are people working at Toei who managed to do a similar story to Sora's & get it right.

    If Sora needed to take over her mom's flower school, there were ways to tell that story without completely compromising the character. Sora deserved better than to wipe away the parts that made her special.

    As it is, Sora in Kizuna looks less like she grew up & more like she just gave up. Doing whatever it was that her mother wanted because she couldn't figure out what she wants.

    Sorry for the second rant but damn, seeing where Toei/Bandai went right with Digimon characters in other media just emphasis how badly Sora got screwed over.

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    1. Venficus on Chapter 6 Thu 12 May 2022 11:19PM UTC

      You may have a point there, though I do remember there were some dark moments in the original series as well. The thing that stuck out to me, however, was an article I read that I think was at with one of the writers of Tri, where they mentioned that it was actually meant to show that sometimes you have to accept that the role you once had is not a role you were fit to play. I get that Taichi as he was in Tri was hoping to avoid collateral damage, but it doesn't make sense for him to try and avoid fighting because of it. He knows that if he doesn't, it'll be much worse.

      Yamato starts with that common sense. That simple fact alone there is one of the biggest things that disqualified Tai as leader in Tri. Tai may be growing up, but somewhere, he lost that spark. When does reluctance become cowardice? When does low self esteem become the limiting factor? Taichi in Tri somehow managed to forget that no one else can do what they do. There IS no one else that can fight Digimon. His reluctance makes absolutely no sense.

      The article mentioned that once Tai did his symbolic sacrifice and Yamato took over, things went smoother for the chosen children because Yamato had always been a good leader, arguably a better one than Tai ever was because he kept a cool head and thought things through. He slipped into the role and it fit him.

      That there is why I ended up putting the part in Yamato's chapter about how Yamato was the reason to Taichi's brash impulsiveness. It was never that Yamato was a better leader, it was that Taichi-and-Yamato were good leaders TOGETHER. Because Taichi was indomitable will, moving forward always, facing problems head on, never stopping, because it's not in his nature to hesitate. Yamato sees the angles, the problems, the flaws in Taichi's approach, and along with Sora, basically are the ones to aim Taichi at whatever problem they have.

      Instead of trying to change each other into something they never wanted to be, they fit together like puzzle pieces, a well oiled machine. Tri took that away, and I suppose that Jaded Taichi might have lost that spark that made him a good leader, but there was never a good explanation as to WHY. In this story, he changed because he was suffering heartbreak, that he was forced to reconcile his inner turmoil. His love for Sora vs his love for Yamato and the desire to see Sora happy. He knew that he couldn't handle it, so he tried to distance himself until he could.

      Yamato in this story understood that, even if it pissed him off. Understood that Taichi giving up on Sora was HARD for him, and that it took just as much courage to accept that he and Sora would never be as it would have been to confess to her. I chose to explain the loss of his spark as him coming to terms with the fact that sometimes, you can't get what you want, no matter how hard you try. The concept itself is antithetical to everything he'd ever been, and to understand that was to break something inside him. It made him question everything.

      In the end, it was Hikari who stepped in here, seeing her brother's pain, and in an effort to ease it, stepped on her own road of self realization. Yes, I twisted Hikari here to fit my narrative and the weird crack ship that I have of the two of them being utterly adorable together, but it is canon that Hikari had a huge brother complex. That was the cause of this Hikari's own struggles, and having the Dark Ocean prey on that made sense. Yes, I made the Dark Ocean not evil here, but the point is that darkness is supposed to be seductive, luring you in with promises of what you want and the darkness of the Dark Ocean calls to the darkness of the ones that enter it.

      Sora has her share of issues, but one of the main ones is her crest. Having the crest of love ended up turning into her sole defining trait in the show, and she could have been so much more than that. Yamato didn't have a character arc in Tri because it seemed like he was already perfect the way he was. Taichi changed from brash courageous leader to a boy who dreads making meaningful choices.

      And I get it, people change. It's a part of growing up. But there's nothing wrong with holding the child you once were near to your heart. Those memories are precious, and without them, the cruel world will break you down. I used to hate Yamato's character because he always fought with Taichi over leadership, even if I know that Yamato would have likely been a 'safer' choice. I hated him because I felt that he had no real connection with Sora, and that he seemed to betray his very crest to get her heart. But I think I hate what they did to Taichi's character more.

      For Sora, I hated that they seemed to think that her giving up her own spark was somehow an improvement. I hated that she chose to give up and give in. What would drive her to do that? To give up everything that made her...well, her, and become what her mother wanted? Love for your mother is one thing, but personally, while I love my own mother, I can't stand the fact that she constantly tries to change me into something I'm not. I simply can't get into that Sora's headspace, to understand how she could warp and give up the very core of who she is just because her mother wants her to. It's just not right to me. Sora was a headstrong girl who cared for everyone. She was snarky, sarcastic when it suited her, and had an inner fire that made me smile.

      That's why I felt so betrayed by what she turned into. Taichi would have never wanted her to change. If the two of them ended up together, he would have found that to be the Sora he always found charming. At least, that's how I feel. Thinking about it how you put it, her having changed to be a prize for Yamato just makes that so much WORSE.

      As an aside, though, I'll admit I haven't watched Tri recently, so some of my memories of it may be hazy.

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      1. Vixenmon on Chapter 6 Fri 13 May 2022 07:41AM UTC

        Venficus and Justice for Sora, I enjoyed both of your views. I too enjoy shipping but honestly, I am still irritated that Sora is the ‘red-haired stepchild’ for the show writers unless she’s depicted only as a love interest. The best I could hope for in future animations depicting the Adventure crew would be this idea.

        Not sure if this could happen before Matt and Sora tie the knot or before their first child at least, but if the Epilogue is still canon, then Sora’s best defining moment will be one thing…failing. I got inspired to type this after watching the ‘TO Sora’ short on Youtube.

        If the Epilogue is still canon, Sora's supposed to be a Fashion Designer unless she's both a designer and continues the flower arrangement school. So, either Sora changes her mind or is forced to change careers. That would make her stand out, the only destined whose first career choice failed, and instead of letting it crush her, she picks herself up and blossoms into the true Sora, making and living the way she decides to live rather than be forced or pressured into. No love triangle drama, just honest life drama.

        I want to see Sora blossom rather than feel like the writers just don’t know what to do with her. I want Sora to be interesting, not trapped into near obscurity.

        This is why I enjoyed Sora so much in this chapter, she has so much life in her! She acts and takes charge all on her own, this is the Sora I crave!

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