Takuya

Ah, yes, Takuya

Takuya is a welcome member of the Frontier gang. In him, we finally find a leader who does not appear to have used his first steps to run repeatedly into a wall. His plans are less successful than Taichi's, admittedly, but he has far less of a one-track mind than Daisuke. The failures of his plans seem to have less to do with a lack of cleverness, and more the fact that, unfortunately, Digiworld's physics is not quite that bizarre (good try, though, and better luck next time). Takuya's problem, then, is not a lack of intelligence, but a lack of knowledge. Or perhaps desperation.

Desperation seems to be Takuya's only constant emotion. Ranging from up-beat "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow, this world might not even exist," to despairing "there just has to be a way to save this world!" to panicking "we have to consider this our last chance, because if we fail, the whole world will be destroyed!" (Preventing the destruction of the world is Takuya's main -- or, indeed, only -- campaign issue.) It would be very surprising to me if Takuya ever did his homework sooner than the night before, with a rushed scramble in the morning being too common to note.

And yet, Takuya appears to be one of the most emotionally sound of the group. He blames himself for failures and sobs over losses, but that's only appropriate, since he is the one in charge and losses are unacceptable. He does not try to possess false hope, or even offer it. He is happy with who he is as a person, even if there are actions he feels he should change. It is healthy to strive to be nicer to your brother, more responsible as a leader, and do everything you can to be sure that you can be relied upon. It is not healthy to try to change your whole personality just to make more friends.

Takuya's main fault, overconfidence, is also his saving grace. Kouji's willingness to be the sacrificial lamb is noble, but as evil overlords are rarely satisfied by tribute (thus the "evil"), this gesture is useless. Takuya scorns realism, choosing instead unfettered optimism, which, this being Digimon, eventually works. His belief that they can accomplish anything if they work together means that the sacrifice is random and opportunistic, a much better battle strategy than trying to force a specific one. To fight means necessarily to accept danger, and Takuya knows that one person cannot defeat a superior force alone. His (false) belief that they can do it, without anyone getting hurt, lets him let the others fight -- and quite literally lets them win.

I won't try to argue that Takuya is a great person or a fantastic role-model. He certainly was not the most successful leader in the history of Digimon. He was, however, the best in a long time, and the best that these Digidestined had to offer. Only he could have kept the others striving for the big picture without getting depressed that they couldn't even see it.

There's only one skill Takuya has that I'm envious of. That's his ability to keep trying, to keep moving forward, not only when there appears to be no way to reach his goal, but even when that goal no longer seems to exist. That takes an incredible amount of faith -- to believe in an ideal so strongly that not only will you chase it all your life, but you can bring others with you along the way.