On March 7, 1999, an anime based on a game premiered on Fuji TV in Japan. In that era when various girly manga was rampant, this anime with 8 children as the protagonists was broadcast all over the world, becoming an indelible childhood mark in the hearts of a generation.
However, unlike its infinite opening, the lack of sequels and the big change of the protagonist lineup have made "Digimon" gradually decline, and selling emotional fried rice has become a routine operation of the producer of "Digimon" at this time, with the launch of a sequel of worrying quality, this work that represents the childhood of many people has finally become the tears of the times.
In February 2020, on the 20th anniversary of the completion of the first Digimon, the countless works of this sequel finally ushered in the final chapter, and in this work called Digimon Adventure: The Last Evolution, the "selected children" gathered again, but sadly, this long-lost appearance was also their final curtain.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="4" > has appeared many times to sell feelings, and the new work tries to save word of mouth</h1>
In fact, this is not the first time that the original 8-person group has met after the end, as early as 2000, the first generation of the group appeared as a predecessor in the "Digimon Adventure 2" three years later.
Since the first generation of the troupe is not the protagonist in this work, their appearances are not very large, but from the short appearances alone, they can already glimpse the huge changes that the three years have brought to these children, and this change is even more vividly reflected in the theatrical version of Digimon Adventure tri. released in 2015.
In Digimon Adventure tri., the first-generation group entering adolescence is no longer as courageous and intimate as before, and the various concerns and emotional entanglements between the protagonists as they age make this work that should be a tribute to courage and friendship more complicated. In the subsequent chapters, the outbreak of the contradictions of the protagonist group makes all the viewers truly aware of the traces that the years have brought to the children.
Not only that, due to the creative team's lack of understanding of their own abilities, the story framework and character of this work are far beyond the scope of the creative team's control, which makes this work that was originally pinned high hopes by fans a synonym for "selling bad films".
Today, perhaps in order to exonerate the crime of "bad film", the producers specially found the original team who had created "Digimon Adventure 1" when making "Digimon: The Last Evolution", which successfully aroused the expectations of fans for this work, and this became the last opportunity for the producers of "Digimon to turn around".
Like Digimon Adventure Tri., Digimon: The Last Evolution also tells the story of the original 8-person group leader, Dahou, unlike this work, which pulls the timeline directly to the university days of the protagonist group.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > former companions go their separate ways</h1>
The story begins with the classic BGM of the Digital Series, Bolero Dance, the aurora and twinkling lights in the sky are all homages to the former theatrical version, and the battle between the parrot beast and the tyrannosaurus beast takes the audience back to 1995's "The Birth of the Boule Beast", but as we all know, the battle is never the main line of the Digimon. As the battle is over, the protagonist group, who has just been fighting the monster, returns to real life.
Due to the busyness of life, the protagonist group did not even have time to get together to celebrate the victory as they once did. As a college student who is about to graduate, Taiyi, the bearer of the badge of courage, is more distressed than the battle is the thesis and employment, and he is full of confusion and uneasiness about the future like most college graduates.
In sharp contrast to Taiyi's dazedness, the other children who were chosen seemed to have found the goal they were working for. Yamato, who once loved music, has turned his love into an interest, and now he is studying hard for graduate school. The already more mature Suna has reduced her contact with her former companions early on, devoted all her energy to real life, and is now quietly working to inherit her mother's hanamichi cause.
A-zhang, who had resisted medicine, complied with his parents' expectations of him and became a medical student. Since childhood, Mitsukoro is a college student and the president of a company, serving as a leader in connecting the real world and the digital world. The once squeamish little princess Mimi has now become a business woman with a successful career, and although her life is busy, she still tries her best to keep in touch with her peers.
The creators seem to intend to make the audience aware of the changes that the years have brought to this group of children, so as in reality, the once intimate and gradually reduced the connection with the passage of time, and the busy chores of life make them no longer able to spend as much day and night as they once did, and sometimes they can't even free up a meal to meet. In such a realistic context, what finally brings them together is no longer the bondage between friends, but a new round of crisis facing the digital world.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="17" > the final rite of passage</h1>
I don't know when more and more selected children around the world suddenly lost consciousness, and the digital beasts that were supposed to accompany them were also missing, and as the situation became more and more serious, Taiyi and them finally gathered together again in order to solve this crisis.
