Digimon Adventure first appeared back in 1999 but is only just
now out on DVD which really is a long time in the making and it really made me think
back to my younger days, the issue of re-watching what is predominantly a
children's show is the pacing, for example the hugely long running Dragon Ball
series’ and the repetitive nature of Pokemon makes these things more apparent,
and it's largely nostalgia that allows us to preserve these otherwise fairly
mediocre shows. The issue with some of these childhood favourites seen
through rose-tinted glasses can been difficult to break down, I liken it to music,
we often relate music we love to a happier time in our lives, and the same can
be said for tv shows, in some rare occurrences you view a show you used to
watch when you were younger that holds its value when viewed years later,
Digimon Adventure is one of those shows. The plots revolves around 7 chosen kids, dubbed “The
DigiDestined” who whilst at Summer Camp find themselves given a Digivice
electronic gizmo and transported to the Digital World, each of them then befriends
a digital monster (Digimon) whose job it is to protect both their world
and the Digital World by defeating the evil Digimon.
The first season is separated into four main arcs, with
the first mainly getting to know the characters, it’s a bit of a drag
to start but these are needed in the beginning, the plots aren’t perfect
as it’s always standard good vs evil storyline, from the outset of each arc you
are introduced to a villain whose main purpose is always
world domination, with our protagonists goal just being to stop them
from taking over, it does feel a little uninspiring. Also from the number of times that the main cast should
have been killed but manage to get away virtually unscathed beggars belief, and
for the more critical of fan such as myself it does make it a bit of a cop out.
Themes such as bad VS good, friendship and self-discovery
are all explored naturally through the events and characters with darker
topics such as death, divorce and inferiority complexes also being addressed,
though are never really that intense for the series’ target audience, dealing
with the wide range of ideas that 'Adventure' does means it can be appreciated
by everyone without ever finding it too dumb. The chosen children differ from each other in often quite
unusual ways with different quirks that make them stand out from one
another well, so there is bound to be at least one that you will latch onto as
a particular favourite, Izzy is the stand-out for me, the clever yet awkward
partner to Tentomon, throughout 'Adventure' they are seen individually, in
pairs, as groups or all together, and seeing how the Chosen Children interact
with one another is one of the high-points of the series. The series shows us these kids being wiser than there age
but always bringing them back down with their childish mistakes that makes them
feel more human, though the Digimon play a huge role in this series they do
seem to play second fiddle to the children, but I’m assuming it’s just down to children
being more relatable than bizarre magical creatures, the Digimon themselves
appear as more the comic relief in this first collection of episodes but my
recollection of later series is hazy as to whether or not this changes. Overall the characters and story are the strongest
part, the show itself dampened by the production, backgrounds are garish
with seemingly no thought to any kind of atmospheric lighting appearing
anywhere throughout the world, which could’ve really helped in certain points
by amplifying the mood and then there are a few inconsistencies with characters not
moving when it looks like they should be, the animation certainly is not the
selling point when it comes to Digimon adventure. This show does well at keeping
the audience entertained whether young or old and it still holds up
to this day even though the production and script can be inconsistent, work though
that and you’ll enjoy your time in the digital world all over again.
Digimon: Digital Monsters Season 1 is out now on DVD