The recent announcement that the original characters from Digimon Adventures would be receiving a final send-off in the form of the upcoming Digimon: Last Evolution film meant that longtime fans had to say goodbye to some old favorites. But it turns out the DigiDestined aren't going away for long.
Later this year, Namco-Bandai will be rebooting the franchise, retelling the original Digimon Adventure series for a new generation in an entirely new anime series.
According to AnimeNewsNetwork, an upcoming issue of Shueisha's V Jump magazine has announced that Digimon Adventures will be receiving a brand new incarnation in the form of an upcoming television series. The premise should be familiar to fans of the original series, although the time-period and the characters have been updated for the modern-day. While preparing for a camping trip, Taichi (or Tai to Western audiences) is surprised to see a massive wireless network malfunction hit Tokyo. This sends most of the largely digital city into chaos.
While his mother and sister are stuck on a constantly looping train due to the confusion, Tai heads out to try and help them. But along the way, he and the rest of the children who become the original DigiDestined are swept up and into the Digital World. There, they'll be forced to contend with all the potential threats that exist in that plane of existence. But they'll be helped by their Digimon partners, friendly monsters that grow more powerful as they become closer to their human partner.
While the trailer doesn't offer much in the form of new footage, it does imply what kind of series the new show will be. This seems to be a full reboot of the original run of the series, which was later confirmed by Bandai Namco.
This new series seems intent on retelling the events of the first Digimon Adventure series from a modern perspective. It's been confirmed that Agumon will still be Tai's Digimon partner, and the brief teaser released for the show implies that the rest of the cast will have their traditional Digimon partners as well. This will also make it likely that the series will tackle the initial storyline from the series (which centered on the DigiDestined trying to adapt to the Digital World and learning more about the power they share with their Digimon partner), which means the show can also introduce many of the classic fan-favorite characters, such as Leomon, Andromon and the fearsome Devimon.
Suddenly, the somber goodbye the original versions of the characters are getting in Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution takes on another very different light that makes perfect sense. That film gives fans the chance to say goodbye to the versions of the characters they grew up with, before setting up a whole new take on the premise. Technology and our collective understanding of it have changed radically since the original run of the show in the 1990s and early 2000s, so it makes sense to revisit the original story with more modern ideas and concepts. It's an exciting prospect for fans, especially with the original continuity effectively ending with Final Evolution.
Digimon: Final Evolution Kizuna will screen in select theatres across the United States on Mar. 25. Digimon Adventure comes to Japan in April.