Digimon Adventure tri. – 14, 15, 16, 17

Episode 14

Episode 15

Episode 16

Episode 17

It’s been a long time since I last did a Digimon Adventure tri. update. More than a year later according my last post – oops! If you’ll forgive me for my tardiness since 2016 was a disaster for me to keep up-to-date with anime. I’m back now though! Mainly because I don’t have anything to blog this season and I’m itching to talk about the latest release of Digimon Adventure tri.: Soushitsu. For a quick impressions – I thoroughly enjoyed these past few episodes of Digimon (much more than the previous ones) and it’s probably my favorite to date. I loved the return to the Digital World (it brings back all the right feels) and the developing relationships between everyone that’s not just all sad and angst-y. Most of all, I appreciate how Toei is now providing more answers than questions, finally!

Now to the in-depth stuff… The latest 4 episodes of Digimon focuses on the return to the Digital World and after the major reset at the end of episode 13. I’m going to take this slow since there’s a lot that happened in these past 4 episodes and a lot of different plot lines going on at once. At the forefront, there’s a lot of nostalgia with all the Digimon getting reacquainted with their human partners. I loved seeing their reunion with the picnic scenes and how each first episode (of each movie) is always a little more lighthearted. Even though Sora was a bit on the outs with Yokomon being more standoff-ish, I thought it was a great throwback to the “good ol’ days” when the Digidestined used to actually camp outside and sleep on the ground. I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing them in this type of environment because it forces them to really focus on the issues at hand rather than being surrounded by everyday Tokyo. It was very reminiscent of the first episode of Digimon when they first landed in the middle of nowhere with these heads bouncing up and down – except now it’s the humans that recognize their partners; not the other way around. Even though Sora and Yokomon’s relationship was one of the core focuses this time, I didn’t feel like it was too forced or teenage angst-y (especially when Joe and Mimi’s episodes were so eye-rolling). There was a good amount of development and I thought that was satisfactory enough.

And of course, there’s also a lot of good shipping in this episode – which I’m 200% sure they’re just teasing us with at this point. There were a ton of good opportunities here for Digimon to clearly define the relationships within the group and yet, they don’t because they want to leave us hanging and hoping and watching… so I’m dying to see this all resolved by the end! It’s been obvious from the start that I’m on the Takaishi/Hikari ship. A lot of people seem to be eager to see that one sail. Then there’s Mimi and Koushiro that have a very one-sided, friendship-zoned relationship going on that makes for some laughs but also makes me pity Koushiro. The poor guy just blushes so hard each time. This is one ship that I’ve only recently jumped on because for the longest time (and even during the second movie), I was very adamant that Mimi and Joe were meant to be (especially in the original Digimon series). However, seeing how much Koushiro has a crush on Mimi (going as far as to run to the maid café) makes me wonder if they’re a better fit. Tai, Yamamoto and Sora have the most interesting love triangle that I think a lot of people have mixed feelings about, especially when the Tai/Sora ship sunk by the end of Digimon Adventure 02. As the prominent “main character”, it’s unusual for Tai not to be paired with the primary female (at least in the original Digimon) in the end. Toei still toys with us by bringing the two boys together to comfort her during her times of need and even at the end; but I wish there was more Yamamoto and Sora alone time so I could see what actually happened there. And lastly I want to address the most obvious relationship-building in these few episodes – Yamamoto and Tai <3 When I was a kid, I never cared about their love/hate relationship. In fact, I used to fast-forward all of Yamamoto’s puberty angst and Tai’s “dark side” moments to get to the “good stuff”. Now that I’m an adult, I appreciate the character development as part of the larger story (and also because the kids aren’t kids anymore), and it’s a lot more interesting to see how Tai and Yamamoto sort through their differences. One of the best friendships in the entire series is theirs so I loved seeing them take on Metalseadramon together and how it strengthens their bond as characters. I don’t typically ship bros together but Yamamoto and Tai are just as good as Gabumon and Yamamoto (and they are adorable!).

