Should Life Be Cruel or Good? - Review · 11:16pm Oct 28th, 2017
I apologize for doing yet another Dakari King Mykan post. I originally intended to do this, then wanted to do a review of various crossovers after finding out a review was already done, then I decided to do this because it managed to make me feel absolutely furious. I don't often get this furious at fiction, so there's that.
Should Life Be Cruel or Good? follows the future of Davis from Digimon Adventures 02. Admittedly, I was a bigger fan of Digimon Tamers and found 02 to have too many conflicting elements. I later found out this was true because there were two head writers who had conflicting ideas for the series along with the head writer for Digimon Tamers, Chiaki J. Konaka. But Mykan seems to be less interested in the shipping. I don't mind a focus on shipping so long as it is done with tact. I've seen far too many shipping fics that always tries to vilify the other person and claim it's not a strawman. I've done enough thoughts. Let's dig in.
37-year-old Davis Motomiya was returning home to his mansion from work. However, he didn't look very happy at all.
His limousine pulled through the front gate, and Ikki the chauffer opens the door for his master.
Davis didn't reply, but gave Ikki his paycheck for the week, and walked inside the mansion.
A 4-year old greeted Davis by coming up to him, and hugging his legs. “Daddy your home!” said Musuko Motomiya.
A rich and successful Davis. This could really be an interesting plot.
Oh, Musuko means "son" in Japanese from what little Japanese I know. It may seem a bit cruel to name your son "son", but the Japanese actually do this. Mykan, unfortunately, screwed up how the naming convention would go. In an actual family, Musuko would have been named "Ichirou" that means "first son." I can't give your the characters, but they do that.
So Davis interacts with his kid, burns a dozen letters, and then we have a flashback.
Davis Motomiya, formerly the most powerful Digi destined in the world, had retired from his heroic deeds, and settled into his new life.
25 years had passed since the battle with Maylomyiotismon, and all the other Digi destined too had retired.
Davis had made his dream career come true. He opened a noodle cart, and became a worldwide success, which also made him the richest man in the entire Eastern Region of the world.
It was because of his huge success, that the government of Japan had given him a huge promotion.
Davis was now the President of a noodle packing plant. Where they not only made sure that Davis' delicious noodles made it out into the world faster and better, they could produce home style versions of Davis' noodle products.
Davis had earned the title, King of Noodles!
END OF FLASHBACK…
I'm no buisness man, but government doesn't work that way .
Success doesn't bring Davis happiness. I could go on a philosophical tangent on happiness, but I'll leave you with this.
ANOTHER FLASHBACK…
While Davis was out on his noodle cart journeys, he had learned that his parents had been killed in an explosion in his old apartment.
This hurt him a lot, and to make matters worse, his sister June, had become a doctor, got married, and moved away.
Davis had lost his family. His folks were dead, and he didn't know where his sister was at all, so he couldn't call or write…and neither could she.
END OF FLASHBACK…
If you're seeing a problem with Mykan's style, then you're not alone. Rather than show us the reaction to these events, he's just telling us the reactions. He doesn't describe Davis's initial physical reaction or facial expression to this news.
A general rule of thumb for showing rather than telling in a medium that uses words is to imagine that we should be able to feel like we're in the scene itself, but limited to only using our five senses and drawing conclusions based on our observations. Mykan's style is merely like a person off the street is recounting this to us.
We get another flashback about how Davis didn't get Kari (oh cry me a river) and adopted a child to chase away the women throwing themselves at him. Granted, it states he does love the child, but I don't buy it.
No wonder he was not happy with his life, Davis was a single father, to a child that was not biologically his own, and women were still chasing him.
Who cares of the child is not biologically your own? Who the Faust cares? I had a friend who was adopted tell me that the best thing about being adopted is that you know someone out in the world wants you. Parents made a choice to love you. Davis here is the anti-parent, a parent who uses their as a means to an end. I cannot stand parents like this. I sometimes wished I had Ghost Rider's Penance Stare just to give them a small taste of their own medicine. Also,
Up yours, Motomiya!
Up yours!
So he's out on the balcony, and I wish the maid or the butler forgot to put a wet floor sign on the balcony so he can slip off and die in the traffic.
Now we shift the focus to Kari. She is mocked for being a single, and then we get this gem.
As the years went by, TK still believed that he and Kari were still together. Kari had decided to do something about this.
She adopted her son Koji, and just pretended to have gotten married, and everybody fell for the trick the last time they had all met up.
TK had also finally given up on Kari, so he decide to just leave her be.
Kari was in another sticky spot! The fact that she had an adopted son, this prevented her from attracting any men, for they too had assumed Kari of being a married woman, and had no interest in her..
Linkara ...
We have two characters that adopted children for the sake of meeting an end. Do you know why I like Despicable Me? It's because the villains use children as a means to an end and then fixes it. The action was wrong and it was fixed. Here? This is portrayed as a good solution to a problem. Imagine the following scenario:
A girl is dating a boy and breaks up with him. The boy doesn't buy it, so the girl gets another boy involved so she can just live life only to realize she bit off more than she could chew.
