I'm probably gonna be crucified for even suggesting this, but the original Adventure doesn't hold up. Maybe I don't have nostalgia goggles, maybe I have weird standards, but I feel like the first Digimon doesn't look good so many years later.
The more nitpicky ones:
The animation is very rough and there are times when I look at it and think "geez, did they not double check this". A lot of times characters look Off-Model, and while the backgrounds can look nice, it's awfully static, like a single painting was used and stuff was animated on top. The frame rates can be off, and there are many cases of Recycled Animation and padding, namely the evolutions.
The "Digimon Analyzer" moments, a big case of Show, Don't Tell. It's also another example of Recycled Animation, since they're shots we just saw being played again with a border around it.
The more serious issues:
The series doesn't have a primary focus really.
Before Vamdemon, it was just Monster of the Week who would at best be an ally later. And even with Vamdemon, the Monster of the Week serve no purpose but to show the partners power up. More importantly, the antagonists have nothing linking them together. Devimon, Etemon, and Vamdemon are all unrelated but all power crazy assholes. The Dark Masters were "allied" but largely solo. Apocalymon is practically a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere.
The overarching goal initially is to find a way home, but they accomplish that before even beating Vamdemon. Then its just the standard "save the world". No personal motivations, no character conflicts outside of Taichi and Yamato's forced fight towards the end, and even random moments like the "dark caves".
The relatively pointless side quests, like the search for the Crests. The Crests are pointless in retrospect with the reveal they're a conduit for the power in the Digidestined. What was even the point of hunting them then if the powers were already in the kids? Why didn't the kids just learn how to harness the crests to achieve Perfect level?
The cast:
The kids are alright, though Hikari coming in halfway limits her development here.
The Digimon are limited in development. Most are just Satellite Character for their partners, which is noticeable compared to later seasons.
The villains are mostly generic with little depth. Those that get depth either die relatively easily like Pumpmon & Gotsumon, or turn good like Ogremon.
While Adventure is alright, it really has more flaws upon looking back on it. Unpopular opinion, I feel like 02 and tri. are better than Adventure, tri. a little less, but I feel they have what Adventure lacks: development for both humans and Digimon, a connection between their villains, less side quests, comparatively less padding, and more consistent animation. So yeah, I'm probably gonna be lambasted if not crucified for daring to say negative things about the Sacred Cow, but fuck it, I don't care. I'm just saying my take on it.
Doesn't stand the test of time
I'm probably gonna be crucified for even suggesting this, but the original Adventure doesn't hold up. Maybe I don't have nostalgia goggles, maybe I have weird standards, but I feel like the first Digimon doesn't look good so many years later. The more nitpicky ones:
- The animation is very rough and there are times when I look at it and think "geez, did they not double check this". A lot of times characters look Off-Model, and while the backgrounds can look nice, it's awfully static, like a single painting was used and stuff was animated on top. The frame rates can be off, and there are many cases of Recycled Animation and padding, namely the evolutions.
- The "Digimon Analyzer" moments, a big case of Show, Don't Tell. It's also another example of Recycled Animation, since they're shots we just saw being played again with a border around it.
The more serious issues:- The series doesn't have a primary focus really.
- Before Vamdemon, it was just Monster of the Week who would at best be an ally later. And even with Vamdemon, the Monster of the Week serve no purpose but to show the partners power up. More importantly, the antagonists have nothing linking them together. Devimon, Etemon, and Vamdemon are all unrelated but all power crazy assholes. The Dark Masters were "allied" but largely solo. Apocalymon is practically a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere.
- The overarching goal initially is to find a way home, but they accomplish that before even beating Vamdemon. Then its just the standard "save the world". No personal motivations, no character conflicts outside of Taichi and Yamato's forced fight towards the end, and even random moments like the "dark caves".
- The relatively pointless side quests, like the search for the Crests. The Crests are pointless in retrospect with the reveal they're a conduit for the power in the Digidestined. What was even the point of hunting them then if the powers were already in the kids? Why didn't the kids just learn how to harness the crests to achieve Perfect level?
- The cast:
- The kids are alright, though Hikari coming in halfway limits her development here.
- The Digimon are limited in development. Most are just Satellite Character for their partners, which is noticeable compared to later seasons.
- The villains are mostly generic with little depth. Those that get depth either die relatively easily like Pumpmon & Gotsumon, or turn good like Ogremon.
While Adventure is alright, it really has more flaws upon looking back on it. Unpopular opinion, I feel like 02 and tri. are better than Adventure, tri. a little less, but I feel they have what Adventure lacks: development for both humans and Digimon, a connection between their villains, less side quests, comparatively less padding, and more consistent animation. So yeah, I'm probably gonna be lambasted if not crucified for daring to say negative things about the Sacred Cow, but fuck it, I don't care. I'm just saying my take on it.