Playing Next 0rder For The First Time. I'm Having An Absolute Blast. But I Also Know That Knowing What

So while I was working on my… analysis I suppose, on why Digimon Adventure: does not work as a show, it occurred to me that despite claims that Taichi in Adventure: is inspired by V-Tamer Taichi, his partner is an Agumon whose final evolution is Omegamon, and why that doesn’t work. But I realized that it is a point that I could expand on, and so I have separated it out here. Consider it a preview.

The protagonists of Digimon V-Tamer are Yagami Taichi and his partner Zero, a Veedramon. The story is carried by these two alone. While others help and hinder them on their way, their mission is theirs, and the responsibility of defeating Daemon belongs to no one else. It is with that power that they reach their highest form, UlforceVeedramon Future Mode While Taichi is the main protagonist, Zero is just as much a protagonist. Their names, even reference binary. While there are other characters who impact the plot, the role of protagonist belongs to these two. 

This is echoed in the themes of Digimon Adventure:, the digivice in the title supposedly representing the bonds between human and digimon. And, while I don’t think it particularly succeeds, I can see clear attempts to be made to make the digimon partners their own characters, equals to their human partners. 

But yet, Digimon Adventure: uses Omegamon as Taichi and Agumon’s final evolution. And that is a bit of a problem. Digimon Partners are not interchangeable. Well, okay, the species are a bit arbitrary, all things considered, (after all, Zero’s rookie form is also Agumon) but the problem is what UlforceVeedramon represents vs. Omegamon. 

In Digimon Adventure, Omegamon is not Taichi’s power alone. Not by a long shot. Taichi is not the solo human protagonist of Digimon Adventure. Even in the first film, before Hikari was even meant to play a key role in the series, she shared the series debut. Regardless, the burden of defeating Apocalymon is not his alone to bear. And Agumon’s evolutions reflect that. WarGreymon is reached through borrowing Hikari’s power. Omegamon is literally formed by WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon (who was formed by borrowing Takeru’s power), but in reality is born from the power of hundreds of people reaching out from across the world. And perhaps even Taichi’s crest of Courage is not something that belongs to him alone. As Yamato puts it, “It’s everyone's Friendship”. Though Taichi best embodies courage, the courage he wields is not his alone. Even tri. which I usually avoid using as an example, has Omegamon Merciful Mode, which very explicitly draws from the other children’s partners. Adventure’s Taichi’s not strong because he himself is powerful. Really compared to Hikari he seems rather unimpressive on his own. He’s strong because he is able to easily act as a receiver to others powers, a trait that is fitting for a leader. Because that’s what sets Adventure Taichi apart from his peers, he’s a leader.

Note, that I didn’t really bring up the partners in regards to the discussion of Adventure, not that they aren’t important, but that they aren’t a driving factor. Digimon partners are something vastly different in Digimon Adventure. They are reflections of the children’s inner selves. For straightforward characters, like Taichi, his partner Agumon is very much like him, and for characters like Sora, Piyomon seems very different. This isn’t to say that the digimon are simply their partners, Tailmon went through quite a bit on her own. But nevertheless, Tailmon is the way she is, because Hikari is the way she is. 

Digimon Partners and their evolutions are not things that are just assigned, and given. They are things that arise from the circumstances. Omegamon is there because the themes and circumstances make Omegamon the most appropriate "Ultra”. This is true both in and out of universe, who can forget SkullGreymon? SkullGreymon isn’t wrong. It’s just not the evolution that fits Taichi and Agumon’s situation.

And here’s the thing. Digimon has done the whole focus on “Bonds with Partner’s” before. That’s Tamers. And in Tamers, the final evolution was born from a human and a digimon literally coming together as one. The final episodes all appear somewhat humanoid as a result, particularly notable from WarGrowmon to Gallentmon. Because that was what evolutions were needed narratively and thematically. Otherwise, we have Megidramon. And guess what, the Adventure timeline also has a movie in which the focus is on the bonds between human and friendship, and lo and behold. In Digimon Adventure Kizuna, Agumon (Bond of Courage) and Gabumon (Bond of Friendship) were born. Born from the bond between human and digimon. They even use the “looking like humans” idea from Tamers.

Interestingly, Kizuna came right before Digimon Adventure: started. 

Now, I am really advocating for the Bond forms to be used in Adventure:, those forms were something special to that timeline. But that’s just the thing. Many evolutions, whether unique digimon or not, are brought about by circumstances unique to that timeline. Look at 02’s usage of Armor levels, Frontier's Hybrids, and Xros Wars' Xros mechanic. It’s not new for later seasons to take these Digimon that have existed in these specific circumstances and use them generically later. It would, after all, be a shame to put all those good designs to waste. But at the very least, the evolutions of the main cast are carefully chosen, created if need be, to fit the show.

And that creates a problem for Adventure: as a reboot. It is pulling from the evolutionary lines of its predecessor, despite aiming for different themes and using an entirely different world and characters, and in the process the meaning behind the evolutions has been stripped out. While it has been able to throw in additional evolutions, most of those are well within the confines of precedent: Armors and Ultimate’s that are already related to these evolutionary lines. Adventure: is trying to be a show that, as a reboot of Adventure, it cannot be. Adventure: spends so much of its time screaming that it is not the original Adventure, while simultaneously dragging in call backs that it loses any sense of identity.

