Digimon Tamers Is Actually Deeper Than I Remember

So very out of nowhere I ended up rewatching  the entirety of Digimon season 3 Tamers which   personally I haven't Revisited this show since  the Jetix days so this was a pure Nostalgia trip   for me but along the way I found the show to  be better than I ever remembered for those who   don't know Digimon Tamers is the darker sequel to  the original Digimon series Digimon Adventure we   follow Takato Henry and Rika accompanied by their  partner Digimon as they fend off evil Digimon who   seek to take over both the digital and the real  world like most people I like to have background   noise on when I'm doing other things usually  I'd put on a show I've already watched and kind   of half tune into it but something about having  Tamers on in the background was really grabbing   my attention I ended up stopping what I was doing  entirely to actually just sit and binge the show   again mostly in English but I also dip my toes  into the Japanese version a little bit because   I really love the opening and ending theme  songs a lot and I must say I was genuinely   surprised at how well it aged Digimon Tamers is  the season that really solidified Digimon at the   time at least as Pokemon sometimes darker and more  mature cousin this version of the series handled a   variety of more thought-provoking topics that as  returning much older and mature viewer now really   got me thinking it's constantly questioning  the morality of taming and be these creatures   and fighting alongside them what it means for the  Digimon to evolve and potentially pose a danger to   the real world bring into light the positive and  negative impacts of Digimon and human relations   for both parties and challenging the cast to  grow as individuals but most importantly as   a team hell the series even touches on things  such as depression which to be honest I think   this introduced me to the idea of such a thing in  the first place throughout the series The Tamers   Bond and the dynamics of their relationship with  these Digital Monsters is brought into question   a lot and tested often against their ability  to grow and mature their perspective as well   as grow as people the most though I feel this idea  reaches across the entire cast involved with the   Digimon directly see in Digimon Tamers Digimon  truly are a product of man a program created   by them and even a card game created by people  that the kids play at first to the creators of   them they're nothing more than that and it's  to the point where individuals treat them as   just code or even less by all means they are  just a product and very much a child's game so   when it turns out the digital world is real and  so are Digimon it brings into question how these   beings should be treated and the threat of what  Digimon can potentially be is Thoroughly assessed   although we see some Digimon be friendly and  befriend humans from both past series and this   one we all know that these beings can be just as  dangerous as any human possibly even nuclear Level   Threats if left unchecked we see some people  view them just as tools of battle at first   and in other positions of power don't even seem  to acknowledge the fact that although they were   nothing but code before things are different  now and they're fully flesh and bone to some   extent with emotions and needs of their own more  than just ones and zeros they become capable of   coherent thoughts and much much more time and  time again with the main cast Takato Henry   and Rika the most I noticed especially early on  struggle with the idea of whether these Digimon   should be controlled similar to what we expect  from other monster taming Series where that is   in fact the norm initially this is out of fear of  what they could possibly become for some of the   Tamers and the nature of their relations Takato  being afraid of Guillemon's want to be strong   and the fear that with that strength he'd lose  his friend Rika being afraid Renamon just want   the user for more power in the long run and Henry  being afraid of the consequences of letting their   Digimon digivolve and who could possibly be hurt  in the process of these huge City spanning fights   they have sometimes you see in Tamers there's this  huge emphasis on all the digimons thirst to evolve   and become much stronger it's a natural instinct  for them they want to grow in every way but in   some cases that hunger for growth leads to them  becoming more dangerous mods with the possibility   of even wrecking havoc on both the digital and  material fronts and rightfully so the Tamers fear   this at first but we get to see them be some  of the first to truly grow alongside them and   Trust in their Partners fight after fight each  individual Tamer learns to trust their partner   Digimon and often their goals end up aligning this  even inevitably spreads to those who before wish   to eradicate the Digimon and thought of them all  is just brain dead monsters that were capable of   nothing but destruction upon further assessment  the relationship and the cooperation between the   two becomes crucial for both beings survival it  becomes a matter of if they can't grow together   and learn to trust each other other people's  lives will be lost in the process possibly the   growth that comes through this relationship  in many aspects is extremely beneficial for   both parties whether that be for emotional growth  or maturing as individuals and obtaining better   ideologies or even perspectives I think the best  example of the relationship evolving between the   two is Takato and Gilman though see at some  point the hunger for the means to grow faster   and get stronger consumes the both of them causing  Gilman to dig evolve into exactly what they feared   before a truly uncontrollable monster through  the intense bond between the two though T was   able to bring guillemon back to his senses these  events inevitably push them all to discover what   it truly means to bond with their partner and  grow and mature stronger together as one in   unity see the bond between partner and Digimon  is more literal here and they feed off of each   other's raw emotions at times and even fill each  other's pain through this Instinct Bond based on a   certain level of trust and understanding both can  become stronger together and evolve further Beyond   through digivolution and I think this is the first  time Digimon really did this sort of thing but the   bond between them literally allows Tamer and to  fully become one through this thing they call   biomerge dig Evolutions biomerge Evolutions to me  feel like an attempt in the series to destroy the   notion that Digimon and Tamer are similar in  design to Pokemon and trainer through b merge   and even being quote unquote separate they truly  operate as one in this