Meimi's Character Study

The characters are most definitely the reason we keep coming back for more. So let's look at them through my eyes. Spoilers? Of course.

The Chosen Children

Yagami Taichi

Season 01: My favorite character in 01, mainly because he gets beat up the most. Taichi is brash, self-centered (or so it seems), optimistic (most of the time) and doesn't really think before he acts. His crest is the Crest of Courage, the aspect of himself he has the most to learn about. Oh, he'll run headlong into things but it's not really courage until he realizes exactly what he's doing and the consequences that can and will arise from his actions. Acts like he doesn't care, but most likely burying things and/or shrugging them off so he won't have to deal with them because he doesn't know how. Next to Yamato and Koushirou, Taichi probably has the most to learn from the entire experience.

Season 02: Still has the same haircut and the goggles *shakes head*, but definitely more grounded. 02 Taichi is more sensitive to the others, more willing to let others help shoulder the burden. Though frankly, him just handing over his goggles and leadership to Daisuke is really just bizarre. They don't know how well Daisuke will handle it and even if Agumon can't digivolve, Taichi is still more qualified to lead the war against the Kaiser.

Agumon: He's a flat out dork. Agumon is exactly what Taichi needed, someone who depends on him utterly and yet is absolutely loyal to *him*. Other than that, Agumon really has to go to the bathroom way too much. Basically a good soldier until the Skull Greymon deal, which really should have produced way more angst in him than it did. War Greymon is better because he actually has more sense in his mega form, but other than that he's just more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. Dinosaurs aren't my favorite creatures.

Ishida Yamato

Season 01: Yamato is hands down the angsty pretty boy of the season. He has a definite problem with authority which of course puts him at odds with Taichi the majority of the time. He's very self centered thanks to his history, almost on a par with Mimi. He can't understand the others, and it's probably because he can't understand himself. He's obviously over-protective of his brother, which tends to produce problems. His crest is the Crest of Friendship, and he certainly has a *lot* to learn about that aspect of himself. Frankly, in the long run he has the most to learn from the digital experience and the most to gain from it. I really didn't like him all that much until he figured out how to live with himself and his own inner demons.

Season 02: Can we say cliche? The rebellious, pretty boy from the first season is now the front man for a garage band. I was practically rolling on the floor in tears from laughing at this turn of events. He definitely learned a lot in season 01 and it shows now, he's more balanced, more understanding of what friendship is all about and not as awfully clingy of Takeru as he used to be. And hey, at least his seiyuu can actually sing.

Gabumon: Exhibits some working brain cells, though can be just as much of a dork as Agumon at times. Gabumon is the epitome of a friend, which was exactly what Yamato needed. He wasn't going to leave Yamato alone no matter how much his partner might have wanted him to. Unfortunately, he still ended up doing some pretty stupid stunts to *help* Yamato out.

Takenouchi Sora

Season 01: The mature, tomboy of the group... or at least that's what she's billed as. She's basically the mother figure in the group, though her protective streak is killed before is really started getting interesting. I really liked the Bakemon episode with her and Jou, which not only highlighted her want to help the others but also showed her impatience on doing so when she couldn't understand on how exactly to do that. Her crest is the Crest of Love, and she definitely has a lot to learn about it. Frankly, I was starting to like Sora before we learned of the reason 'why' she didn't think she *loved* her mother. It just... really... seemed... to be a stupid reason to not love your mother, at least to me it did. She somewhat redeemed herself during the battle with Vamdemon in Tokyo, but there really wasn't enough of her during the Dark Masters arc to make a good opinion of her stick.

Season 02: She's a bit more happy with herself and a bit more girly. I guess the viewers are supposed to assume that she was tomboyish to show that she wasn't happy with herself. Kinda silly if you ask me, but whatever floats her boat. Still kinda dull, though we can at least blame that on her not being one of the main characters for season 02.

Piyomon: Thankfully not as much of a dork as Agumon or Gabumon, but she's close. She's a miniature, childish Sora who loves Sora whether her partner wants her to or not. This is of course what Sora needed, so there's our Deus ex Machina and everybody's happy. Unfortunately, Garudamon is still pretty dull too, so there's not much to be gained in the long run.