The enemies they fight are not Taichi’s responsibility alone. These kids have to have crests. Agumon must evolve into Omegamon.  Angemon still has to die, HolyAngemon and Angemon have to mean something. Tailmon has to be Adult, and has to have been evil. Hikari and Takeru have to give their brother’s power. Omegamon still has to appear. . They still go to summer camp, and Taichi still fights Parrotmon. 

Note, that this is far from Adventure:’s only problem, however I do think it illustrates a large problem that affects the way certain elements and characters are used in this show. Taichi is a solo protagonist, but his “Ultra” is still Omegamon born of Yamato, Takeru and HIkari’s influence. Mimi is now a bossy rich girl, but her crest is still Purity. Yamato is a loner who doesn’t overly concern himself with others, but he’s still Friendship, and still Takeru’s semi-estranged younger brother. 

When Adventure: manages to work a new angle into the old mold, it works well. Yamato’s focus on his friendship with Gabumon works well, and various side characters work alright. Resolving the conflict over Tailmon’s Ultimates by using both for separate things and bringing in Goddramon is a great idea. But more often than not, it doesn’t. Properly contextualizing what a holy digimon is is great, but Angemon’s death is awkward, and Pegususmon’s presence smooths over the issues of Tailmon being champion and keeping Angemon special in an awkward way, refusing to address what an Armor is. Because they are trying to write a story around a set of evolutions they are required to have while absolutely refusing to be Adventure where it matters. Leading to the awkward mesh of Adventure elements and characters, with themes and stories that they were never meant for. 

If Adventure: was meant to be about the bond between Taichi and Agumon, Omegamon was never going to work, including the concepts of crests, was going to muddle things at the very least, and including 7 whole other partner pairs who are going to require at least a few episodes of focus a piece was not going to work out. It’s not that we couldn’t have had more focus on Taichi and Agumon within a reboot and their bond, or that the idea of Taichi and Agumon (or any other pair), activating an evolution because they are in agreement on a concept isn’t a good idea. Just an understanding that this primary focus wasn’t going to work because Adventure in its very concept has a lot of characters that need some degree of focus. Savers with its heavier Masaru focus and use of shonen tropes, dials back the number of “main” characters to half that of Adventure, because it is built around its premise. That unless they were going to be bumped down to secondary, recurring characters, this was never going to work, because that’s not how Adventure’s concept was intended. To tell a new story, it needed to have dropped a few more of Adventure’s elements. But to do that would be to essentially admit that this isn’t Adventure at all. Adventure: needed to have evaluated what story it could tell with what elements it was required to include.

Anything goes in Digimon, and Adventure: seems to want to make the most of this, using armors, Hybrids and Xros Wars digimon with regularity. But you can’t build a cohesive narrative simply by plucking your favorite ingredients and sticking it in a pot. Some things just don’t go together. You can’t take the ingredients to make bread and make a salad. But in short, V-Tamer Taichi and Adventure Taichi aren’t interchangeable. They are two different characters because they are designed for two different stories, and their partners reflect this. Adventure: was doomed from the start if it didn’t realize this. 

I love Beyond as an AU of the Kizuna timeline etc., because Beyond is the first new content since I've become a digimon fan that feels like Adventure. I dont hate Kizuna, I definitely have some issues with it but there's also a LOT I appreciate. Admittedly, when I say Beyond feels like Digimon Adventure, I kinda literally do just mean the character designs, art style (when was the last time we really saw Adventure's digital world? Tri's digital world lacked Adventure's stylization), and the main plot idea, (digidestined being targetted by militaries) which feels like a natural bridge between 02 and the epilogue.

That's almost certainly in part because, it is just a short music video, so that's all there is in it. Which means it doesn't have the room in it to tell me things that I will disagree with. It does raise a lot of questions, but nothing specific. Like why is Takeru in what looks like the dark ocean? There could be 10000s of explanations, and a lot of them would make sense so there's less need to worry about specifics. It also doesn't promise to answer those questions, having been marketed from the beginning as a standalone thing. Its a very different beast from a stand alone movie which requires a clear story arc and character drama that has to resolve quickly, so I'm not disparaging Kizuna and 02tb for NOT diving into that kind of plot, but acknowledging that it made it more difficult for me to care.

A lot of post 02 adventure content has addressed the need for movie content by introducing new characters/conflict that they can resolve in the limited runtime rather than taking from pre-existing threads which does make sense for the format but does leave those stories feeling superfluous. Kizuna and 02TB also take the epilogue for granted rather than seek to show the progression towards it. Not to say there isn't any recognition of the inevitable ending but that this underlying thread takes a backseat to more specific conflicts within the setting of a world approaching a digimon partnership singularity.

I don't think its necessarily a bad thing that they try to use the audiences understanding that the epilogue is canon as a way to filter the story through to make you question the things the characters tell you. Like obviously "digimon disappear when kids become adults" and Taichi and Yamato's separation can't be the whole story if the epilogue shows us that it won't stay. So we are theoretically driven to read between the lines and look for the discrepancies and clues about what IS going on. But it IS extremely frustrating to have mysteries raised but not show the resolution for a 20 year old show, especially after tri. wasted a lot of audience goodwill on that kind of thing.

I also think a huge part of what makes Beyond feel more like Adventure is the lack of adhesion to real life for the setting. 02 took place 2 years into the future from when it was written. Not significant amount of tine, but like 9/11 happened between when the show was written and when it was set. It and especially the epilogue were written speculating about the future that they couldn't really predict. And so tri. Kizuna and 02TB which were all written after the time they take place all try to emulate the real world past, invoking nostalgia of that time period as well, when the world of 02 was already going in a different direction from ours. So I think naturally a world where the timeline has diverged more strongly than from our real timeline would reflect in things like fashion and societal behavior, and even the characters adhesion to the norms that exist.

