Digimon Adventure Gets a High School Sequel

[zoombie]

I am wondering, next episode of Digimon Universe Appli Monster comes out on 2/4 three weeks before this movie, so well we get special OP and ED showing clips from Tri 4, well we will see.

 

[Light Lucario]

So the new movie came out today:

Spoiler

I enjoyed it, but it felt so underwhelming and much slower paced compared to most of the other movies. Granted, that slower pace did make sense. The previous movie was a huge emotional ride and they did need to cool down from that. Plus, they wanted to show the kids bonding with their Digimon partners again, which did make me tear up a bit. All of the Digimon were afraid of them at first, but the kids wanted to see them again and that did make me quiet sad. It was nice that most of them were able to slowly warm up to their human partners, aside from Yokomon and they were able to get back to their Rookie forms much sooner than I thought they would be too.

I liked that they wanted to find Meicoomon and bring her back with Meiko. Plus, she still had memories in spite of the reboot, so that could have given them some indication of how to restore their Digimon partners' memories. While it was slower than I was expecting, it was nice to see them reconnect with their Digimon partners. The scene with Taichi and Yamato trying to comfort Sora was quite good. Both of them were clueless to the obvious problem and Taichi making a similar comment to what Biyomon did before only made it worse. It seemed pretty clear that Sora was broken up over Biyomon basically disliking her while everyone else was able to reconnect with their partners.

I was wondering if they'd be able to evolve like normal even after getting to their Rookie forms, but it looked like they were stuck there for awhile. I liked the idea of the group being split up with different Digimon partners. I always thought that kind of neat in the original series too since it allowed for some different group dynamics. Seeing Gabumon being worried about calling Yamato by his first name was kind of cute. Although, I was confused as to how they got split apart, but I guess the attack created some dimensional worm holes. It felt like the montage should have been shown completely, especially Koshiro showing pictures of their past to Agumon and Gomamon. That was the first physical proof they had that the Digimon did know the humans before and had a past. That should have been more of a big deal than mentioning it off screen like that. Plus, it felt like they didn't really do much with the group splitting up for too long given how only a couple of them had any decent amount of focus.

There were some nice moments during the group being split apart though. Hikari mentioning how Salamon was probably happier this way was kind of sweet. She did have a terrible past before with being separated from the other Digimon in the past and being taken in by Myotismon, so the reboot did give Salamon a happier beginning at least. It wasn't easy for Taichi to just accept the Digimon as they were to move forward. It does feel like they lost all of their precious Digimon, even though they were together again. Yamato talking a bit about his relationship with Taichi was nice. He obviously doesn't hate him, but Yamato does get angered pretty easily and their different attitudes often clash with each other.

I felt bad for Sora when she was trying so hard to reach out to Biyomon only to be shot down all the time. Seeing Sora cry seemed to affect Biyomon at least a bit. Although, I felt like there was a missing transition from Biyomon's reaction to Sora crying and then finding Meiko. They also never explained how she ended up in the Digital World. They could in the next movie, but that seemed really strange to me. I like how Meiko was trying to reassure Sora after how they helped her during the previous movie over Meicoomon. It was a nice way to show her becoming more comfortable with the other Chosen Children. I actually thought that Meicoomon was still carrying the infection, which still might be true, but it seemed like she was just really broken up over thinking that Meiko had abandoned her. Their reunion was rather sweet and showed how much they cared about each other.

I was wondering when Gennai would show up, but I didn't expect him to be that creepy. We already knew he was evil. He didn't have to pin Sora down like that and lick her face. That was just way too creepy. He isn't human, but that's still the image of a grown man assaulting a teenage girl. That's not cool nor was it particularly necessary to make him look more like a villain. At least Biyomon finally started to help Sora because of that attack. I was interested in Gennai's line about how Digimon who died in the human world would be brought back here. Unless I misunderstood that line, that could mean that Digimon like Wizardmon could finally come back to life instead of being ghosts.

I was surprised with Himekawa doing all of this to get her own Digimon partner back. I just assumed that she wanted to get rid of Digimon due to the destruction they have caused on the real world, so that was a surprising twist. I wonder if she and Nishijima were some of the first Chosen Children that were mentioned at the end of Adventure. That motivation does make her more sympathetic than I had expected. We saw how much it tore up the main cast to lose their partners after the reboot happened. Himekawa's partner was sacrificed and she had to deal with that loss for years. It was probably at least a good decade of grieving over her partner. That facial expression when she finally saw Tapirmon and it didn't recognize her was pretty creepy though.

