Digital Monsters

Digimon Adventure (Japanese: デジモンアドベンチャー, Hepburn: Dejimon Adobenchā), known as Digimon: Digital Monsters in English-speaking territories, is a 1999 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation in cooperation with WiZ, Bandai and Fuji Television. It is the first anime series in the Digimon media franchise, based on the Digital Monster virtual pet released in 1997.

A 1999 short film titled Digimon Adventure was released in theaters on March 6, 1999. This was followed by a television series, which aired in Japan from March 1999 to March 2000 for 54 episodes. A film sequel titled Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! was released in theaters in March 2000. Both Digimon Adventure films were compiled and released as Digimon: The Movie in North America in October 2000.

Since the release of Digimon Adventure, several sequels and adaptations have been produced. A succeeding television series, Digimon Adventure 02, was broadcast from 2000 to 2001. A video game adaptation of the series was released for PlayStation Portable in 2013. For the series' 15th anniversary, a six-part film series taking place a few years after the events of Adventure 02, titled Digimon Adventure Tri., was released between 2015 and 2018. A final film titled Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna was released in 2020.

A reboot of the series set in the year 2020, titled Digimon Adventure, was broadcast in Japan from 2020 to 2021.

Synopsis
Seven kids at summer camp are unexpectedly transported by 'digi-vices' to a colorful and enigmatic world. Lost and alone, they are befriended by small digital monsters, Digimons. The kids and their Digimon partners quickly become inseparable, and the strange creatures guide their human friends through the wondrous DigiWorld, protecting them from the hordes of evil Digimons. The group soon discovers that some of the giant Digimons they encounter are not evil Digimons but good Digimons gone bad. A dark power is corrupting even the most gentle of Digimons by embedding Black Gears into them, turning them into vicious monsters. Creating chaos and destruction wherever it goes, the evil power threatens all of DigiWorld.

As they try to find their way back home, the seven kids are drawn further and further into the mystery. Through teamwork and trust, they help their newfound Digimon friends digivolve from 'monsters in training' to giant champions that must save DigiWorld from the powerful evil intent on destroying it.

(Source: Tokyopop)

Development
In 1999, a short film based on virtual pets called Digimon Adventure was released. However, shortly after the film's storyboard was completed in 1998, producers at Toei Animation were requested to turn it into a television series.

DigiDestined's character designs were created by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. The staff had decided to name the characters based on kanji that related to luck.

Manhua and American comics
A manhua adaptation, Digimon: Digital Monsters (Chinese: 數碼暴龍), illustrated by Yu Yuen Wong (credited as "Yuen Wong Yu" in the United States), began publication in 2000. It was originally published in Hong Kong, by Rightman [zh], and it was serialized in the magazine CO-CO! [zh]. In total, it was published in five volumes. Tokyopop published the series in English in the United States, while Chuang Yi did so in Singapore.

There is a second manhua, titled 數碼寶貝, written by Lu Shui-shi (呂水世), and published by Ching Win.

In North America, a comic book adaptation of the Devimon arc was published by Dark Horse Comics between May and November 2000.

Light novels
Hiro Masaki, one of the screenwriters of Digimon Adventure, co-wrote a novelization of Digimon Adventure with series director Hiroyuki Kakudō. The light novels were separated into three parts.

Drama CDs
A series of mini-drama CDs were released throughout the run of Digimon Adventure and included supplementary audio dramas. In addition to this, character image songs for the main DigiDestined were included.


 * 1) Digimon Adventure: Character Song + Mini Drama 1 (デジモンアドベンチャーキャラクターソング＋ミニドラマ(1), Dejimon Adobenchā Kyarakutā Songu + Min Dorama 1), was released on November 5, 1999, and is centered on Tai, Sora, and Joe.
 * 2) Digimon Adventure: Character Song + Mini Drama 2 (デジモンアドベンチャーキャラクターソング＋ミニドラマ(2), Dejimon Adobenchā Kyarakutā Songu + Min Dorama 2), was released on December 3, 1999, and is centered on Izzy, Mimi, and Kari.
 * 3) Digimon Adventure: Character Song + Mini Drama 3 (デジモンアドベンチャーキャラクターソング＋ミニドラマ(3), Dejimon Adobenchā Kyarakutā Songu + Min Dorama 3), was released on January 7, 2000, and is centered on Matt and T.K.
 * 4) A full-length drama CD, Digimon Adventure: Original Story: Two-and-a-Half Years (デジモンアドベンチャー オリジナルストーリー 2年半の休暇, Dejimon Adobenchā: Orijinaru Sutōrī: 2-nen-han no Kyūka) was released on April 23, 2003 and follows the lives of Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, and Joe in the two-and-a-half year period before Digimon Adventure 02.