This of course shows in things like the cell phones and Sora's fashion. I don't think Sora wearing typical Japanese adult women's fashions is at all inaccurate to her character, particularly in the timeline/world those entries present (ie more similar to irl). Similarly Ken and his long hair; long haired Japanese high school boys isn't particularly realistic to the fashion norms of our world, but it IS in line with Ken's fashion choices in 02 and the epilogue. Just two different approaches to the kids designs.

But I personally ultimately do like the Beyond outfits more, because they feel more like a progression between 02 fashions and epilogue. And also I don't really have nostalgia for the 2000s-2010s, much less in Japan. But this also extends to things like character arcs, where I don't think that it's not possible for the chosen children to be plagued by the kind of doubts we see them suffer from in recent iterations, and those doubts make for continued stories for them, but I don't think that's the only potential future for them. So seeing a Sora who is happily flying freely in the digital world makes me happy (and for me calls to mind her Best Partner duet).

I do think I would love a novelization as an elaboration to know what the vision for Beyond is, but I'm otherwise so burnt out Adventure that I don't want anything higher budget to tell me what happens. It's highly possible that any further elaboration on Beyond (such as a novelization) would tell me things that I don't believe. The thing about a show that's had such a long-standing presence is it doesn't really belong to anyone in particular. Shows like Digimon Adventure are made by a group of people at a particular time, so no one person, or even group of people from the crew are the one authority on the story. It's impossible to truly have one true canon continuation of the story, but to me Beyond feels at least somewhat close.

I do appreciate the inclusion of Meiko (&Lui) as sort of a assurance this isn't a pure rejection of other official interpretations of post-02 content. That stuff isn't without merit. But beyond is just one of the creators visions on the subject filtered through music video time constraints rather than big budget movie constraints. Just one potential path.

How Digimon Universe Invokes Myth

I had a horrible, horrible epiphany about Appmon that I am compelled to share.

So, as I was writing my Appmon analysis thoughts, considering how Appmons main thesis of using kindness to fight the singularity and how that stands in antithesis to the self-fulfilling prophecies so common in myth where going out of your way to fight something is what makes it come to pass in the first place. The most notable example to me was the Greek Myth where Uranus was overthrown by his children who he prevented from being born, hurting their mother Gaia in the process. In turn his son, Cronus, was overthrown by his children whom he ate, and his son Zeus, who was prophesied to be overthrown by his son, consumed his child’s mother before he could conceive the child of his doom. And the God Grades were named after Greek gods this season. In my head this was a sort of side note. A cool little detail. Not that this is exclusive to myth (hey Kung Fu Panda II) or anything. But myths are the foundation of human storytelling. Even today it’s something that gets used quite a lot. Because it's such a terrible, human concept. Using violence out of fear against people motivates them to want to use violence against you.

Now if you want a recap of what I said somewhere else that I don’t care to look for, Appmon argues against it, basically Appmon is a battle between Denemon’s children. While one of his children goes rogue and kills him, fulfilling the prophecy of the singularity. He does not overthrow humanity because ultimately through the kindness he (and Haru) showed, Minerva (and Yuujin and the Appmon), remained loyal to humanity. Even though Appmon grew strong enough to overthrow humanity, they didn’t. Now I have an additional thought, that being Uranus, while defeated, still exists as the sky. Just like Denemon, though killed still exists. Does that mean anything? I don’t know.

Then I was thinking about how Digimon does gender in all its different seasons. And how Appmon was the most baffling. Because okay. Digimon aren’t consistent and they can have gender sometimes. But those are usually in the series where digimon aren’t man-created AI. So what the heck Appmon. Why do you have gender? And your appmon have parents? Parents have only been used for digimon in Xros (the season infamous for implying digimon sex), and Frontier, where digimon very much so had gender, but also were born from reincarnating eggs whose gender did not seem set in stone. Both seasons, which took the more “Digimon are naturally existing fantasy monsters” rather than “Digimon are AI monsters born from human influence” approaches. Are they AI born from humans? You can’t give me two completely conflicting stories about Appmon’s existence. 

Or can you?

So I’ve taken a few classes on myth and religion through the years. And unfortunately due to reasons I have mythology fresh on the brain. But the idea that myth contains conflicting stories about things is one that was discussed. Myths generally weren’t told as one continuous story of truths. They were told as independent stories. While they were regarded as truths, you weren’t supposed to think deeply about the discrepancies because these are stories of the divine. Beyond perfect human understanding. The individual stories each said something about the society. Each story held its own truth, relying on a consistent cast of characters. An example is how there are two, semi-conflicting stories of the creation of man in Genesis. This results from the fact that at one point these were two separate stories, each meant to illustrate a point about the world. It was only after they were gathered and codified did we consider them part of one story.

But this also got me to remember what gods are. They are divine representations of things. For instance it is not that Gaia represents the earth or governs it. It is that Gaia is the earth. Hades is also the name for the underworld. Gatchmon is a search app. Appmon are to Gods, the way Apps are to natural phenomenon. Appmon are modern gods. Now this isn’t the first time Digimon tipped its toes into myth. It has digimon who are representatives of all sorts of preexisting myths. But they don’t enact these myths. Perhaps they will be referenced as having godlike influence in their reference books, but they will not be worshiped like gods in the texts (anime, Manga, games) themselves. They invoke these myths, but they are not myths themselves.

