In the Anime of Digimon, there are now 9 seasons. With 2 exceptions, each of the flagship heroes wears pilot glasses. This is a tradition based on planned content.
What is this tradition? Almost every male Digimon main character, who is considered the most important hero of the season and leads the group, wears pilot glasses. The rule has only been broken in 2 of the 9 seasons:
- There was an exception in the 5th season Digimon Data Squad. Marcus Damon, the protagonist of the season, does not wear pilot glasses.
- Hiro Amanokawa, the hero from the 9th season Digimon Ghost Game, also does not wear glasses.
Actually, Hiro was also supposed to wear pilot glasses. In an initial design draft, the boy was still seen with the practical accessory, but his designer wanted to draw him without glasses and enforced this request. The reason for this is unknown.
However, we know why the pilot glasses became a tradition in the Digimon anime at all. The origin is based on an artistic decision that dates back to the publication of Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01.
The heroes of the first seasons appear in the new movie:
Pilot glasses become a tradition in Digimon due to planned aerial battles
Why are there glasses? The first full-length Digimon manga was released in 1998 under the title Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01. In it, we could experience the adventures of Tai Kamiya. He resembles Tai from season 1 of the Digimon anime, but he is an alternative version of him.
Tai already had the distinctive pilot glasses on his head back then. This idea came from Yabuno Tenya, the manga’s illustrator. His idea was to incorporate aerial battles into the story. That’s why Tai got the pilot glasses, as they would be a practical aid in aerial combat.
Yabuno Tenya also made a pact with the character designer of Digimon Adventure, Nakatsuru Katsuyoshi. The character designer from the 1st season of the anime also used the pilot glasses for the series. Thus, the glasses have been seen since the first anime episode and became an unwritten rule that almost all protagonists of the anime adhere to.
Digimon has now established itself as a successful franchise. There is even an MMORPG revolving around the digital monsters. But unfortunately, we still cannot play the game in Germany: Old Digimon MMORPG returns 10 years after its shutdown – Is it worth it?
