WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 39 of Digimon Adventure 2020, "Jyagamon, Potato Hell," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Now around three-quarters of the way through its run, the Digimon reboot series has been going from strength to strength in recent weeks. After spending a considerable amount of time apart, the DigiDestined spend their first full episode back together again in "Jyagamon, Potato Hell," and though their diner-based antics might seem like pure 'filler,' a pretty significant development emerges by the episode's end: the coronation of the group's new leader.
The near-constant separation of the main group has been one of the more frustrating aspects of the anime for some viewers. Each iteration of Digimon is traditionally anchored by an adventuring party, after all, and though strong character work can be done by splitting such a party up, Digimon Adventure 2020 has too often traded this opportunity for spectacle, leaving its cohort of Digimon partners far more developed than the personalities and interpersonal dynamics of the human cast. The more the kids interact with each other over the more recent episodes, however, the more the series is -- at last -- starting to find its footing in this department.
This couldn't be clearer in the gang's decision on who is best to lead them going forward. Surprisingly, it's not Tai or Matt, the usual poster boys for the franchise (or Mimi, sadly). No, it's Joe, the bookish ball of anxiety who, to begin with, favored studying for his exams over exploring the incredible fantasy world he'd been isekai-d into. Joe gets his moment to prove himself after bonding with a Potamon, an adorable Food Digimon who shares his french fry obsession. Along with an entrepreneurial Burgermon, Potamon provides the perfect potato-based accompaniment to the pair's road-side diner, which the gang stops off at on their way to FAGA.
Potamon and Joe are also appalled that not enough of the diner's patrons are enjoying their french fries as much as Burgermon's burgers, which results in Potamon digivolving into an angry Jyagamon. For Joe, the food item reminds him of days spent idly in fast-food restaurants, away from his studies, nibbling at the fries he could spend his pocket money on. For Potamon, they're quite literally its entire existence, so the rejection is hard not to take personally. With Zudomon by his side, the episode gears up for Joe and his Ultimate-level partner to put the beast down, as usual, and for that to be that.
Instead, Digimon surprises us: Angewomon emerges and fires her Holy Arrow at Zudomon's hammer, creating a magic circle and a glow of energy around the weapon: "Now, put your heart into that hammer and give it to Jyagamon." Zudomon then lowers it to within Joe's reach, and as he thinks hard about wanting Jyagamon to return to its "fries-loving self," the boy's own body glows as much as the hammer's.
What happens next isn't the usual obliteration of an enemy into data, but an exorcism of the bad mojo that turned a good Digimon bad -- and at Joe's own hands. The combined emotions and power of Joe, Zudomon and Angewomon all come together to heal, rather than harm, which is a first for the series so far. While we've seen Digimon trainers get involved in battles time and time again, it's still pretty incredible to see one of them actually wield a weapon like that.
Observing the battle from the sidelines, Tai assesses that "The Holy Digimon's powers not only raised Zudomon's but Joe-senpai's powers too." Everyone else congratulates Joe, notably using the 'senpai' suffix, too. This could just be dismissed as a simple formality given Joe is the oldest member of the group. However, when Tailmon asks Kari to qualify whether it's "senpai or leader," she confirms that Joe is both. Thinking about the English version of Joe's Crest, Reliability (rather than Honesty in the Japanese one), it's easy to fit Joe into the 'leader' mold of characters like Marvel's Steve Rogers or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Leonardo -- those who may lack edge but make up for it in their steadfast nature and shouldering of the weight of responsibility.
It's very refreshing to see Joe's stereotypically nerve-ridden character be given such an assertive moment, and for the other members of the group to unquestioningly view him as leadership material, despite him possessing neither a Holy Digimon nor one as advanced as Agumon where evolutionary capability is concerned. Rather, Episode 39, uh, hammers home that it's not the Digimon that makes the DigiDestined.