The apps are personified in the way the gods are personified. Gatchmon is like a human comprehension of the search engine. Search engines exist, finding and sorting knowledge in ways that are beyond the average human comprehension. Search engine giving irrelevant knowledge? Gatchmon messing with you. Search engine giving you the perfect search result. Gatchmon. Music app algorithm playing songs you hate? Musimon. Music app playing the exact song you were in the mood for? Musimon. Phone randomly reboots… Rebootmon. In the same way the gods of myth toyed with human lives, causing them pain and suffering. Disease, love and fertility were all products of the gods. Appmon toy with humans in the same way. People earn the favor of the AI the same way the Greeks earned the favor of the Gods. Through sacrifice. In this case the sacrifice of their personal data.

So how can apps have parents? And go to school? And have genders? The same way that God’s have gender, have affairs and have parents. The way. Appmon live an existence beyond human comprehension and beyond the human flow of time. Appmon go to school for the same reason that there are myths of the gods cheating, and fighting and stealing among each other getting into petty grudges. App Fusion charts is like the genealogy of the gods. But for the Apps. It is the way that some Apps use other Apps to improve their functions. The way search apps will reference locations or the weather if you ask it to look those things up. The way Apps relate to each other, communicating using AI that builds upon each other. We wouldn’t have video calls if it weren’t for camera apps or phone calls already existing. The stories of the Appmon going to school, or having parents is the representative explanation for why things are the way they are. This app was never released? It failed app school. This App references these two? Those two Apps are its parents. Some Apps come into existence fully formed. Some do have parents. SOME APPS ARE BOTH, THE TRUTH NOT UNDERSTOOD BY MORTAL MEANS AND ONLY RELEVANT TO THE STORY THAT IS BEING TOLD. APPMON ARE MERELY OUR COMPREHENSION OF THE FORCES THAT GOVERN OUR LIVES.

 So now having established that, Appmon is a modern myth. A story of what’s to come, and the characters, the Apps, that rule our modern lives. Digimon Universe is the Ragnarok, the Book of Revelations of our modern age. Obviously it is not a true myth. It’s a children’s show. But it invokes the patterns of myth so I’m calling it as I see it.

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

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

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.

This year I spontaneously watched Appmon nearly 2 times, and I have thoughts about it. And what better way to acknowledge it than on its 5th Anniversary. (Or 4th anniversary of Our Singularity). I'm planning on at least covering my thoughts on the main 5 kids this month, in an order based 100% on who I want to talk about first.

It's Astra.

I think Astra is generally the least liked Appmon character, or perhaps more accurately, is the character I see the most disdain for. And, honestly, I can understand where it comes from. But he’s my favorite Appmon character actually. In a cast with a non-conventional protagonist, a blackbelt idol, and a hacker, Astra’s “Apptube” is well, just kind of there. Like a more modern version of Eri’s idol career. His personality is clearly meant to be representative of the target audience, the group whose number one career aspiration is Youtuber. So, he’s kind of cringy and kind of annoying, especially to an adult audience. I get it. But Astra’s a character I found to have a lot of stuff going on.

I admittedly tend to have a soft spot for the babies of any team, especially if they are assertive enough to keep up with their seniors. And Astra does fit the bill. He’s generally seen to be on equal footing with the others, and his rather aggressive way of talking to the other doesn’t exactly make you think baby of the team. He doesn’t use honorifics, and in general Astra’s referred to in the same terms as Haru and Rei. (As near as I can tell, anyway with my nonexistent Japanese skills, correct me if I’m wrong). The fact he’s in elementary school is a bit more incidental than anything.

We learn the most about Astra’s family and upbringing compared to the other characters, and it is central to his arc. We get a lot of information straightforwardly in the show. He had a lot of pressure on him as the heir to the school, and felt pressured to act the part of the perfect heir. Throughout the show we see him struggle with the pressure of being the heir. As a child he was extremely dedicated to following his father's footsteps. He didn’t seem to see himself as anything other than the heir to his father's school. He seemed set apart from other children, seemingly due to the closed-off way he acted. This dedication to being a good heir was to the detriment of his happiness. Until Musimon came into his life allowing him to loosen up and seek his own happiness. Classic stuff. But Astra is a little more at war with himself than may be obvious by his “annoying” attitude.

While we first learn about Astra suppressing his own eccentricities, in his debut episodes, it’s not until later that we learn about his mother, and learn that this side of his personality didn’t come out of nowhere. His mother is very similar to him, which gives us the question of why he ever became so disciplined in the first place if his behavior isn't out of place in his family, and his mother is a strong advocate for him doing his own thing. In fact, Astra seemed initially a bit embarrassed by his mother when he introduced her to the other Appdrivers. Of course this is almost certainly because his mother calling his friend “pretty” and gushing about her husband and how they met is embarrassing, and even if Astra himself acts just as obnoxious. But even so, he's clearly less respectful towards her. The reasons behind why Astra calls his mother by her first name are unclear, though it doesn't seem to stem from a lack of love for his mother.

But regardless, it helps build the idea that more likely, he was trying to win the approval of people outside his immediate family. After all, as shown in episode 7, it was the assumption that Astra would inherit the school by others that prompted Astra’s response to his father. Even if Astra’s father does have a desire for Astra to inherit his position, he also understands that it's first and foremost Astra’s life to live. Astra however does have a lot of respect for his father and seems to value his opinion immensely, he recognizes that not inheriting the school would be disappointing to his father and does not want to disappoint him. So while I think there is something to be said for Astra’s behavior relating to a desire to impress his father, I don’t personally think it's the origin in its entirety.

