... And a Happy New Year
01 . 01 . 2003
I woke up this morning, the first of January 2003, and realised some time after breakfast that last night was the night that the world's digidestined all banded together against MaloMyotismon. Directly and indirectly, he had made the last six months a long line of problems for them. It was a happy day, the end of a long, hard struggle, a reunion of old friends and the realisation by the dark seed children that something as flimsy as a dream was worth living for. It was also a day tinged with sadness as the dreams of Yukio Oikawa, the most tragic figure of them all, were so close, but never realised.
Digimon Adventure 02 was, in a way, over before it had even begun. Before we got to mid-2002, when the Digimon Kaiser set alarm bells ringing, we already knew how his story was going to end. So it has been just a little bit strange watching repeats of Adventure 02 in the last six months, because for all I knew it could have been happening right then.
For the last six months, my life has been hell. Sure there were good moments, but mostly it sucked. For five weeks over November/December I was able to go bush and get away from it all, and in the three or four weeks I've been back my life has been much better. And I think that recently, like the Dark Seed children, I've realised that some things are worthwhile. I've never believed in new year's resolutions, but maybe this one should be a fresh start for me.
Have you ever wondered whether Myotismon is dead or not? The guy comes back so many times that I really have to wonder. Where is he now that he has been defeated once more by the power of hope? Wandering the world in search of a new host? Or maybe he's the reason that all of a sudden every time I try to talk on the phone I can't hear the other person because of the muffled, crackling voice that interferes?
Oikawa, at least, has finally been laid to rest. Although he never reached the digital world, he was freed from Myotismon's possession and saw Datirimon, if only for a few moments.
The dark seed children, though they began as helpless pawns, today became digidestined in their own right. Did you think that all that 'power of dreams' stuff was a load of clichéd garbage, or are you a bit of a sap? Did they ever get to have an adventure all of their own? I wonder what happened to them when they returned home today. Or where they'll be in twenty-five years time...
That's another thing. Today the digimon adventure ended and Malomyotismon was killed. (although whether or not he's still dead is another matter) I'm a digimon fan and I have now lived out the same six months, the same Christmas and the same new year that all my favourite characters did in those very memorable episodes that first aired over a year ago. But although the battle was won on new year's day, the chapter wasn't closed until 2027.
In all likelihood (although anything's possible) I'll live to see that day, too. I'll live all through the lives of the fictional characters in their fictional world. But although I know where they'll be twenty five years down the track, I don't know where I or anyone else will.
If you happen to see this after staying up all new year's eve and sleeping in all of the first, have a think about what happened in the fictional world of Digimon Adventure. Leave a flower by the road for Oikawa and a clove of garlic for Myotismon. Even if you hated the epilogue, have a thought for the future and where you'll be.
You might not even remember Digimon in 2027. You might laugh at the silly tussles you got into fighting over characters or couples, or whether or not Omnimon looked like Magnamon. Or maybe you're temper will flare up again as you remember the outrage of finding that Sorato was official, or that your favourite character/couple was being bashed. But I know I'll remember. I'll remember being angry at people who bashed Sora, getting into a huge fight with my best friend over 'A Very Digi Christmas', stuffing around on ridiculous role-play message boards (ie Crapboardia) embarking on ambitious fanfics and websites and reading more of the same. I'll remember that although I knew it was stupid to fight over these things, I loved it anyway. Because that's what being part of the fandom was all about. And if there's one thing I love more than the Digimon Adventure series, it would have to be the fans.
I know where the digidestined will be in 2027, but what about the people who know and love them the most - us?
(I'm going to jazz this page up more later, but I wanted to get the text up today.)