This is what you expect teenagers, not the owner of a successful company and a school teacher, to do! You know my previous remarks to Davis,
UP YOURS, MYKAN! UP YOURS!
Let's go on. One Davis shilling scene, one sleep scene, Chapter 3
“Mommy, are you alright?” he asked, his mother snapped out of it. “Oh, I'm alright sweetie, don't worry.”
Kari had told her son that she had been getting numerous headaches from working too hard, but she didn't tell him, it was because that he was not really her actual son, and she was feeling quite lonely in life.
Preschool, hopes she doesn't run into Davis, this remark, "Up yours!", Kari sees him, Car chase ensues (stop banging your head into the keyboard), and then we get this.
Davis could see Kari's car right behind him, and so could Ikki. He also noticed that there were no other drivers at all.
“Shall I hit her with the oil slick sir?” asked James.. Davis was one of the most famous men in the world, and he needed to be ready for anything.
Davis' limousine was armed with awesome defenses Including, Machine guns, Oil slick, Smoke screen, even rocket boosters…he rarely used those.
Davis' features hardened; “You Dare Ikki!” he growled, “If You So Much as lay a finger on Her, I cut you instead of you pay check!”
Davis immediately regained his sanity. “Oh, I'm sorry Ikki, I didn't mean to yell at you.” “Yes sir” said Ikki.
“Don't hurt her just keep driving!” said Davis, “She can't follow us all the way”. Davis knew of something that would make Kari stop following him.
I'd comment on how the driver's name changes from Ikki to James and back to Ikki, but there are worse problems. Oh, and I like how Davis is more worried about hurting Kari than ruining his image by letting out oil slick onto a public street. Oil, something that easily catches fire.
So Davis is at the noodle plant with a boat load of guards and Kari can't do a thing. Davis realizes his briefcase is still at the school. She heads back and
“You are FIRED, Now Get off my property or I'm calling the police!” He stomped out of the office, and left poor Kari taking what was said so hard.
I know bosses who were this much of an asshole in real life, but they were really only this angry at repeat offenders, aka people that show up intoxicated for work. twice.
One emo flashback/video recording later aka the only flashback I like because it was written partially decently despite being, well, an emo flashback.
Kari placed the video back in its case, and wiped her eyes of the tears.
“Mommy” called Koji, Kari looked up. “John how long have you been standing there” asked Kari. Her son stared at her with wide-open eyes.
“Mommy, do you love Mr. Motomiya?” Kari hesitated, and finally knew what her answer was… “Yes I do love him”.
Kari went on to tell her son everything…including that she was not really his biological mother, and his real parents were dead.
The four-year-old is handling it quite well. In fact, I think that the four-year-olds might be my favorite characters because they are actually using their brains.
“You know it's not too late.” Said Koji, “Musuko told me that he has no Mommy”. Kari looked up, she knew what this meant. She still had a chance.
A chance to help everything, and everyone.
“Koji go put your shoes on!” said Kari, grabbing Davis' belongings. “Where are we going Mommy?” her son asked.
“I'm going to set things right, or die trying” cried Kari. Then she and her son were in the car and on their way.
Two idiots being in the same room trying to fall in love. What could possibly go wrong?
Meanwhile back at Noodle Corp…Davis was roaring like a tiger. “I can't believe it!” He thundered. “I just don't believe it! If my Briefcase is gone I, I'll…!”
“Daddy, Daddy calm down!” cried Musuko who had come from school. His father finally calmed down.
Davis had been so angry that his briefcase was gone, that he could barely think straight. He even fired three employees without with out realizing it.
“You're right son. Being angry won't get it back to me.” Davis paced around the room. “I just wonder where it is”.
You'd think this is a smart move, but just wait. So his secretary tells him that his briefcase is with a woman and her son at the door. The moment he sees Kari and her son...
The elevator door burst wide open in Davis office, and he almost threw up. “KARI, YOU…I should have know!” he roared.
Koji hid behind his mother who had anger blazing through her eyes. “THAT'S ENOUGH DAVIS”! She snarled at him. “I came here to not only give you back your briefcase, but I'm going to do something I should have a long time ago.”
Davis just turned around. “Well go find someone who cares, because I don't!” he yelled at her.
The two young boys couldn't believe this. Their respective parents arguing with each other. Who was going to walk away with it all?
Yeah, arguing with someone else in front of the kids. Good grief, why is it that Ikki and the kids are the only characters I give a crap about?
“This job cost me everything I had! My parents, my sister, Veemon, and worst of all it caused me to adopt a child!”
Musuko's eyes widened when he heard those words.
“Well I've had enough of it; I'm getting rid of this building and my troubles. Jacob, prepare for detonation!”
But to Davis' surprise his son just stood there with tears in his eyes. “So its true,” he sobbed “I'm not your true son”.
Davis winced at what he had just said, he told his son the truth. “Musuko, I didn't mean…”
“No, leave me alone!” cried his son running to Kari's side.
