Reviews

Mar 12, 2016
One year ago, the Digimon fan base believed that Digimon Adventure tri would become a TV anime rather than six-part film series. It seems to have managed to accept this fact now and a lot of fans are looking forward to whenever a new part of tri is airing. While the first film, Saikai, served as a re-introduction and focused on Taichi and his relationship with Yamato, this one was advertised as being about Mimi and Jou.

However, at the beginning of the film, we first see how the new character from Saikai, Meiko, is integrated into the Chosen Children's group. We do not hear much about her past but we find out what kind of character she is: a great addition to the Chosen Children. She is not a character you have never seen before but she certainly is a charming fresh breath of air. Meiko is introduced during some truly entertaining slice of life scenes. However, these scenes not only serve as her introduction, but also as a great method of hinting at romantic feelings between several characters. Moreover, due to the nature of slice of life scenes, there are quite some funny bits you do not want to miss. There are also some cleverly disguised references to events that took place in the past and it is a nice feeling when you are able to understand them. Ultimately, this light-hearted start is a great beginning to the film, especially since the previous one ended quite dramatically.

After that, the film does start to focus on Mimi and Jou. In the TV anime, the children were sometimes separated into pairs so that two characters who have not interacted with one another could do so. Mimi and Jou have been in a pair before, so it is understandable why the creators have chosen to use this combination. Both of them experience great character development throughout the film and despite their huge differences in character traits, the issues they have to face are quite similar. Fortunately, they do so in an amazingly realistic and adult manner without being cheesy. Their issues are quite relatable – even though probably none of us has ever had to deal with being a Chosen Child and having a Digimon partner, there certainly are a lot of people who cannot accept their life for what it is. The moral that it is important to accept one's own life is conveyed properly in this film and Mimi and Jou were the perfect individuals for this kind of story.

Luckily, the two of them are not the only characters who experience development. Of course, there is Meiko who – as stated above – is integrated into the Chosen Children and consequently loses some of her shyness. But also Gomamon has some issues he has to face: Due to Jou not wanting to fight, he has to question their relationship. It is often criticised that in Digimon Adventure, the Digimon do not mature and simply serve as triggers which help the children's development. This may even be the case, but in this film, it is different. Gomamon's character does develop through Jou's changes and due to the doubts his partner has, Gomamon manages to become more independent.

Next to the children, there are also the members of the organization who deals with the Infected Digimon. Both Himekawa and Nishijima have enough screen time to establish their characters and to hint at their past. They reflect the problems the children have to face regarding growing up with their own personality, which shows that becoming older is not easy for anyone. It is also shown how the organization deals with Infected Digimon, which once again shows how much more mature this show is than its TV anime prequel. Weapons and tanks have not been used before in any of Digimon Adventure's versions and thanks to this being different in this film, we not only see a more realistic approach but also how powerful and terrifying Digimon can be. Additionally, the viewer learns more about Infected Digimon and how they turn evil but, of course, not all questions are answered.

However, this is not the only aspect of tri's world that is explained more thoroughly. Thanks to some excellent world building, we are able to understand what the new threat is and what methods can be used to overcome them. Moreover, the fear the general public has is justified by some events that happen in the film. However, this leads to a problem the first film already had. Normally, the public should be aware of Digimon due to the events in the TV anime. Nevertheless, they do not seem to remember what had happened back then, which is quite unbelievable. Sadly, this is not the only continuation error and it is improbable that they will be fixed.

In comparison to the first film, the animation has slightly improved. It still is nothing outstanding, especially considering the fact that this is supposed to be a film, but an improvement nonetheless. However, the actions scenes are an exception. The battle scenes are choreographed in a superior way than in the TV anime but the animation lacks a certain impact. Fortunately, the evolution sequences' animation has improved slightly but the TV anime's way of handling it nonetheless was much nicer to look at.

Not too much can be said about the soundtrack as it is great as ever. However, there is one change: The ending theme was changed to Wada Kouji's Seven, which had only been an insert song in Digimon Adventure before. There was no reason to do this, but it was a nice change and a new version of Seven exists now, which definitely is not a bad thing.

In the end, Ketsui is an improvement over Saikai. While the first film was good as well, the story could have progressed in a much worse direction. I am more than happy that the film managed to exceed my expectations and I am honestly looking forward to the third film, which is supposed to focus on Takeru and Patamon. The cliffhanger at the end only causes my desire to become stronger and thanks to this film, I am confident in Toei Animation's ability to deliver great content.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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