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It’s been 20 years since the
premiere episode of DIGIMON ADVENTURE crackled
across Japanese TV screens. In celebration, Toei Animation has released
their full-length feature, DIGIMON ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION
KIZUNA; a loving look back at the tales of boys
and girls and their fighting Digital Monsters.
To properly assess the new film, LMD wisely
consulted TDR’s newest contributor -- and
resident DIGIMON expert -- Mr. Leo
Au-Yeung, to let us know if DIGIMON
ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA is a farewell
worthy of the DigiDestined.
Dig I{t} Mon!
 As
part of its ongoing 20th anniversary celebration of the premiere of the
DIGIMON ADVENTURE {DIGIMON: DIGITAL MONSTERS in the west} TV
series, Toei Animation released its latest movie from the franchise,
DIGIMON ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA.
Created by Akiyoshi Hongo, the DIGIMON franchise, is
about young “Chosen Children," or DigiDestined; kids who travel together
to the “Digital World” {or DigiWorld}, a cyberworld that exists
in parallel to the real world, and is connected to it via through
telecom networks. In the Digital World, there exist Digimon, digital
creatures that inhabit the world; of which some are good and some are
evil. There, the kids meet their own partner Digimon, and are each
given a “Digital Device” {or Digivice}, a device which allows the
kids to “digivolve” their puny Digimon into much stronger ones when
needed. Throughout the different DIGIMON seasons, the DigiDestined
kids of each season are tasked with defeating evil Digimon that threaten
both the DigiWorld and the real world.
As Tai and Matt go about their everyday lives, DIGIMON
fans get to see how things have changed in the five years since DIGIMON
ADVENTURE: TRI.. The two approach the end of their college lives (Can
you believe they’re in college already?!), and they’re considering
what careers to take on after graduation. We see that both are visibly
lost, still trying to figure out what they want to do. This may
very well reflect DIGIMON fans, who first watched the show as kids, and
have now grown up and are following a similar timeline to that of our
protagonists, college and all (Like myself!). Meanwhile, Matt
reminisces about playing the harmonica, and Tai gazes upon his old
goggles and Digivice in a drawer; clear references to their childhood
days in the DigiWorld. The two eventually meet and discuss how most of
the original DigiDestined already have goals in place. As they
ponder, an offscreen voice says “If that's how it is, I don't ever want
to be an adult,” leaving us with a tugging feeling of wanting our
DigiDestined to stay children.
We’re immediately thrown into a new crisis; DigiDestined
kids around the world are collapsing one after another because of Eosmon,
a new artificially created Digimon that can steal and turn people’s
consciousness into data. We’re also introduced to the new characters of
DIGIMON; researcher Menoa Belluci, and her assistant, Kyotaro Imura, who
help play important parts in the DigiDestined’s battle. Not long into
their endeavor, the DigiDestined kids learn a crucial fact: as kids grow
up, their bonds with their Digimon weaken, and eventually their partner
Digimon completely disappear. These bonds are shown as rings of
lights emitting from Digivices that vanish once the Digimon/DigiDestined
bonds reach their limit.
Knowing this, the kids still charge headfirst into their
last battle to save their friends. As the last Digivolutions take
place, we are treated to a slew of Digimon on Digimon fighting sequences
and OSTs to wrap up the journey for our original DigiDestined.
For the longtime DigiDestined: Right as the film
starts, we’re greeted with a new version of Ayumi Miyazaki’s “Brave
Heart,” the original Digivolution song that all fans should recognize,
as the very first scene opens with the reappearance of Parrotmon in
Nakano; a throwback fight to how it all started in the first DIGIMON
ADVENTURE film. It is taken on by the youngest members of the
original DIGIMON ADVENTURE DigiDestined crew, Takeru “T.K.” Takaishi,
and Kari Kamiya, with the help of their partner Digimon, Angemon and
Angewomon. Taichi “Tai” Kamiya digivolves Agumon into Greymon to join
the fight, and Yamato "Matt" Ishida jumps in to deal the finishing blow
to send Parrotmon packing. In just this opening fight, we get some
beautiful Digimon on Digimon battle animation, bringing back memories of
the two sibling duos taking on VenomMyotismon in DIGIMON ADVENTURE. The
battle ends with Tai and Matt heading off in separate directions as the
late Koji Wada’s “Butter-Fly” plays; a fantastic opening sequence for
DIGIMON fans.
