I'm almost positive a lot of people only watched Digimon Adventure Tri due to it being a sequel to the highly popular and well received Digimon Adventure. Same old characters, same old Digimon ... no fan would want to miss that. Naturally, expectations were high.
To be fair, one could have had low expectations and still be disappointed. That's how bad the whole series is. It lacks structural integrity, thrill and character depth, it's inconsistently paced and even the animation quality is below average.
Now the premise of the story isn't that bad to begin with. Digimon are infected by a virus which causes them to violently attack other Digimon and even humans. So far, you can at least feel some sort of danger luring the dark, waiting to be discovered.
The second movie focuses on our characters and tries to give them a bit of backstory and personality, which could have been important for the course of the story. However, in the third movie, the story suddenly blows up. Buzzwords like "Homeostasis" and "Reboot" fly in. What was once a mission to stop the infection of Digimon is now a mission to stop the digital world from being rewritten, which would cause all Digimon to lose their memories. The digital world is still rebooted at the end of movie. In the fourth movie we learn that the big bad guy behind everything is Yggdrasil, a god-like being that wants to create a new world where Digimon and humans cannot interact anymore. Also Gennai has somehow been manipulated by Yggrasil to be evil. What we were told in third movie (that Digimon lose their memories after a reboot) also seems to have exceptions, as Meicoomon has mysteriously retained her memories. In the fifth movie the digital world suddenly begins to destroy the real world. In the last movie, the apocalypse has set in and our DigiDestined are trying their best to fight Ordinemon, an entity that could have originated from Neon Genesis Evangelion. They are losing badly, but of course, with the power of friendship, even the mightiest foe poses no threat. So the story ends with Meicomoon being finally put to rest and suddenly all problems are gone.
The characters aren't exactly "bad", but they are only average, one-dimensional and they all have seen more development in Digimon Adventure. Meiko is just poorly written. Her contribution to the overall plot is about 0. I'm not a hater because she wasn't part of the original 8 DigiDestined, but it's hard to accept her because she's a shallow character that is of nearly no relevance at all.
On the enemies' part, things look a bit different. They are almost all lacking motives, something that I feel is absolutely necessary for a good show. As a viewer, I should be able to comprehend the heroes as much as the enemies. Sadly, Digimon Adventure Tri rarely gives us insight. Like, why did Himekawa hide information from the DigiDestined? What was Yggdrasils ultimate plan? What sparked his decision? You don't come up with the idea to destroy the human world just because you're bored.
The soundtrack is mediocre, unremarkable and generic. Two of the better tracks are the Tri version of "Butterfly" and "Brave Heart", but even they are just remixes from Digimon Adventure. "Butterfly" has been used in like 3 different versions in the last episode alone. I like this track, but why not be a bit more ... creative?
The animation quality is also only mediocre at best. Especially in the last movie, so many still images are used, that you get the feeling that there's no animation at all. It makes the movie look poor with a low production value. I also expected a much better choreography of the Digimon's moves, because you know ... it's 2018 (or at least 2015).
There are some additional things that bugged me, for example:
a) The absence of logic in the final fight. There were some game changing moves pulled out of thin air, just to have a happy ending. How should I be able to feel the thrill of danger, if it's clear beforehand that our DigiDestined will overcome every obstacle?
b) Digimon only act a plot devices, rather than characters. Something I liked about Digimon Adventure back in the days was it's emphasis on both the human world, digital world and the human characters and Digimon alike (think about the Ogremon vs. Leomon conflict). Nothing of that remained in Digimon Adventure Tri.
Fans will probably like the returning characters and their Digimon partners, as well as the new mega evolutions we never got to see in action when we were kids. Aside from the fact that the story isn't entirely trash and the characters are at least average, I have very few other positive things to say about Digimon Adventure Tri as a whole. Sadly, I can't recommend it to other people, not even fans of the original Digimon Adventure.
3.5/10
