Digimon Adventure tri was a bold move in order to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the TV series about digital pets and monsters. Instead of just creating a new TV series like the previous six series, the producers created six movies that worked as a huge story arc. By making them movies, a viewer can absorb the action and emotions without know that every five minutes there’s a commercial break and the credits arriving every 20 minutes followed by a recap of what’s transpired so far. Viewers could get lost in the digital universe for around 90 minutes. Over the course of two years, the movies arrived every four months to make an event. The films even showed up as special screening at theaters before arriving on Blu-ray. The action took place nearly three years after the events of Digimon Adventure 02. Now Digimon Adventures tri.: 6-Film Collection gathers together all the installments so you can binge watch.
“Reunion” brings together the Digidestined and their Digimon. “Determination” deals with infected Digimon. “Confession” has a severe remedy for the infected Digimon. Warning that this episode might cause tears in younger viewers. “Loss” deals with the Digidestined coming to grips with what happened to their infected digimon. “Coexistence” ramps up the action as creatures digivolve into bigger nightmares. Finally “Future” has on last battle as the digital world attempts to take over the real world. No need to go into a lot of detail in case you’re wanting to start at the beginning. A lot takes place over the course of the six films that places Digimon Adventure tri. far beyond the expectations delivered on the various TV shows found on streaming services. There’s a lot more emotional depth in the movie than previously experienced.
While it’s possible that at some point they’ll split the movies up to become a TV series, this is the proper way to experience Digimon Adventure tri. The characters seems a bit more human as they deal with their Digimon and the expectations others have of them as the Digidestined. Josie was addicted to the movies from the start as seen in her previous review of “Reunion.”
If you’ve been collecting Digimon Adventure tri. by the film on Blu-ray, Future is available individually. The only downside of releasing a movie series is wondering what to do in four months when a new installment doesn’t arrive.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The art and action looks great with the extra resolution. The audio is 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The aural effects shine during the battles. The original Japanese soundtrack is also available in case you want to compare casts. The movie is subtitled in English.
Interviews with Members of the English Voice Cast lets them talk about their involvement with the Digimon series over the years.
A Look at the Reunion Screening is a short view of the fans getting to see the movie on the big screen.
The Evolution So Far with Joshua Seth (9:45) lets the voice of Ty break down the first three episodes for those needing a quick refresher.
Directing the Voice Cast (9:45) is a profile of Ryan Johnston who served as ADR Director and audio engineer for the American audio track. This is a great guide for kids to understand what goes into making a good dub track.
Interview with Johnny Yong Bosch (9:52) as the actor recounts voicing Takeru “T.K.” Takaishi. His face might look familiar since he was Adam Park, the second Black Ranger on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and also appeared in the first two movies, Power Rangers Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo. Bosch reminds us that a voice actor does more than read the script lines in a funny voice. There is acting involved.
Anime Expo 2017 Premiere Panel (34:58) brings out the voices for the American soundtrack including Joshua Seth (Tai), Colleen O’Shaughnessey (Sora) and Jeff Nimoy (Tentomon). They talk about returning to the project after all these years. It sounds like it was odd bringing the band back together. They all learned in odd ways that Digimon was coming back. There’s talk about voicing for original animation and dubbing an already made film.
2018 Ax Panel (46:22) has Brian Ward of Shout! Factory hosting the voices and ADR director of Digimon movies at Anime Expo. Part of the focus is wanting to be a voice actor.
Shout! Factory presents Digimon Adventure tri. 6-Film Collection. Directed by: Keitaro Motonaga. Written by: Yūko Kakihara. Starring: Joshua Seth, Vic Mignogna, Colleen O’Shaughnessey and Mona Marshall. Boxset Contents: 6 movies on 6 Blu-ray discs. Rated: Unrated. Blu-ray Release: December 11, 2018.
