is a Japanese anime television series. It is the eighth anime series in the Digimon franchise and a reboot of the 1999–2000 anime television series of the same name that follows the adventures of children in the world of Digimon, struggling to prevent a series of disasters spreading into the real world.
It was broadcast for 67 episodes on Fuji TV from April 2020 to September 2021, while the series was simulcasted worldwide through Crunchyroll. In February 2022, it was announced that the series would receive an English dub. All 67 episodes of the dub were made available for purchase on the Microsoft Store in April 2023 and on VOD with Hulu in July 2023.
Plot
In 2020, a series of cyber-attacks across Tokyo are the result of catastrophic events in another world within the internet, the Digital World, where creatures called Digimon roam. Taichi "Tai" Kamiya, a young boy gets transported to the internet and meets Agumon while they are attacked by a swarm of Argomon. They meet up with Yamato "Matt" Ishida and his partner Gabumon and together they defeat a Mega-level Argomon as Omnimon with help from Koushirou "Izzy" Izumi.
While getting ready for summer camp, Tai, Matt, Izzy, Sora Takenouchi, Mimi Tachikawa and Joe Kido are transported to the Digital World's Cloud Continent where they acquire Digivices and Digimon partners while learning of an ancient war that the Dark Digimon Army have resurfaced from their defeat to take over the Digital World with their Soundbirdmon corrupting Digimon into their service. They learn that they have been chosen as DigiDestined to stop the Dark Digimon army and save two captive Celestial Digimon they need to fight alongside with. A member of the Dark Digimon Army named Ogremon pursues the group out of a grudge towards Tai and Agumon, only to sacrifice himself to protect them while directing their group to the place where one of the Celestial Digimon were held. Due to a pool of miasma, the Digidestined and their partner Digimon separate in two groups to reach the other side and unlock their partners' ultimate forms along the way.
The DigiDestined regroup as they are lured into a fake Tokyo dimension created by Eyesmon, a Digimon whose attack on the Network is affecting the real Tokyo. The DigiDestined battle Eyesmon as it digivolves to Orochimon and then Nidhoggmon while commencing a countdown to annihilate Tokyo. Omnimon was able to destroy Nidhoggmon in time, but are separated by the Dark Digimons' commander Devimon. Tai and Matt find Takeru "T.K." Takaishi, Matt's younger brother, while aiding a freedom fighter named Leomon in taking out Devimon's minons. They are then join Celestial Digimon Angemon, revealed to be T.K.'s Digimon partner before his Digiegg is kidnapped by SkullKnightmon, a subordinate of Devimon's who later Digivolves to AxeKnightmon to battle them. Tai's group mount an assault of Devimon's castle, revealed to be an enslaved Digimon named Eldradimon, to rescue the Digiegg that hatched into Patamon while Agumon manages to destroy Devimon in an epic battle that nearly turned him into Machinedramon.
Meanwhile, back in the Real World, the remaining Digidestined track their Digimon Partners inside the internet on Izzy's computer where they battle a Calmaramon and several more Argomon who are hijacking the internet. They are joined by Kari, Tai's younger sister, as she helps reunite them with Tai and Matt as they all end up on the Eternal Continent. But they encounter AxeKnightmon, who takes an interest in Kari while separating the group after a brief fight with Angemon. Tai and Sora learn of a plot to resurrect the Dark Digimons' powerful weapon Millenniumon from Lopmon, a reincarnation of Cherubimon, who provides them with a Komondomon as their transport. The Digidestinated gradually reunite while preventing Kari and AxeKnightmon from being used a vessel for Millenniumon, AxeKnightmon revealed Gatomon to be the other Celestial Digimon. Becoming Kari's Digimon partner, Gatomon offers his aid in leading the DigiDestined to the Sealed Grounds where the largest fragment containing Millenniumon's essence is located.
As Tai and Matt unlock their partners' their ability to assume mega form, they, T.K. and Izzy are abducted by Sakkakumon, a servant of Millenniummon who pits them against replicas of previous opponents. T.K. and Angemon were confronted by a reconstituted Devimon, revealed to be Angemon's darkness as he is absorbed so Angemon would regain his full power and free everyone. But by the time the DigiDestined reached the Sealed Grounds, the Vademon cultists use Sakkakumon's collected data on Agumon to create Machinedramon to fight the children while releasing the miasma from Cloud so Sakakkumon can absorb it and transform into Millenniumon's vessel. The restored Millenniummon attempts to destroy the entire Digital World, but was defeated by WarGreymon when he receives additional power from his comrades along with the hopes of the friendly Digimon the DigiDestined befriended in their adventure.