Izumi Koushirou

Season 01: My second favorite character in season 01 (he would have been my first, but Taichi bled more). Kou-kun is a brilliant angst boy. He can't understand the others and so he hides behind his computer to avoid the conflicts that will arise because he doesn't know *how* to understand them. He's very focused on solving the problems that show up, to the exclusion of everything else which is really played upon in his character development. I really like how season 01 shows how this can be both good or bad which is determined by the situation at hand. Koushirou's crest is the Crest of Knowledge, which is really odd because he doesn't need to learn knowledge, he really needs to learn wisdom. And as the season goes, Koushirou does learn the wisdom he needs to know to help him cope with himself, his friends and life in general.

Season 02: Koushirou has definitely learned the fine line between entrenching himself in his computer and the necessary interaction with other people. He's a well balanced character who's obviously a lot happier now than he used to be and a lot less confused about how he should deal with other people. He's still into his computer work, but it's not ruling his life the way it used to.

Tentomon: Tentomon is a bug and his evolutions are really ugly bugs. He has a really bizarre voice in the Japanese series too and it really just make the bizarreness of his character worse. On the other hand, Tentomon is exactly what Koushirou needed to make him realize that there's more to life than just his computer. Kabuterimon is still freakin ugly though.

Tachikawa Mimi

Season 01: Oh my god, Mimi is the most insecure girl on the face of the Digital World. I actually like her, when she's not acting like a self-centered idiot. Mimi is obviously a sheltered only child. She's been preened and primped to be a cute adorable girl who shouldn't have to worry about anything at all because other people will take care of her. Thank god the Digital World came along and saved her from herself. Mimi whines, she complains, she wants the others to do for her because that's all she's known up to this point. The others of course ignore her whining and complaining and she soon comes to realize that she's the only person who can do for herself. Unfortunately, she has a breakdown before her newfound knowledge can balance itself out in her mind so she has to go off for awhile and make peace with what she is now and what she used to be. Mimi's crest is the Crest of Purity, and I guess it applies to her as she always is. It's not exactly what she needs to learn, but I don't really think there is a good term for that.

Season 02: For some godawful reason, Mimi's parents decided to move from Tokyo to New York. Mental instability must run in the family. Mimi in season 02 can take care of herself and is perfectly fine doing so. This Mimi isn't going to run away just because there's a problem. Her fashion taste is a bit odd, though thank god she didn't keep that stupid afro for long.

Palmon: As a plant, Palmon doesn't have a backbone and it shows. Mimi's insecurity really make Palmon unhappy and it takes most of the show for Mimi to realize her digimon's distress since Palmon obviously has trouble speaking up for herself. In fact, it's not until the Lillymon evolution where she actually grows a spine and by then it's a tad bit late for her to be an interesting character. Oh well.

Kido Jou

Season 01: Jou has a serious confidence problem, he doesn't think he has any and for a good while it seems as if that's true. Jou's life has been planned out for him by his father and he doesn't know whether he can live up to it or whether he even wants it. That uncertainty bleeds over into everything else that he does. Jou's a bit of a klutz in season 01, though it's rather understandable as he's closer to puberty than the others are. He also feels responsible for the others as he's the oldest in the group, but his uncertainty becomes a problem with that too. Jou has the Crest of Faith, which the definition used is more along the lines of Reliability so the dub actually did a decent job there. Jou is the epitome of a boy scout, he knows how to take care of things, he knows how to look ahead and plan for the things that might happen and frankly without him the others probably would have fallen apart at the first opportunity.

Season 02: Wow, things do get better with age. Jou of season 02 is down right sexy. He's more confident in himself and it really, really shows. He's come to terms with himself and is still looking to become a doctor, though I think it's more because he's discovered he likes helping people than because it's what his father wants.

Gomamon: Gomamon is a treat to watch, he's happy, he's smart, he's easy going and he's optimistic. He's the perfect foil for Jou's insecurities. Gomamon helps Jou realize that he's more than capable of handling whatever crisis may come. That and he's downright cute, even if Ikkakumon is a strange cross between a walrus and polar bear. And let's not even discuss the turtle ultimate.