The last relationship that I didn’t mention was Himekawa Maki and Nishijima Daigo’s. And I’m talking about them in an entirely different scope because while I like where Toei is going with this, I don’t like how it feels so “tacked-on” to the larger Digimon Adventure storyline. I would love to hear what people think of this “original Digidestined” history thrown in because I’m not exactly sure what to make of it yet. After many many months of confusion, we finally have some answers as to who Maki and Daigo are – they’re old friends that made up 2 out of the 5 very OG Digidestined before Tai and Co. were transported to the Digital World. The short montage at the beginning of episode 14 showed – in silent movie mode – just how Maki lost her Digimon after Megadramon scarified itself in order to save the Digidestined and prevent the Dark Masters from taking over the Digital World. As a result, we see the birth of the Four Harmonious Sovereign Digimon which includes Ebonwumon, Azulongmon, Zhuqiaomon and Biahumon. This is the part that truly ties in the original story and journey of the Digital World and it might come off as confusing if you haven’t seen the prequels. Not to mention that there’s no actual dialogue to explain anything that’s going on so I highly recommend people refresh their memories of the past if you’re lost at this point. From Daigo’s POV, the audience finally gets some answers as to what Maki has been up to all this time and it’s her determination to see Tapirmon again that motivates her do everything she’s been doing. Maki has always been somewhat sketchy since the school festival episodes and I’m satisfied that we finally know what she’s been up to. That doesn’t make it any better, for the viewers or herself because as soon as she sees Tapirmon again, he doesn’t even remember her. That doesn’t surprise me because none of the other Digimon recognized their partners but it’s that look in her eyes that really got to me. D*mn, she be scary! Daigo is also lost in limbo now and Hackmon – finally gets a name! He works for Homeostasis and his name is Hackmon. That’s all we really know at this point.

And if that wasn’t all enough to take in – we get MORE sh*t happening to the Digidestined while we’re back in the Digital World. I thoroughly enjoyed this part because we finally see the Digimon fighting but also the return of the Dark Masters! And we finally see who is behind all the chaos going on – it’s not Ichijouji Ken (which a lot of people guessed) – it’s in fact Gennai (Hirata Hiroaki). Crazy! Gennai is supposed to be the person who guides the Digidestined down the proper path and now he’s trying to destroy it all in the name of Yggdrasil (which by the way, is supposed to be a God-tree in Norse cosmology – not a villain). While I liked seeing Toei bring back the Dark Masters with the reset, it’s a shame that they’re just following the orders of Gennai without any freewill of their own. One of my favorite arcs in the original series was seeing the Digidestined defeat the Dark Masters one by one through the efforts of friendship and love and I thought they’d repeat the same thing here. However with all the Digimon capable of mega-digivolving now, the Dark Masters aren’t very challenging and they die off fairly easily. On the other hand, along with the reset, we get a good flashback of all the old places the Digidestined visited and not only does it make me feel old but the feels are so real!

The last piece that I want to mention is the mysterious Meicoomon and Meiko. After seeing so many episodes of their struggles as Digimon and human partners, I just can’t empathize with them anymore. I know Meiko is trying and she tries very hard to reach out to Meicoomon but she also hides a lot from her newfound friends which makes it even MORE difficult for people to help her. Meicoomon is more than just a handful of problems on her own. Possibly because she’s unable to control the virus she emits but also because she doesn’t really do anything other than cry and run away a lot. I don’t want people to think I’m evil for not being more sympathetic towards them but I fail to see why Meicoomon is so critical to the story and to me, she’s just not as lovable as the rest. We’re all wondering what makes Meicoomon so special and this question that will be answered next time though with its focus on Meiko and Hikari! Finally! We’ll see Gatomon’s mega form, Ophanimon as well. And of course, as an FYI – the next movie will be released sometime in 2017 with unknown dates at this time.

Bottom Line – @RCCherrie: This is probably my favorite release of #DigimonAdventureTri to date. I loved revisiting the Digital World and all the returning characters. The bromance between Yamamoto and Taichi is too good. Plus the awkward shipping triangle. But one of the cutest moments so far… when Gabumon blushes…

 

ED2 Sequence

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