DIGIMON ADVENTURE 02 THE BEGINNING

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionDigimon Adventure 02
MOVIE ActionDigimon Adventure: LAST EVOLUTION Kizuna

REVIEWS

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  Mykurr

  65/100
  Another messy entry to Digimon Adventure Nostagla Canon, But I like it for what it is.

  The Digimon Adventure canon is a truly one of a kind experience for me where I just happen to watch each entry around very similar ages to the characters. I first got into Digimon through Digimon Adventure being my first entry in 2009 as a 9 year old watching anime rips on youtube around the same age as the DigiDestined on-screen. 6 years later Tri came out where the characters were aged up into highschool students, which was fitting as 2015 happened to be the same year I entered highschool so it was just another perfect happenstance that the series I loved as a kid grew up at the same pace with me (regardless of the Tri movies’s actual quality). What really hit home was Last Evolution Kizuna featuring Taichi and Yamato at 20 years old being the exact same age as them when the movie came out, the movie’s message of growing up beyond your childhood felt so deeply personal to me that nothing could ever get me more emotional than Agumon and Gabumon leaving their respective partner's side. Essentially, the legacy of this franchise is very close to me and I came in watching Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning expecting how it can build upon the themes that previous entries established. Honestly, I appreciate it, regardless of how messy it is.

  This story is basically that of this new character named Owada Rui who looks like the Persona 3 protagonist voiced by Megumi Ogata (and acts like one of her characters) as he is the first digiDestined and is the reason why everyone else eventually became a digidestined. It's an interesting premise that explores on the nature of how genuine the connections are of the digidestined and their digimon partners, as its stated that the only reason Digimon and humans even came to meet each other is through a wish Ukkomon granted for Rui wanting to have friends “just like him”. What’s interesting is that the question of whether or not every digimon related conflict that has happened up to this point resulting in this wish is kind of left ambiguous as the ending suggests there is some level of influence that Ukkomon holds. However, although the vagueness is intentional, I can’t help but wonder as some elements really don’t have any thematic coherence such as in Rui’s backstory where I’m unsure what would ultimately have been the best course of action Ukkomon could’ve done that would be correct. The ending of the movie makes it evident that the biggest point it wants to convey is how communication is important in both a healthy friendship and growing up, yet it barely builds up to it more so wanting wallow in Rui’s angst which at some point came across as quite cringe-inducing when you take into account these are meant to be 20-year old characters.

  Which brings to my next point with how the characters are handled in this movie. Owada Rui and his bond with Ukkomon is the sole focus of this movie as despite how much the Digimon Adventure 02 cast was marketed, they’re barely focused at all with the movie instead mostly giving screen time to Rui and his backstory. I wouldn’t mind this in all honesty as I never cared much for the Adventure 02 cast besides Ken, but as stated before Rui’s character is very messily handled. They go way over-dramatic with his backstory with the child abuse feeling outright comical to the point that how Ukkomon resolves things is just straight up brainwashing which absolutely devalues a core theme this movie is trying to portray about communication with others. Even in present-time, his whole character is that he’s being obtusely vague and when he finally tells the gang what the whole DigiEgg in the sky is about, it turns out to be very easily understandable and he was just being edgy as hell. Honestly the cast of Adventure 02 is so detached to the point of this story, it could’ve easily been the original cast and the story would’ve remained the same, down to Daisuke being a Taichi 2.0 in how brash and simple he was. The rest of the cast might as well not exist at all as they barely contribute anything worthwhile beyond their digimon helping in the final fight, there really is no reason for this particular cast to be used over the original other than maybe nostalgia for those who also like Adventure 02?

  What’s interesting the most about this movie for me, is not its narrative but its production. Despite being a Toei production, known for always having at least a fight or some action every episode in its TV productions, there is only a single action sequence in the entire movie besides some cool flying scenes with Paildramon. Could this be a cost-saving measure on animation? Surprising considering Toei Animation has been on a roll recently with how Wano is currently being produced and how gorgeous Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai was. Granted, this is also one of the weaker Toei productions with how limited any moments of Sakuga there was and outright using the same digivolution sequence as the original tv series barring some updated visuals despite previous entries like Tri and Last Evolution having newer sequences. Moreover, the fact that it reuses mostly the same soundtrack as the original show is very disappointing considering that they gave remixes for previous entries of what are still also nostalgia bait. But at the same time, I really applaud a franchise like Digimon that’s really just a multimedia mix brand choosing to produce a movie to really tell its story without needing the fancy flares its ilk tend to need to grab the attention of kids. It shows that as a franchise it really is willing to grow with its audience, and that alone really resonates with me as someone who grew up with it.

  To conclude, I like Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning a lot, despite how messy it was in doing what I think it's trying to do. It's another decent entry building on Digimon’s themes of childhood, growth, and maturity while also providing another perspective of what Digimon is for longtime fans like me. Structurally, it really feels like a retroactive addition to the lore of Digimon Adventure, but it's a welcome one despite how clumsily it uses established aspects of the series. At this point they’re going to keep milking this franchise despite the word “last” in Last Evolution Kizuna and I’ll probably keep watching to see how well they can keep this shaking foundation of a series before it eventually topples down. 6.5/10, I did come close to tearing up a bit because its nostalgia bait still hits me.

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