Let's talk about Digimon! Any part of it. I'm not going to mark spoilers, it'll just be some spoilers for Digimon: The Movie.
I recently watched the original Japanese Digimon movies that compose Digimon: The Movie as well as the dub movie for comparison.
Adventure Movie
This movie really really captured my attention when I first saw it as a child, the art was significantly different from the first series and that really intrigued me. It doesn't really have much going for it in the story department, however, I recently learned that this was actually the pilot episode of the first series and debuted in Japanese theaters a day before the first episode aired. The Japanese original version compares favorably to the Digimon: The Movie version, if only because it doesn't have future Kari's constant narration and simply lets events speak for themselves. The use of classical piece Bolero as the main theme for the film is a poor fit for the most part and it feels out of place in the big monster battle scenes.
Children's War Game
This movie is great! The best of the three that were cut into Digimon: The Movie by far! The plot is a bit nonsensical, and it stretches my disbelief a bit that so many children managed to find the webpage(?) that showed the battle AND managed to get Izzy's email address AND that apparently no adults also noticed, but the rest of the film was good enough that I don't really care in the end. It's just a really fun concept, an underground battle to save the world from nuclear destruction taking place in plain sight on the public web. I like the desperate attempts and failures to get the team together on such short notice. Adds a bit of verisimilitude that you can't always get in contact with everyone, even if it's to save the world. It also helps that the B tier digidestined are the one's who don't make it to the fight, the movie really didn't need Joe or Mimi wasting screen time. Matt and T.K.'s mad dash around their grandma's village to find a computer with internet access was great too, I love the reactions of the old people in the barbershop watching the events unfold.
It also gives me a bit of a nostalgia rush seeing the old PCs running Windows 98. I also like the use of red outlines for animation of the internet, it's simple but adds a pretty distinctive style. The movie is well paced too, it's only 40 minutes and never feels like it drags or rushes. It starts off with simple intrigue and builds to a mad race against the clock. I can only imagine what all those shocked people watching the missile sink into the lake are thinking. There is essentially no difference between the dub and the original other than the dub containing a few more bad jokes and the original continuing its strange use of slow classical music tracks for its climactic battles.
Digimon Hurricane Touchdown / Transcendent Evolution! The Golden DigimentalsThis is the main victim of Digimon: The Movie's butchery. There were 40 minutes cut from the total runtime, and I'm sure most of it came from these two. Going in I was hoping that the plot would actually make some sense with all the missing footage restored, but... it really didn't. There is an additional plotline about the original digidestined being abducted by Kokomon, but it doesn't end up actually going anywhere and is basically swept under the rug by the end of the movie anyway. There's more scenes of Willis and his digimon, but there's still no explanation as to what the heck happened to Kokomon in that flower field. He just disappears. On the upside, it's absolutely hilarious that Willis is a born American that speaks Japanese far more naturally than he speaks English. He even speaks Japanese to his American mother despite claiming to have learned it from a Japanese girlfriend. More strange music choices for the soundtrack as this one chooses laid back bluegrass jazz for its battle scenes.
I'm gonna say that the Japanese originals are the clear story winners for all the movies, but if you want the best soundtrack you have to go with the dubs, unfortunately. The best upside to watching the individual Japanese movies, though, is that you can just watch Children's War Game and call it a day!
[hr]
As far as series are concerned, I can't decide whether I like Digimon Tamers better or the first Digimon Adventure. I didn't like the last two episodes from adventure, but I'm only just now watching it in the original Japanese so maybe that will make a difference. I never liked Zero Two much, I abandoned the show as a child not too far in and never had an interest in looking back.
**I just recently read that Digimon Tri is a series of movies that focused on the original 8 digidestined, and that has me intrigued. Did anybody watch them? Were they any good?
Other discussion questions are: Favorite series, arcs, characters? I've never played any of the games, were there any good ones?
I recently watched the original Japanese Digimon movies that compose Digimon: The Movie as well as the dub movie for comparison.
Adventure Movie
This movie really really captured my attention when I first saw it as a child, the art was significantly different from the first series and that really intrigued me. It doesn't really have much going for it in the story department, however, I recently learned that this was actually the pilot episode of the first series and debuted in Japanese theaters a day before the first episode aired. The Japanese original version compares favorably to the Digimon: The Movie version, if only because it doesn't have future Kari's constant narration and simply lets events speak for themselves. The use of classical piece Bolero as the main theme for the film is a poor fit for the most part and it feels out of place in the big monster battle scenes.
Children's War Game
This movie is great! The best of the three that were cut into Digimon: The Movie by far! The plot is a bit nonsensical, and it stretches my disbelief a bit that so many children managed to find the webpage(?) that showed the battle AND managed to get Izzy's email address AND that apparently no adults also noticed, but the rest of the film was good enough that I don't really care in the end. It's just a really fun concept, an underground battle to save the world from nuclear destruction taking place in plain sight on the public web. I like the desperate attempts and failures to get the team together on such short notice. Adds a bit of verisimilitude that you can't always get in contact with everyone, even if it's to save the world. It also helps that the B tier digidestined are the one's who don't make it to the fight, the movie really didn't need Joe or Mimi wasting screen time. Matt and T.K.'s mad dash around their grandma's village to find a computer with internet access was great too, I love the reactions of the old people in the barbershop watching the events unfold.
It also gives me a bit of a nostalgia rush seeing the old PCs running Windows 98. I also like the use of red outlines for animation of the internet, it's simple but adds a pretty distinctive style. The movie is well paced too, it's only 40 minutes and never feels like it drags or rushes. It starts off with simple intrigue and builds to a mad race against the clock. I can only imagine what all those shocked people watching the missile sink into the lake are thinking. There is essentially no difference between the dub and the original other than the dub containing a few more bad jokes and the original continuing its strange use of slow classical music tracks for its climactic battles.
Digimon Hurricane Touchdown / Transcendent Evolution! The Golden DigimentalsThis is the main victim of Digimon: The Movie's butchery. There were 40 minutes cut from the total runtime, and I'm sure most of it came from these two. Going in I was hoping that the plot would actually make some sense with all the missing footage restored, but... it really didn't. There is an additional plotline about the original digidestined being abducted by Kokomon, but it doesn't end up actually going anywhere and is basically swept under the rug by the end of the movie anyway. There's more scenes of Willis and his digimon, but there's still no explanation as to what the heck happened to Kokomon in that flower field. He just disappears. On the upside, it's absolutely hilarious that Willis is a born American that speaks Japanese far more naturally than he speaks English. He even speaks Japanese to his American mother despite claiming to have learned it from a Japanese girlfriend. More strange music choices for the soundtrack as this one chooses laid back bluegrass jazz for its battle scenes.
I'm gonna say that the Japanese originals are the clear story winners for all the movies, but if you want the best soundtrack you have to go with the dubs, unfortunately. The best upside to watching the individual Japanese movies, though, is that you can just watch Children's War Game and call it a day!
[hr]
As far as series are concerned, I can't decide whether I like Digimon Tamers better or the first Digimon Adventure. I didn't like the last two episodes from adventure, but I'm only just now watching it in the original Japanese so maybe that will make a difference. I never liked Zero Two much, I abandoned the show as a child not too far in and never had an interest in looking back.
**I just recently read that Digimon Tri is a series of movies that focused on the original 8 digidestined, and that has me intrigued. Did anybody watch them? Were they any good?
Other discussion questions are: Favorite series, arcs, characters? I've never played any of the games, were there any good ones?