Despite Millenniummon's defeat, the DigiDestined learn they must discover the true power of the Crests in their Digivices to stop Negamon, the mastermind behind of the ancient war and recent events who evolved beyond its programming from the data it had Argomon and Eyesmon gather from the humans, who seeks to destroy everything in The Great Catastrophe. The group unlock their Digimons' mega forms while learning they need to consciously manifest Omnimon. Tai and Agumon were suddenly ambushed by the Argomon again, and this time meet a humanoid Argomon sent by Negamon to test Tai and Agumon's bond. The children reunite as they face a swarm of Soundbirdmon that digivolve to their true form, the Dark Army's leader Ghoulmon. After Ghoulmon's defeat, Negamon was freed and commences the Great Catastrophe. The DigiDestined confront Negamon after defeating Argomon, engaging with the Digimon as it digivolves to Abbadomon and deletes half of the Digidestined with Tai, Kari, T.K. and Matt continuing to fight Negamon. The hopes of the humanity restore the four children back into their physical forms and enable Agumon and Gabumon to fuse into Omnimon. Tai, Matt, and Omnimon enter Abaddomon where they confront the core body. After a great battle, assuming a new form his opponent cannot counter, Omnimon reduces Abaddomon to a Digi-Egg and peace of both worlds were restored.
In the epilogue, upon Abaddomon's defeat, the Digimon in the Digital World celebrate the victory. The DigiDestined return home accompanied by their Digimon partners in secret, with Izzy and Mimi working hard on an interdimensional portal program allowing transit between both worlds, while Tai chose to remain in the Digital World to explore it there with Agumon.
Production Background The series was officially announced in the March issue of Shueisha's V Jump magazine in January 2020. The project was developed independently and in the same period of time as the theatrical release of Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, by producer Hiroyuki Sakurada and series director Masato Mitsuka, initially together behind Digimon Fusion and Dragon Ball Super. Matsuki Hanae and Naoko Sagawa are also the producers, Atsuhiro Tomioka is supervising the series scripts, Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru returns from Digimon Adventure to design the characters, Akihiro Asanuma is the chief animation director, Ryouka Kinoshita is the art director, Toshiki Amada is in charge of art setting.
The opportunity of a reboot of the original Digimon Adventure series was hoped for since the days of Digimon Adventure tri. by Hiroyuki Sakurada, then producer of Dragon Ball Super. Sakurada expressed that the stopping point of the original Adventure series reached on its twentieth anniversary by Last Evolution Kizuna was "sad", but opportune to be able to propose, produce this reboot and deliver it in its current form, terming it as a proper Digimon entry that wasn't for the "children of the past", but for a new generation of children "And in order to introduce it to them, what better way to do it than to start from the beginning one more time with Digimon Adventure?" while mentioning the difficulties encountered to find the right timing back then, as the production team wanted to broadcast Digimon again on Fuji TV at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning "To secure that timeslot and produce content for it, you need the right timing and right elements for all sorts of things. Without such a close gamble, it's difficult to produce a TV anime". The franchise was dropped from Fuji TV after its initial popularity waned in 2001, as well as tougher commercial competition over the years.
The original Digimon Adventure staff, working on the movie Last Evolution Kizuna, was not consulted for this project. Masato Mitsuka was referred to as a director "representing the younger generation"; "He ensures the future of Toei Animation, as well as the rest of its staff," said Hiroyuki Sakurada.
Development Hiroyuki Sakurada indicated that the highlights of this series would be the battle scenes, the "special trait" of each Digimon and how they would deal with the abilities of the Digimons that will attack them. Atsuhiro Tomioka announced that as many different Digimon as possible will be shown, defining it as a festival "according to the situation, without holding back".
"Our important task is to make sure things come across to the viewer as cool" stated Masato Mitsuka and specified that, although they were very enthusiastic about wanting to show off the pride of a Digimon of the Champion-level, they had trouble thinking about how to portray "cool" action sequences using the physics of the Digimon and especially Greymon, compared to Son Goku and his panoply of attacks in the director's work on Dragon Ball Super; Mitsuka also claimed in August 2020 that the Digimon will reach the Ultimate-level very quickly, so in the long run, the time Agumon will actively spend as a Greymon will be gone; calling Omnimon one of the most impressive "symbols" of Digimon to this very day with many derivatives. Its appearance and the when and how in the series were determined even before Mitsuka was brought into the project.
In response to the Japanese media outlet What's In, calling the first three episodes "A start close to be a cinematic project, yet chaotic" by the story developments; Sakurada said that the intention behind it was to display freshness without waiting. For Mitsuka, the overuse of privileged segments in the animation"Sakuga" for a TV anime was to show Greymon; and Omnimon looking "cool" from its first fight, in order to leave just as much of a strong impression on those new viewers as on the old ones, a proper action-like depiction of it being uncommon in the previous projects, special circumstances protecting it for very particular moments, this production aimed to depict Omnimon as the miracle that appears after overcoming great difficulties "May each of its appearances in this new TV series be a chance to make it fight powerful enemies, while displaying his strength and a status of crisis saviour". Mitsuka wanted to portray children actively fighting in the fights, a story in which the children participate with a keen awareness of what they have to save. "The children feel an obligation and a determination to "do something"... The central theme of the series' direction is "a person and a creature" in both battle and adventure. It is the "way of life" that seduces me, my vision of the link between the two".