#frontierfest2022

Surprise. It’s Flamon. I love this little dude so much, and alluded to as much in my first post.

If not for the little guy, I wouldn’t be here today, adding to the cacophony of Frontier Fans who suddenly came out of the wood-work. Seriously, Where have y’all been hiding?

Anyhow, Flamon despite being a one-off character stuck with me over the years. I like how he’s not any one “thing” but an amalgamation of creatures. His eyes are large and expressive in extreme contrast to the other Flame Digimon- they’re all masked which limits their ability to emote. 

Quick tangent, eyes in animation are one of the easiest ways to get an emotion across. You can tell a lot from the way the eyes look without any other feature in play. A great example of this in action is Let Me Explain Studios (https://youtu.be/eo62AEDwTKY) on Youtube. She articulates the concept so much better than I can.

Back to Frontier. I adore Flamon visually and narratively. Visually, he’s the easiest goddamn Digimon design in the whole show to draw (Spirit wise). Seriously, WHAT the HELL was someone thinking when they ok'd these complex, hyper detailed characters for ANIMATION!? Animation is one, not cheap to start with. Two, TIME CONSUMING as all get out. And Three, on a tight deadline (usually). But I digress. 

Narratively, Flamon serves as one of Takuya’s best character moments. While the show doesn’t make an effort to show us his past or his struggles, it does give us a great insight on Takuya’s inner turmoil in the here and now. 

He’s at his absolute lowest point and is ready to throw in the towel. DarkTrailmon sending him back to the human world in what I assume to be a dream really hammers home how lost Takuya is. His drive is gone, spirit broken and he’s ready to run away, and try to erase his mistakes, all while being hunted by an apparition  of Duskmon.

Only when Takuya learns that no matter what mistakes he’s made, he’s grown as a person and made friends he can never leave behind. You get to see a huge range from the character all through the lens of this little rookie Digimon.

Headcanons:

Kouji’s Dad is married to his work and probably used his business success to take custody of Kouji

We see Tomoko struggling to support herself and Kouichi, realistically she couldn’t take care of them both.

Kousei probably dated a lot of women before landing Satomi. As such Kouji doesn’t want to get attached because who knows how long they’ll last.

Once the twins find each other, Satomi discovers her husband lied to her and his son. She takes him to court to gain custody of Kouji and in the process bonds with Tomoko. They are now besties and raising the boys together.

Kouichi definitely blossomed more once he is in a more stable environment

Kouji is a bit more reserved, Kouichi is mischievous

Takuya is way more insecure than the show ever let on- explains a lot honestly.

I sense a lot of jealousy of his brother, and I can relate being the oldest “Test run” child

The lyrics of Salamander imply this to be the case as well.

His self confidence and self worth take a sharp upswing post Digital World adventure. 

Zoe absolutely said fuck the patriarchy I’m gonna be a world class chef.

Zoe also swears liberally- usually in Italian

JP definitely started to blossom with his new found self-worth, He’s definitely gonna go on to be a engineer or the next Steve Jobs

Tommy and Yutaka have a better understanding of each other. 

Yutaka is mildly jealous of Takuya upon meeting him

Frontier holds a special place in my heart for a few reasons. Frontier premiered while I was in fifth-sixth grade, but I jumped on board later into its running between 2004-2007 ish. Frontier was my first real introduction into Digimon (minus one Tamers episode- the one with Vikarlamon trashing Tokyo? I was looking to put on KidsWB most likely.)

I have vivid memories of sitting in the very room I am now, playing the Sims on a computer with the TV playing in the background. I remember getting pulled into what was going on, completely abandoning my Sims to watch Digimon instead.

It was the episode where Takuya was turned into Flamon and sent back to relive the events of his going to the Digital world. I was hooked by the end and found ways to find and watch the rest of the series. I loved these characters, the world, the story- despite its many flaws.

This group of kids who despite getting their asses kicked time and time again, they got up. That despite their flaws and fears they grew and flourished. They had each other and balanced each other out.

I could relate to them. I knew how it felt to be JP and be jealous of others and feel like I’m being left out. I struggled to make and keep friends like Zoe, something I still struggle with honestly. I was often teased for being a cry baby and childish Tommy. I pushed everyone away and had trouble opening up others like Kouji. I failed and fucked up but found the strength to carry on like Kouichi. I know how it feels to be vulnerable and how to overcome it like Takuya.

These kids taught me that no matter what, I can fight back. I can pick myself up and carry on. It’s stuck with me all this time. Frontier is a hot mess yes, but so am I -and hot messes can still burn you. 

Thank you Frontier, for being a boost to me and others. Happy 20th and here’s hoping we get some awesome celebrations for it!

And the best part? I met my partner because of Frontier. He and I have been together for 12 years now and are still going strong.

Thanks to this wonderful event I’ve met a lot of cool people and made a few new friends. If anyone wants to reach out and talk more about Frontier, or anything really, I’m all ears. Maybe we can make this a yearly tradition every April. 

Thanks to @citrus-cactus​ and @rockthistowninsideout​ for putting this all together, You guys rock!