Why Digimon: Last Evolution Kizuna MATTERS - Nostalgia Done Right

0:00 foreign if you were in charge of a massively popular children show with an infamously bad ending how would you Rectify it if your toei animation the correct answer is to continue the story with another sequel which is a follow-up from the previous iteration that was a complete screw up and risk further alienating the already disappointed audience and from that you get Digimon Adventure last evolution Keys enough aka the movie that restored Faith to the fans of the original Adventure series by putting a definitive end on its character's Orcs a move that we're all too familiar with from bullheaded higher ups but in this case it all worked out for the better hi I'm suen Hello nice to

0:49 meet you fun fact Digimon was actually the first anime that I watched when I arrived in the Land of Snow Mexico ignoring your homework and rushing home from school to watch a show about intelligent data disguises monsters fighting other cool looking digital creatures while flinging puns on the sideline was what made me prefer Digimon over its other major competitor Pokemon watching children petting forcibly domesticated wild animals against each other can get pretty tiresome when Gary Oak is objectively a more interesting character but this sure it decides to follow Ash Ketchum instead what I'm getting at is her that made me Curtis anime day after day I can see why you were mistaken it's the

1:34 haircut what makes last evolution particularly impressive is that it managed to create a coherent movie using all the stories in the original Digimon Adventure timeline but omit sections that were unneeded and keeping the parts that would be serviceable to its plot if you're not a digimon fan chances are you won't care much for this movie since this is aimed squarely at us the Nostalgia hungry crowd the ones who grew up watching The Original Adventure series and they waste no time in attempting to explain you know it or you don't why do some of the lines in the English sound so awkward Polly want a cracker watch the dub it's also 100 times more hilarious when you're older and understand the jokes Ty blowing the whistle that happened to wake everybody up was a convenient cop out looks like someone didn't watch the 1999 Digimon

2:21 movie extra points if you saw the beginning 15 minutes of Angela Anaconda the horror energy Pals in a few seconds the doors will open for the best movie of all time the Digimon movie how and why is Izzy so knowledgeable on Digimon and the digital world don't care you had over 100 episodes worth of backstory to catch up on not my problem you don't watch the prequels I love it when a movie knows what it wants and doesn't try to expand into a larger demographic that doesn't relate with their work to begin with that takes guts and Assurance In Their audience in a movie that I admittedly was very pessimistic about after the disappointing presentation that was Digimon Troy Nostalgia as we all know is a powerful tool and if used correctly it can evoke positive opinions of even the lower points of a show but when done

3:08 incorrectly it can so distrust and sometimes shame that can negatively impact the longevity of the IP I'm just worried what if we make it worse speaking of distrust let's talk about Digimon Troy you don't even need to watch any of it to understand last evolution it seems that the production team understood how much of a mistake that project was and how did they handle this in last evolution render the try series unnecessary to the point that it feels like they're trying to wipe it from our memories the only mention of it existing on the timeline was a two-second unspoken Cameo of Mako and makumon 10 out of 10 naming by the way and this is my brother his name [Music] was overshadowed by the plethora of other characters who appeared in the

3:54 international digidestin Arc in adventure 2. it takes great skill to mess up something so royally to the extent that even the most die-hard fans won't even answer the call to defend you but it takes an even greater skill to undo the resulting mess that eventually became Canon and then decide to write a sequel around the pre-existing narrative that was his now predecessor so that it becomes useless in other words you did well Digimon you did well we all love a good Redemption story and watching the staff confidently steer around the web of nonsense and pull the franchise From the Ashes is truly a satisfying feeling right in last evolution part of the challenge was bridging between it and the epilogue

4:41 of Adventure 2. how the digidest and Abode series came to work in their eventual careers was expanded upon to at least justify the reasons behind their choosing it doesn't have to be the most in-depth explanation but at least indicating that these characters are showing some interest in their future jobs would do but nothing is good enough toward the sudden transition from high school Rockstar to becoming the first astronaut to land on Mars with your Digimon not as outlandish as Davis wanting to be a Ramen card owner but hey gold star for trying to work with the cursed ending and not walking back on it at the last minute and that's totally not because I'm salty that tying sword didn't end up together and is then went for the guy with a rejected Final Fantasy look or that TK and Kari aren't a pair despite taking the most adorable selfie together and have the best

5:26 chemistry in adventure too her teacher looks like ogremon totally not salty the try movies attempted something similar to this in this movie but the foundation wasn't established well enough to begin with so that endeavor fell flat on its face also Izzy is no longer the answer to everyone's problems which means that he can't think of another borderline magical explanation that would save everyone by the line of a single code I know that sounds mean-spirited and a knock on his character but that's what he's considered throughout the series if a seemingly impossible task comes up that the power of friendship cannot solve Izzy always seems to think of a last-minute computer-related solution that saves everyone without little if not no repercussion but a last evolution that doesn't happen in fact his early

6:13 attempt gets immediately shut down by someone arguably more intelligent than him once it happens it happens consequences included it could be something in cyberspace may be inhibiting digivolution no and that's one of the qualities making this movie feel grounded there's a real sense of urgency that feels more weighted under a movie format because we don't have 13 episodes worth of time left with the Digimon when you see Tai opening the drawer containing his goggles that he abandoned years ago with only the ring on the Digivice counting down as this source of lighting it's a grim reminder of his eventual fate or when he's bleeding from an injury during battle it feels heavy and underscores the severity of the situation despite the amount of fighting and injuries that we see in the original Adventure we never saw any