It was pretty intense to see them under attack, especially when they didn't have access to their Digimon evolving for awhile. I loved seeing how Taichi and Yamato were able to get their Digimon to Mega Evolve again. It was a really touching moment that felt like a little call back to the Our War Games movie with the roles reverse. Taichi and Yamato were in danger, able to communicate with their Digimon mentally and both Agumon and Gabumon reached out to them instead. It was a really nice way to show how strong their bonds were. Even with their memories gone, they still were able to unlock their Digimon's power. That was my favorite scene from the whole movie, even though the rest of the fight scene further emphasized that.

I thought it was sweet that Biyomon finally opened up with Sora after protecting her. She was still a bit more harsh than she was in the past, but Sora was happy just to have a bit of her friend back. Seeing Sora being so willing to hold onto Biyomon even when she was in so much pain was touching and it was nice how that allowed to get Biyomon to Mega Evolve. I wasn't expecting more Digimon to reach their Mega forms, but that was cool and allowed for a pretty neat action scene. Both Taichi and Yamato were confused over Sora seemingly being okay. The conflict isn't really resolved per say as the Digimon don't have their memories back yet, but Sora was able to connect back with Biyomon and that was enough for now.

I was not expecting the big cliffhanger ending with Gennai seemingly killing Meiko in order to get Meicoomon to destroy the world. Obviously, Meiko is fine. They wouldn't kill off a prominent human character, especially when we're not close to the finale yet. It was an unexpected way to end the movie though. I really liked the ending theme itself. It had an upbeat tone, cute visuals and some nice lyrics. It's one of my favorite ending themes from this series thus far.

Overall, the movie was kind of underwhelming. It was still pretty good, but it felt like there was a lot less plot and character progression here compared to the other movies. Despite being the main focus, Sora's storyline felt pretty minimal and not nearly as powerful as the other characters' subplots in previous movies. It might have been a bit trickier for them to balance out the screentime here when there wasn't a way to focus on just a couple of characters while the others are doing their own things, or at least not like what they've done with the other movies. Before, characters could be at their own homes, but here, they had to keep the characters relatively close together and even when they were separated, they were brought back pretty quick. That might have made it more difficult for them to balance out the screentime and make a clearer complete part of the story. The slower pace might have been a factor too, but that was a reasonable choice given how intense the previous movie was and how they needed to get the Digimon to bond with the kids again.

I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't restore the memories of the Digimon by the end of the movie. I expected them to do that after I first saw the poster, but I'm glad that they didn't do that. I think it helped to make the Digimon's growing connection to the Chosen Children and the rekindling of their bonds much more emotionally effective and meaningful without all of their memories restored. That emotional aspect of the movie was great and it's easily the best part of this installment. Even before the Digimon started to Mega Evolve, there were signs during the movie that their bonds were still within them, like with Tentomon wondering why he was calling out for Koushiro so much and even Biyomon was shocked over Sora crying after being completely indifferent towards her for most of the movie. I'm sure that they'll still find some way to restore their memories and that's okay since it won't be such a simple and easy solution. I just think it was a good choice to not immediately undo the emotional sacrifice from the previous movie and it helped to make the emotional core of this movie even stronger.

This movie might work out better upon a rewatch, especially when the series wraps up, but it's easily the weakest out of the four movies for me. It just didn't have nearly as much good character moments or plot developments as the other movies and lacked that engaging hook that made me really eager to keep watching and to see the next movie.

 

[zoombie]

Okay my thoughts

Spoiler

The first five minutes that flashback, I know it was tragic, it was beautiful, the animation and the music, it could have been a great short film. Sometimes someone's misery is another person's great art. Though it is anti climatic, after 3 movies, the beginning of the 4th movie we know the adults were former Chosens.

Well it was sad at first to see all the memories gone, but just seeing them all bond again was nice, and made you forget about the situation for a bit, though Biyomon did get my nerves for a bit. There was a part when Sora was on the ground, with Taichi and Yamato in front of her, no one thought of Team 7 in Naruto.

Well we do finally who our main villain, is someone familiar to us, but not he Adventures universe and Yggdrasil. And how did Gennai turn evil like that? Well I am sure we will find out, but I wouldn't drink from tea from him again. Though I wish we got more of a reaction from Koushiro, he and Gennai were close back in the original Adventures, I thought he would be a little more emotionally about that.

