We are not too far away now from the release of part III of the Digimon Adventure Tri series. As difficult as it is to believe we will soon be halfway done with the series, we can at least rest assured that the latest installment will indeed be reaching english speaking audiences with a brand new dub.

Fans of the original might be wondering, if this nostalgia bomb is making it’s way to the US, will it feature voices that we recognize? Well, the majority of the principal cast (minus piyomon and Taichi) have been officially cast and there are some victories and some losses.

As a MEGA fan of the original, my hope was for ALL of the original cast to return for Tri. It’s not just seeing the monsters and the characters on screen but what completes the experience is to hear those voices and hear them interact.

1- Just about all of the original voices for the digimon partners are returning. That’s right, Agumon, Tentomon, Palmon, Patamon, Gabumon and Gomamon will be the exact same voices from the original series! As already mentioned, there is no official word yet on Piyomon, but we can say without a doubt that Gatomon will be a new talent.

How do I feel? Obviously I need to take my victories where I can find them. The fact that ANY original talent is coming back after 15 years is nuts. I will admit that it will be odd for me.

The voice of Gatomon was so unique! It’s those unique voices that I find hard to replace. Will this new actress try and mimic the way that digimon spoke? Will she try and create a tone and pitch that’s her own? Who knows. I’m hoping for the former. As for the other five partners that are returning, I’m obviously over the moon about it.

2- Only A few… The eight children have just about been completely cast with the exception of the leading man himself, Taichi. As for the other seven? Unfortunately only three of the originals are returning. I am taking these three as victories! Sora, Izzy, and Mimi will all be returning for Tri.

I had to sit with myself and ask, ok, if there were five characters that you NEEDED to return and three you could let go, who would they be? Truthfully, Sora, Izzy, and Mimi make the list of those to keep. It’s for the same reason as the digimon. There were voices that were so unique and just resonated profoundly when I heard them as a kid. The other two spots for me would have to go to Tai and Kari.

Now, we still don’t know if Tai is going to return or not! The voice actor stated on his site that if he were asked he would certainly return. That’s great news. I also think the fact that they’ve saved the release of the casting for him for last might meanssomething positive? But who knows. It could also be a completely new actor.

The voice of Tai was so central to the original, and the fact that the voice of Agumon is returning would just make it so much sweeter to hear the two of them together again.

Unfortunately, the role of Kari has indeed been recast. That one is a major bummer. The gentleness and kindness in Kari’s voice was such a strong part of the series for me. It was also a voice we got to hear for two seasons!

So, should the voice of Tai return, that would make at least half the human cast returning for this next wave of digi-adventures.

This does leave me guessing other stuff… One of the things that made the dub what it was (love it or hate it) was the music and the humor. Th english version created completely original theme song and music (which I LOVED) and it gave us some of the most bizarre yet hilarious dialogue.

Will the new dub just translate the script word for word or will it go back and do what made Digimon the quirky fun Saturday morning cartoon it was in the first place?

I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see…