However, as the battle progresses, a Digimon professor named Menoa Belluzzi brings the news to the crowd that the Digimon will disappear as the children grow. The aura that appeared on the emblems of Taiichi and Yamato at this time representing the countdown to disappearance confirmed this news. Like a sudden death, the news caught the children who thought they had been a long time off, and seeing that separation was imminent, everyone was desperate but powerless.
At this moment, the truth of the elected child's coma was finally revealed, and it turned out that the culprit was Professor Menoa Belluzzi, who had lost her butterfly beast without warning, making her obsessed with creating a world where "children and digital beasts are no longer separated".
To achieve this, Menoye Belluzzi stole the children's consciousness and sealed the device with the Digimon in the "Land of Hope" she created. Here, the children's consciousness will always stay in the time with the Digimon and will never face the pain of separation.
Menoa Belluzzi thought she had saved all the chosen children, but it was only her wishful thinking. As Taiyi blew the whistle on Jia'er's chest, all the children who were addicted to the past woke up at this moment, which not only represented the return of their consciousness, but also symbolized that they would face the parting and pain brought about by growth and make a final farewell to their childhood.
With the victory of the battle, Taiichi and Yamato finally ushered in their own moment of separation. In the dusky sunset, with the disappearance of the Yagu Beast and the Garuru Beast, these two teenagers who had already grown up finally ushered in their final coming-of-age ceremony.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="24" > petrified badges and childhoods that can't go back</h1>
Many viewers protested about this imperfect ending, but what they didn't know was that unlike other teenage comics that blindly portrayed blood and battle scenes, Digimon paid more attention to the plot and character development from the beginning, and this is why this work stood out that year.
In fact, as early as the end of Digimon Adventure 1, these selected children faced their first separation from digimon, and that separation lasted for 3 years, until the new protagonist 6-person group in Digimon 2 opened the digital world, and the digimon returned to Taiyi and the others.
The imperfect finale is the tradition of digital series, and in this work, the film's portrayal of Taiyi's real life at the beginning has already laid the emotional tone of the film that is not easy.
Every child who has seen Digimon Adventure 1 must have envisioned Taiyi's exciting life of adventure in another world and meeting new Digimon beasts, but in this part, the creators have pulled these children who are different from ordinary people back to reality, and these children who have saved the world have more realistic troubles as they grow up.
Taiichi, like most college graduates, is confused by uncertainty about the future. Yamato, who had once formed a band, gave up his musical dreams in favor of a more realistic graduate degree. Ah Zhang, who once did not want to obey his parents' arrangement, finally faced his talent and heart, and became a busy and hard-working medical student. The youngest Jia'er, unlike her brother, established her life goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher early.
Among these children, Suna is the first to mature, she is no longer entangled in the adventure of her childhood, but set her sights on the real future. Because of this, she was unable to participate in the final battle, because the bhikkhu beast had disappeared before the final battle, and Suna's badge of love had turned to stone with the disappearance of the bhikkhu beast.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="34" > to the children of the past</h1>
In Digimon: The Last Adventure, the petrification of the badge represents that the children have lost their once simple selves while bidding farewell to their childhood. Children's world is always black and white, so they often have the most distinctive personality traits in the world.
However, the passage of time has led these children step by step to a complex and changeable society, under the influence of the environment, they no longer believe in black and white, but come to the so-called gray area, where they are destined to experience confusion and pain, because only in this way can they transform from children to adults. This may sound cruel, but it is the only way for most people to grow up in reality.
Many viewers have commented after watching the film that the tone of the film is too heavy and not suitable for children. But what they didn't expect was that perhaps the filmmakers were not prepared to take into account children's viewing experiences at the beginning.
Unlike China, where Japanese anime has a more age-old audience, and adults, teenagers and children can find anime that suits them, Digimon: The Last Adventure has actually targeted those who have watched Digimon Adventure 1 from the beginning.
According to the broadcast time of Digimon Adventure 1, most of the first viewers of this work have entered the society, and most of those who watch the replay have long been out of the category of children, that is, this work has been an anime work for adults from the beginning.
If Digimon Adventure is a gift to children, then Digimon: The Last Adventure is a farewell letter written by the creative team to the children of the past, in which they integrate the real-life troubles that children are experiencing into the lives of the characters, as if to shout at this group of children who grew up with Digimon: "You are not alone, we have always been there." ”