New Gen Stars/Ginga S

Watching last night's New Generation Stars reminded me how nice it is to see an actual functioning mentor-mentee line like Taro's.

Taro trains Mebius and the biggest test of their relationship is that Taro tells Mebius to go home because there's a fucking terrifying bad guy coming and Mebius is nowhere near ready to deal with it, so Taro will take over.

Mind you, there's a HUGE missed opportunity there to have Taro join up with Mebius, Hikari, and GUYS as a third Ultra, but yeah, budget.

Taro mentors Ginga/Hikaru and all of his friends, and...is absolutely wonderful at it. Like, he manages to connect with Tomoya, the kid who locked him in a birdcage and held him hostage, and explains that it's hard living up to your father's expectations and sometimes what seems like rejection might just be him wanting you to find your own way.

As opposed to Seven's line, where...yeah, that was some rejection for a while.

Taro's son is Taiga, and Taiga is tired of living in his shadow and wants to become a respected hero in his own right, even though it's clear he is far from ready. Taro is also very understanding. Tregear is the source of 99% of the problems in this relationship.

1% is Ginga going ahead and giving Taiga and his buddies the other New Gen's powers ANYWAY, but...

And Mebius apparently mentored Taiga and is still there for him whenever he needs it.

That's definitely going to have to be one of my next major fics one of these days. It's nice having these relationships that are actually good, where the theme is that they are all building one another up and looking for the next one to surpass them.

Addendum: Actually, now that I think about it, Taro should take one look at the infamous Jeep Moment from Leo, turn to Hikaru and Shou, and say, "I don't think you boys should hang out with those guys anymore."

Astra is fine because obviously he gives Shou chocolate.

Bonus points if Taro is still a doll.