Digimon Adventure 1-54 + Movies 1 and 2 (Rewatch):
Over the last week I took the time (too much, perhaps, given that I just watched 54 episodes and two movies in almost exactly one week) to revisit one of my favorite childhood shows, Digimon Adventure.
For people who don't know, the Digimon franchise is possibly my favorite franchise across any medium. Digimon was, while not my first anime, my introduction to watching anime in Japanese, to Japanese music, fandom, fanfiction, and quite a lot more, back in 2000. It's always held a special place in my heart, and while Adventure isn't even my favorite Digimon series, it's a sentimental favorite of mine. While I feel like the world and characters have never left me (I still regularly listen to the music, character image songs, etc), it had been probably at least 6-7 years since I watched Adventure, so I came into this rewatch with some amount of trepidation, but in the end, it completely lived up to my memories.
Digimon Adventure is a fantastic show, and both of Hosoda's movies are extremely remarkable. The first movie, while quite short, makes a huge impact with what little time it has. Anyone who thinks you need a long story or a lot of character dialogue in order to form an emotional bond with characters should be strapped down to a chair and forced to watch the Digimon Adventure movie. It's an incredible triumph in storytelling, with some great visual flourishes, a fantastic soundtrack, and a completely engaging story.
Once we get into the show itself, Digimon Adventure is a really very solid adventure storyline. The first half of the show is a lot more laid back compared to the crazy action of the second half, but while the story doesn't really pick up until later, there's something I really love about the early episodes. I really enjoy seeing the characters struggling to live in the digital world. Episodes are often centered around the characters just needing to find food, deal with how tired they are, or find a way to survive. It's a very different feeling than you get in a lot of other series. A lesser show would have dropped the characters in the digital world and had them mostly be adjusted to it by the third episode, but Digimon Adventure constantly has the characters just struggling to get by. And the characters always do feel like kids who are completely out of their element. The Digital World itself is a wonderful location. The backgrounds in the show are extremely vibrant and colorful, and really paint a wonderful image of what the world looks like. Rewatching the show, I found myself asking what happened to the Toei who could make something that looks like this?
As the show transitions into the second half, the story becomes a lot more serious, and the characters start to grow a lot more. The story also takes a much darker turn, but more than that, Digimon Adventure is dark in a way that only a kids show can be. It understands what issues are important and scary to a child, and it builds on them effectively. The scenes of Phantomon and the Bakemon breaking down doors in order to carry kids out of their homes and separate them from their parents is genuinely terrifying stuff, but in a very every day way. The show also manages to deftly touch on a number of issues that can be very important to kids and that some shows shy away from, such as dealing with how Yamato and Takeru's family fell apart due to divorce, Koushirou grappling with the fact that he's adopted, Sora's complicated feelings towards her mother, and more. And I challenge anyone to not feel something with Sora's mother asks Piyomon if Sora hates her. And as we get into the final arc, seeing everything these kids go through can be pretty rough, especially when you keep in mind how young they are. The scene of Mimi building the graves for some of the characters who have died saving them is a moving moment.
Probably one of the bigger surprises compared to my memories was remembering in just how few episodes characters like Wizarmon and Whamon were. The characters stuck out so much in my memories that I just sort of remembered them being around for much longer, rather than only being in 3 or 4 episodes each. The same is also true for Leomon to a lesser extent. Something about how strong the writing was lead to those characters sticking around in my mind even 15 years later, and I would guess the same is true for a lot of other kid who watched Digimon growing up.
The main characters are all great. Even Yamato, who is probably my least favorite, has some good moments. The star of the cast is definitely Mimi, and not just for Ai Maeda's exceptional performance. Mimi's arc from the girl who didn't even like the idea of sleeping on the ground to leading an army of Digimon to arrive just in the nick of time at the final battle is one that is really exceptional. Pretty much every episode focused around Mimi is really strong, and I find that a lot of her insecurities speak to me really well. In general, part of what makes all the characters shine is that they each have some very realistic insecurities. Everyone grows up so much over the course of the series. The relationships between the chosen children and their Digimon also really sparkle. Tentomon and Koushirou are an amazing comedy due, and Jou/Gomamon make for a really bizarre team. The show really has 16 main characters, not 8, and each of them really do get their moment in the sun.
I would be remiss not to mention the excellent music, as well. Takanori Arisawa's soundtrack is great, with a lot of memorable pieces, and they're all used quite well over the course of the show.
Lastly, I decided to pick some of my favorite episodes. In broadcast order, they are:
6. Palmon Angrily Evolves!
21. Koromon, the Great Clash in Tokyo!
25. The Sleeping Tyrant! TonosamaGekomon
33. Pump and Gotsu are Shibuya-Type Digimon!
34. The Bond of Destiny! Tailmon
35. The Fairy of Odaiba! Lilymon Blossoms
36. Break Through the Barrier! Zudomon Sparks!
37. Perfects Attack Together! Sparkling Angewomon
46. The Counterattack of Metel Etemon
54. A New World
I bolded my number one favorite. There are plenty of other good episodes, but these are just the ones that immediately came to mind for me. The whole last part of the Vamdemon arc is pretty much without equal.
And then, after all of that, we get to the second movie, Our War Game, and what a special movie it is. Hosoda's direction is exceptional, and the story moves at a pretty brisk pace. While it's a shame that half the cast don't really get to do anything, pretty much every scene is very strong, there are some wonderful little cuts between various moments (such as the cake being made as the missile is nearing its target), and the fact that they beat Diablomon by making him buffer is pretty awesome. I could write more about the movie, but I think everyone already knows how great it is, so I think I'll leave it at this for now.
Revisiting Digimon Adventure really made me feel like I could revisit my childhood. Watching the show has helped to cheer me up quite a bit, and I'm looking forward to rewatching 02. While I didn't like it nearly as much as the original, it does have some great moments, and it's also an important part of my life.
Haven't CheapJuice linked exactly the same scene??