Astra over the course of the series is very independent and marches to his own beat, Astra, like Eri, had made the first step to change prior to his introduction, but that doesn’t mean he was already completely different from the boy who acted stiff to prove himself to others. Astra’s second episode deals with him succumbing to peer pressure in his new activity, and his final episode is about not succumbing to his uncle's expectations, the old expectations that kept him down for so long. (But it's also a bit about fulfilling Hinarin’s expectations, expectations he agreed to).

Despite Apptubing being the career choice where Astra does as he pleases, his final episode isn’t about him Apptubing because he wants to but as a way to help someone else. Particularly his cousin. While it isn’t explicitly clear if Astra knows it’s his cousin the fact of the matter is that he’s helping his family through his Apptubing, even if it is something he picked up for himself. (A reasoning perhaps parallels Eri’s reasons for being an idol, wanting to bring smiles to her mom, despite it clearly being something she herself enjoys). His care for his family is exactly the reason he continues to train to be the heir, but that doesn’t mean even if he doesn’t uphold expectations that he can’t be a help to his family.

Astra’s arc deals with expectations vs. a desire to help. Astra in large part is assertive about not having to help other people out and doing his own thing, recognizing he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to. But his actions consistently betray his care for others. I think this is most evident in the way Astra acted as if he wasn’t going to help Eri out with her elections, but did so anyway, even if he antagonized her a bit in the process, but ended up being the proudest of her accomplishments. Not to mention the way he continues to train as the heir, albeit on his own terms. Over the course of the series, he becomes more open with his care towards others, culminating in the jailbreak episode, but he’s always been shown to care. He’s finding that balance between living his own life and helping others.

It’s clear that Astra doesn’t hate being heir at least. He’s extremely determined to do both. And personally, I think it’s very possible that he sees Apptubing as a hobby. He after all proposed the half-hour limit himself. Even at the beginning with his most abrasive. He dutifully kept it to a relatively small impact on his life. For all that it’s brought up as an important element in his life, and he is shown breaking his own rule on occasion without consequence. One of the longest times we see him Apptubing is when he’s helping Eri out. Of course on the flip side of that, we have episode 8 where he breaks the rule because his videos aren't doing as well as he likes, but that's definitely tying back to his desire for people's approval. While he is for lack of a better word, tempted into giving up training to be an iemoto to dedicate himself to Apptubing, it isn’t something he seems to seriously consider at all.

The biggest thing Musimon gave him was not the courage to be an Apptuber, but the courage to be himself. Indulging in Apptubing for fun is merely a small part of that. Astra is still the good heir, but he is no longer letting that define his entire life, sometimes forgoing certain parts of training. But that doesn’t mean that tea ceremony is a bad part of his life. There’s also a certain balance in his personality between the abrasive “annoying” boy at the start of the series and the passive boy prior to the show's beginning. I don’t feel that the polite Astra is completely disingenuous. Astra is capable of acting calm and grounded, and this side of himself becomes more apparent as the series goes on, particularly with Eri who, in contrast to him, throws herself into her idol career with more and more genuine passion. When he supports Eri with his videos but asks her to take a break, which tracks with what we know about his fathers working habits. It’s his final focus episode where he is shown to be acting, more in someone else's interest, and even shown to be a bit embarrassed by it. In contrast to an Astra who even in episode 19, was not taking much seriously. I think it’s only fair to say Astra did genuinely inherit some of his father's more grounded and dutiful nature.

And while earlier I did say Astra’s age feels incidental, I don’t think that is to say it has no bearing on his role in the story. It's part of the reason Eri is so dismissive of him at first, Sure, the other’s treat him as equal, and are in no way particularly protective of him, nor do they expect him to be any less capable than him. But this isn’t to say Astra’s relative youthfulness isn’t apparent when with the others at least in the beginning. Astra is definitely on the more immature side of things, he after all is the one who started the rivalry with Eri because his ego was bruised (not that Eri's initial dismissal of him was helping matters any). As I said earlier, Astra mellowed as the show progressed and I think it’s a fair assumption to say he’d continue to do so. Not that he’ll lose his energy, but that he’ll be able to act with more maturity and consideration for others. The most common complaint about him I’ve heard is “annoying”, which is understandable. But that’s not accidental, even in-universe (hah), others seem to find him to be a bit much at first at the beginning of the series. His “annoying” personality is him testing the waters beyond the role of dutiful heir he’s always played. He’s annoying because he’s an 11-year-old boy who does not always know how to act in ways appropriate to his situation. He’s the kid of the group. I do understand if that still makes watching irritating. Watching should be fun after all, but it’s more of a matter of opinion than an objective flaw.

Unlike Gatchmon, Offmon, and Dokamon whose personalities seem to clash a bit with their buddies, Musimon and Astra are consistently on the same page, after episode 8. This is exemplified in episode 29, where Musimon runs away for fun rather than because he wants something from Astra, and Astra is the only partner who seems to have not been worried, recognizing what Musimon was doing. Of course, their fight in episode 8 was about Astra not being true to himself, thus naturally conflicting with the one who is on the same page as his true self. Musimon shares Astra’s high energy but caring nature. I’m not an expert on the Japanese language by any means, but there is something notable about the fact Musimon uses “Boku” to Astra’s usual “Ore”. Musimon and Astra are without a doubt very similar, the only difference in their demeanors being Musimon is perhaps a bit less confrontational. If Musimon being Astra’s buddy says anything about Astra, it’s probably that Astra is by his nature not quite as aggressive as he seems. Which for someone who clearly used to takes people's opinions of him to heart, seems about right.

