Review of Digimon: The Movie (2000) by Richmond C — 01 Dec 2007

I saw this movie in Japanese on an international flight. There were no subtitles so I barely understood what the characters were saying, but it still had an odd effect of moving me to tears. It's easy to write Digimon off as garbage, especially because the US release is a cut up mish mash of 2 seperate movies with changed story and music, but really the original is great.

It is beautifully and inventively animated, with a simple heart rending plot that deals with abandonment issues while relating Digimon evolution to puberty and developement. The director, Mamoru Hosada, really understands how kids think.

This movie is probably the reason he was originally selected by Ghibli to direct Howl's Moving Castle (before Miyazaki stepped back in) and hand picked by Takeshi Murakami to direct his animated short Superflat Monogram.