6:59 blood no matter how much they got beaten up almost as if the movie matured alongside the audience [Music] Digimon as a franchise has an ensemble cast so there's going to be at least one character and or partner you relate to or enjoy following but in last evolution the focus was exclusively on Thai and Matt and for several reasons one it's a movie format so there's limited time on who gets the spotlight and two it all comes down to these guys while I met they're not my favorites Talia matter viewed as the leaders of the group their Partners were the first to digivolve and eventually reach Mega level and both understood the responsibility of being the older brother as they each had a younger sibling who are also

7:44 digidestined in their own right so it makes sense for them to be the focus in the story and the symbolic gesture that Digimon Adventure begins and ends with them it's an unfortunate sacrifice for the others like Sora who is basically a reoccurring joke with her never appearing or contributing in any of the films until the last minute stupid tie but that's where I recommend the 20th anniversary Memorial it's a lovely collection of five shorts some of them provide additional context to the movie that didn't make it into the final cut if you like me were disappointed that Mimi or Joe didn't show up as much as they should give the memorial shorts a watch because this is a kids show you're going to get the standard messages of growing up and learning the importance of

8:30 friends unless you're Puppet Man and you shoot your friends children trying to tackle adult problems in an adult world and to face your issues head-on is a sign of maturity the usual Spiel after 20 years that message in Digimon Adventure still firmly resonates with people and proves just how strong its staying power is with last evolution since the cast has reached adulthood the typical morals that you hear in a kids cartoon had to be handled differently since his viewers are no longer in the same age racket from two decades ago the core audience are currently or are preparing to enter the workforce but the cast having aged alongside Us in real time as both us and the digi Destin become older so do the struggles reality become more pronounced

9:15 watching Madden Thai casually drinking beer at an Izakaya and not green chili sauce all right but if I show you you have to promise not to tell anyone come on show me all right it's a bottle of green chili sauce it's great on tacos or soda what in the world oh boy I love that soda while discussing their troubles kind of hits you in the gut knowing that these are adults were watching scenes I Wear Ties working at his unceremonious job at a Pachinko parlor filled with dead-eyed customers looking at the screen or mad walking by and wistfully observing a street performer singing is a rude

10:02 awakening to both of us and the duo that at the end of the day reality isn't the Fantastical world that Digimon Adventure is accustomed to being in although being heroes in their own right and saving people on a semi-regular basis we don't see the digidestin being adorned with praises from their city or winning the popularity contests among their peers they're just chugging along living their normal lives just like everyone else without a digital companion and despite mad and Thai being leaders of the original eight seeing them be lost in something that is in Digimon related is a sobering feel and even a bit upsetting to watch that even the most assured can get dissolution in the jungles of adulthood I'm guessing you haven't even started looking yet did you do you know what you're doing I've totally got this

10:49 not the right time we're not used to seeing Tai being directionless in what he pursues and if he is lost the problem usually solves itself within an episode or two we're accustomed to seeing him being stubborn and pushing through even if he can't fully comprehend or understand the situation but you cannot be stubborn in everything like a career Matt were more accustomed to in this state since he won AWOL once before by going emo but seeing them trying to regain footing in something that their Digimon cannot help is a conflict that we haven't seen before the problems of finding a job that we love in a crowd where others seem to have already found their calling having to give up a Pastime that Define your childhood and shaped you into who you are these are all problems that strongly resonates with our generation even though the Digimon are the ones

11:35 saving the world and have been the ones helping our characters progress they ironically have been the obstacle in holding the digidest in background transitioning into the next phase of their life adulthood they're the source of escapism that Ty and Matt fall back on whenever feeling down in Earth afraid to confront their fears as a result you okay sure about this tie with loss being a recurring theme throughout the series the same applies to the last evolution kizuna this is a course in life and it's okay to let some things go and if you do the pain while it hurts is temporary but you will be better off long term it can mean losing the very thing that guided them throughout life but sometimes one must

12:21 navigate through uncharted waters without a compass helping you the entire way with a franchise now being over 20 years old the fact that fans still affectionately recall the cast and story and the puns is a testament of how beloved this property is digimon's strongest asset is how much Their audience can personally relate to the cast they were able to convey that even in their extraordinary circumstances these characters are just like us going through the same problems that we have and to see that same attitude come through to last evolution that became lost in the try movies a feeling of relief washed over me knowing that they returned to their roots and understood what made the show special the best Nostalgia movies are one that successfully rode the line between old and you it must preserve the integrity

13:06 and understand the intent of the original but cannot rely on the glory of its Heyday alone it must clearly voice its own ideas but cannot stray too far away or it could disaffect their core audience and if that sounds difficult you're right because it is the staff are trying to cater towards a passionate crowd that's sometimes no reactable to changes and the most egregious move one can do is try to revive a series that was considered over and done with I know I've been harsh to the Digimon try movies throughout this video but I can acknowledge the staff had the enormous task of living up to the expectations that matched or at least evoked upon Recollections of Adventures 1 and 2. Digimon lost evolution kisano is an example of how Nostalgia it doesn't have to be abused by treating it with the respect and care it deserves it's a

13:52 lovely send-off to a piece of the franchise that has been with us for a significant portion of her life and I too hope one day that they acknowledge that the Madden sword Perry and taking Kari not being together was a mistake [Music] but I can promise you this I will see you again [Music] let's show them the strength of our bonds one last adventure

14:42 loyal to the others not to give up who said anything about giving up I mean it's not like we're the only ones fighting around the world I believe in you all this is going to be our final digivolution we're never gonna grow apart I wanna fight alongside you and if it's our last battle [Music] I have the feeling that we're gonna see each other again one day