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by Mina
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Now, I know that a lot of people won’t agree with me, so I got someone to lend me a hand in writing this who is absolutely impossible to hate.
Chibimon: Ossu, minnashan!
See? Can’t kill me with the Chibimon here. Okay, the point of this little rant is one of my absolute favourite characters of all time.
Chibimon: Ne, ne, Mina, where’s Daishuke?
Um, I don’t know. But, that’s exactly who this rant’s about. It’s about Motomiya Daisuke, AKA Goggle-Boy number two from Digimon Adventure 02.
Chibimon: Daishuke?
Doko doko doko?
Not here, Chibimon. ::pats Chibimon on the head:: Anyway, Daisuke is one of the most hated characters of all time given the polls I’ve seen. He ranks up there was Miaka of Fushigi Yuugi, which is scary.
Chibimon: Who hates my Daishuke? Point me at ‘em!
::grabs the rabid Chibimon:: Bad Chibimon, no cookie!
Chibimon: But they don’t like my Daishuke!
I like your Daisuke. Now sit back down and let’s finish this.
Chibimon: Mmm…okay!
My personal opinion is that Daisuke isn’t liked because he’s too real. As strange as that may seem, when I ask people why they don’t like Daisuke it’s because of things like…he was afraid of being Veemon’s friend…he picks on Takeru…he has a crush on Hikari…he makes mistakes…the bad guy caught him…etc, etc, so on and so forth. To me, this helps cement his likeability. Here’s a kid that’s *real* people, someone that acts and says the same kind of things that we would. And people don’t always like that. They want a paragon, someone who comes out on top, who’s *good* and always triumphs over evil without breaking a nail.
Onto Daisuke’s relationship with his sister, Jun: Now tell me, my good people, how many people do you know that have relationships with their siblings like Yamato and Takeru, or Taichi and Hikari? Hmm? I don’t know too many; my own sister and I are more like Daisuke and Jun. Jun isn’t a bad person either, and if she seems selfish at times, you need to look at her age and her circumstances before you judge her.
On Daisuke’s relationship with Hikari: Having a crush on Yagami Hikari is completely understandable and not necessarily unfounded. Hikari hasn’t exactly done anything to dissuade Daisuke in his pursuing her either, has she? Truthfully, I think that Hikari knows that nothing will come of a romantic relationship with Daisuke, and I think that she knows he will eventually move on. At first she didn’t really like him because people compared him to Taichi—even herself. But Daisuke more than earned her trust and friendship as an *individual*, not as a substitute brother.
On Daisuke’s relationship with Takeru: Daisuke sees Takeru as a rival for Hikari’s affection. Now, is his treatment of Takeru unfounded, especially given Takeru’s thoughts on him? Takeru was the first one to compare him to Taichi, after all. And Takeru had made a lot of pre-judgments concerning Daisuke that Daisuke proved wrong over time.
On Daisuke’s relationship with Miyako: I find this relationship quite interesting. Partially because Miyako’s older sister is friends with Daisuke’s older sister. From the sound/looks of things, they’ve been friends for quite some time. Which seems to indicate that Daisuke and Miyako have known each other for awhile. And Miyako tends to act like a big sister and caring friend when she isn’t spazing over her latest crush.
There isn’t a lot of Iori and Daisuke interaction in the series. Iori occasionally thinks Daisuke’s off his rocker, Daisuke occasionally thinks that Iori is a possessed fourth-grader, end of story.
On Daisuke’s relationship with the older Chosen Children: Daisuke hero-worship’s Taichi. A lot of people seem to have assumed that it’s because Hikari is Taichi’s sister, but how hard is it to realize that it’s because Taichi plays soccer? That’s even pointed out a time or three if I remember correctly. Yamato didn’t like Daisuke at first, and I heavily believe that this is because Daisuke’s fears of friendship reminded him too much of himself. Things managed to work themselves out, though, and I truly believe that Taichi and Yamato develop a genuine respect for Daisuke and the way he handles things. Daisuke really doesn’t have much interaction with the rest of the older Chosen Children, except maybe vicariously (Ken speaks with Koushirou about the Chosen Children a lot).
