It appears this film is the first in a series of film which will conclude in 2018. If I knew that I wouldn't have watched it. The following review will be for both the first and second films. From what I read, the third is supposed to be awesome but I haven't been able to get my hands on it. The first film in the series is extremely lacking because it simply acts an introduction or reintroduction. Plus there is hardly has any action in it.
... View MoreI was really looking forward to this. I don't know how much would newcomers enjoy this. The plot is pretty simple but we don't get a proper introduction to the characters, which is odd because we haven't seen these characters in years. Last time we saw Taichi was on Xros Wars, that's true, but he didn't do much, he was just there for fanservice. Even if is easy to tell who is who even if you haven't watch the series, you better do it because you'll miss everything. At least you got to know an idea of who are the characters and some of the lore because if you don't you'll be completely lost.The cast has become older but they're the same characters we've met in the first season. Age is the only thing that's changed, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I'd like seeing an older version of our beloved characters. Everyone's in their highschool years and we've seen a lot of that in so many shows. One of the characters thinks other is hot now that she's a teenager, others clash because of testosterone (this isn't new though, we've seen this before in Digimon in very single season and is too damn old), etc. This movie has a different tone, it's not Adventure but much more similar to the other Digimon movies. Not so childish, characters face more grown-up problems (or at least Taichi does), even if they're not explored as much as I'd like to.If you're an old fan of the series you'll like it, for sure. The thing is, besides some nostalgic movies, not much happens in this movie. We're introduced to an older version of the characters we already know, they face a new foe we know nothing about to, they win and that's it. The animation is good, not the best thing we've seen in an anime but better than any of the Digimon seasons. The animation is much fluid and we notice this especially during fights, we don't get static shots or reused ones (I've noticed this a lot during Digimon Frontier when I rewatched it not long ago and it was really annoying). Also some characters have suffered some re-designs, nothing major but it helps building the new tone. The digivolve scenes have been renewed too, in a good way.The pacing is pretty difficult to rate because of the way this OVA was released. If we rate it as episodes, probably might get a good rating, as the pace is totally different than any of the Digimon series. Is slower but refreshing in a way, as the episodes don't have the same structure as it used to happen in all the Digimon episodes. I'll watch the next two movies and give and overall opinion, but this felt too much like an introduction and not much more, there's not an actual plot and we don't get any of the answers we wanted to get. Who's Alphamon and why is he attacking the real world? What's up with the infected Digimons, who's doing that and why? Also we don't have any real threat or menace during the whole movie. Kuwagamon might be interesting for us in a nostalgic way, but even if there's more of them and they have new abilities, we already know the good guys are going to win. Alphamon, in the other hand, is the typical invincible Digimon that requires extreme measures... that means Omnimon, because of course, an indestructible Digimon can be defeated just by another indestructible Digimon. Overall, I enjoyed this movie/episodes much more than anything on Savers or Xros Wars. Was it a great movie? No, but I'm looking forward for the other two and that's exactly what this movie tries to do. There's not enough character development and the plot is weak but the opening theme may be enough to make up for it. If you're an old Digimon fan, at least for the first season, you have to watch this, you won't regret it.
... View MoreI was a fan of Digimon as a kid, but unlike Dragon Ball Z and Escaflowne, I'm not a fan as an adult. Digimon just doesn't hit that sweet spot anymore I guess. I was expecting stellar animation like that which was in the previously theatrically released Digimon: The Movie, and safe to say I was disappointed. In this new film the animation was choppy, the facial and eye artwork was sloppy, the sound design was jarring, and overall the pacing was way too slow. A 96 minute long movie never felt so long.And yes, I know Digimon: The Movie was three short films edited together to make a full length movie. And yes, I know that most fans don't like the English version of this movie because of the bad editing. But it still has stellar animation, no matter what Fox Kids did to it. I saw this movie in the English special theatre release. I liked the voice acting, though Vic Mignogna as Matt was jarring because Matt is blonde haired and blue eyed, which just made me think of Edward Elric from Full Metal Alchemist the whole time. I get that this isn't technically a movie, it's the first four episodes of a new series. In any case, it's still slow and choppy. I get too that it only had a small budget, which was obvious in the amount of still shots in the movie, but even so, the artists could try a little harder on the faces.
