Digimon’s ORIGINAL Ending Was Perfect

0:00 In June, comicbook.com published an article titled, "25 years later, Digimon still has one of anime's best finales ever." It's a sentiment I completely agree with, and it had me going, "Dang, I wish I made that video." But as I read the article, I felt it didn't actually go over why the finale was so good, or at least not why I think it's so good. The author covers the climactic battle with Apocalypmon and everything that came after the finale, like 02, Try, Last Evolution, but the article doesn't dive into what I believe makes this finale brilliant. What's managed to live rent-ree in my head for the past 25 years are those final few minutes, the heartbreaking, beautiful farewell, the things we leave behind, the things we take forward with us. This is my review and analysis of the 25-year-old finale to Digimon Adventure 1999. The finale

0:46 starts by wrapping up the multi-ep episode battle with Apocon, a final boss entity that represents every challenge and obstacle the chosen children had to face prior to this. Their crests were taken from them in episode 53, theoretically stopping their Digimon from evolving to their highest forms. But in a the power was inside you all along moment, we discover the crests were never needed to dig evolve and that each of the kids' bonds with their Digimon is the source of their power. This final battle features a lot of recycled animation with the charges and attacks sort of looping in this void space Apocalypmon controls. Again, this battle is not what makes the finale special, and action was never what made Adventure 99 stand out. It was the story and the characters that made viewers care about this show back in the day and still now a quarter century later. Apocalypon is defeated when the kids

1:32 overcome their fears and recommmit to themselves and to each other. In Japanese, they yell something that translates roughly to, "We all have tomorrow waiting for us," which is this wonderful poetic response to the pre chorus lyric in Butterfly, the anime's opening, which goes, "I don't know what my plans for tomorrow are." 2020's last evolution Kisuna would go on to do something clever with referencing that lyric in its final few minutes. If you know, you know. But here in the spring of 2000, the original Digimon finale hit that rhyming couplet pretty flawlessly by giving the kids that line. We then return to a digital world that is saved, but that is not the same. Leon is not magically alive, nor is Piximon or anyone else we lost along the way. Because it's Digimon, reincarnation is of course at play, and we're comforted by the fact that Leon and others will

2:17 one day be reborn as baby Digimon. But still, this is a world where actions have consequences, where decisions were made that impacted the world and the characters. Speaking of baby Digimon, another great wink occurs in the primary village. Digi eggs are falling from the sky as life returns to the digital world. The one Kari holds is the first to hatch, and it's none other than a baby Bamon. This is the youngest form of Aguman, the one before Coramon. And this was the first Digimon Kari and Tai ever met in the Digimon Adventure short film by Mamuru Hoda, which predated the anime by about 1 week. The journey beginning with Kari watching a Bodmon hatch from an egg and ending with Akari watching Bodmon hatch from an egg is great. It's an example of something I love about Digimon Adventure, that the films we saw count. The adventure short film and our war game are canon events in the

3:03 adventure timeline. A retelling of Digimon Adventure that does not include those films is an incomplete one. With our group photo out of the way, the adrenaline and pure positivity of our victory finally fades. And it's here that we really get into this melancholic bittersweet farewell. For a brief few minutes, the kids contemplate staying in the digital world. There are four weeks left of summer vacation, after all, and time works differently in the digital world. One day in this world is only 1 minute in the human world. Izzy and Joe do the math and they realize they could stay for up to 110 years. And they really think about it. Are they really willing to live out a 100red years in this place? Even if their bodies didn't age, what would it mean to become an intellectual adult here? To grow old in the digital world? Jedi tells them that the eclipse in the sky is a limited time portal and the only guaranteed return

3:48 trip they've got. If they ever want to go home to their city, their families, their lives, it's time to go. They're given an estimation of less than 2 hours before the portal closes to say their goodbyes. And just like that, our purely happy ending is in jeopardy. Can we even call it a happy ending if we're separated? It doesn't seem right, and it doesn't seem fair. We cut to a series of one-on- ones, seeing how each of the pair spend their final few minutes together. The Digimon weren't the only characters to evolve throughout the series. Sora thanks Biamon for helping her better understand her mother. She used to think her mom was overprotective and always in her business, but Sora's desire to protect Bomon made her realize that must be how her mom feels about her. TK and Padamon wrap things up with a newfound faith that they will see each other again, just like they did after the Devimon battle. Matt, Tai, Kari, and the

