Tentacle-Free Anime: "Digimon Adventure Tri.: Reunion"
For a lot of people, myself included, Christmas came early this year. At the end of November, many Digimon fans were treated to the first in a series of new adventures featuring the original DigiDestined that most of us grew up with. It was a bold move on Toei Animation's part, since their other attempts at revisiting old classics didn't go over so well. So how did this one fair? Well, let's talk Digimon Adventure Tri... man, I am so excited for this one!
Ah, Digimon, the past time of youths gone by. I've already covered the infamous 3rd season that was Digimon Tamers but where as that took place in a wholly different universe this new movie returns to another time and place, a more simple one, the universe that the original two seasons took place in. The world that made many of us lifelong Digimon fans, the world where by the time it was all over we hadn't just went on an adventure with some of our favorite characters, but they were characters we considered family all the same as our own.
I watched the first movie on Crunchyroll, so the film was actually broken into 4 twenty minute episodes complete with their own opening and ending segments. This wasn't a bad way to watch it, however most of the episodes sort of abruptly ended in odd spots, making for some interesting episode transitions. On the flip side, though, it was really nice to revisit the original opening theme song Butterfly, which played before each episode. Ah, the nostalgia. Now let's get into the nitty-gritty. Tri. not only feels more mature than the previous series, but it also takes a much more reserved approach to its story as well. Choosing to tell its story slowly rather than jump straight into things likes the original Digimon series did. Our heroes are all in high school, they're divided, and although it's never clearly stated, I believe their high school days are coming to an end. The main focus is on Tai, and yes I'll be using their English names, as he struggles to deal with the fact that not only have his friends grown apart from him, but at some point the portal to the Digital World closed and so he's unable to see his Digital friends as well. 
Digimon battles take a real toll on the populace
This is relatable to me on a personal level, so I understand his frustration. What I did find irritating though, was his insistence on trying to get his friends to come see him at his soccer game when Matt, the other lead DigiDestined, had a concert with his band the same night. Making them all choose between two. This eventually led to a boiling point for the two guys before they would finally team-up to fight off this movie's big boss. Overall, their animosity towards one another didn't seem wholly believable, and, while it's been a long time since I've seen season 2, I'm more than certain we had already visited this extreme rivalry. Making this subplot more of redundant than anything. The first Tri. film took it really slow in its initial set-up. We get inklings of Digimon in the first movie, but we don't get to see any, let alone any of the main Digimon partners, until the second episode. There's also only two big fights in the whole thing, making this story feel more like a slice-of-life film with a bit of action. I do know some people found the pacing to be terrible and filled with too little action, which I can understand because basically every single episode of the original Digimon was made in a monster of the week format. Honestly, I was fine with this reserved approach. It gave more power to each Digimon's appearance as well more force to both fights in the first film. I loved seeing the fight between Greymon and Kuwagamon. It was a great callback to the first fight of the original series. What I did think was very odd was not only seeing all the DigiDestined scattered, but by the end of the film they're still not completely together. Generally, with these reunion films, characters that are scattered are at least brought together by the end and stay together. However, while for a brief period Joe and Gomamon are along for the ride with their friends, they continue to be loners by the end. Keeping the complete set of DigiDestined from being complete. 
The return of Greymon!
I'm not really sure how I feel about this, because I'm just not used to it. I want to see all of the DigiDestined working together in the end, and again I'm pretty sure “Joe the loner” was a subplot we visited back in season 2, making this subplot once again seem redundant. However, something I did enjoy was the new digivolutions each Digimon gets to show off. Much like the rest of the story, these new evolutions are slow and reserved – opposite of what they were in the original seasons. But these new evolutions look sooo nice and the CGI throughout this entire film is so crisp and clean. I honestly had trouble telling when they were using it, which says a lot about the amount of care they put into the animation of this revamp. Once again, on the flipside to the lush, new evolutions, during the final fight of the film when Tai and Matt are fighting off Alphamon there is a scene where Greymon and Garurumon go from champion to mega in rapid succession without ever allowing us to see the evolution take place. Don't get me wrong, it was great seeing MetalGreymon, WereGarurumon, WarGreymon, and MetalGarurumon all on screen again, but it felt really out of place after we dedicated so much screen time to each of the rookie Digimon getting to show off their new evolutions and then afterwards they kind of just... do it. I really wasn't a fan of how rapid digivolution was treated in this film. Even if it did give us the always awesome Omnimon in the end. Tri. introduces a new story element to the Digiverse - taking cues from Digimon Tamers - as we get to meet a mysterious new organization that has been keeping close tabs on the Digital World. Unlike Digimon Tamers, this mysterious organization seems to have its eyes set firmly on working with the DigiDestined and realizes these kids are the world's only hope. I'm very interested to see where this story goes, as while it is an element we have obviously visited before, Toei seems to be going in an all-new direction with it, making it seem fresh. We'll see how it goes. 
Tai and Agumon take in the sunset
Another new story element introduced in this new series is the existence of another DigiDestined. Which, for those who remember season 2 technically ended – and here there lie spoilers!! - with every child in the world receiving a Digimon. Since the Digital World closed off however no child has been with a Digimon, which makes this new girl intriguing because she seems to have had her Digimon for awhile even during the time of the portal being closed. Her and her Digimon only get a little bit of screentime though so we should learn a lot more about them in the next film. Digimon Adventure Tri. is a winner in my book at the end of the day. Do I think this film is perfect in any way? No, and though my heart was a-flutter with the overworked feelings of nostalgia the entire time I was watching it, looking back now I do see its flaws. I do see its re-use of story plots and I do see how its borrowing a lot from other seasons. But there's a lot more that Tri. does right than it does wrong. Sleek new animation, a reserved story so that it can give you more of a punch later on, that genuine feeling of happiness seeing your family return once again to your screen. When you take a look at Toei Animation's attempts at reviving other popular properties in their arsenal: Dragon Ball Z, which was a stunning success with their latest movies, but an astonishing flop with Dragon Ball Super; or Sailor Moon Crystal which was a glorified remaster of the original series with new animation yet caught up in a wonky release schedule. The fact that so much care was taken into the new Digimon revival goes to show just how much the creators of this particular story really cared about the property and its characters. As well as the fans. Christmas was brought to us early this year, and Christmas is about spending time with family. So with the actual holiday coming up in just a few days, why not sit down, turn on the TV or whatever device you use to watch anime, and spend the day with your secondary family: the DigiDestined as they try to save the Earth and the Digital World from turmoil once more. Final Score: 4.5 Teenage DigiDestined out of 5 Have you seen "Monster Musume"? What did you think? Let us know below! 
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