Digimon Adventure

Digimon Adventure
Digimon Adventure (デジモンアドベンチャー, Dejimon Adobenchā?) (1999) is the first season of the anime saga Digimon: Digital Monsters. Its premise involves a group of boys and girls being whisked to a parallel reality called the Digital World while at summer camp. They were taken there because they were chosen to become DigiDestined, the children that would save the Digital World (along with Earth near the end of the series) from the evil forces that threatened to destroy it. Each of the children received a Digimon partner who was preprogrammed to be bonded to them, as well as miniature devices called Digivices. With the power of the Digivices, their Digimon partners could become stronger forms to battle enemies or save their partners from danger.

The season is contiuned with the same characters in Digimon Adventure 02.

Plot summary
Traveling to the Digital World was an experience that left the children bewildered. Their Digimon partners were suddenly thrust upon them, as well as the concept of having the Digimon Digivolve, a process by which they transform into stronger creatures to fend off enemy Digimon. But they also digivolve when they run low on strength. Thus, the children had to learn how to be DigiDestined as they went along.

Soon they learned of the Digital World's plight, that evil Digimon intent on ruling it for themselves. They vowed to save it in spite of missing the life they had left behind. The DigiDestined promised to save Digital World because they saw that Digimon, though made of data, were as intelligent as humans. They did not want them to suffer; furthermore, it was demonstrated to them that no one else could defeat the Digital World's enemies.

Digimon Adventure was originally supposed to be 13 episodes, as Toei Animation was not sure how popular it would become. As the ratings and popularity grew, it was extended to 54 episodes. This fact is apparent with episode 13 when Devimon is defeated and the aftermath of such.

As the plot evolved, the children dealt with various aspects of maturity: making friends, being courageous, standing for one's morals, etcetera. Each child was given an object called a "Crest" that embodied a particular personality trait that they had to demonstrate to get their partners to Digivolve to a higher level. Tai Kamiya possessed the trait of Courage; Matt Ishida, Friendship; Sora Takenouchi, Love; Mimi Tachikawa, Sincerity (Purity in Japanese); Izzy Izumi, Knowledge; Joe Kido, Reliability (Faith in Japanese); and T.K. Takaishi, Hope. It is later revealed that at the time they were chosen to become the DigiDestined (during the Greymon versus Parrotmon fight when they were only at least 7-8 (except T.K and Kari who were at least 4-5)) that these traits were the strongest good trait within their personality. Tai was always courageous when he had to be. Matt was always a good friend. Izzy was even then very knowledgable. Joe was highly reliable. Sora was genuinely loving and caring towards everyone (to say that her crest of love is love at the level of compassion (the ability to care for others)). Mimi was sincere about what she thought (positive and/or negative). T.K was one who always was hopeful and never willing to give up and Kari was just genuinely good and always wanted to do what was right (standing for the light which represents all that is good and right).

Eventually, evil Digimon began crossing a dimensional gate from the Digital World to enter Earth. The DigiDestined and their partners followed. Specifically, they landed in Odaiba, Japan, the children's home town. As the DigiDestined battled on Earth, they were joined by an eighth member, Kari Kamiya, Tai's sister and carrier of the trait of Light. While this was happening, a group of four Mega level Digimon called the Dark Masters besieged the Digital World. Once things were taken care of on Earth, the eight DigiDestined returned to the Digital World once again in order to defeat the Dark Masters one by one, and eventually their ultimate enemy, Apocalymon, the Digimon who made of all the evil Digimon the DigiDestined had previously destroyed. When Apocalymon was defeated, the children went back to the Real World, leaving their Digimon partners behind. (They were reunited with their Digimon in the movie "Our War Game!".)

The series was highly regarded and garnered millions of viewers. It became one of the largest anime exported out of Japan, along with Sailor Moon, Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z.

Characters

The English version of Digimon Adventure was somewhat unique at the time it was dubbed. Most anime dubbed in the 1990s changed the names of characters and locales for the sake of localization. In Digimon, however, most names of the DigiDestined remained unchanged or were shortened to Americanized nicknames. Some Digimon names were modified into English equivalents, and in rare cases to Japanese equivalents.

The eight DigiDestined children are listed first, followed by their Digimon partners.