Astra’s arc is all about expectations, expectations as an Apptuber, and as the heir. Astra living up to, or disregarding expectations based on what he believes is best. Living the life he wants to live.

Some final observations from me in regards to Astra, is that he’s paired with Fakemon for God Grade. While it’s probably in part just how things worked out logistically, it also makes a bit of sense as a foil. Fakemon is constantly being disingenuous, while a huge part of Astra’s arc is being true to himself, while also fulfilling other people's expectations of him. Also of note, Entermon is described as a Digimon who exists wherever you can find culture something that is particularly relevant to Astra.

While being biracial is not directly important to the story, it’s not incidental and clearly is thematically related to him being trapped between the traditional and the modern Japan. While in story Astra’s story is simply about outside expectations of inheritance, It’s possible to read Astra prior to the series as trying to overcompensate for his foreign mother in the eyes of the people at his father’s school. This is something I find notable considering that Appmon’s assistant producer, Akari Yanagawa, went on to become the producer of 2019’s Star Twinkle Precure, a season of Precure notable for the franchise's 2nd biracial cure, whose personal arc more obviously alluded to racism than Astra's, though still very indirectly.

Mirrors

Haru once calls Yuujin his Hajime to Rei. And as far as narrative parallels go its true. I’d argue all of our main protags have a person. For Haru that’s Yuujin, and for Rei its Hajime. And for Astra and Eri it’s each other, though they aren’t as clear an example for numerous reasons, and are not the clear parallel Haru and Yuujin are to Rei and Hajime. 

Haru is to Rei as Yuujin is to Hajime.

This parallel is also furthered by Yuujin and Hajime’s appmon. Offmon and Bootmon(Onmon). I’d also like to draw attention to their lines, as they're the ones that didn’t get full focus for logistical reasons. Offmon goes Super with Hackmon(Rei’s buddy). Onmon goes super with Gatchmon (Haru’s buddy). So… their super partners are the buddies of the other “main protag.” I mean, I think it's also game/marketing logistics because in the 3DS game, which I kind of assume many of the logistics were designed for (though I’m sure the anime was also being planned concurrently) because they are also the buddies of the main protag and the rival in the game, so giving their supers the anime protag buddy and the anime “rival” buddy just makes sense but I digress. 

Yuujin is an AI who goes through the story as a “Human”. Hajime is a human who is converted to an AI. Yuujin was let out into the world to gather information and act as a double agent. Hajime was taken from the world to make use of his skills as a programmer. Both are used by Leviathan against their will. Yuujin is younger than he seems, and Hajime is more capable than his age would indicate. They are the characters whose existence acts as a catalyst to their “Protectors” future. At the beginning of the show Hajime’s abduction is what catalyzes Rei into becoming an Applidriver, and is his driving force for much of the show. Yuujin’s death at the end of the show is what catalyzes Haru’s decision to study computer science. That said, Haru’s decision to become an Appdriver is also influenced by Yuujin, declaring Haru has the potential to be a protagonist. Yuujin noted that Haru was changing, and that he had made new friends before he was brought into the fold, helping to highlight how Haru was changin even without Yuujin. Similarly, Hajime’s return at the end of the series seems to lead to Rei relaxing and truly appreciating all that he’s gained as an Applidriver when Hajime was gone. Even if he was already starting to appreciate everyone else beforehand.

Consistently throughout the story Haru was the one who understood that Rei’s priority was Hajime and was constantly reaching out to him to help with that. Haru was going to help Rei save his precious person. Yuujin was also kidnapped later in the story, and his rescue was helped by everyone, including Rei pitching in.

Rei thought he put Hajime in danger, but Hajime put himself in danger as Hajime was the one who “won”. Haru avoided telling Yuujin about Appmon because he wanted to keep him safe, despite the fact that Yuujin was his friend was because of the danger in the first place, and really, it being likely that if it hadn’t been for Yuujin Haru wouldn’t have become a “protagonist”. (Another case of Minerva and Leviathan’s circular 4D chess game). 

Hajime created Bootmon. Hajime is already proficient in creating AI. This is what led to his abduction. But this is something that Haru hopes to study at the end of the show in order to bring Yuujin back.

Rei worked himself down and stopped taking care of himself in order to rescue Hajime, and was reckless in his pursuit. Haru similarly did reckless stunts to save Gatchmon, the world, and Yuujin. Yuujin actually did sacrifice himself, twice to save Haru and everyone else. Not to mention stopping Shutmon. 

Yuujin’s sacrifice to save the world at the cost of his own life, ending Leviathan’s plans, is probably the series crowning moment, but Hajime also sacrificed himself to let Bootmon escape in an attempt to prevent Leviathan’s plans from coming to fruition.  All four of these boys were tied to the plot in ways they didn’t fully understand at first, and are all the types of people to put their all into protecting people, even at the cost of their own well being.

    Okay, but now that I’ve talked about the obvious plot players I’d like to talk about our final pair. Astra and Eri aren’t really as plot important as the other four. There really is no reason they of all people ended up as Appdrivers. They are both there to round out the cast so to speak. 