Aside from the DigiDestined featured in the opening
sequence, we also get to see how the rest of the original DigiDestined
are doing, including Joe Kido, Mimi Tachikawa, Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi,
and Sora Takenouchi. We also get to meet the rest of the DIGIMON
ADVENTURE 02 kids: Davis Motomiya, Ken Ichijouji, Cody Hida, and Yolei
Inoue are all shown with their partner Digimon, and help play a
supporting role to the original cast. There are some more subtle Easter
eggs scattered throughout the movie as well for speculation.
I feel like the movie's message is more to acknowledge
that all of us DIGIMON fans have grown up, than anything else. It
reflects that with our DigiDestined growing up, as well, unlike a
certain kid who wants to catch ‘em all {Ooh, shade - Ed.}. Our leader duo, Tai and Matt,
fight against their desires to stay children forever with their partner Digimon, and the movie does a good job of building up that tension
between the two for us.
The battles are spectacularly played out and animated;
probably one of the cleanest that the DIGIMON franchise has provided.
The movie was great for getting a nostalgia blast of DIGIMON ADVENTURE
and allusions to the first few movies. Mix in a little bit of 02 kids,
awesome Digimon battle animation, saving the world, and growing up, and
we get DIGIMON ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA.
As flashy and exciting as the movie is, it isn't without
its flaws. The conflict itself was subpar, being almost identical to
DIGIMON ADVENTURE: TRI.’s plot of, “antagonist trying to recoup with
their old partner Digimon.” They even had the same figures -- a female
and male Digimon researcher -- coming in to give the DigiDestined the
rundown. Given that this story takes place five years after TRI., the
events from that film series also seem to get disregarded. Meiko
Mochizuki and Meicoomon only get a small cameo in LAST EVOLUTION when
they were the main focus in TRI.. Even though we finally get the 02
kids this time around {As many fans complained about their absence in
TRI.}, they still don't play that big of a role in much of anything.
The movie also left me thinking about a few unanswered
questions, of which there are likely lots more. In the movie, Young
Gennai appears in front of Tai and confirms that Agumon will eventually
disappear, but that reminds us -- whatever happened to Dark Gennai from
TRI.? Most of the original DigiDestined play a smaller role, which is
probably intended to keep the focus on Tai and Matt, but what ever
happened to Sora? Why is Sora not participating -- or even talking --
with the DigiDestined, and why does she end up only getting like two
minutes of screen time?
DIGIMON
ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA brings back all the DIGIMON ADVENTURE
and DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02 characters for a grand finale to satisfy its
longtime DIGIMON fans. Director Tomohisa Taguchi combines the
theme of growth mixed with gorgeous battles into this film to satisfy
our childhood DIGIMON nostalgia. With courage and friendship as a
cherry on top, Toei Animation provides a worthwhile movie to wrap-up
DIGIMON ADVENTURE for its 20th anniversary. The conflict wasn't the
most unique if you’ve already seen DIGIMON ADVENTURE: TRI. {Which you
should!}, and the plot still leaves a lot of questions to be
answered about the events of TRI.. As this is not the end of the
DigiDestined, we are left wondering what comes next for the kids?
The fighting animation sequences are superb, and obviously much improved
from when DIGIMON ADVENTURE first aired.
As a lifelong DIGIMON fan, I thoroughly enjoyed the
movie's warm childhood nostalgia, while the rollercoaster of dazzling
battle animations and beautiful soundtrack is something I think any film
fan would enjoy. DIGIMON ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA is a great
watch for anyone craving DIGIMON nostalgia, and even those less familiar
with the DIGIMON series should watch it to appreciate how far the
animation style has come since the late 90’s. I would recommend
watching DIGIMON ADVENTURE: TRI. beforehand, as well, to get a better
sense of what’s happened since the end of DIGIMON ADVENTURE series {Heck,
maybe even rewatch the original series!}. As Tai said in the
final episode of DIGIMON ADVENTURE, “Our adventure in the Digital World
might be over for now, but that gate won't stay closed forever. I have
a feeling that this won't be the last time we see our pals, the Digimon!
You wait and see.”
~ Leo Au-Yeung,
For The Diva Review
September 6th. 2020
DIGIMON
ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA streams
on Microsoft, iTunes and PSN, starting September 29th.
Toei Animation US and
Shout Factory are hosting a special DIGIMON
ADVENTURE: LAST EVOLUTION KIZUNA Livestream
Watch Party, with the English voice cast,
Robbie Daymond
(“Joe Kido”) and Erika
Harlacher (“Menoa
Bellucci”), Sat. Oct. 3rd at 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific.
You can view
through Toei US' Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ToeiAnimationUS
or via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/DigimonOfficial
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