  Characters
The first ep I saw had Biyomon digivolving to fight a fire Digimon who was under influence of a black gear. The most recent episode that aired on the time of writing this was the one where all the kids have been split up, and Mimi/Izzy have just met up, and are in an old temple/labyrinth. As you can see, I've not seen a lot of the series. I'm gonna write what I think of the characters, and what I think they're like, at this point in time, then a few weeks later I'll hopefully get around to writing how my view of 'em's changed. ^_^. Give me spoilers prematurely, and I will be mOsT dIsPlEaSeD. ^_^. I like the characterisation on this show. The characters seem like real people; not two-dimensional with set personalities, although they do seem to have basic attitudes/personalities that dictate how they react to things... to me, the way this is done seems a lot more realistic than many anime. I guess Tai is meant to be the leader; he was singled out when Devimon was giving his Big-Evil-Monster-Speech (TM), and anyway, the theme song shows that he is. ^_^. He doesn't seem to act like it very much, being a bit impetuous and, you know, "act first, think later". In some ways, Joe might be a better leader, being more thoughtful and cautious, and thus more reasonable about decisions. If Tai weren't leader, maybe Matt would be, there's a bit of tension between them at times, since they've both got somewhat bold, aggressive personalities. Although Matt's decisions seem to be more with the group's wellbeing in mind, he still defends them stubbornly. He seems to care a lot for his friends, and especially for his little brother, TK. In times of danger, Matt usually forgets his own trouble to keep TK safe. The two examples of Matt's leadership or take-charge attitude that I saw were seemingly in conflict with each other. The first time, he wanted not to take what he thought was an unnecessary risk - climbing a potentially dangerous and tough mountain to see the view of the island. Tai wanted to climb it, but Matt started shouting at him and vice versa. The second time, he wanted to take risks and recklessly help others, running off to look for his brother and friends. When Tai suggested something that wasn't exactly along these lines, he threw a fit and the two started fighting. But in both cases, he was trying to help the group out, in different ways. And his brother; after all, it was probably TK who would be the one to have difficulty climbing the mountain. He seems to have a bit of a 'cool guy' image, but abandons it more, the more he travels with his friends. So yeah, there is some tension between Matt and Tai, because they are both leadership-types with different ideas, but Tai seems to think a little more broadly, while Matt thinks that friendship and protecting his brother are the most important things. I've already formulated quite an opinion of Matt 'cos I made him my favourite. I think it was when I saw him mind-controlled at Toyworld or wherever it was. Cracked me up no end. ^_^. Joe has gotta be another favourite of mine, I think. At first, he seems like an American cartoon character - you know, the stock "nerd" that has to be in any group. The type who's somewhat pessimistic, and logical, wears glasses and uses a certain type of vocabulary. He considers himself responsible for the safety of the group. Then you see him undertake reckless feats for the sake of his friends, taking risks himself where you'd normally expect him to scold others for. And like real people, he can change his mind when the situation changes. For example, one time he warns the others against eating strange food, and another time, when he's too hungry to care, he's the first at the table. "I'm allergic to pain!" It's now the next day as I write this particular paragraph; wow, seems Joe did become a leader, although I think he's a better leader when he doesn't actually have that title. I guess everyone has bossy tendencies. ^_^. But he was okay. He's scared a lot but he doesn't like for other people to think he's weak. Sora, the stock tomboy? Athletic, cute, friendly and full of guts. She seems cool, but her personality hasn't really caught me yet, like most have. I think tomorrow's episode will be about her, I'll write more after seeing it. ^_^. Okay, it's tomorrow now, she still seems nice and tomboyish. She's probably a better leader than Joe, but she let him be the leader so he could feel more confident about himself, and put up with his attitude. The other token female is Mimi... maybe I just watched too much Power Rangers as a kid, but is it just me or do shows with a team have more guys than girls, and of the girls there is always a strong-smart-tomboy and a pretty-fashionable-sweet-young-thing? But I like her too. Like Joe, she complains rather a lot - but I think in her case, it's more that she's a little spoilt and petted than that she's worried about situations and the well-being of everyone else. She's a more girly girl than Sora. And, she doesn't always seem very nice. Well, it's strange; I think of her as nice, and she seems nice, but I can't think of any time where she has actually done or said anything particularly so. She's usually complaining or arguing or sounding peevish in some way. She also somehow seems to attract the most vile monsters, which works to her benefit as they help her out. I think she should show a bit more gratitude sometimes. Like the Numemon practically risked their lives for her, but she still wouldn't deign to give the head Numemon a kiss. (Granted, that does not sound like a particularly lovely task, but you'd think she owed him that much.) And then there's Mimi's opposite, Izzy. Mimi is a people person, and charismatic. Izzy's what you'd call a computer nerd. While he doesn't seem to deliberately act like one (as Joe does), he knows an enormous amount about computers, and can practically apply this knowledge. He's curious and thoughtful and tries to find out anything he can, particularly if it will help them. While he can become rather *too* engaged in his pursuit of knowledge and computer genius (one of