    Eri is the only girl of the group (as well as one of the oldest members of the group), and Astra is the only elementary schooler and somehow simultaneously both the season's token “traditional household” and the season’s token half-japanese diversity. They are both public entertainers, a role that stands in stark contrast with Rei’s intensely on the grid off the grid way of living. Their arcs both related heavily to making their decisions because of how much they care about their families.  They are also a bit similar demeanor wise. They both have obnoxious catchphrases, are as purposefully arrogant as part of their schtick. As I said before, neither of them have a particularly large stake in the fight against leviathan (besides the obvious) and so overall have the same place narratively.

    I mean, we didn’t know Haru’s connection to the whole thing initially, and it seems even Ai’s tangentially connected. But it can be said that Minerva somewhat purposefully chose someone she believed could be an idol to be an Appdriver because it would give them insider access to L-corp and the media. We know she’s not against somewhat far fetched plans (Yuujin for one). Which is why I think Eri’s idol career has a surprising amount of focus in the show because of its relevance to the plot. I can’t think of any reason why Astra would be a choice for an appdriver, beyond his social media presence, and… maybe a risk taken that didn’t pan out the way Minerva hoped (I mean, an elementary student, somewhat laid back, with little free time? There had to be some reason?). 

    Speaking of Minerva, Astra and Eri’s questions stand in stark contrast to each other. Eri’s question is related to deciding to support other people, and Astra’s question is related to following his own heart rather than people’s expectations.

    Specifically Eri became an Appdriver after discussing with her mother about how hard she was working and her mom assuring her that she was happy as long as she did as she liked. Eri of course, did do as she liked, choosing to be an idol because idols made her happy hoping she could share that happiness, particularly to her mother who was working to make her happy. Early episodes featured Eri meeting fans, or in other words those who she was making smile, thus fulfilling that role. While her focus episodes became more about Eri’s drive as an idol, to succeed in her career for her mom by the end, she was willing to give up being an idol to move out from under Leviathan and more plot reasons.

    Like Eri, Astra started out rather lonely, and became an Apptuber because watching an Apptuber made him happy. But unlike Eri’s initial episodes, which were about learning who exactly it was she was supporting as an idol, beyond herself (and mother) which made her efforts to succeed as an idol later on more appreciated. Astra’s first focus episodes were about him being himself learning not to try and be someone he’s not, even in his new role, and that he shouldn’t have to impress people. His later focus episodes then went to deciding that even if he was choosing his own path as an Apptuber, he was still holding to obligations because he wanted to hold to them, and finding ways to support his family as an Apptuber. Astra’s arc is a little harder to grasp due to the relative lack of focus episodes, and like the Katsura’s backstory, not really being explained in full, his motivations as a character are a bit multilayered.

And as I’ve said, each member of the cast has their “important person” who they’d potentially sacrifice the fight for. Yuujin and Haru for each other, and the Katsura brothers for each other. Despite having no deep backstory prior to the start of the show, and in fact kind of starting out at constant odds they form an extremely close relationship over the course of the show. Astra treats Eri with his trademark casualness (referring her to just Eri, which is something no one else does, but also, he treats everyone like this). But Eri quite notably refers to Astra as “Tora”. While she picks this habit up before she met Jenny, it’s interesting to note that Jenny also calls Astra “Tora”. (And Dantemon? For Whatever reason?). And for his part, Astra does not discourage her from calling him this, despite the fact it’s probably a rather personal nickname. I personally take this as sort of an indicator as the sibling-like relationship they have. (I think it’s very important that despite their numerous moments showcasing their relationship, there is never any romantic implication. I mean, it’d be kinda weird since it’s 3 years and they are still so young. But it's not unshippable by any means, and I’ve seen worse).

While Rei was shown to prioritize Hajime over everything throughout the show, and Haru’s internal struggle with fighting over his friend are clear moments of characters having to choose to do the right thing at the potential harm to their loved ones, Astra also has a moment like this in regards to Eri during his final fight with Fakemon. There’s also the way he reacts when he realizes she’s potentially in danger in episode 36. Astra cares deeply for Eri and despite the casualness in the way he treats her, it’s clear that he has a lot of respect for her, and the passion she dedicates to being an idol.

Another important moment is when Astra asks Eri why she’s working herself so hard. Astra of course knows his father who works himself to the point of the detriment to his health, and so this drive is something he is familiar with, but as Astra’s arc is the one that relates to him doing what he thinks his best for himself, and then the support to others working its way in from that. Eri’s arc is more about learning to work to others’ benefit as well as your own. So Astra being the one to ask her if working herself like this is really what she wants to do and thinks she should do.

Eri doesn’t have a similar dramatic moment over Astra, much of her growth involving less personal interactions between people. Again, Eri’s career is marked by inspiring more people, and perhaps being more big picture, Eri is frequently approached by fans, and is constantly building her presence. And while Astra has his fans, he’s rarely approached on the street and has relatively little fan interaction.

 Whereas Astra’s shown to have a more narrow minded focus on who he cares about, doing Apptube primarily to do as he’d like, getting over his focus on other people's opinions rather early on. His priority being his family, Musimon, and his friends (especially Eri). But Eri does seem to care for Astra in return. Her reaching out to save Astra during episode 15 was a moment where she reached out to someone first to help forge a bond.

Perhaps its because Astra and Eri are the characters meant to flesh out the cast, is why I find them and their dynamic so interesting. They aren’t part of this tragedy. But they, and to a lesser extent Haru’s friends, tie the cast back to the rest of the world, which I think was really important in Appmon.

The characters in Appmon relate to each other both in their relationships with each other and the parallels in which they go about protecting and supporting each other. In this way, connecting to each other, AI or human, learning from each other and changing how they act, they come to push back against Leviathan's idea of the predictability of humanity, and against fear for those we don't understand.

