Digimon Adventure 2020 Reboot 1×67 Review – “The End of the Adventure”

The Digimon Adventure 2020 reboot aired its series finale this week. Titled ‘The End of the Adventure’, I think the finale was satisfactory even though there were certain issues with the anime series as a whole.

Debuting back in April of 2020, fans were excited about the Digimon anime franchise continuing through the reboot of the original series (that aired back in 1999) and presenting the OG cast to a new generation of viewers. However, as the series progressed, I could see a number of complaints being voiced by the fandom. Comparing the reboot to the original was inevitable considering the reboot featured the same name, characters, and Digimon Partners. For a number of older viewers, the reboot didn’t do justice to developing characters across the board and seemed too focused on Taichi and Agumon. I also saw a bunch of OG fans deciding not to watch the anime reboot after the first couple of episodes.

I can understand some of the frustration. Even I felt that the current reboot found weird ways to shoehorn Taichi and Agumon into almost every situation, even if said situation was supposed to be handled by another Chosen One. There was also an emphasis on having the Chosen Ones travel the Digital World and getting to meet a whole lot of Digimon. While the bonds created during their travels played an important role in the final battle, when these episodes were airing on a weekly basis, I saw certain fans describing such content to be filler.

Furthermore, compared to the OG series, there was a lack of character development. Sora basically got no backstory in the reboot even though one of the most compelling things about her in the original series was her strained relationship with her mother and how that impacted her being the Chosen One given the Crest of Love. The main villains also didn’t seem to have any motivation instead of just wanting to destroy everything for the sake of it.

Anyway, having said that, I still enjoyed the Digimon Adventure 2020 anime reboot. I enjoyed how Mimi and Joe (my favorites) were handled throughout the series. I also liked seeing Takeru and Patamon (my top favorites!) getting more to do. The reboot also gave us Digimon from across the different media (games, previous anime, etc.) instead of sticking to the ones that showed up in the original series. We got branching Digivolutions. I also liked the music choices. And, of course, we got to see all of the Chosen Ones unlock their Mega Digivolutions (something the OG series didn’t offer).

So, while I am aware of the anime’s faults, I do think, to be fair, we should appreciate the positive changes it delivered.

Coming to the finale, ‘The End of the Adventure’ showed Taichi, Yamato, and Omegamon (or Omnimon) making their final stand against the powerful Negamon. There were some cool action sequences with Omegamon switching between sword attacks and rocket launchers to try and land a hit on the very fast and aggressive Negamon.

Negamon wanted to consume light and darkness until all that’s left was an empty void. I liked the explanation, from the previous episodes, about how Negamon was created because it fed on negative data created by humans spreading online toxicity and other sources. While I still think Negamon needed a bit more substance as the main villain, an opponent bent on eating the Digital World and Earth until everything ceased to exist did make for very high stakes.

With Taichi, Yamato, and Omegamon busy with Negamon inside the Abbadomon Core, I appreciated the writers giving the rest of the Chosen Ones something to do during the finale. Joe and Koshiro figured out that attacking the core would impact Negamon’s focus as it battled Omegamon. Not only that, but the resolve of the Chosen Ones also helped Omegamon unlock the Omegamon Alter-S form. So, even though there weren’t physically present with Taichi and Yamato inside the core, at least the other Chosen Ones played a role in giving Omegamon a much-needed boost. It was clear Taichi and Yamato weren’t going to win without their friends.

With the Digimon franchise being about a person’s innate potential, I think ‘The End of the Adventure’ handled this particular theme quite well. Due to being kids, the Chosen Ones and their DigiPartners had untapped potential which allowed them to change the fate of the Digital World. This theme also linked to the death and rebirth process in the Digital World. With Negamon coming back as a DigiEgg after being defeated, Negamon’s future was filled with potential. Whether it would go down the path of good or evil was yet to be determined, though.

The same theme was talked about by Wisemon as he told the story of the Chosen Ones to a bunch of newly born Digimon. This was the first time a major catastrophe had been prevented through the unique bond between a human and their DigiPartner. The doors to how such a bond would continue impacting the Digital World and Earth had been pushed wide open.

Digimon Adventure 2020 left us on a positive note with the Chosen Ones living with their DigiPartners in the human world and also being able to make trips to the Digital World when necessary.

Will we see the OG cast again? I think we will. But until then, I’m just glad that the Digimon will continue next week with an entirely new series called Digimon Ghost Game. Apparently, the upcoming anime series has something to do with ghosts in the digital world and humans being attacked by something mysterious. It’s also the first main anime series that will give a boy Chosen One a female-presenting DigiPartner. Yay!

The first episode of Digimon Ghost Game will debut on October 3, 2021. I will be watching!

While I don’t know the viewership numbers for the Digimon Adventure 2020 anime, I think such a reboot was necessary (faults and all) to reinvigorate the franchise. I mean, it has to have met some benchmark of success for TPTB to give us another series next week, right?

As an OG fan, I remember how, after Digimon Frontier (2002-2003), the fandom had to wait years for a new Digimon anime series to be created, only for it to last a year or two. I’m getting chills just thinking about it.

What are your opinions about ‘The End of the Adventure’ and the series as a whole?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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