... View More*contains spoilers* So the new movie is out and its as amazing as the adventure 01 & 02 series. Here's my views of the movie. 1. Characters: Its amazing to see all the old digidestined back in action again. If you are a person who grew up watching digimon then definitely it'll take you back. I'm one such person. So it made me feel as though I met a few old friends after a long gap. So the whole nostalgic feeling makes you go wow! All the eight are grown up and are leading a typical teenage life. I love the canons. Mimi and Koushiro, Sora and Yamato, Takeru and Hikari all is going on. It's correct in my opinion because as people grow it's quite common that they start falling in love or start experiencing the need to impress another person or feeling jealous. Yes I'm hinting at Koushiro trying out apps to see which style of clothes suit him better, Hikari stopping her cycle after hearing Takeru is going out with a girl. All this is in it. Although I missed Joe, I think its alright for the moment because there are so many things going on in his life. For me Mimi and Sora are definitely the most promising. Mimi kind of gels the whole group together and Sora still has that big sister's feel. I'm a bit disappointed with Taichi being so pessimistic. But its just the first movie. Of course digimon are a main part of the movie so, I cant miss them out. The fact that the original voice artists at back is icing on the cake. It really feels wow when you hear agumon shinka, gabumon shinka and in th background we have brave heart playing(which is also cool as well). So all in all the characters are great. Its the main part of the movie. There is a good level of character development. For me the main thing considering characters is that there must be a reasonable level of similarity with the original child characters. What I mean to say is that if I see Mimi today I must get the feel that 'ya this is the same Mimi'. The movie delivers this. So for me, I give a perfect 10 for the characters.Plot - Digidestined+ Kuwagamon + champion forms + battle + alphamon + meicoomon = amazing plot. What is more convincing is that you don't get bored. The episodes keep you thinking what's going to happen next. Yeah the end was a bit rushed. They must have shown the evolution sequence for agumon and Gabumon's ultimate forms. The story is nice. There's government there. Dunno if they are good or bad. Also you have a new character. Meiko. She's a bit strange. Another thing I like of the plot is that no 02 kids are being mentioned. So it makes me wondering what is up with them. So yeah the plot for me is a 9. Animation and Music - When you are talking about a digimon movie, you cannot ignore the evolution sequence and the music. This is considered as a separate factor because any body who follows digimon knows what the animation and the songs mean to them. First up the songs. I have heard the full versions of all the three main songs - Butterfly, Brave heart and I wish. I must say they are all as good as they were in the first season. 'I wish' by Ai Maeda is my favourite this time out of the three. 😊. The animation is cool. I loved the new evolution sequence. Just to hear brave heart play and hear that 'agumon shinka' or 'piyomon shinka'... Gives me Goosebumps. Unfortunately not all of them evolved. Missed Ikakkumon. But for me Birdramon and Kabuterimon looked different and way better than 01. One thing I didn't like is that none of the digimons screamed their attacks. Greymon didn't say Mega flame nor Garurumon said fox fire. But I loved how Togemon said chik chiku bang bang. Anyhow, music and animation are cool. So a 10. So basically that's it for me. As I said, its a perfect start to the 6 part movie. The next movie Ketsui is expected to be out on March 12. And to see Rosemon and Vikemon on its poster is so exiting. Its kinda cool if Mimi and Joe would team up again like they did in adventure, when they decided to travel the spiral mountain together. It's nostalgic again and to see them get their ultimates first, really cool! So lets hope that the new movie brings us more excitement and happiness like this movie brought. Let the adventure evolve! 😊
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