Takaishi Takeru

Season 01: Takeru is a young child who is very dependent on his mother because of the divorce. He can't really understand why the others fight amongst themselves or why anybody would want to hurt anybody else. He does know that he can manipulate the others to an extent so they won't fight and basically ends up making a 'happy' persona for himself later on because he has to be brave. This of course has long lasting problems as we see later in season 02. He's hurt terribly by their abandonment of him halfway through the season, which they really didn't mean to do but had the same effect. Takeru was really too young to be forced into maturing quite so fast and it really wasn't good for him. Takeru's crest is the Crest of Hope, something more that he embodies during season 01 than what he needed to learn.

Season 02: Takeru starts out seeming to be well adjusted and on the surface for the most part he is. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to get out of season 01 in one piece. He has nightmares about the past and they fuel his *need* to destroy all the evil... *period*. He seems happy, but is quite likely just a mask he's been making for himself since the first season. He probably has just as many issues as Yamato did in season 01, but hides them behind his 'happy' mask. He fights with Daisuke, but most likely because Daisuke goes out of his was to provoke Takeru and also because Takeru is familiar enough with his own 'act' to recognize another for what it is.

Patamon: Patamon is cuteness personified. He's the weakest member of the Digimon team in terms of Rookie power but certainly makes up for it in later evolutions. Patamon has the soul of a child and fits perfectly with Takeru. He gets confused, he gets scared, he gets angry, he likes to play and he identifies easily with his partner. Angemon is drool worthy and kicks major ass. Angemon is also the perfect digimon for Takeru, he's got the type of motif and attitude that makes his partner feel safe.

Yagami Hikari

Season 01: Not all that much of a personality to nail down other than she's sickly and very dependent on her brother and Tailmon. She's kind, she's sweet, she's a target for possession and she can't stand watching others get hurt when she could do something about it. She identifies with Takeru because they're both basically the same age, she looks up to him because he's been in the Digital World longer than she has and thus probably knows more than she does. Her crest is the Crest of Light which is just downright odd. I mean, the other crests represented concepts that lurked within the other children. Where exactly do you get Light from?

Season 02: Hikari has grown up to be a flirt, whether she realizes it or not though I think she does. It's strange to note that she isn't sickly anymore, which really there wasn't that much time for her to instantly grow a proper immune system. Odd. Hikari is happy, helpful, tolerant and seems to be well adjusted. She isn't of course, she still has the random visitations, though far less than in the last season, and depends on the others a bit more than she really should. It's quite likely that she also hides behind a mask like Takeru does, she doesn't seem to be capable of being mean or even unkind even when doing so will actually improve things.

Tailmon: The most mature digimon of the lot, though her 'weakness' in season 02 is awfully contrived. If taking her tail ring away was the easiest way of eliminating the threat she posed why didn't Vamdemon do it in season 01? The evil bit was an interesting twist though and Angewomon is a bit cliche even if she is cute.

Motomiya Daisuke

Season 02: Daisuke is designed to be a Taichi clone, and this really hamper his chances in the beginning. He also goes out of his way to brag, show off false bravado and basically act like an idiot to gain attention. This is probably because he's emotionally neglected at home. Daisuke is basically like Usagi is 'Sailor Moon', he cares a lot but he hides it behind the persona of a klutz. Daisuke really does mean well and he does succeed in winning when all else seems to fail. Unfortunately, Toei really pushed Daisuke into being the second coming in the later episodes of 02 and really did a disservice to his character in the long run. They ignored his characterization and simply made him into a rather boring hero who will always win because good triumphs over evil.

Veemon: Veemon is much like Agumon, he's a dork. He's energetic, optimistic, rambunctious and not exactly what Daisuke needs. Daisuke is nowhere near being Taichi and doesn't need someone to be loyal and dependent on him. Veemon really only succeeds in encouraging Daisuke to be more of an idiot in the long run. They really could have done better with this particular digimon.

Inoue Miyako

Season 02: Miyako is a fun character. She's smart, she's blunt, she's brave and she's easily hurt. Miyako doesn't want to hurt people but comes to understand that sometimes it's a necessary evil to help them. She displays a lot of bravado, but it's just about as fake as Daisuke's. She hides her real self behind masks just about as much as the rest of the season 02 cast does. She doesn't always understand, but she is willing to try when it gets right down to it.