And Hackmon is in this one, a Digimon Universe character is in the movie. Speaking of which, Nishijama you are not a bad person, but trying to hit on someone when they are in such a emotional state, not cool. And was I right Himekawa and her being a former Choosen and her motivation, called it.

I am going to make another prediction, by the end of this series, not well we have to fight Meiccomon, but I think Meiko she is going to turn, I don't know how, but Yggdrasil is going to turn into like a Digimon Empress or something. And you have an excuse in at the end when she was in trouble, the others forgot about her. If I can reference another Toei series, I think before we deal with Yggdrasil, we have to deal with eveil Meiko and Meiccomon, we could have a Black Lady situation here. But that is just my prediction, a corrupted dark Meiko could look awesome.

Anyway great movie, can't wait for the next one.

 

[Light Lucario]

Spoiler

Well we do finally who our main villain, is someone familiar to us, but not he Adventures universe and Yggdrasil. And how did Gennai turn evil like that? Well I am sure we will find out, but I wouldn't drink from tea from him again. Though I wish we got more of a reaction from Koushiro, he and Gennai were close back in the original Adventures, I thought he would be a little more emotionally about that.

Spoiler

Given how they seem to be bringing back the original Chosen Children, I wouldn't be surprised if the black ball one of the Dark Masters put into Gennai in that flashback turned out to be the reason why he's suddenly evil.

Spoiler

And Hackmon is in this one, a Digimon Universe character is in the movie. Speaking of which, Nishijama you are not a bad person, but trying to hit on someone when they are in such a emotional state, not cool. And was I right Himekawa and her being a former Choosen and her motivation, called it.

Spoiler

To be fair, I'm pretty sure he was just trying to comfort Himekawa during her time of grief rather than simply hitting on her. He was shocked that she agreed to his offer, so it's not like he was thinking of just hitting on her. He saw his friend going through some potentially unhealthy ways of grieving and wanted to help by offering her emotional support through dating, or at least that's how I took the scene.

Also, another reason why I felt that this movie was so weak was due to the padding. There was padding in the other movies too, but they generally worked more in favor of the storylines or providing some breathers from the action. This felt like they were just struggling to have enough content for a full money. There might have also been some budget cuts given the still frame montage when the group split up, which I still say should have been animated, a couple of weak transitions within some of the individual parts and how much time the evolution transformation sequences took. It's always nice to see the Digimon evolving in this series, but it felt like it took up way too much time during this movie.

 

[Radical]

I'm a huge fan of Digimon, so love Digimon Adventure Tri. 4: Sousitsu, and so love the amazing action and epic "save two worlds" plot/storyline.

My thoughts:

Spoiler

The plot/storyline was great/interesting on this mysterious virus infecting the Digimon, much worse than the Black Gears.

Cool seeing the original awesome DigiDestined heroes Tai, Kari, Sora, Matt/TK, Izzy, Mimi, and Joe and their great Digimon partners Agumon, Salamon, Gabumon, Biyomon, Palmon, Tentomon, and Gomamon.Biyomon being so got on my nerves with the new terrible unlikable bratty jerky behavior change for poor Sora, but I'm glad she changed and became likable to protect Sora.

Both Meiko/Meicoomon, Daigo, Maki, and Hackmon were great interesting new characters, Evil Meicoomon was pretty cool/deadly.

Cool seeing their awesome Digimon friends like Leomon/Elecmon.

Both Yggdrasil, Maki Himekawa, and Evil Gennai were my favorite awesome interesting movie villains next to Hoopa Unbound/Alva, Joyrock/Gaizno, Count Butler/Z/Gild Tesoro, Love Machine, and Dame Dedtime, cool to see Yggdrasil, Maki Himekawa the ultimate evil and a Digimon, along with Gennai gone to the darkside was interesting/surprising.

The action was so awesome while its cool to see the Digimon partners' awesome Digivolved forms.

Awesome that it got dubbed, cool to see the awesome returning dub voice cast, Joshua Seth, Mona Marshall, Philece Sampler, and Vic Mignogna returning is so awesome.Matt, Kari, and Gatomon getting new voices, I'll miss Lara Miller's awesome role for Kari, loved her roles as Juniper Lee, Lisa Loud, Nami(Takato's teacher), Heruka(Daigunder), Sherrice, Haul(Rave Master), Koko(Zatch Bell!), and Misao(Lucky Star), mostly a fan of her awesome voice acting career, and Kate Higgins as Gatomon, cool, loved her other roles as Megumi(Zatch Bell!), Karin(Bleach), and C.C.

