Story

This movie is part of the Digimon Adventure franchise, which originated with a short film and TV series in 1999 and has grown to include several TV series, computer games and movies spinning off from the original.

The franchise is about seven ‘digidestined’ children, who’ve stumbled into a digital alternative reality where they make friends with some ‘Digimon’ (digital monsters). They learn that their Digimon friends can transform into beasts that fight other Digimon.

In Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna, the children are about to leave childhood behind. Tai (voice of Joshua Seth) is at university but is uncertain about what to do with his future. The other children are starting out in different directions, but they still get together when necessary to deal with rogue digimonsters that infiltrate the real world. When aurora borealis appears in the skies and people fall into comas around the world, the digidestined gang gets together to see what needs to be done.

An enigmatic US professor, Menoa Bellucci (voice of Erica Harlatcher), arrives with her assistant and tells them about a new Digimon called Eosmon, who’s stealing consciousness from digidestined children around the world. Tai and his friends are enlisted to fight Eosman and save the digidestined from this fate. The adventure takes a darker turn when they realise that as they age and enter adulthood, their ties with their Digimon are gradually weakened. In fact, the more they battle Eosmon with their Digimon, the weaker and weaker their connection becomes.

Not only is the world in peril, but Tai and his friends struggle to come to terms with growing up and losing their Digimon.

Themes

Loss of innocence; childhood; fantasy creatures; Japanese anime; epic battles; alternate realities; friendship

Violence

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna has frequent violence. For example:

• Scenes frequently show monster battles, which include explosions, lasers and combat.
• A video file shows two people kidnapped and tied up to chairs.
• Someone is shown tied up on the floor.
• Someone is shown holding a gun.

Sexual references

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna has some sexual references. For example, Tai is embarrassed when his Digimon discovers his collection of pornography. You can see that there are naked women on the front of the magazines.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna shows some use of substances. For example, the two main characters drink beer together in a tavern.

Nudity and sexual activity

None noted.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna: smartphones that look like iPhones.

Coarse language

None noted.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna is a complex story that will appeal to Digimon fans, especially those who’ve grown up as fans of the original 1999 TV series. In fact Digimon fans are likely to find this movie moving as well as enjoyable because of its focus on the inevitable loss of childhood innocence. But if you’re not familiar with the Digimon world, you might find the movie a little hard to follow, because there’s very little backstory.

Although there’s little in this movie to scare children, there are many monster fighting scenes, as well as some elements and themes that are too mature for children under 12 years.

The main messages from Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna are that you can’t stay in childhood forever, and that when you become an adult you must leave some things behind.

Values in this movie that you could reinforce with your children include bravery, maturity, compassion and teamwork.

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like the following:

• Sometimes people’s motives aren’t what they seem. In this movie, it’s hard for the gang to know whom to trust and who has their best interests in mind. How can we decide this for ourselves in real life?
• Is the digital world safe? When we become teenagers and get more access to the internet, how can we keep ourselves safe?