The Evolution of Two Worlds ⋆ Soulcial Dreamin' Ent.

It is TheLinkedOne aka JayLink, reporting from SOULCIAL DREAMIN’ ENT. You give us your time, we will give you our insight as we express our vision by remaining Soulcial with you all. I personally feel that anime evolves which matures itself towards a new rebirth. I am from the city that never sleeps and I will take you all throughout memory lane. Who is ready to revisit the journey?

In the year 2000, there was one of the biggest rivalries in anime. All that I kept hearing was Pokemon vs Digimon, which one was better. Being a pre-teen in middle school where I would wake up in the morning to watch Pokemon and I would play the video games as well. I still do until this very day as a 35 year old adult. What got me into Digimon? It was the action along with each character that harnessed an exclusive personality trait for their character. It was on a Saturday morning, and I remember eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while drinking lemonade and watching Digimon on Fox Kids. It was the very distinct episode when Agumon underwent his dark digivolution into SkullGreymon. I remember it took place during the Etemon arc, where it was way before the dark masters. Digimon captivated me and my attention span was limited at that point. I completed Season 1 and transitioned into Season 2 and it felt seamless. It still showed the original 8 Digidestined as a mentor figure towards the new generation of digidestined.

Fast forward to 2016-2017 where I have gone through life changes, so did the digidestined who I idolized as a teenager. Wanting to be a part of the digital world in some sort of way. While they were saving the real world as well as the digital world, I am contributing towards my community through real life duties such as work or family obligations. I have established life long bonds in the digital world, which is known as the internet. When Digimon Tri first debuted, I was literally excited seeing my idols grow up and mature just like myself. Still involved in the digital world in some shape or form. The character development was beautiful. The art, the visuals, the way everything marinated within the lore itself. There was one distinct event where it got me sad and it brought me down to my knees. The reboot where your Digimon that you once knew will forget who you are. The DigiDestined will remember everything and it was bittersweet.

Revisiting Digimon Adventure 2020 took me for a loop and it took some things from the 1999 iteration of Digimon Adventure/Digimon and it added a different story. It was no longer 7 young kids going to camp one summer, it was straight from the real world and into the Digital World. The kid inside of me was surprised that Digimon Adventure 2020 didn’t start out the way Digimon Adventure in 1999 did. The action picked up and it was very intense and Taichi(Tai)’s first encounter.

A lot of changes were incorporated(aesthetically and personality-wise), and some of the character development showed a lot of improvements in their character exclusive episodes. Without mentioning much spoilers, the digidestined took off the kid gloves and went into their respective episodes being a dominant force. So that reignited my interest of Digimon as a whole. The Digidestined were already in the digital world scattered out and it became a quest of reuniting. The digidestined reunited separated to give other characters opportunities to shine. Digimon Adventure 2020 gave life to a series which already existed with quality of life updates and some of the storyline got altered. I took to the changes at face value and enjoyed it. It was no longer looking on askjeeves and fan sites to find out names of digivolutions. The information was all up close and in personal on the episodes. The small segments at the end of each episode helped. I appreciated that part because it contributed more to the episode than the episode was suppose to.

With Digimon Season 2 currently worked on, I am definitely looking forward to the quality of life changes. Digimon Adventure 2020 didn’t disappoint and I know the Digimon Zero 02 movie won’t disappoint. The quality of the trailer was amazing and it will breed new life to the series, reuniting veterans and recruiting new fans alike into the world of Digimon.

Here is a brief example of how the opening theme has changed.

here is also a bonus which shows growth within the original set of digidestined.

Digimon Adventure and Digimon Tri has aged well, but Digimon Adventure 2020 still has the heart & soul of Digimon Adventure. Also there is a song called Butterfly by Koji Wada. Both versions are amazing from Digimon Adventure & Digimon Tri. Koji Wada has contributed to the theme to make it feel familar for newcomers and veterans alike. This theme will forever be timeless and legendary.

[Rest In Peace Kōji Wada]