 

[Storm Eagle]

Shout! Factory releases Digimon Adventure tri.: Determination on August 15th.

https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/action-adventure/digimon-adventure-tri-determination

 

[Gold Guy]

Awesome, I'm definitely picking that up day 1.

 

[Storm Eagle]

Awesome, I'm definitely picking that up day 1.

Ditto for me. I just can't believe it was announced so quickly. They haven't even put Reunion out yet.

 

[user193851]

Hey everyone do you know about this on this picture and I need to know more detail information what is this about?

 

[Gold Guy]

@DCVSMARVEL1996 It's apparently the poster for an upcoming Digimon stage play.

 

[Gatomon41]

Picked up my copy of Reunion at the retailer. Wow, it was great to see it in stores

 

[Storm Eagle]

The DVDs and Blu-rays for Digimon Adventure tri. - Determination will be available early at the Los Angeles Anime Expo on July 1st. Plus it looks like we've got an early look at the cover art for a Confession release.

http://www.anime-expo.org/shout-fac...mon-adventure-tri-confession-anime-expo-2017/

 

[Gold Guy]

The dub trailer is out foe Determination.

 

[user193851]

The dub trailer is out foe Determination.

I was looking for Digimon Adventure tri. DVD released date for Reunion, Determination, Confession and Loss with English dubbed then I can't find it.

So I want to know what date or month or year for DVD with Reunion, Determination, Confession and Loss with English dubbed?

 

[Gold Guy]

I was looking for Digimon Adventure tri. DVD released date for Reunion, Determination, Confession and Loss with English dubbed then I can't find it.

So I want to know what date or month or year for DVD with Reunion, Determination, Confession and Loss with English dubbed?

The first film is already out on Blu-ray and DVD, and the second film releases on August 15, and the rest don't have release dates yet.

 

[Storm Eagle]

Shout! Factory announces a release for Confession.

 

[honorableninja]

well finally watched determination and I have to say the compete disregard for zero 2 is becoming a hindrance for one thing i almost thought it was sort of alt timeline where only ken defeat had happened and kari, t.k and the others lost touch with the younger group and what happen in part 1 was the first and last time davis, ken, yolei and cody worked together but everyone recognizing impeirdaldrmon threw that out the window. and on the subject of imperidaldramon, god we got more reaction from mimi and palmon having to fight an infected orgemon with mimi line "he still our orgemon" then we did over the possibly rosemon and vikemon just murdered veemon and wormmon under control of the infection or even them saying "this is not the imperidaldramon we know" i know I probably alone in this but it all just brothers me.

 

[Storm Eagle]

Digimon Adventure tri.: Confession is scheduled for release on December 5th. If you pre-order from Shout! Factory, you get it two weeks early with a lithograph. The bonus feature is the English Premiere Panel At Anime Expo 2017.

https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/digimon-adventure-tri-confession?product_id=6461

 

[Light Lucario]

well finally watched determination and I have to say the compete disregard for zero 2 is becoming a hindrance for one thing i almost thought it was sort of alt timeline where only ken defeat had happened and kari, t.k and the others lost touch with the younger group and what happen in part 1 was the first and last time davis, ken, yolei and cody worked together but everyone recognizing impeirdaldrmon threw that out the window. and on the subject of imperidaldramon, god we got more reaction from mimi and palmon having to fight an infected orgemon with mimi line "he still our orgemon" then we did over the possibly rosemon and vikemon just murdered veemon and wormmon under control of the infection or even them saying "this is not the imperidaldramon we know" i know I probably alone in this but it all just brothers me.

I don't think that's a particularly unpopular opinion based on what I've seen from other reactions towards the series. I understand that they wanted to take the Adventure 02 cast out of the picture so that they can focus primarily on the original Adventure cast. I think that was the right choice to make, most of the movies have done a good job focusing on the cast and there have been some good and emotional character moments as a result.

That being said, the fact that they seem so unconcerned regarding the Adventure 02 cast is rather strange. The only thing they've done is go over to Ken's house, but when nothing happened, they just when on with their own conflicts. There's no mention of finding out where Daisuke and his friends are or if they have their Digimon partners. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if they were at least mentioned a couple of times or we saw the kids trying to find some answers about them. I'm sure that they'll do something about the Adventure 02 cast's disappearance, but it does seem weird from what we have seen thus far.

 

[Gold Guy]

Well, I know what I'm getting for Christmas.