Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion (DVD) Review

Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion has a mature aspect that would appeal to an older audience, and welcomes back old fans with its nostalgic charm.

Original Cast of Characters Reunited For a New Adventure

Now high school students  Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion follows the original digi-destined as they navigate the changes in their lives. After mysterious blackouts occur and sightings of Digimon appear across the country, they team up once again to protect the world.

Despite following their own paths and coming into their own, their bonds of friendship still unites them.

A Dose of Nostalgia

Watching Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion hit me with a ton of nostalgia from when I was a kid. There were two specific moments in the film where my heart soared and my cheeks were hurting so much from smiling ear to ear. I will discuss both.

Moment #1: The scene where Tai chases Kuwagamon, takes me back to the first episode of Digimon. Kuwagamon was the first enemy the digi -destined encountered when they were children on summer vacation.

This was clever to choose Kuwagamon as the first enemy encountered in Tri because it’s symbolic.

Moment #2: When Tai and Agumon reunite it almost brought me to tears since it is clear within the very first couple of minutes into the film that he misses Agumon.

Paying Homage to Digimon Adventure With Brave Heart And Butter-fly

In Japan, the Digimon series are known for the wonderful insert songs that play as the evolution and battle themes. While we never had that experience in North America I thought it was nice the Japanese evolution theme Brave Heart was kept in the English dub of Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion.

I read that fans who went to see the movie in theaters almost cried when Brave Heart played, and I can relate. By being able to keep the song in the dub it was a great way to pay homage to the first season. I should also give an honorable mention to the song Butter-fly as that is the Japanese opening theme for Digimon Adventure and Digimon Tri Adventure Reunion. Unfortunately, Butter-fly doesn’t play in the dub but fans can experience it if they choose to view the film in Japanese.

Butter-fly was sung by the late Koji Wada, who was popular for singing many of the Japanese Digimon themes. It was nice to hear his voice one last time.

A New Art Style Introduced For Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion

When I saw snippets of the new art style for Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion surface the internet I wasn’t immediately drawn to it, due to nostalgic reasons. Now after watching the film twice, it has grown on me and it does reflect the maturity and growth of the characters. One thing I missed was the evolution animation from the original series, but again my feelings are based solely on nostalgia.

The animation is crisp, clean, and colorful and it made the movie that much more enjoyable to watch.

Some of The Original Voice Cast Return And Others Are New

With the history and loyal fan following that Digimon has it can be hard to accept new voice talent, especially when they are replacing another voice actor. I think each voice actor brought all they had to the table. It takes a little time to accept change however, I feel this was handled with care and fits with how much the characters have grown.

DVD Content and Extras

The Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion combo pack comes with the following:

• The standard DVD of the film
• A Blu-Ray version of the film
• A code to download a digital copy

Extras Include:

• Interviews with some of the cast
• Viewing the film in Japanese with the option to turn subtitles on or off

Final Thoughts:  While some components take a while to get used to Digimon Tri Reunion is a must see for new and old fans of Digimon!

Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion hits store shelves tomorrow May 16, 2017!

A copy of Digimon Adventure Tri Reunion was supplied to Brutal Gamer by Shout! Factory for the purpose of this review.

Original Concept: Akiyoshi Hongo

Directed by: Keitaro Motonaga

Produced by:

Shuhei Arai
Makiko Murakami
Tohru Nishida
Kōhei Motokawa

Written by: Yuuko Kakihara
Music by: Sakabe Tsuyoshi

Studio: Toei Animation

Licensed by: 

(AUS)
Madman Entertainment
(NA)
Eleven Arts
Shout! Factory
(UK)
Manga Entertainment

Release:  November 21st 2105 (Japan) September 15th, 2016 (US) May 16, 2017 (DVD)