TV Anime
Digimon Adventure was produced by Toei Animation and ran for 54 episodes on Fuji TV between March 7, 1999, and March 26, 2000. The main opening theme for all episodes aired in Japan is "Butter-Fly" by Kōji Wada, which peaked at #47 on the Oricon Weekly Singles Chart. "I Wish" by AiM is used as the ending theme from episodes 1–26, while "Keep On", AiM's fifth single, served as the ending theme from episodes 27–54. The series also uses three insert songs: "Brave Heart" by Ayumi Miyazaki as the Digivolution theme, "Seven" by Kōji Wada, and "Yūki o Tsubasa ni Shite" (勇気を翼にして) by Toshiko Fujita, Tai's voice actress. On August 1, 2014, during the series' 15th anniversary, a Blu-ray Disc box of the original series was announced and set for release in Japan on March 15, 2015.

Saban Entertainment licensed the series in North America and produced an English-language version under the title Digimon: Digital Monsters, which aired on Fox Kids Network between August 14, 1999, and June 24, 2000. The English version featured an original soundtrack and made changes to character names, as well as edits pertaining to certain aspects such as violence to make the series more suitable for younger audiences. Wendee Lee, Michael Sorich, and David Walsh became the voice directors. The original soundtrack of the show was replaced by music composed by Udi Harpaz and Shuki Levy, which recycled several music soundtracks from Starcom: The U.S. Space Force, Princess Sissi, Masked Rider, and Spider-Man: The Animated Series. The opening theme for all episodes is "Digimon Theme" by Paul Gordon. "Hey Digimon" by Gordon, an insert song featured in the show, was released on the original soundtrack of Digimon: The Movie along with "Digimon Theme".

The series was released on DVD by Twentieth Century Fox (Saban's parent company) in 2000 and by Buena Vista Home Entertainment in 2002. A complete DVD box set of the English dub was released by New Video Group on October 9, 2012, in the U.S. and was released by Madman Entertainment on June 18, 2014, in Australia. On March 14, 2022, Discotek Media announced that they are releasing a Blu-ray collection. The English dub version was released on December 27, 2022, while the original Japanese version was released on July 25, 2023 (which will be the first Digimon anime series to be both presented in the original Japanese and English dub versions).

Digimon Adventure was added to the Netflix Instant Streaming service along with Digimon Adventure 02 from August 3, 2013, to August 1, 2015, in separate English dubbed and Japanese subtitled versions.

Films
Several short films based on the series were released in theaters in Japan. Digimon Adventure was originally released on March 6, 1999. The story focuses on Tai and Kari finding a Digi-egg from their computer, which hatches and quickly Digivolves into Greymon, culminating in a battle with Parrotmon. The film grossed ¥650 million.

Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! was originally released on March 4, 2000. In the film, Tai and Izzy find a virus Digimon who Digivolves into Diaboromon, resulting in him infecting the Internet and launching nuclear missiles towards their home. The film introduces DNA Digivolution through Omnimon. The film's ending theme song is "'Haru' Ichōchō" (「春」イ長調) by AiM. The film grossed ¥2.166 billion. Our War Game! later served as the inspiration for director Mamoru Hosoda's film Summer Wars.

The two short films were combined with ''Digimon Adventure 02: Part 1: Digimon Hurricane Landing!! / Part 2: Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals was released as Digimon: The Movie'' in North America on October 6, 2000. Digimon: The Movie was altered from the original script to remove "culturally awkward" Japanese elements and introduce jokes suitable for a North American audience. Originally, scriptwriter Jeff Nimoy wanted to combine Digimon Adventure and Our War Game! while releasing ''Digimon Hurricane Landing / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals'' was a direct-to-television movie, but the idea was overruled. In order to connect the film's stories, the script was rewritten to include Willis's involvement in Diaboromon's creation.

Digimon Adventure 3D: Digimon Grand Prix! (デジモンアドベンチャー3D デジモングランプリ!, Dejimon Adobenchā: Dejimon Guran Puri), a stereoscopic 3D short film, was shown at Toei Animation Festival on October 3, 2009, and was later included on a set of DVD works released on February 21, 2010.

Reception
On its initial release, the series found a rather large success in the United States. When it was first released in North America, the series was seen as an attempt to imitate the success of Nintendo's Pokémon franchise. Entertainment Weekly magazine named Digimon as the "Worst Pokémon/Net Crossbreeding Attempt" in 2000. However, audiences eventually noticed that compared to Pokémon, the characters interacted and developed realistically, as well as they integration of more complicated science fiction stories and societal themes. The English dub gradually improved as well, making fewer and fewer alterations to the Japanese original in later episodes. As a result, many young viewers quickly outgrew Pokémon and migrated to Digimon instead.

Despite the criticism, it placed first at the start of the May 2000 Nielsen rating sweeps, surpassing Pokémon: Adventures on the Orange Islands among viewers aged 2–11 and 6–11. Retailers and businesses such as snack food company Jel Sert and toy store chain Toys "R" Us capitalized on the popularity of the series by licensing it for promotion with their own products. Web search engine Lycos listed Digimon as the number five fad of 2000, and it ranked 35th on the list of the year's top searches.

On Anime News Network, Luke Carroll gave the Digimon: Digital Monsters - Collection 2 DVD an overall grade of D+.