series it pushes them to   stride further Beyond initial limits and allows  them to truly grow and actually mature together   it even solidifies the idea that the two are two  sides of the same coin based off of the fact that   they can even do such a thing as fuse together in  the first place through deep introspection both   gain the ability to potentially be so much more  than what they actually appear tamers gives us   the commanding side that usually comes with these  things like Pokemon for something I personally   find a lot more genuine than capturing and making  these monsters battle for you just over and over   it's a true partnership between the two parties  because both have to agree to be by each other's   side willingly and be on the same page it's not  just owner and animal the relationship that comes   from this level of trust with a separate species  is one that allows them both to persevere and   have the means to protect Both Worlds and even  eventually grow together and become more capable   beings that's just one thing I found interesting  though back to that other thing I mentioned   earlier a real big boy topic depression I wasn't  joking when I said Digimon Tamers was actually my   first introduction to these kind of feelings  you'll have to let me know if some other kid   anime you watched in early 2000s to 2004 handled  this sort of thing and did it exceptionally well   but Tamers was the first for me and it was kind  of Staggering see in the series there's this girl   named Jerry and from Jerry's first appearance and  even throughout the entire show something seems   a little off about her I think the what and the  why is only really registered as an adult for me   personally though but early on Jerry is actually  shown to constantly be talking through a hand   sock puppet like thing at times who was clearly  her friend but also seemingly A coping mechanism   for something initially left unsaid one can only  assume it's for mental health reasons and brings   a sort of comfort to her but really as a kid you  don't think too much of it cuz she really just   comes off as the silly little girl and is really  cheerful actually but that's just ours and the   other Tamers perception see upon getting her wish  of finding a partner Digimon like the rest of her   friends she just as quickly ends up losing them  as not long after finding one he's actually killed   by another Digimon yes like fully murdered in  Cold Blood by another Digimon they know who   guess what he was tired of being weak and he so  desperately wanted to grow that he accepted a deal   for power in exchange for the Tamers and their  digimon's lives it's really messed up honestly   this act immediately sends Jerry spiraling into  a depressive episode due to the trauma of seeing   such a thing happen rightfully upon these events  happening though we get a closer look at Jerry's   troubled pass see this isn't Jerry's first run  in with the death of a loved one and both these   events have left her deeply traumatized believing  even that it's her Destiny to be left alone this   said already stood out to me when I was younger  but now having dealt with death and depression   myself it hits extra hard on the heartstrings  this depressive episode she has really reminded   me a lot of the one Asuka Langley and even  some of the other characters went through in   Evangelion upon rewatch The Final Arc of Tamers  and honestly possibly the entire series shares a   lot of DNA with Ava and a couple of other series  with how characters have to deal with their inner   conflicts and the Grim realities that we face  in real life I think too this is why Tamers is   regarded as one of the darker Seasons as Jerry's  conflict actually kickstarts and encapsulates a   large chunk of the Hidden portion of the show even  resulting in psychological manipulation by the big   bad of the series and borderline horror imagery  being presented to display just how horrifying of   a threat we're really dealing with the writers  of the show handled it very soundly though as   I mentioned before the final Arc of the show  actually is triggered by a lot of what's going   on with Jerry as the main villain of the show  The D reaper actually takes advantage of her   situation and uses her sadness to strengthen and  feel itself hearkening back to the bond between   Tamer and Digimon slightly but now twisted and  defiled through the battle with a d-reaper Jerry   with the moral support of the Tamers Calumon and  even the Digimon that killed our partner Beelzemon   confronts the reality of something so final as  death as as well as her perceived loneliness   head on and comes to the conclusion that Destiny  is not set in stone and if she doesn't want to be   alone she doesn't have to be life does in fact go  on and she can find meaning in it and this lesson   Echoes not just through her but the entirety  of the Digimon Tamer cast it all kind of comes   together nicely too because this whole Arc really  encapsulates the idea of growth Echo throughout   the entirety of the series Jerry gets to get the  closer she deserves and gets the chance to look   past her past trauma and finally grow along with  her peers and rewatching this portion of the show   after years of my own growth really changed my  perception on life and dealing with all these   different sort of emotions and hardships we  encountered as humans growing up see you are   never truly alone and through our connections with  people we get through almost anything together and   become better people in the long run it's just a  matter of trusting and accepting those around you   who truly care about you and Trust in the process  the bad times aren't forever and you're in fact in   control of your life that's just what I got out of  revisiting Digimon Tamers though there's honestly   even more about the series that I feel is worth  discussing but we can leave that to the comments   below I want to hear everyone else's thoughts  on this series though did Digimon Tamers have   the same impact on you as it did to me how do you  feel about it next to the other shows like Pokémon   or even compared to its neighboring seasons of  also what other anime would you like to hear my   thoughts on I've been retroactively going back  and watching oldies and would love to ReDiscover   or even find new ones that I miss growing up  that we all can discuss together let me know   in the comments below and most importantly if  you enjoyed hearing me talk about this series   let me know by leaving a like and subscribing for  more content going forward until next time y'all

Channel: Redsagexxv

Views: 3,169

Keywords: Digimon, Digimon Digital Monsters, Digimon season 3, Digimon Tamers, Anime, anime, Pokemon

Id: TS9Q5I0Xiv0

Length: 13min 25sec (805 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 06 2024