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This post is by guest writer Sam Gubitz.

No Doubt

In a follow up to Toei Animation’s first Digimon Adventure tri. film, which was only released late last year, many were delighted to find that the second film would be released so quickly after the first one; after all, we anime fans are used to months-long wait times on films making their way outside of Japan. However, I was mostly concerned. If the turnaround time from the first to second film was so quick, then what did that say about the quality? Was this film another amalgamation of four episodes from back when this film series was supposed to be a proper anime series? Or was Toei content to crank these things out as fast as possible in order to capitalize on everyone’s good will and nostalgia?

In my review of Digimon Adventure tri. Saikai, I declared with confidence that this was a return to form for the much maligned Digimon franchise. I still stand by that review, but when news came of the second film, I began to question whether or not I had critiqued the first one based on objective standards or if my nostalgia had hijacked my review. Then, as I loaded up the first “episode” of this film, I began to wonder if that nostalgia would be faded and I’d be left with another disappointment from the Digimon franchise.

This series is the epitome of everything that Digimon has done right.

But when I finished this film and its four episodes, I realized that I had been an idiot to doubt myself — and Toei Animation — to such a degree. After writing this review, I’m even more confident than I was before in saying that this series, in film or as an anime, is the epitome of everything that Digimon has done right in its lifetime. Digimon Adventure tri. Ketsui absolutely nails every category and every standard I can hold it to, and once again made me excited for Digimon in ways I didn’t even think was possible anymore.

Episode 1 Review

The first act of this “film,” or the first episode of this story chunk, is a little underwhelming, especially given the high point that the last film’s climax left us with. But again, this is more a problem with the format that Toei decided to present this story in than a problem with the story itself. This act left me thinking once again that this “film” is actually four separate episodes jammed together for the sake of making a feature-length production. While it’s unfortunate that the first act suffers as a result of this production consideration, that doesn’t make our protagonists’ various antics any less fun to watch.

The episode largely focuses its attention on our heroes as they visit a stereotypical Japanese bathhouse. Thankfully, unlike other shows that have taken on this particular story trope — Fairy Tail comes to mind — this trip is largely fanservice-free, and it’s much stronger for that fact. That’s not to say that fanservice is wholly bad, but it’s not what Digimon is known for so it would have been rather jarring for them to feature it now of all times. Despite the series now targeting an older, more mature audience, it’s important to emphasize that “more mature” does not equate to sexualized characters, and it seems that the show runners are aware of that.

In any event, the various hijinks of our protagonists are very well written and humorous. My favorite had to be the extremely awkward rescue operation that takes the young women, led by the ever-fearless Mimi, into the men’s side of the bathhouse in search of their missing Digimon. Given how Mimi didn’t have a whole lot of screen time during the last film, seeing her act as brash as ever was a welcome sight.

And while I may have been inclined to knock a few points off here for this plotline being nearly pointless to the story as a whole, there are some hints here and there that all is not right with our characters. This includes everything from a reemphasis on Yamato’s and Taichi’s damaged friendship, hints at Meicoomon’s mysterious past, and additional attention to the fact that Joe is still missing in action here. On the whole though, this bathhouse scene falls into the category of “ no harm, no foul” for me, as it’s a fun romp the entire way through.

This rather lighthearted affair, however, is juxtaposed against an extended chase between Leomon and an infected Ogremon that takes the rivals from the digital world to the real world, and back again. This sequence features some of the darkest imagery I can remember Digimon having in a very long time, as we’re shown the gruesome remains of smashed digi-eggs, with the implication being that doing such a thing interrupts the cycle of reincarnation that this original Digimon series usually enjoys. But it’s during this scene that we’re given a peek at, presumably, our new human antagonist, who very much resembles Ken Ichijouji, or the Digimon Emperor, from Digimon Adventure 02. Whether or not it’s him acting of his own free will is up to debate, as there’s no definitive answer to be found in this film, but it is interesting to see Toei dig up that old storyline yet again.

Overall, though, I’d say that this act reminded me more of Season 3, or Digimon Tamers, than anything else. For instance, the secret government agency that we’re further introduced to in this episode might as well be lifted straight from the plot of Tamers, along with the primary conflict being centered around rogue Digimon breaking into the real world. While recycled storylines aren’t necessarily a good thing, if this series had to choose to recycle one of their prior series, I would hope that it would be Tamers. Tamers was naturally the darkest of the seasons before now, and its storylines do lend themselves nicely to creating an environment of maturity and darkness.

It’s easy to see that great care went into every animation frame.

Before moving on to the next act of the story, I need to take a moment to compliment how downright beautiful the animation is in this first episode. Everything from character models, to the steam effects, and especially the lighting effects, deserves recognition here. I mean, the lighting effects alone are superbly handled and provide every outside shot just the right amount of sunlight to really make things shine. It’s easy to see that great care went into every frame here.

Episode 2 Review

The second act is perhaps the strongest emotional story of any Digimon series I’ve seen. It centers around Mimi and Joe, who for very different reasons, face their own existential crisis in regards to who they are and who they’d like to be. For a moment, while watching this episode, I had nearly forgotten I was watching a Digimon story because I was so wrapped up in the human drama. As I stated before in my first review, Digimon is at its strongest when its action is balanced by the very personal stories that run concurrently with whatever world-ending crisis the protagonists happen to be facing. And, in that case, Digimon has perhaps never been stronger than in this episode.

As infected Ogremon invades the real world yet again, Mimi takes a brash approach to handling the foe, as she hopes to attract media attention to the fact that there are good Digimon. As a result of the destruction that we saw during the last film, public opinion seems decidedly against the Digimon on all accounts; when Togemon accidentally shoots down a news helicopter, things only get worse.

This series has done an excellent job of including deconstruction into the world of Digimon.

