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The original Digimon Adventure is a story for kids about kids. Our heroes do what’s right and good triumphs over evil in the end.
Digimon Adventure Tri takes our heroes into their teenage years and shows them the world is far more complicated when you’re a young adult. Just trying to do good isn’t enough and sometimes you can’t get the perfect happy ending—you can only get the best ending you can.
Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution takes the franchise to its logical thematic conclusion and shows that growing up means letting go of many things—even the things that were once vitally important to you.
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The story begins by showing us what the original DigiDestined are up to. Now in their early 20s (with the exception of TK and Kari) only Tai, Matt, TK, Kari, and Izzy are still actively dealing with digital world threats. Meanwhile, Joe is in med school, Mimi is globetrotting as she runs her own small business, and Sora—well, there’s a special episode about what’s going on with her.
On the general plot level, the film revolves around Menoa, a digimon researcher who brings word of a strange, powerful digimon that is attacking DigiDestined all across the globe—leaving them in a coma afterwards. But as the team battles this new threat, they make a terrible discovery: when a DigiDestined reaches adulthood, their partnership with their digimon is broken—and the digimon is deleted.
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The film is largely focused on Tai and Matt. In the time since Tri, both have given up on their childhood dreams—soccer and music respectively. Now both are searching for what to do with their lives. The thing is, they basically already know. And this is what causes the countdown to their digimon’s deletion.
The connection between DigiDestined and their digimon is caused by the infinite possibilities in the child’s future. But when those infinite possibilities resolve into a single future, the bond is broken.
On another level, the whole situation is just a metaphor for growing up. As you do, you naturally lose things: innocence, dreams—even friends and family. But it is something that happens to everyone. It is a natural part of life. Rejecting this—trying to fight it by hiding in your memories of a more innocent time—can’t bring you true happiness. Part of becoming an adult—perhaps the most important part—is learning to let go.
In a nutshell that is what this film is about—and it’s a message that the film refuses to undercut even in its closing moments.
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Sure, the film enjoys reveling in the franchise’s past. There are countless easter eggs celebrating the franchise’s 20 years. Seeing Davis and the Adventure 02 crew (who were sorely missed in Tri) on their own little adventure is a welcome treat. It even goes full circle, calling back to Mamoru Hoseda’s Digimon: The Movie at both the start of the film and at its emotional climax.
But that’s because this is the end of the original DigiDestined’s story. Sure, there will be new heroes and new adventures–30,000 DigiDestined now span the planet: the new protectors of both our world and the digital one. Yet, for our heroes, this is their last battle. And they go out with a bang by forever cementing what kinds of people they will be for the rest of their lives.
While it’s sad when friends go away, the memories will always live in our hearts. And, if we’re lucky, it’s those memories that inspire us to become the best people we can be.
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Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna was released in Japanese theaters on February 21, 2020. It will be released in US theaters on March 25, 2020 .
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Do you think there will be any future projects after last kizuna? The ending hints to a reunion of sorts and well… We can’t just ignore the Canon 02 ending with all their Digimon present meaning that somehow they do get them back. What do you think?