Shhh, It's sleeping

Miharu isn't the first instance of someone partnering with a Digimon not born from them (just a few episodes ago we had Maki's backstory about her former partnership with Panjyamon, as well as Haruomi partnering up with Elizamon), but this is the first instance in Beatbreak we've seen of a Digimon digivolving with the E-Pulse of someone other than their original partner, as well a confirmed significant difference in the ages of that Digimon's partners (Chifuyu was a young adult when Wizardmon was created, whereas Miharu is presently only 13)

this explains why this is the first real Dark Digivolution we've seen in the show - Digimon are born from their partner's E-Pulse, and are stated to be reflections of their partners' personality - because of this, even a Digivolution fuelled by dark E-Pulse still seems to lead to the same stage as a regular Digivolution would (as seen with Raito), likely because, while out of control and overcome with emotion (and so leading to a rampage), it's still the same person fuelling it

but Miharu wasn't Wizardmon's original partner, and so this evolution fuelled by Miharu's grief and rage is essentially foreign energy corrupting the core of Wizardmon's self (which reflects Chifuyu, a kind woman who had taken on parental responsibility over her younger sister), and leads to somewhere different than if Wizardmon had evolved using Chifuyu's E-Pulse (which leads to some interesting implications about how Elizamon could evolve partnered with Haruomi versus how they might've evolved with their original partner)

There are many things that are interesting about them ! I feel like there are so many good reasons to pair them up even just platonically, it's criminal to me that they've barely interacted in canon.

Games:

Sonic X:

Calender Story:

Film:

Merchandise:

Canoncity

Characters: Shadow the Hedgehog, Maria Robotnik

Canon Status: Canon (as ARK Siblings)

Canonical Type: Family

Relationship: Sibling-likes, adopted brother on Shadow’s side

Other Ship Names: Shadaria, Shadow x Maria

Official “Canon” Interactions between Shadow and Maria in the Games:

Shadow the Hedgehog and Maria Robotnik’s official interactions are best-friends as sibling-likes and they lived together as siblings back in the ARK Colony five decades ago.

Being Shadow and Maria as sibling-likes- was already officially acknowledged around 2000s back in one of the official game description book.

Even in Sonic x Shadow Generations states that Shadow and Maria’s relationship are/were sibling-likes since Maria says Shadow as family love in both English and Japanese.

(Maria talks to Shadow and says to him that she loves him as family in English version)

(Maria talks to Shadow and says to him that she loves her as a family in Japanese version with using “家族” (kazoku) as family word in Japanese)

It was also stated their relationship are like siblings on the opening Shadow Generations theme in Sonic x Shadow Generations Japanese version with translated to actual English.

(Narrator from the Shadow Generations says siblings as “きょうだい” (kyō dai) when they were talking about Shadow and Maria in Japanese)

(The actual English translation states “siblings” when the Narrator talks about Shadow and Maria in Japanese version) [English translation translated from Japanese by Windii Gaylord (Gitlord)]

Even Maria’s official description from Sonic Team Japan’s website states that Maria and Shadow lived like siblings on both Japanese and English versions.

(Maria’s official description from Sonic Channel in English translation)

(Maria’s official description with original language from Sonic Channel)

However, there is a misunderstanding on Shadow the Hedgehog manga version on issue 2, where Maria says “I love you”.

Though, the actual original version says “大好き” (daisuki), which is not limited to romance unlike “愛してる “ (aishiteru), which is limited to romance. In English “love” word uses everything besides to sibling but “daisuki” generally uses for sibling or hobbies and food that one likes, daisuki also uses for romance when their partners use on their daily lives but it was already acknowledged that Shadow and Maria are ARK Siblings, which does not make sense using daisuki that Maria used, which does not mean a heavy serious love confession.

So as a result, Sibling-like relationship is/was going on between Shadow and Maria.

Trivia:

Shiro Maekawa who used to work ar SEGA and Sonic Team, made a romantic manga about Shadow and Maria but he is not working at SEGA or Sonic Team anymore, so his opinion on his own and SEGA had already officially acknowledged that Shadow and Maria are sibling-likes on their official website like in Sonic Channel.

Both Sega Channel Japan and Google use machine translation. This loses complete nuance and therefore should not be held as a reliable way of determining the relationship between Shadow and Maria.

Here is an actual nuanced translation:

Maria

The granddaughter of Professor Gerald, Maria is a bright and intelligent girl.

Born with a frail body and afflicted by an incurable illness, she moved to the space colony ARK to receive treatment. There she met Shadow, and the two developed a close bond while living together. However, she became caught up in a tragic incident and ultimately lost her life.

As we can see here, there is no sibling relationship. Using the literal translation, you get きょうだい ("siblings"), but that comparison is being used to describe the closeness of their bond, not to define the relationship itself.

Japanese has a lot of nuance. Google machine translations do not properly translate this at all.

I am not an expert in Japanese. But at least I know enough that I do not trust anything a machine translation gives me.