Guess what? I saved the best for last! ::rubs hands together evilly::
Chibimon: Anou, Mina, what are you talking about? What’s the best? And where’s the Pocky?
::hands Chibimon the Pocky:: Why, Daisuke’s relationship with Ken of course.
Chibimon: ::talking through Pocky in his mouth:: Oh, I unnershtan! I rike Ken an’ ‘rmmon.
…Whatever you just said, Chibimon, I’ll agree with.
On Daisuke’s relationship with Ken: Yes, I am a self-professed Daiken/Kendai shipper. However, this wasn’t something I just decided; I based my beliefs off of a lot of things that happen in the series. The relationship that Daisuke and Ken have is extremely complex, especially considering the fact that their relationship began when Ken was still the Digimon Kaiser. Even back then, though, Ken found Daisuke intriguing, and he spent a lot of time trying to puzzle out the new Chosen Children leader. Part of the reason he found Daisuke a worthy opponent was because Daisuke was so unpredictable. Ken knew that he would be the “good-guy” but he never knew quite how Daisuke was going to save the day. Once Daisuke realized that his soccer-idol, genius Ichijouji Ken, was also the Digimon Kaiser, things began to get interesting. Daisuke wanted to be friends with Ichijouji Ken, but he hated the Digimon Kaiser. But he began to look deeper into the Digimon Kaiser, and he found something that people had missed: that Ichijouji Ken was a kind, scared, and lonely child, hiding behind the mask of the Kaiser. And though Daisuke wanted more than ever to bring about the Kaiser’s downfall, he was determined to save Ichijouji Ken. The rest of the Chosen Children didn’t exactly agree with his decision, even after they realized the same thing, when the Digimental of Kindness became the Digimental of Miracles because it was Wormmon, Daisuke, and Veemon’s wish to save Ken. When Wormmon died, when Ken cried and stumbled off into the desert, it was Daisuke who had tried to extend a hand of friendship, who had tried to help. Even later, when Ken retrieved Wormmon from Hajimeru no Machi and began his crusade of repentance, no one trusted him but Daisuke. And when they saw Ken kill that first Dark Tower digimon, Daisuke was the only one who believed that Ken hadn’t become the Kaiser again. And Wormmon told Ken this; Ken slowly began to open up to Daisuke, allowing the genki boy to draw him into the circle of Chosen Children.
This was, truly, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. If I hadn’t already loved Daisuke, this would have clinched things for me. The way he was so careful with Ken, stepping back at just the right times, pushing when he needed to…how he continued to encourage Ken with everything…and most of all, how he always worried about how Ken was doing. To me, that first Jogress Evolution was merely a physical show of what was already going on between Ken and Daisuke—two hearts, beating in time, becoming one. Each of the three Jogress Evolutions came about because of something different. Sylphmon was because of Hikari and Miyako reconciling their differences and acknowledging their friendship. Shakkoumon was because Iori was finally able to understand Takeru and share his fervour for wanting evil to disappear. And Paildramon came about because Daisuke and Ken’s emotions became the same.
There were other cute little instances—the sleep over, the Christmas party, Daisuke going to find Ken rather then meet the rest of the Chosen Children when the Demon Corps. attacked, Daisuke going after Ken when he gets kidnapped…Daisuke proving to Ken that he *can* over come the darkness.
Chibimon: ::sniffles:: That’s…that’s so…so sweet! ::begins to cry::
…I feel like I just kicked a puppy. Ne, ne, Chibimon, daijoubu! Genki de wa ne!
Motomiya Daisuke is a boy of many talents. But his biggest talent, his best feature, is his heart. He’s a very caring and sensitive person, who wants to be friends with everyone, who wants to be liked by everyone. And eventually he realizes that being liked by just a few can be enough, that having one strong friendship is better than a dozen meaningless ones. Daisuke personifies “human” for me, strength and determination all rolled up into a smiling genki boy who tries to find the silver lining even when things are black to everyone else.
So here’s to you, Daisuke, Chosen Child, Keeper of Courage and Friendship, partner of Chibimon. Here’s to you, Goggle-Boy Wonder.