WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 37 of Digimon Adventure 2020, "Mimi-chan Wars," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Having been separated for a second time, the Digimon reboot series is now starting to reunite its core group of DigiDestined. After Tai, Sora, T.K, Kari and their Digimon linked back up with Izzy and Tentamon to save Tokyo (again) from near annihilation in Episode 36, Episode 37, "Mimi-chan Wars" crosses Tai, Sora, Agumon and Birdramon's paths with Mimi and Palmon. Mimi is by far one of the brightest personalities of the group, and her presence injects a lot more dynamic characterization into Digimon Adventure 2020 as a result. In fact, the episode goes one step further -- making a strong case for Mimi being the DigiDestined's leading light.
As the heir to a manufacturing empire, Mimi has a head for leadership already, and she also earnestly has an in-built appreciation for issues pertaining to employment rights and corporate culture that should be far beyond her at her age. When Tai and Sora encounter her in "Mimi-chan Wars," they discover she's in the middle of plotting a revolution. Some lower-level Digimon, like Gotsumon, have been enslaved by a tyrannical Gogmamon, who lords over a castle in the hills claiming every crystal the slaves dig up as its own. Mimi takes issue with this because she, like any decent person, won't stand for modern slavery -- even in a world inhabited by monsters -- but also because the Ultimate Digimon is hoarding all the gems unfairly. Anti-Monopoly laws exist for a reason, she reminds the bewildered characters around her.
References like this belie the fact that Mimi is hardly the airhead her appreciation of all things aesthetically-pleasing suggests. While she is obviously happy to tow the capitalist party line -- workers might be "friends" but they are also mere numbers in a hierarchy -- Mimi's war is a successful one. She galvanizes both her human and Digimon allies, gives them designated roles and isn't afraid to get stuck in herself when push comes to shove. She also demonstrates a keen attention to detail in Lilymon's final clash with Gogmamon, worthy of a big brain such as Izzy's.
After spotting that the Ore Digimon is diamond-powered, she recognizes that the only thing that can get through the world's strongest gem is the world's strongest gem. So, she sacrifices one of her beloved, salvaged diamonds to equip her Ultimate-level partner with enough shining energy to blast through their enemy's hardened defenses.
Though the episode is free from any Big Bads or Holy Digimon, it's one of Digimon Adventure 2020's best yet -- and it's all thanks to Mimi being brought back into the fold. Her personality and character motivation twins perfectly to form an emotional and backstory-informed anchoring for the episode's main conflict, and said conflict is also much more than a simple battle -- it's a full-on siege. The same can be said for Episode 12, in which Mimi having an unexpected bond with a Terminator-inspired Digimon pushed the episode over the edge in terms of quality. Together, these two installments of the Digimon reboot make it crystal clear that Mimi shouldn't just be taking up more of the spotlight, she's also got the managerial skills, ethical consciousness and bravery to make for a fantastic DigiDestined leader instead of Tai and/or Matt. Plus, this way, we'd get to see a lot more of her punching cactus sidekick's adorable sheet-ghost face, which is always a win.
