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--- SHORT VERSION ---

Pros:

+ character designs
+ nice visuals

Cons:

- pacing of the story is trash
... - character development no longer required for evolution
- the story itself is a "reimagining" and not a very good one (Omegamon appears before the Dark Masters do, that is *IF* the Dark Masters even exist in this reboot)
- the songs used during key moments consist of generic & uninspired J-rock shouting that funnily enough sound like something Etemon would sing

--- LONG VERSION ---

Let me first say that I'm a huge (classic) Digimon fan. I love the first four seasons and I look forward to rewatching them whenever I have time. This is a franchise I LITERALLY grew up with, so you'd think this would be a 10/10 review, right? Well... no. Far from it. This all new Digimon Adventure 2020 takes everything that made the original such a highly valued classic among the Digimon fandom and spits on it before throwing it all out of the window in an attempt to reboot/revitalize/reinvent the series for the next generation of (what I assume Toei intended to be) new Digimon fans. I'll never understand why the companies/people in charge of certain brands think that this is necessary. If anything, reboots almost invariably result in something inferior and mediocre, and this never-ending cancer inducing trend can sadly be observed across all sorts of different media from TV series, movies, to video games. I'm literally trying to challenge myself here as I'm writing this and think of one reboot that has actually managed to surpass the original work and guess what.... I can't think of any! The only medium people haven't started rebooting yet are books. Can you imagine a 'reboot' (for modern generations) of 'The Great Gatsby' or 'The Catcher in the Rye'? I know I can't possibly compare Digimon to classic works of literature with a straight face, but that's exactly why the sole idea of a reboot triggers an unpleasant taste in my mouth because my philosophy is: if the original work is great, future generations will connect with it sooner or later. Reboots are only necessary if the original is shitty to begin with, which Digimon Adventure NINETEEN-NINETY-NINE is not. This is like Sailor Moon all over again. Leave the classics alone and create new ORIGINAL material.

Next, a small history lesson for the uninitiated among us (feel free to skip this long ass paragraph if you're familiar with the last 20 years of Digimon's existence): The Digimon anime is no stranger to reboots... the fandom has experienced (and/or suffered through) several of them (in a way all the seasons after Adventure 02 are their own 'self-contained universes' so reboot may not be the right word to use, but hopefully you get the point). Only the first and second season are set in the same universe, while the third (Tamers) was a fresh new beginning that introduced not only brand new protagonists, but also a brand new concept & form of evolution and the Digital World (there is a certain character that has existed in both Adventure and Tamers timelines, Akiyama Ryo, but he's a huge exception). This first departure from the original storyline was received well & was most likely a blessing for the writers working on the Digimon anime as it provided them with the opportunity to experiment with fresh new ideas and plot. In spite of the favorable reception, 2002 saw the release of Digimon Frontier -- another "reboot" of sorts that, once again, like Tamers did before -- reinvented the concept and story behind the Digital World while completely abandoning the tamer X Digimon partner dynamic as the new protagonists actually evolved into Digimon themselves. This made the protagonists feel more involved and the battles a bit more personal. In spite of that, this new plot was received less favorably and it greatly polarized the fandom. You'll either find people who loved the idea of humans turning into Digimon, or those that hated it with passion. Those falling in the latter category also often tend to wish Toei had continued fleshing out and building upon the world introduced in Digimon Tamers as opposed to having a new Digital World again. After Frontier finished airing, it took three long years for the next season to arrive and when it finally did, Digimon underwent major overhaul for the THIRD time. However, while Digimon Savers (2006) distanced itself from its predecessors even further by (you guessed it) introducing brand new characters and Digital World, it also employed an entirely new art style quite different from the one used in the previous four seasons -- regardless, Digimon Savers also saw the return of many familiar elements: humans were partnered with Digimon once more and the way the story was paced was still quite Digimon-esque in nature. Savers is additionally often cited as being one of the most mature seasons (which, imo, is debatable -- although, yes, the fact that the three main protagonists are in their teens lends itself to a much darker tone than ever before, although that's not to say that the previous seasons lacked darker themes – e.g. Ken's character arc in Adventure 02 or Juri's and Impon's in Tamers). The reception to Savers was ultimately lukewarm, and little did Digimon fans know that Savers would be the last Digimon season for a while, as it took Toei record-breaking FOUR years to produce the next season -- Xros Wars (2010). Xros Wars and its many seasons were, in my honest opinion, a DISASTER (and I know this might sound controversial given how it tends to be praised for "making Digimon feel like Digimon again" and whatnot). Everything from the bland one dimensional protagonists with ZERO depth to them to the boring plot that drags on forever and never develops into anything noteworthy, a complete disregard for the power hierarchy among Digimon previously established in the card games & the TV series, mediocre OST, and sloppy looking art style and animation – to me, Digimon had hit ROCK BOTTOM.

