While most people may only remember Digimon as an alleged Pokemon copy from the late 90s, the franchise has lasted over twenty years and gained a resurgence of popularity since 2015. There have been a number of spin-off series, such as Digimon Universe: App Monsters, as well as games like Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.
The original series, part of the Digimon Adventure brand, had a film series released between 2015-2018 that focussed on the original characters in high school. Now, to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the franchise, the fourth and final chapter in their story is set to be released soon.
Title
The official title Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, which already tells us a few things the film will be focussing on. For one, Last Evolution implies this could be the final time we see these characters that the fandom has loved and been invested in since 1999.
Secondly, the word Kizuna translates to “bond” which is likely in reference to the bond the Chosen Children - or Digi-Destined in the English dub - share with their Digimon partners.
Plot Details
Set in 2010, Taichi (or Tai in the dub) and the rest of the Chosen Children are now well into adulthood. As established in the previous film series Digimon Adventure tri., Taichi is at a crossroads and undecided about what he wants to do with his life or what future to work towards. As the Chosen Children grow up, and the more they fight alongside their Digimon partners, their bonds are beginning to break.
When a timer activates on their Digivices, and a mysterious Digimon Eosmon (Eos translating to dawn) starts causing chaos, the Chosen Children have to make the choice whether to save the world again even if it costs them their Digimon partners. If fans thought the reboot sequence in tri. was heartbreaking, then they’re surely in for a world of hurt.
The Chosen Children Are Adults Now
Taichi, Sora, and Yamato (Matt in the dub) are in their mid-20s, and Takeru and Hikari (T.K. and Kari) are in university. Taichi is a university student studying political science (a path we saw him take a shine to at the end of the tri. series). Yamato is a senior studying science and engineering (preparing himself for a career in astrophysics, most likely).
Sora has followed her mother’s path with ikebana - or flower arranging; Koushiro (Izzy in the dub) is a CEO of his own business and key liaison between humans and Digimon. More information and character profiles can be found on the official website.
The 02 Kids Are Back
After being snubbed from the tri. series - which caused much anger and confusion within the fandom - the characters Daisuke, Ken, Iori and Miyako (Davis, Ken, Cody, and Yolei in the dub) are making a return.
From what we know so far, Miyako has been studying abroad in Spain, and some theories are that her long-distance is a suggestion there may be “gates” between not only the Human and Digital world but different countries too. This is a similar setup to Digimon Adventure 02 where the characters were able to freely travel from world-to-world via gates, or in the film Our War Game! (the mid-part of the dubbed movie) where Taichi and Yamato traveled into the internet to defeat Infermon/Diaboromon. Could something similar happen in this film, and the battle with Eosmon?
“To Sora”
To Sora is a short film prologue set a day before the main film. It fills in the five-year gap between the last film in the tri. series and Kizuna, and is currently available online to watch for free.
In the film, we learn what the Chosen Children are currently up to with work, study, and life in general. The focus is mainly on Sora and establishing she has decided to take a step back from her duties as a Chosen Child. She is no longer taking part in the action, and instead focussing on her autonomy and working towards the future she wants for herself. This is an interesting set up going into Kizuna, and may hint at some potential conflict.
Cast
The Japanese cast members from Digimon Adventure tri. will be reprising their roles for this film. There has been no news on cast choices for a potential English dub, but it can be presumed the same cast from the tri. dub will also return. For the most part, tri. tried to bring back the cast from the original 1999 anime.
The exceptions are Vic Mignogna, Robbie Daymond, Johnny Yong Bosch, and Tara Sands, who take over as Matt, Joe, TK, and Kari respectively. Biyomon and Gatomon were also re-cast with Cherami Leigh and Kate Higgins. Thankfully, Joshua Seth came back to voice the lead character, Tai. Hopefully, he will return for Kizuna in the future.
Kōji Wada
Kōji Wada was the composer of the original series. He’s the one behind “Brave Heart” and original opening song “Butter-Fly” - which is arguably better than the war chant theme song done for the US Dub. Wada was also involved in Digimon Adventure tri., remixing “Butter-Fly” for the new opening, as well as “Seven~tri. Version.”
Sadly, Wada passed away in 2016 from nasopharynx cancer. His legacy lives on in the video game Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory, as Hudiemon, a butterfly Digimon. Last Evolution Kizuna may not have Wada’s involvement, but it can be expected his music will be included in some way as a tribute.
Building Towards The Epilogue
The epilogue at the end of 02 caused a significant divide within the fandom. Some members of the fandom are fine with the epilogue - flash forwarding to 2027, showing everyone in the world has a Digimon partner, and Yamato and Sora got married - whereas other fans were upset their favorite couple wasn’t the endgame.
The showrunners for tri. and Kizuna have maintained that they are working with the epilogue in mind, and working towards that goal. As such, in To Sora, we find out that Yamato has settled on studying for a career in Astrophysics, putting him on path to become an astronaut (and marry Sora) as established in the epilogue. Furthermore, Takeru is a university freshman studying Literature and English, and Hikari is studying early childhood education - both of which line up with their future careers. Again, some fans will be upset that these two are unlikely to end up a long-term couple.
End Of Series?
Unlike the Pokemon anime, the Digimon Adventure franchise has seen its characters grow up from childhood to adolescence, and now adulthood. But as it was established in Digimon Adventure tri., Chosen Children are meant to be children, and as the characters age the bond with their Digimon partners is at risk of ending. Last Evolution: Kizuna will mark the end of the series for Taichi and the other Chosen Children. For now.
A reboot of the original series is set to debut in April this year. The upcoming Digimon Adventure: Ψ will be set in 2020, but with the characters de-aged to their original childhood ages.
Release Date
The film is set to debut in Japanese cinemas on February 21. It will receive a US release through Fathom Events on March 25, in its original Japanese audio with English subtitles.
We can predict that the film will eventually make its way online to sites such as Crunchyroll, for accessibility for those outside the US. Likewise, as was the case with the Digimon Adventure tri. films we can predict that there will eventually be an English Dub and DVD/Blu-Ray release.