Hawkmon: The first digimon to not share the same gender as his partner, you gotta feel sorry for him for all the ribbing he must get for that. Hawkmon is a well balanced digimon, mature much like Tailmon is. Though, the jogress shinka he has with Tailmon really frightens me. What gender exactly is Silphymon? And how is it that a decidedly Indian looking digimon came to have a British accent?

Hida Iori

Season 02: Iori is another child who has had to mature far too fast for his own good thanks to his past. He's serious, he's responsible, he's unrelenting. He's also haunted by the death of his father and really has trouble understanding things beyond black and white, though he at least understands that there are a myriad amount of grey areas that separate and fuse good and evil together. He's also really too polite and it's really unsettling at times.

Armadimon: Armadimon is almost the exact opposite of Iori. He's laid back and he doesn't really worry about things, trusting more that things will turn out alright. His evolution isn't very impressive and his jogress with Angemon is just down right silly lookin.

Ichijouji Ken

Season 02 - The Kaiser: The Digimon Kaiser is a sadistic bastard and arrogant as hell. He's also not very much in touch with reality. The Kaiser is Ken's creation to show that he can be as 'perfect' as his brother was and is certainly a desperate cry for help from somebody who doesn't want to be either. He's incredibly intelligent and manipulative as hell. What more could you ask for in an evil villain?

Season 02 - Good Ken: The Ken that arises after the Kaiser is one who's been broken into pieces and is trying to figure out how to put them back together again. He certainly has a death wish but isn't outright suicidal probably because of the guilt he harbors for what he's done. He is completely and utterly baffled by his crest, the Crest of Kindness. He doesn't know how somebody like him could ever be considered kind. It's later shown that he's been manipulated and coveted by certain other individuals because of his ability to travel to the Digital World and because of the dark seed he has because of his travels. Unfortunately, Toei sort of throws everything to wind at the end of 02 and we don't really get a good explanation on what exactly happened and why.

Wormmon: Wormmon is yet another bug and his evolution is the Guyver. Frankly, I think they put him there more because Ken needed a digimon to be a Chosen Child than anything else. They don't give him much of a personality other than that unhealthy stalker persona he has for Ken. I swear, it's scary watching him get jealous over the little Mexican girl.

Good Digimon and Noteworthy Humans

Leomon: Nifty champion digimon who really was worried about the state of the Digital World. Kept getting the short end of the stick, both by constantly getting possessed by Devimon and later getting it from Metal Etemon.

Ogremon: Spent the Devimon arc being an evil dork. Later realized the error of his ways, or at least the fact that he was a being an obsessive bastard, thanks to Mimi and Jou's intervention. Still far too obsessed with Leomon for comfort.

Gennai: Really weird old man who serves as the mentor for the children in season 01. Takes a potion of insta-youth in season 02 and runs around helping out the kids in the real world after Qinglongmon make his appearance. Digimon or Human? Who knows, though he looks remarkably like Ryo now doesn't he?

Kido Shin: He knows when it's time to hide from the very real monsters. Tries to encourage Jou to make up his own mind about his future and not let their father determine it.

Mr Ishida: An obviously driven man when it comes to work. Cares about his children but obviously has some trouble relating to them. Married and divorced Takaishi Natsuko for undisclosed reasons and unfortunately didn't learn housekeeping during the marriage.

The Tachikawas: Care deeply about each other and are obviously mentally unstable. They are extremely brave when a member of their family is threatened, but they're still fluff-brains.

Ms Takenouchi: A very traditional seeming woman and very protective of her daughter. Will go to whatever lengths necessary to assure the safety of her child.

Motomiya Jun: Jun is extremely self-centered to the point where she doesn't notice that what she's doing is really creeping other people out. Probably as neglected as Daisuke which is why she's so outrageous in her stalkings.

Ichijouji Osamu: A genius of a boy whose presence caused the neglect of his younger brother. Seemed overly protective of Ken in what is seen of him, but also quick to anger when the one he's trying to protect doesn't obey him. Is later killed in an accident that is highly suspect.