those people who forgets all else when they're doing something they're interested in ^_^.), he still seems to care about people when it's serious, and he can be brave too, I guess. All of the digidestined are at some time, they show their stuff when it really comes to the crunch. His gutsiness isn't too impetuous and thus maybe isn't so noticeable, but then he's not really the flamboyant, draw-attention-to-himself type. TK, Matt's brother. He acts like a younger kid (heck, he IS a younger kid) and is treated as one. I'd like to see more of him. I get the impression he's probably the typical little brother - can be kind of annoying, sometimes says childish things, and secretly wants to be just like his brother even if he makes fun of him sometimes. I suspect that TK and Patamon are going to be quite significant. The cute underdog seems to hold a lot of power and importance in anime... and the fact that Patamon hasn't yet digivolved makes me think that when it happens, it's going to have some weight. And the theme song shows it digivolve into something that looks like a possible counterpart to Devimon? I don't have much opinion on the Digimon themselves as of yet. If I had to have a word for each... Agumon = snivelly, Gabumon = wise, Tentomon = smart, Gomamon = playful, Patamon = cute, Palmon = prissy, Biyomon = friendly. Guess my fave is Palmon, she's so cute, so's Gomamon. ^_^. 27/5/00 Now the most recent episode I have seen is that where Tai accidentally returns to his own world, talks to his sister, and returns to the Digiworld. Tai seems to make more mistakes than anyone else, and more major mistakes. He's quite impetuous. Sometimes he takes it on himself to play hero and save the day, which can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on the arrogance he displays. In one episode, he forcefeeds Agumon to the point of sickness in the hope that giving him 'more energy' will help him digivolve again. Then he tries to force Greymon to digivolve, but the pressure causes a mutation and it becomes Skullgreymon and tries to kill everyone. ^_^;; Sora comments that Tai didn't used to be like this; he used to be a team player. But Tai learns his lesson. Then, after learning that in the Digiworld their bodies aren't their real bodies, Tai becomes convinced that he's invincible. He takes very stupid risks, and thinks it's funny. Joe has to literally hold him back from killing himself (Joe's stronger than you'd think, being tall doesn't hurt). When he realises that the danger was real, and he could have killed himself, he freezes instead of running to rescue Sora, and later breaks down. These mistakes seem to make a better person out of him. It was like he told a vision of his younger self - you can't give up because of some mistakes you made in the past. His little sister Kari said he was a good big brother. At one time, she fell in the mud in front of some other kids, and everyone laughed at her. She was embarassed, but then Tai jumped in too and started playing in the mud with her to make it look like she'd done it on purpose. I liked that anecdote. Matt doesn't seem like a typical "cool guy" at all, was he meant to? He seems sensitive. I still haven't seen a lot of focus on him at all. Two little moments I do remember... One time where he grinned as he watched TK challenge his Digimon to a cleaning race. TK tries to find the bright side, even of chores. The other time is when he and Izzy go to find their crests, and he says he wants to find his so that he can 'digivolve as a person' - find out more about himself and become a better person. I still like Matt. He needs more screen time. Joe, I pretty well have the same opinion of as before. He gets nervous easily and is a pessimist. But he doesn't stop trying. When Joe didn't want to go into a probable trap, Tai said he was wimpier than his dog... but Joe went anyway! I still do like Joe. He's a lot like me. Like this line:
"We learned a lot!" I love that sort of dry comment. ^_^. Sora can be a little bossy when she knows she's right, but she really is caring. She hates the idea of other people risking themselves for her sake, although she wouldn't hesitate for them to do the same to her. She also hates the idea that they might just be kilobytes; she thinks that makes her sound insignificant and meaningless, but she tells Biyomon their friendship is still real. Mimi is still very girlish and loves things like cosmetics and good clothes. She is still kind of a ditz but realises her strong point and that she has a contribution to make to the team too, when she gets her crest of sincerity. Tai said she's "a great friend and really sincere". Izzy has been fleshed out a little more. He seems to care about pursuit of knowledge more anything else, sometimes. He really must be some sort of genius, the way he can work things out (although it is a tad unrealistic). He is happy to be in the Digiworld, one of the only people who has ever been, and fascinated by everything. His favourite word is "prodigious!" which he uses when something is good or interesting. I like that. ^_^. He seems to go along with the group a lot without complaint. Sometimes he will lead the way. He plays more of a prominent role than some of the others because he IS a computer genius and this IS a computer/digital world. And TK, I finally found out a little more about too. He is an optimist, the child in all of us that looks for the bright side in situations. He's good at caring for things, and he hates fighting. "They're fighting worse than me and Matt. And they're not even brothers!" Kari just appeared for one episode, but I know she'll figure more in the future. She seemed kind of quiet and withdrawn, the type of kid who gets teased easily, and almost kind of... resigned to something. I'm not sure what I think of her. Gomamon is now my favourite Digimon. It's just soooo cute. And a fairly bright character. Optimistic and never harsh. It tries to stick up for Joe and help him out. I also particularly like Tentomon. My favourite humans are still Matt and Joe.
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