Honest Thoughts- Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (2022).

Digimon, Digital Monsters; a multimedia franchise to reshape the entertainment landscape. I try to picture packets of information as they move through the world. What do they look like- robots? Dinosaurs? Were the bandwidths like castles? I kept dreaming of a revival I thought I'd never see. Then, one day, something happened: I got in.

Hey everyone- now that this year's Digifest has come and gone, I thought I would address one of the more notable reveals from the convention- a new movie slated for later this year (though some reports have suggested it could release in early 2023); known as Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning.

Title card for the film.

Taking place two years after the events of 2020's Last Evolution Kizuna, the film follows the cast of the second season as a mysterious new individual named Owada Rui (voice of Ogata Megumi), who claims to be the first ever Digidestined and a Digimon known as Ukkomon (voice of Kugimiya Rie) cross paths with them.

Though bigger plot details remain scarce at the time; the film will have the same writer and director as the previous film... Which is one of the many reasons I have mixed feelings toward the prospect. Also don't know about any "sauce" in this cast, think the source material had the infamous "pink sauce" that's all over TikTok. 

I also want to make clear that while I don't exactly hate the 02 season; I also have my issues with its story. Even the now-infamous epilogue was merely the end result of every controversial decision made beforehand. A symptom of the season's problems, but not the cause; relationships be damned. Keeping it canon despite many events of the last movie retconning and contradicting it is already a concern I have. 

On that note, this movie is following the previous installment's premise of being a finale for this cast; despite the subtitle. That decision always baffled me since the last movie and this one would honestly work better as standalone installments; or even legacy sequels.

I will say this- based on the first minutes of footage shown off at this year's Digifest; the animation remains the strongest aspect of this movie. The same crew has worked their magic once again; and even though I am a skeptic about the story at this point (honestly more interested in Dragon Ball Super Hero and One Piece Film RED), I will give credit where it's due for at least looking impressive. I just hope this movie can avoid the pitfalls the last one made with its characters.

Whenever the movie officially releases; I will likely address it further after I've gotten the chance to watch it myself. For now, this week had a long-awaited Pokémon Presents with more details on Generation IX; and I'm eager to get into it more soon. That will be all for now, take care everyone.