Akiyama Ryo: Even less is seen of Ryo in the anime than Osamu. He did star opposite Ken in the Tag Tamers game with a Veemon who jogressed with Wormmon. That's about all that's known. He does look uncannily like young Gennai though.

Qinglongmon: Let's milk the Four Gods legend for all it's worth. Qinglongmon is an unimpressive digital version of the dragon god, Seiryuu. Go watch Fushigi Yuugi for an impressive version.

Oikawa Yukio: Most definitely not a good guy, but still a human... sort of. Sicko who was best friends with Iori's father and became obsessive compulsive about the Digital World after the accident that killed Iori's father. Possessed by the remnants of Vamdemon after the Venom Vamdemon battle in season 01. Assumed to have started stalking Ken afterwards. Lots of plotholes abound because of this. Oikawa is shown to have been at Osamu's funeral with his long hair look. Ken is shown to still be chibi at Osamu's funeral. Ken is shown to be older during the Milleniumon battle where the dark seed comes into play. The Milleniumon battle is assumed to roughly have happened sometime during the time of season 01. Oikawa has *short* hair when he gets possessed by Vamdemon. Oikawa is suspected of killing Osamu to get to Ken. Toei really should have kept its facts straight, because their timeline is really screwed up.

Evil Digimon

Devimon: I will always love Devimon if simply for the reason that he was voiced by Shiozawa Kaneto in season 01. Such a sexy voice, it's really a shame he died last year. Anyway, Devimon has the demon/fallen angel motif going for him and can come off as pretty sexy at times, even with the bull horns.

Etemon: He's just plain funny. Etemon is the Elvis impersonator of the Digital World and frankly he's the most hilarious villain in 01. He's just as bad as Metal Etemon too, so you get twice the laughs.

Pico Devimon: Look, it's a flying bowling ball! Pico Devimon really should be given credit, he almost succeeded in destroying the children and he was always loyal to Vamdemon. Of course, he got shafted for it, but oh well.

Vamdemon: I kinda liked Vamdemon for awhile there, he had that smooth vampire-esque deal going for him. Or at least I liked him until a friend started going 'Look it's Bela Legosi!' every time he came on screen. Venom Vamdemon was just really out there... he had a talking crotch. Need I say more? Belial Vamdemon in 02 just makes it worse dammit. How am I supposed to respect a villain if Toei keeps going out of its way to make him look ridiculous?

Metal Seadramon: Another weirdo. A giant sea serpent with a Brooklyn accent. Yeah... He was pretty relentless though and gave the kids the worst of it, you gotta respect him for that.

Pinocchimon: What a sadistic little bastard. He gave them all grief and he was just playing with them. He was terribly insecure in the fact that he didn't have any real friends though. You can almost feel sorry for him for that, almost. He also stalked poor Takeru and made Takeru have to fend for himself and gave Yamato severe grief because of it all. Fun.

Mugen Dramon: He had a network almost as impressive as Etemon's, but he was still a pretty dull character. Nothing much to say about him other than the fact that he liked to blow stuff up.

Lady Devimon: The sexy evil counterpart for Angewomon. She also had a marvelous Japanese voice which really made me fall in love with her.

Piemon: I could have liked Piemon, almost did in fact. Then someone pointed out how much of a ripoff of Kefka (Final Fantasy 6) he is and well, the coffin was sealed. He's okay as far as villains go and his battle was pretty entertaining. But all of his characterization was borrowed so why bother?

Apocalymon: Really a waste of time and space. I figure they just threw him in there to make it seem even more like an RPG with a final boss. Oh well.

Archnemon: Now she was interesting for awhile. She had white hair (which I really like on characters), had a hidden agenda and really screwed around with everybody. Then they had her transform into a giant bug and had Mummymon come and basically screw up the coolness of her character.

Mummymon: Why bother? Etemon was the epitome of parody in Digimon. Mummymon is just a boring second next to the King.

Demon: Why exactly was he in season 02 again?

 

Okay, I think that's enough for now. A bit longwinded, but I think I got my point across.

 

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