Eyesmon, and its later evolution of Orochimon, were both able to give the children and their partners a tough fight that required everyone working together and pushing themselves to their limits to win. However, when Eyesmon achieves its Mega form of Nidhoggmon, which should both be stronger than its previous forms and the strongest enemy they've encountered yet, it puts up far less of an impressive fight and is dispatched by Omegamon with little to no difficulty - possibly justified, due to Omegamon's overwhelming power, but still anticlimactic.
Millenniumon is similarly this. After being built up to for such a long time as the final threat for the heroes, he's beaten in two attacks from Goldramon and Magnadramon. Even Millenniumon turning into ZeedMillenniumon didn't help, as it went down again in a single Terra Force from WarGreymon, albeit one with energy pooled from all available allies. Lastly, it's not even the final enemy; it's Killed Off for Real in episode 50, leaving 17 episodes to wrap things up.
After a third of the series, fans started to get tired at the anime not having really advanced in its initial arc, which was dominated by the plot pattern of "evil Digimon causing computer disasters in the real world that must be averted by opportunely unlocking the Chosen Digimon's evolutions or modes, and/or maybe the power of teamwork, to defeat them." Similarly, the main villain of the arc, Devimon, had barely featured any scenes, goals or lines before being offed around the same point, and it took until Episode 31, which is the halfway mark of the series, to even know what is the source of attacks on the human world.
Another unpopular plot point that got stretched out to infinity was the number of times the show played the Party Scattering trope. Due to the show's slow start, the main characters didn't all come together until the eighth episode, and once they're finally together a repeated cycle of separation and reunion started to occur, with the kids getting split up, spending several episodes apart, finding each other again, only to get split up again just an episode or two later. It eventually reached the point where the group has spent significantly more episodes apart than they have as one team.
The first three episodes have some stellar animation in it, courtesy of some of Toei's best animators, including (but not limited to) Ryo Onishi, the lead animator behind similarly praised works like Dragon Ball Super: Broly. However, even afterwards, the show maintains a consistently quality production with occasional impressive scenes that match the glamour of the first three, most impressively maintaining the classic aesthetic with more modern animation techniques, despite the rather detailed Digimon that make up the cast.
Special credit goes to Ryo Onishi's Greymon and Garurumon evolution sequences, blending digital 3-D animation effects and models with 2-D linework with a wonderful pace to create the most exciting and dynamic versions of these evolutions to date. Fans are hoping these sequences are given to the other Digidestined's Digimon eventually, and that further evolutions are given just as much flair.
This hope is becoming partly true, as MetalGreymon was given a downright beautiful transformation BANK animation sequence in episode 12, with a special visual of Machinedramon apparently imbuing power to Greymon in the start. With WereGarurumon following episode 13 with another spectacle evolution, fans are rest assured that at least the Agumon/Gabumon lines will get top notch evolutions.
At Episode 30, the WarGreymon evolution is considered one of the most fluid animations. Fans hope that the others can get similar treatment.
MetalGreymon's appearance and battle with MetalTyrannomon was beautifully animated by Naoki Tate and Yuu Yoshiyama, demonstrating a good balance of these mechanical tyrants using both signature moves and bodily combat. Special mention goes to the impact frames of the battle, including a lovely easter egg of Tai's Crest of Courage flashing when MetalGreymon uses Trident Arm.
AtlurKabuterimon's debut episode was given a lot of animated flair compared to other episodes in the Perfect Level arc, even above MetalGreymon's starring episode. With a clean Perfect evolution sequence, impressive animation when Tai and Mimi battle the Kuwagamon, and the rather nice climatic battle with Okuwamon, fans even claimed this episode wasn't too far away from the quality of the first three episodes, which is saying something.
Episode 24 was the long desired return to theatrical quality previously seen in the first 3 episodes, ripe full of impressive animation all throughout, with a long final battle against Devimon's Ultimate form, DoneDevimon and the glorious introduction of Agumon's two Ultimate forms, Machinedramon and WarGreymon. The fight is long and brutal, and awe inducing, with fans even regarding it as the best fight in the franchise so far, thanks to the dedication and skills of Naoki Tate, Ryo Onishi, and Takeru Shinozuka.
