Reflection and Analysis

Digimon - Popularity Argument (6/16/2020)

One of the arguments I see in defense of the second season of Adventures lies with how popular the show was at the time, but thinking back on my own experience of watching the show I can see why this logic ends up being majorly flawed.

Truth is, I kept watching the show in hopes the older cast who ended up getting jilted by the second season would end up having an important role of some kind, yet this never happened. Now, I don't know if this was the same for everyone else, but I remember hanging on every episode for just a glimpse of the older Digidestioned. My mind never understood the need for the new team. Mind you, I didn't dislike the team – not until I watched the subtitled version and actually saw how awful Davis (Daisuke in the original version) actually was.

No, seriously – Davis is worse in the original. Tai and Matt are best friends in the original. There were definitely hints of Tai and Sora in the originals as well, all things supporters of the series like saying don't exist – that our biases are based on our nostalgia for the English version of the show. In fact, while I found myself disappointed in the ending of Digimon – well, I felt something along the lines of – well, that's where the show creator wanted to go, right?

All of that came before I started doing some research into some of the history of the show along with actual research into Japanese culture.

I think one of the things which stands out for me regarding my research is the fact the show wants us to believe Sora and her mom are getting along better because they go on shopping trips together, but I don't think that's the case at all. Yes, Sora does conclude at the end of season one that she does love her mother despite the fact her mother is abusive towards her, demanding she act more lady like. Specifically, her mother wants a yamato nadeshiko, which is in Japan the idealized woman.

The fact Sora actually becomes a yamato nadeshiko despite not wanting to be one is heartbreaking. People like telling me – oh, but Sora's interest in clothes shopping isn't out of the norm. Except, that's now what I keep telling people is out of the norm. It's the fact her job interest is in designing kimonos, a yamato nadeskiko pursuit, particularly at the time when Digimon first came out, but she changed from soccer to tennis, a more yamato nadeshiko sport. It's the fact her job is inline with her mothers own pursuits and the fact it really isn't common for an athlete to change sports like that is what's always bothered me.

Which, I can't help but also think Sora's choice regarding Tai and Matt is another thing brought on by her mother. Tai's the kid Sora played soccer with, so it's not out of question to think Sora's mother blamed Tai for Sora not being a yamato nadeshiko like her mother wanted, but Matt is also the ideal marriage candidate for a yamato nadeshiko.

A few people argue also that Sora's tomboy streak was her rebelling against her mother, but that all went away because suddenly she realizes she loves her mother and will now give in to what her mother wants. I use the words give in specifically because while it is true Sora comes to realize she does love her mother; she's not been true to herself. In fact, the show clearly shows that Sora was a tomboy naturally and that the friction arose because that's not what her mother wanted. To say it's just a rebellious phase ignores the reason things were tense between the two in the first place.

Is Sora's mother a bad person? No. I think her intentions are well placed. However, this doesn't change the fact she is abusive towards Sora unintentionally, but I've seen this crop up a lot in other Anime series where a parent expects their daughter to be the yamato nadeshiko despite this not really being said daughter. Being a yamato nadeshiko isn't a bad thing – when that's who the person wants to be, or happens to be, but it's not who Sora wanted to be, or who she was as a person.