The paragraph above was a setup for me stating the obvious: in an attempt to keep up with the times, and owing to multiple resets of the series instead of sticking to one continuity -- Toei have completely lost sight of what made Digimon so great and admired in the first place, and their recent attempts at resurrecting the television series seem to be one major disappointment after another. Just look at the abysmal travesty that was Adventure tri. masquerading itself as some sort of a sequel to the Adventure seasons while partially retconning certain events of 02, reducing the entire 02 cast to an afterthought, never touching upon Ryo or Millenniumon (as well as Millenniumon's relation to the dark seeds Demon was after and Dagomon's ocean) + the art style is so different and simplistic looking that it's almost like watching a different anime entirely. And the few good things about it -- namely, grown up versions of Taichi and the rest of the Adventure cast, as well as the intriguing subplot involving the original five chosen children and the aftermath of their battle with the Dark Masters-- were not enough to save it because the majority of screen time was wasted on a new character that nobody asked for and nobody wanted as opposed to developing the good stuff. Seriously, where have all the good writers gone....? Because they are no longer working on Digimon, that's for sure.

Believe it or not -- I was, never the less, quite excited at the thought of Digimon Adventure possibly having a new chance at extending its life span. Sadly, the more episodes that I have seen, the more I'm starting to think this series is just a soulless reimagining that preys on the nostalgic factor of the original audience. Digimon Adventure (2020) is, similarly to Adventure tri, a ginormous slap in the face to all Digimon fans who've been following the franchise since day one. The only thing I find to be an improvement over the trainwreck that was Adventure tri. is the art style and character designs which are faithful to the original this time around and look very nice. Besides that, it's all downhill from here. Part of the charm of the first four seasons of Digimon lies in the great score by Takanori Arisawa (also known for composing music for the original Sailor Moon). The music in Adventure (2020) is mostly unmemorable and not nearly as iconic as Arisawa's. The pacing of the story is all over the place and there's no real sense of progression and growth. I don't mind the fact that the storyline isn't exactly like the original, but if you're going to introduce new plot twists at least make sure they're actually BETTER than the original material. It used to be that the kids and their Digimon had to work hard to earn their evolutions and do some serious self-reflection, confront their fears, and resolve whatever struggles they had which provided a lot of great emotional moments (entire FEATURE FILMS were produced back in the day centering around some powerful evolution) and yet, few episodes in, and Taichi and Yamato are already warp evolving like it's nothing. Subsequently, evolution is no longer an "event" – a rare occurrence only the strongest can achieve – now it's just like downloading a new cool app. The Digital World has also been boredified. In the original series, the Digital World actually felt like this mysterious, campy, and fairy-tale-like place with some creepy horror-ish elements (e.g. the iconic telephone booths, the abandoned ruins or factories), you'd not only feel worried for the kids, but you'd react with the exact same sense of wonder and disbelief to the things in the Digital World as they do. One could also sense an underlying depth to it, it was this vast unexplored place alien to the main characters who only knew the little info they learned from the Digimon they encountered. All I kept asking myself while watching Adventure (2020) was where has all that great sense of mystery/wonder disappeared? This, once again, highlights how poor the writing is. This all new Digimon Adventure 2020 is rumored to have about 60 episodes. I'm really curious where they plan to go with this mess when they've already managed to pack mega evolutions and jogress into the first nine episodes. I guess we can """"look forward"""" to a time jump and have the reboot butcher the entire Zero Two season as well? Or they'll devote the second half of the season to one of the blandest and most atrocious characters to ever grace the Digimon anime -- Meiko and the overdesigned atrocity she has the audacity to call a Digimon, Meicoomon. Also, can't wait to find out all the things they'll retcon with this one for absolutely NO reason.

To sum it up, Digimon Adventure (2020) is a WASTED opportunity. Instead of recreating the already near-perfect original, this could've been a great addition to the original two seasons which could greatly benefit from a WELL-made third season that would extend the lore of the Adventure universe and (potentially) tie up some loose ends and plot holes (of which there is an abundance of for the writers to deal with). It could've also covered the material from the WonderSwan games and/or CD dramas. Instead, there's long been a secret agenda to RUIN the Digimon franchise through the systematic production of underwhelming sequels that all suffer from atrocious writing, awful designs, and a lack of good direction. Oh well, I get the impression Toei no longer cares and frankly neither do I after the crimes against humanity that were Xros Wars, Adventure tri. and now this abomination.