I wonder if we still would have gotten a cure cameo of peach if she hadn't been one of the lead cures. How much were they willing to invest in that bit?

You know, I was kinda worried when they skipped Peach that we wouldn't see her at all. But now I just find it hilarious that they saved her cameo for for advertising an airline.

Ah, Precure dance endings. A series staple. Whether you consider the First dance ED to be "You make me happy" or "Ganbalance de dance" or even the very first "Get You! Love Love?!" the point is they've been around for a while. Generally speaking nothing but a simple fun time, but rarely has had anything to do with the show proper. Nothing wrong with that of course, but the very first Precure ED was a bit more than that.

Futari wa, as opposed to every other season, only has the 1 ending. Sure, it changes visually halfway through to accommodate Pollun and the new villain team, but that's it. (Which is more than the OP which doesn't change at all, which is also unusual). But I think people often miss the relevance of the song in between all the less relevant eds, and the iconicness that is the OP.

But the ED is also iconic and a crucial piece of the Futari wa Purikyua experience.

Episode 45, the last episode before shit hits the fan, features this song heavily. This song isn't really my favorite ed, and the episode isn't a particular favorite of mine (Futari wa has so many good episodes), but it utilizes the ed effectively, and the song that you've been listening to all this time hits harder.

Nagisa immediately falls in love with the song. The song speaks to her looking at the lyrics of course its no surprise. But it's not just "song that Nagisa would like". Though I would be remiss if I did not mention the inclusion of sweets in the lyrics. Nagisa loves chocolate. It's the go to simple important part of life for her.

They have the girls sing it. Sung by a chorus, not just Nagisa and Honoka (but they do get solos), but the whole class, many of whom appear in the ED. Because of Futari wa's small main cast the side characters hold a more important role than they do in many future series, so these are characters we know, even if just from an episode. There's a weight to the music being diegetic.

Of course the episode ends sweetly, with Nagisa, Honoka, and the fairies, singing their heart out with the rest of their class. But for a moment that wasn't a guarantee. Nagisa and Honoka being unable to sing with their class highlights the toll that this fight has taken on their normal school lives. They have to fight against someone who fully intends to kill them, and then destroy their loved ones, alone while every one else is.

Made all the more poignant by the subject matter of the song.

First of all, the title "Get you! Love Love!" is in English, and a bit nonsensical in English. But "Love Love" in Japanese, means more "lovely-dovey". It's VERY much so in your face romantic. A word used to describe Mepple and Mipple. The song is about the joy of teenage romance. While I don't really want to call it frivolous, next to world saving it doesn't hold the same weight.

Now, I recognize that may seem counter to my point that the song is important to Futari wa. I mean there's no canon romantic relationship. Closest is Nagisa's crush that she never actually confesses to. But putting aside all of Futari wa's romance elements (which is an entirely different discussion), the lyrics are still very relevant to Futari wa.

The Opening holds the iconic line "even wearing school uniforms we're unbelievably tough" and features scenes of them fighting evil in their school uniforms. The opening is an ode to how badass they are in all aspects of their life.

But the ending is the other side of the coin. It tells us how frustrated they are with the villains encroaching on their everyday life. While I don't speak Japanese, and have seen it translated a couple of ways, the reoccurring "datte yatte ran'nai jan", is either "because you can't make me do this", or "because I can't do this". IDK which is right, but either way, this is in regards to fighting, stress, and trouble, which stands in stark contrast to the opening which is very much so about how much they can and do fight. "For the sake of the earth, for the sake of everyone That's fine but isn't there something that you're forgetting?! Now!" They aren't even being subtle about the Pretty Cure part about the girls lives in the song. How much that they don't want to do it. "My heart is pounding and throbbing like a dreaming teenager An original daily life is something I won't get rid of" The lines of Nagisa and Honoka's solo. The most thematically important lines in the whole song imo. While the importance of the everyday is important in most Precure seasons, it is especially emphasized with Futari wa. The main theme of the story is about how precious day to day things are, and how unfair it is for the girls to have to fight for that.

Because ultimately that is what Futari wa Pretty Cure is about more than anything. I think it's important to view Futari wa Pretty Cure through the lens of a slice of life first. It's tone a lot of the time, focusing on poor grades and unfinished homework, lacrosse, errands, sleepovers and family. A relatively grounded slice of life from the perspective of magical girls. The value of the normal events highlighted by the desperation Nagisa and Honoka have fighting to defend them. The ED highlights it by focusing on the more "frivolous" aspects of the girls lives.

The visuals of the ED are pretty simple, but effective. They showcase the different circles the girls interact with. Their families, their classmates, their clubs and of course the villains. Because of Futari wa's focus on their community, the presence of these characters in the ED is deserved. A fun lighthearted focus on their day to day lives to contrast the OP.

Also, I'd like to point out the ED visuals humanizing the villains. While Futari wa's villains are easily among some of the franchises worst, having the unforgivable flaw of being forgettable, the show doesn't do a completely terrible job of humanizing them. And the ED contributes to that. The dancing of the villains, just being the goofy people that some of them are when not, trying to destroy the world. While I wouldn't call the behavior canonical, it really isn't off base for characters like Gekidrago and Regine. The villains, for all that they are generic, are primarily motivated by their desire to continue existing: the same motivation that drives the Cures. (Gotta love their goofy dance).

Also a guy screams at the end of it. If I have to hear it now so do you.