  Family matters
Despite the fact that all the children, except possibly Joe, get along with their parents (a novelty in the real world, sometimes), I think the families are portrayed realistically in their diversity. There's a single parent, parents who adopted, divorced parents... some have siblings, some are only children... Kamiya
The Kamiya are both very anxious for the safety of their children in the Myotismon saga. Then, as soon as their children are safe, they go off to the digital world for more adventures! Both parents seem to have a good relationship with both children. Tai tearfully hugs both parents when he first comes back from the digital world (and they don't know what's wrong with him ^_^.), and are concerned about Kari when she is sick. My favourite scene is where Tai is stuffing his face with his mother's good cooking while Kari and her father are laughing their heads off at the TV in the foreground. When Tai asks for more food (he's feeding Koromon too) and says it's because her cooking is so good, Mrs Kamiya thinks he's angling for a raise in allowance or something. She knows her kids. ^_^. Takenouchi
Sora's mother proved how much she really loves Sora, risking her life for her and fighting very hard to protect her. I do not think the two are very similar in personality. Sora's mother is more closed, but becomes quite hysterical/passionate when her world is rocked by Myotismon's attacks, while Sora is usually quite calm and open. I think Mrs Takenouchi wasn't an awful mother - I know she cooked good meals for Sora, and wanted her to give up soccer for her own safety. But she didn't really know how to handle her daughter, and their relationship was blocked by a lack of communication. Sora's realisation of her mother's love was what caused her crest to react. Tachikawa
Although Mimi once mentions a baby brother, but she doesn't actually have one. That's one of the slip-ups re. families that occurs early in the series (like Matt implying that he lived with his mother, saying that he and TK were half-brothers, etc). Mimi is a very obvious product of her parents. Her mother is very much like her - immature for an adult, with a generally sweet, rather ditzy temperament, intent on pleasing her husband but becoming hysterical and upset when in trouble. Her speech about how she wanted to be enjoying her normal life bore a creepy resemblence to some of Mimi's earlier comments. Mimi's father is brave and impetuous, fairly cheerful... I think Mimi is probably a bit of a daddy's girl. Mr Tachikawa cracks me up. He's a bit of a cool guy. Heheh. That picture there is of him driving a luggage cart into DarkTyrannomon. "You couldn't be in safer hands!" Ishida/Takaishi
TK lives with his mother and Matt with his father, each taking the surnames of the parent they live with. This living arrangement may explain a little of why TK is more sensitive, bright and babyish while Matt is more cold, strong and manly (^^;), apart from the obvious reason of their ages. Nancy babies him a little, while Matt's father is more detached and tough. Actually, from seeing some of Matt's father, I can really see how Matt has the character he does. As his Dad works a lot, he is probably on his own a lot, and the man seems fairly tough, a bit prickly, a real man's man. He is a nice guy though. The family is not on good terms after the divorce, and live fairly far apart, so the brothers didn't often get to see each other before they were in the digital world. In the Myotismon saga, all four of them end up in the same vicinity, and TK bounces around happily because it's been so long since they were all together. Meanwhile, the parents are glowering at each other and Matt is glowering at his mother (I guess he resents her) and there's all this hostility that TK refuses to notice. ^^;; Kido
Is it just me, or do almost all kids who work hard, are reliable, and get good grades, have a parent in the background who's pushing them to do well? You know the sort, "you only got a 99%?! What happened to the other one percent? You should study harder!". At any rate, Mr Kido is a doctor and wants both his sons to become doctors. He checks up on Joe's grades and all. Jim is in medical school, and Joe is just studying through elementary school, but he isn't sure he wants to be a doctor (he gets sick at the sight of blood ^^;). Jim tells Joe he should do what he wants to do, not what Dad wants him to do. Jim himself is going to go to South America or Africa when he has become a qualified doctor - to go somewhere that he can be of use. Their father is not impressed with this. Jim seems like a pretty nice guy, and a typical sort of adult big brother - he's generally pleasant but occasionally teases Joe ("for once in your life you actually sound like you know what youo're talking about", "guess if the sun doesn't come up in the morning, we'll know you failed!" etc) and drives a motor scooter or something. I just thought that was cool. Like Joe, he is reliable, quiet, and good to have around in an emergency. Jim was hiding in a closet while the Bakemon were rounding everyone up, so he was able to check up on the kids and the unconscious people during the big battle against Venommyotismon. Izumi
They always knew they were going to tell Izzy he was adopted someday, but they were waiting for the right time. They waited too late; Izzy had known for years - he overheard them talking. When he found out, he distanced himself from them, burying himself in his computer. Izzy's parents are very open about their feelings towards their son and are willing to trust him. They were sad when they realised how much he was growing up (and that is what made them finally break the news that he was adopted), but they all decide in the end that it doesn't matter if Izzy is adopted, his parents are real enough. ^_^. They all share a big, tearful hug. Mrs Izumi is a very kind lady, who is a fabulous cook and housewife. She is also good at telling what is good for her son. Tentomon has a bit of a crush on her, I think. ^_^. Mr Izumi is a fairly serious chap but considers himself funny ("chip off the old block!" when Izzy did a comedy sketch). The two parents make their decisions about how to deal with Izzy together.
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I wasn't surprised to find out that Tai had a sister; he definitely seems like the big-brother type. There's not a lot to say about this family. A mother, a father, a grandmother somewhere, two kids and a cat (Miko). This is the "normal" happy family, maybe the only normal one.
Sora's mother seemed detached for a long time and very focused on her work. Sora, an only child, did not feel close to her mother. It might explain why she's friendly and sociable; she would probably like to get out of the house as much as possible to avoid her mother. There is no sign of a Mr Takenouchi. During the series, Sora and her mother realise how much they really love each other, etc etc etc. ^^;
Mimi is the typical only child; she comes from a loving family (her parents are quite lovey-dovey like newlyweds or something) and has a certain amount of freedom - for example, neither parent bats an eyelid when she says she's going to dye all her clothes pink.
Matt and TK's parents split up, I'm not sure when but I think it was soon after the Highton View Terrace situation four years ago. Mr Ishida later tells his ex-wife, Nancy, that they had made a selfish choice - and there was a shot of the two adults walking away in opposite directions, each taking a son by the hand, but the boys were looking back at each other.
Joe is the only digidestined whose family we never really see. I'm not sure if he has a mother or not, but I suspect he does. He does have a father who isn't shown, and an older brother (in his early twenties, I think) named Jim, who is shown. In the second season it seems it is shown that he has a second older brother (younger than Jim), but this is an 01 page. ^_^.
Izzy's real father was a college professor and great mathematician, but he died in a car accident soon after Izzy's birth. The only living relative was Mr Izumi, a distant cousin, and he and his wife had recently lost a little boy of their own. So they were willing to adopt Izzy and treated him like their own son.