4:35 others each have their heartfelt goodbyes. But the triumph of the episode is the last minute pivot. The decision to focus on Mimi and Palmon. Unlike the other kids who have spent their final hours with their Digimon, Mimi can't find Palmon and is terrified she'll miss their goodbye. The Geckon find Palmon hiding, crying alone, they remind her that there are only a few minutes left, and Palmon says she doesn't want to see Mimi. Not because they're fighting or anything, but because if they don't see each other, they never have to say goodbye. The denial is real to anyone who's ever had to leave summer camp, school, the end of a vacation, or a very special weekend. If I don't say goodbye, it's not over, right? The Gecko warned Palmon that one day she might regret not seeing Mimi off. And I love that it's the Gecko to break through to Palmon, not Aguman, Jedi, or anyone else. These are characters that Mimi and Palmon

5:21 directly impacted. And having been saved by that duo, the Gekkon know how tragic it would be if those two did not get a farewell. They want to help Mimi and Palmon like how Mimi and Palmon helped them. With only a few minutes left as the train departs, it's Mimi that the animation directors focus in on. The focus on Mimi in the final train scene is just perfect. In a simpler show with less empathetic writers, we would stick with Tai's POV for the farewell. He is, after all, ostensibly the main character and the focal point of much of the marketing. But knowing that viewers would be feeling all kinds of feelings in this finale, the show smartly shifts to Mimi, a character who has been far more open with her emotions, who is feeling a mix of relief, sadness, confusion, and more. In this moment, Tai is way in the back during these final shots. The writers aren't asking us to

6:07 be courageous like Tai right now. By shifting to Mimi, the show is giving viewers permission to feel something. They're allowing us to feel whatever we want. Then of course we get Palmon arriving at the last minute. Her mind seemingly changed by the Geckoon. Again in this scene it's Palmon and Mimi who are the focus, not Agamon or Tai or any other combination of characters. Palmon apologizes. Mimi forgives, thanks her. Palmon trips. Mimi's hat flies off and we get that music hit Butterfly in Japanese and Hey Digimon in English. I remember Hey Digimon giving me chills as a kid, but it's nothing compared to the butterfly needle drop in the Japanese version. The kids take nothing with them but the memories and lessons and they leave behind tiny parts of them. Mimi's hat, K's whistle to show how this world has been forever changed by them. As the episode fades out, we hear the ring of the Digivvice, the same noise that the

6:54 real world toys made, letting us associate our Digivvices with this fantastical journey. So that anytime we played with our virtual pets at home or on the playground, we'd think of our friends from the digital world. And when we grew up and added Digivvice coasters, necklaces, or tattoos to our collections, we'd think back to that strange summer vacation in the digital world. The fact Digimon chose to say goodbye when it did, only a year after premiering, took bravery and a dedication to storytelling. Series 1 could have been a forever story. The gang could have stayed in the digital world for another 4 weeks, another 100 plus years, but the show wanted to teach young viewers how to say goodbye. And on that note, I know we did get 02 after this. Try 15 years later, Last Evolution. and Kisuna and more in the modern era. I don't think any of the sequel material weakens the series 1

7:39 goodbye at all. This moment was about change, acceptance. Our characters aren't saying goodbye to the Digimon forever. They're saying goodbye to a moment in time, the last day of summer, the last day of vacation. Those Geckon reminded Palmon the importance of letting people know how you feel. Mimi's vulnerability let us put our guard down and think about what these characters meant to us. Nothing lasts forever. Change is the only permanent. Telling people how you feel while you still can is everything. It's a series finale I still think about 25 years later. And while Digimon would continue with plenty of series finale to follow and more future series on the way, I don't know if this finale can ever be topped. Thanks for listening to me ramble about a cartoon from when we were kids. Let me know what you thought about this finale when you first saw it. Whether you watched it live on Fox Kids or if you

8:25 experienced the story online later in life. If you happen to like my thoughts on Digital Monster stories, please subscribe to the channel. Also, I wrote my own monster taming story. Dod Revolution is my anime inspired novel with influences including Mega Man, NT Warrior, Metabots, and of course, Digimon. You can get it on Kindle, digital or paperback, for as cheap as $10. I did a reading of the first chapter on my second channel, and I'll link to all of this stuff in the video's description so you can check it out. Have a great week. Thanks for your patience, and I will see you in the next video.