To this end, this series has done an excellent job of including what’s typically called “deconstruction” into the world of Digimon. Deconstruction, for those unfamiliar, is when a series takes a high level, otherworldly concept like Digital Monsters and brings it down to our very real world and its very real considerations, as if to ask, “but what if this really happened?” It’s a fascinating concept to explore and I’m glad the series decided to take it on, as even Tamers didn’t necessarily consider all of the ramifications of giant monsters duking it out in major metropolitan areas, and it provides out protagonists with an enemy they can’t just beat up and be done with.

Similarly, as Mimi is criticized by her friends for her actions, she comes to realize that it’s because of her own self-confidence, which is usually her greatest strength, that she constantly forgets to consider the feelings of others around her. In a conversation with Joe, however, he won’t let himself be outdone as the saddest character of this series and openly admits why he’s been so cowardly. Quite frankly, he’s done having to be a “Digi-Destined” and he wants to live his own life, which is an absolutely fair attitude to have in response to the absolute madness that’s been his childhood up until now.

Again, with deconstruction at work here, we’re reminded of how messed up these kids’ childhoods were, insofar that they didn’t have one. As a passive audience, it’s nice to think to ourselves, “be a man, Joe!” But, if this were real life, could you blame Joe for wanting to get on with his own life and be his own person? The fact that this episode features about a minute of action to its 20 minutes of character drama, and yet I still think of it as the strongest single episode this series has yet to offer, should be a testament to the superior writing that this series has employed; this is Digimon as it always should have been.

Episode 3 Review

The third act definitely feels the most incomplete of the four in this film, mainly because it serves to set up a great deal of conflicts that are resolved in the climax. Even so, this act does succeed in delivering some of the funniest moments of this series, as our Digimon invade the school festival being put on at our protagonists’ school. And while the pieces definitely feel like they aren’t all in place quite yet, this act does further along everyone’s plots neatly.

For instance, Yamato’s and Taichi’s ever-growing conflict is pushed to the forefront when Yamato confronts Taichi about his doubts during the earlier battle with Alphamon. This conflict is perhaps the most deep-seated of the series, so it makes sense that it festers like it does — with seemingly no resolution in sight; this will end badly before it gets better.

Meanwhile, Mimi and Joe confront their demons in their own ways, with Mimi opting to dress up like an American-style, sultry waitress with the newcomer Digi-Destined, Mei, in order to participate in the school festival. This, naturally, attracts the attention of Koshiro in a hilarious way, as his crush on Mimi reaches its boiling point.

But perhaps the most hilarious aspect of this act is Leomon’s crush on Meicoomon, which is delivered in perhaps the most outrageous manner. And when Leomon is persuaded by his newfound love interest into helping the Digimon sneak into the school, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at their solution to the obvious problem of being walking, talking monsters trying to sneak into a human school. This series really does such an excellent job at delivering everything a Digimon story should, and that’s only reemphasized in the final act.

Episode 4 Review

By the end of this final act, it’s finally clear where the plot is going, in terms of the overarching conflict that should serve as the centerpiece for all future films to come. In fear of spoiling anything important, I’ll tease around the particulars that could be viewed as important spoilers and stick to the storylines that have been the focus of this review, mainly that of Mimi and Joe’s internal conflicts.

When Ken makes an appearance at the school and kidnaps Meicoomon for an unknown reason, Palmon and Gomamon are forced to chase down the kidnapper and battle an infected Imperialdramon. This Digimon making an appearance is an interesting plot point, leaving us to question just what happened to the other second-generation Digi-Destined like Ken.

Furthermore, the fact that Takeru and everyone else explicitly acknowledged the fact that it was Ken who had done the kidnapping is perplexing. The show runners seem fine to tease and tease revelations but it doesn’t make much sense in the world of the show; wouldn’t someone by now have asked “oh, yeah, whatever happened to those other guys?”

In any event, Joe is forced to confront the fact that he doesn’t have a reason for why he was picked to be a Digi-Destined and why it has to be him who has to fight. Ultimately, I don’t know if his answer is a satisfying one, but I’m sure it’ll be the topic of further internal debate in future films.

The battle with Imperialdramon is incredible to behold.

What I do know, however, is that watching Gomamon and Palmon assume their ultimate evolutions is extremely satisfying to watch and their battle with Imperialdramon is incredible to behold; in fact, it may even be better than Omegamon and Alphamon’s battle from the prior film. The animation is pretty solid all the way through, using a mixture of CG and classic animation techniques in order to portray a massive brawl between the three.

What follows can definitely be defined as a cliffhanger, though, and one that was wholly surprising to me — and I was watching for such a thing from the start! Without going into specifics, it’s pretty merciless, and that’s all I’ll say. Well, that and I’m extremely fascinated to see where the plot is going with a certain character that, up until now, I hadn’t even seen fit to include as a topic in these reviews; let’s just say that not everything is as it seems.

Following up the solid return to form that was the first film was a massive undertaking indeed, but this film met that challenge head on and even surpassed the first film in nearly every regard. While it may miss a step or two at times, such as during the largely superfluous bathhouse scene, or in the disingenuous way it treats certain, rather obvious, concerns like Ken and the other second-generation kids, this film nails it in every category.

You see, my greatest concern coming into this second film was that my judgment of the first had been based solely on fond nostalgia, and that it wouldn’t continue into this film and the others after it. I’m proud to say that I was dead wrong; the quality of Digimon Adventure tri. Ketsui far exceeds my impressive nostalgia for this series. When you take into account the animation, the human-level storytelling, the comedy, and everything in between, this film is, by any standard, incredible. I’m confident in saying that, when this series returns in the fall, I’ll be more than ready for another bout. If Toei wants to keep one-upping themselves at every step, I’m on board.











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