I suggest you check out the actual page here, which explains why you should not rely on it, on the Sega Channel itself:

I also think it is mighty presumptuous to conclude that people must be misunderstanding of the potential "confession" of the Shadow manga as anything other than sibling like. Based on how the characters refer to each other in present games, as well as how both co-creators talk about them, there is no definitive evidence that they are meant to be seen as siblings. Only that they have a very strong mutual bond. The same goes here for the scene from the Shadow Manga. If you consider the context surrounding the "I love you" (or "I really like you" if you want to put it that way) and the distinct lack of Maria calling Shadow her sibling (and vice versa), it intends to paint Maria as someone who loves Shadow (regardless of one's interpretation of the nature of it), due to her willing to be tortured just to keep him from being detained by GUN, and Shadow as someone who has found his very reason for living in Maria.

Tomoro and Reina were both major highlights for me this week. Both dealing with a feeling of "stagnacy." Though not in the same way. Building off from the first two episodes of the arc, we're seeing the natural conclusions of what was previously established

Tomoro I feel is misunderstood in this episode. Theres alot of debate on how much Tomoro was taking in what Miharu was saying. I agree that the main reason Miharu was so convincing was, in no small part, due to their trauma point being near identical (though the specifics can be debated). However Miharu also hits at something thats been knawing at Tomoro for essentially his entire life.

See, GIFT is likely a cult, I dont think the way they view digimon/human relationships is correct and its often why the lengths they go to fufill their goals exhibits a clear apathy for humanity. While I think this is true, Tomoro cannot fully deny the urgency of which Miharu refers to. Miharu isnt a character who became this way for no reason. Her motivation are VERY rooted in the things happening to her, Tomoro, digimon and many others right now. Unlike Klay, Miharu is a teenager meaning the power dynamics at play here are very different. Though more importantly she is an entity working OUTSIDE of WU to achieve her goal. Something not even GD can fully claim.

Keep in mind its AFTER they capture Jokermon that GD finds out why GIFT was targeting WU employees. Employees who mind you, happily sent truckloads of digimon to their death. It punctuated this at the end of episode 28 intentionally so that you cant just handwave their grievances. That *Tomoro* cant just handwave their grievances. Tomoro is impulsive but hes not naive or stupid. I would even argue that Tomoro was in fact VERY jaded at the start of BB. When Tomoro states, "who says you get to pass judgement" its him saying that the WU doesnt have the right to tell anyone that their version of violence is worse. That Miharu's suffering can be willingly ignored for the sake of a stagnant world. Its why Im always a little put off by people trying to claim Rose is the good guy here. We dont gotta "hand it" to World Union, theyre the reason GIFT and Tactics exists in the first place. Tomoro made the decision to defend Miharu not because he agrees with GIFT wholesale, its because by siding with Rose he would have to side with the group that believes digimon are glitches to be deleted. That HE'S a glitch that should be discarded from society.

Then there's Reina who's character reached a point I suspected (and kinda hoped) would happen for a while. Reina always had an odd dichotomy in my mind as someone who always seemed very capable as an individual. Yet struggles to utilize Wolvermon to their full potential. Note how many times Reina can Get Things Done in a pinch to the point she HELD BACK ludomon. Or this week when she ran to guy holding a knife at someone with zero fear. It speaks to her experience as a cleaner and as someone who for years has had to fend for herself. Yet when wolvermon crumbles, Reina struggles to keep it together.

Theres a very obvious mental block Reina is dealing with. Which in large part is a result of her insecurities. Reina was deemed by both her parents and family as being uneeded and undesirable. Ever since, Reina has attempted to carve out her own family and home. Though worryingly Reina has the belief she needs to "prove" her worth to those around her. Its why shes so obsessed with monetary gain. Often even more so than what the job actually entails. Its why she's so affectionate to Kyo even though its a crush that wont go anywhere. That's why despite being better at planning than Tomoro, Reina also tends to rush into things. Some of these traits arent inherently bad but all these facets imply alot about the pressures Reina perceives. After many years its still weighing on her and you could argue thats why her growth as a cleaner has stagnated for so long. Even though shes in the biz longer than Tomoro and Makoto.

Rose dismissing Reina was the finale nail in the coffin. Laying out all of her anxieties in a brutal bluntness. Its an uncomfortable moment that causes Reina to reach an all time low. Despite being in good terms with Pristimon, theres a sense of distance between them. That Reina is too ashamed to be open with them. That similarly to GD, Reina is afraid of failing Pristimon. Perpetuating her negative feedback loop.

Rose's parting words to Reina, at first it struck me more as meta commentary about how Reina hasn't reached that level of evolution yet. But also, going back to the episode where they first met, Rose was notably impressed of Reina and her bravado. She was facing certain death in the face, confident that Pristimon would save her in time and both managed to take out the Perfect level Myotismon with no help, levels be damned.

In this episode however, knowing that she's facing a Five Star and coming off from Oblivimon's fiasco, Reina's confidence is not there anymore. She's still protecting Miharu even after Wolvermon got easily defeated, but looking at her it's clear she's already given up. So I can imagine that's the thing Rose is most disappointed at, and even the 'perfect level' comment didn't manage to rile up Reina.