“Now you've done it Davis,” she snapped at him. Davis just regained his anger. “No Kari, look what you did!”
Let me get this straight: Davis has finally gone mad and is planning on detonating his evil lair, unleashing so much dust and other building chemicals into the air, causing so many people in the local area to probably fall ill and/or die, and pushes the blame on Kari as a means to rid himself of guilt.
If this was written better, Davis would have made a great example of a tragic villain that you simply love to hate.
After Davis had exited the room, Koji was running around scared as a dog. “We've got to get out of here before this building explodes!” he cried.
He tried to reach for the elevator buttons. “It's no use son.” Cried Kari. “We can't use the elevators when the Self-destruct system is operating”.
Musuko looked up at her. “How do you know that Ms. Kamiya?” he asked, “There's no time to explain boys; we have to stop that system from blowing up”.
“I'll go smash the control panel,” said Koji, but Kari grabbed him in an instant, “Don't do it,” she snapped
“That bomb is so perfectly placed, that the short circuiting of the wires would cause it to detonate. When and if it does, it'll blow the building into a million pieces, and spread poisonous gas over a large area”.
One, what idiot in the Japanese government thought this was a great idea? Two, what was the BAC of that official? Three, what contractor would agree to build this?
Some shenanigans with the kids later,
“Danger; Self-destruction sequence Imminent” cried the computer…the building would explode in 1 minute, and counting.
Somehow or other, Davis made it to the exit, his clothes were drenched with his sweat from running all this way.
“Yes; there's the door”. He said to him, “I am…” Kari stepped in front of him, “…a dead duck!”
Davis tried to get past but Kari wouldn't let him go. “I'm not letting you get away this time Davis!” she cried.
Davis just laughed; “So what Kari, it doesn't make a difference!” he growled “In a few more seconds this buildings going to go sky high, and us with it!”
Kari looked at the timer…only 45 seconds remained, Davis was right. It was too late to escape and get clear.
“Alright Davis; you win” said Kari with tears in her eyes, “But before we die, I just want to tell you something.”
“And what's that?” asked Davis, and to his surprise, Kari had placed her lips on his. Even though Davis took it by surprise, it was enough to make him realize, that he did have a chance with her after all.
When Kari and Davis broke free, he clutched his head, not in shock, but realization. “WHAT HAVE I DONE!” he cried out loud.
If this was better written, Davis would have been the villain that won: if Kari didn't love him, he dies and poisons that area of Japan. If Kari did, he gets the girl. This would have been a great villain story.
The building stopped rumbling, the alarms ceased. The red lights went away, and the timer went back to 5 minutes. They made it.
The fainted from relief in the office, and Kari had fainted into Davis' arms. When she woke up, she found herself staring into his eyes.
“Davis” she whispered. “Did we make it?”
Davis helped her on her feet and smiled. “We did it Kari; we're going to be fine.” Kari saw that Davis wasn't running away from her this time.
Instead he was smiling at her, and he said. “Kari; I'm sorry for what I've put you through, can you forgive me?”
His only response was, Kari placing her lips on his again, he started kissing back, this time neither one of them wanted to break away.
You'd think we'd be done, but nope! We still have two chapters left, but I'm not review them. I'm stopping here.
Final thoughts:
I reiterate: A girl is dating a boy and breaks up with him. The boy doesn't buy it, so the girl gets another boy involved so she can just live life only to realize she bit off more than she could chew. This is what you expect teenagers, not the owner of a successful company and a school teacher, to do! You know my previous remarks to Davis,
UP YOURS, MYKAN! UP YOURS!
This fanfic is an example of why I hate what I just described. These characters are not acting like adults; they are being teenagers. The stupidity. Davis suffers from a heavy dose of adaptational villainy. It would be okay if this story was meant to make him the villain. In his defense, Kari is only slightly more sympathetic. Her idiocy at not filing a restraining order at T. K. is simply inexcusable. Her neglecting her job was just as bad, but do you know what I find the most insulting?
Who are the young children who lost their biological parents and were raised by parents who don't love them because they see them as a means to a selfish end that could have been solved with other means?
Musuko and Koji. Fail. It is so mind-boggling that they act more like adults through the whole ordeal. Koji even takes the world-breaking news real well. Let's contrast that with Davis, who had the mere presence of Kari drive him to blowing up a building. Who is the adult in this scenario?
The fic is old (Really old) 2002 is when I originally made it I wasn't very good back then!
You've got to get off of Mediaminer, that account of mine is no good anymore, and you can't use the fics there
But hey, you get furious at fiction? Maybe now you know how I feel about cartoon canon.
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I get furious then let it go turn into annoyance. I don't dwell on it for longer periods of time. I know for a fact that doing such is unhealthy for me and that being angry won't do me any good. I choose to direct my rage towards more important things like deadlines I have to meet.
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Unfortunately, you and I have different defs of what more important things are and what actual important things we have(Not to mention, whether are done or not makes no real difference)