Pegasmon's debut episode was an unexpected jump in quality, with Naotoshi Shida returning to animate a pleasantly dynamic sequence where the team battles a giant Cerberumon.
Lilymon's updated evolution sequence by Shida puts the animator's vast experience in animating shows like Precure to good use, adapting the old evolution sequence from the original series into a very dynamic and flashy transformation.
Episode 50 is argued to be the best animated episode thus far, even surpassing the initial 3. This is in no small part due to numerous animators, including Onishi, providing a stellar, smooth kaiju scale battles where many stray hits leave entire countries in ruins and flames. Special note to the beginning of the episode, where WarGreymon evades the claws of an immeasurably larger Millenniumon in a dynamic sequence not unlike the scale of many mecha series such as Gurren Lagann.
Awesome Music: Regardless of other aspects of show, its soundtrack has been consistently praised as excellent, with enough great themes to deserve its own article.
Episode 6 has a baffling scene where Drimogemon throws Palmon off by suddenly getting buff. Drimogemon has absolutely never shown that power before, nobody reacts to it as if it was something unusual, and it is swept aside afterwards.
Episode 38 has a scene where the Monster of the Week starts chanting an evil spell that paralyzes everyone. Joe then pulls out his school book and starts reciting historical facts and the first 42 numbers of Pi... and that somehow creates a positive wave that nullifies the spell and saves everyone, while leaving Joe as if he achieved some sort of Buddhist enlightenment. This is clearly a reference to Joe's encounter with Bakemon in the original Adventure, where he weakened the ghost by reciting a Buddhist chant that also had to do with his studying, but if watched without said knowledge in mind, the whole plot point in 2020 has no explanation to its bizarreness.
Several of the partner Digimon have had alternative evolutions throughout the series, but only one of them ever made more than a single appearance - Pegasmon, and was justified through Patamon's inability to become Angemon in his weakened state following his rebirth.
Broken Base: The series' status as an Actionized Adaptation, with how it focuses a lot more on the lore and Digimon battles rather than the development of the Chosen Children. Does it make this series one of the better ones for getting to show off the Digimon in action better than ever before, or one of the worse ones due to dulling down the characterization for the cast, something that's usually well-praised for in Digimon, in exchange?
Common Knowledge: The symbol after the colon in the title has been mistaken for the psi letter based on early unclear scans. In reality, the symbol is merely the new series' Digivice with Omegamon's helmet in the middle, meant to represent a "new Digimon Adventure" when tied with the colon. In spite of this, many believe that the anime's title is Digimon Adventure: Psi.
The sight of Joe lounging in an hot springs while (inadvertently) sharing the bath with a cadre of Digimon who look like old, bald, burly humans with Gay Bravado. As if the joke wasn't still nasty enough, the place's next appearances have Joe being subjected to Naughty Tentacles.
During the race between Machmon and Garurumon, the girls of the Chosen Children and their Digimon are shown acting as cheerleaders with pink flower dresses... which a very embarrassed Takeru is also wearing, wondering why he has to do it too. While only superficially funny by itself, with The New '10s' awareness about imposed gender dynamics, this scene becomes a particular strain of Black Comedy.
Most of the plot of Episode 53, not coincidentally related to the hot springs from the first point, where TonosamaGekomon falls in love with Gomamon and treats him as his wife in a series of increasingly creepy, yet hilarious, shenanigans.
Evil Is Cool: Devimon, who in contrast to his original self manages to be a massive threat to the Digital World at large. He is charismatic enough to command an army of diehard members, several of which are above his level, is powerful enough to face down and overwhelm two Perfect Levels by himself before Digivolving twice, and has a dangerous obsession with Angemon, whom he wants to corrupt and bring to his side rather than destroy. With more personality, brass, and grandeur than any previous version of the character, Devimon generally hails closer to the original's Myotismon in terms of impact and memorability. So much so that he gets to come back two arcs later, and not as a clone, but as himself.
Fanfic Fuel: The eight pairs of human and Digimon living in the human world.
Fanon: Many fans believe that the Nyokimon that hatches in Episode 58 in Petaldramon's forest is the reincarnated Petaldramon himself as it would bring Kari and Gatomon's protection of the forest full circle.
Due to the series' rather confusing naming, many viewers in need of a quick name for it have settled down for either Digimon 2020 or Digimon Adventure 2020 (which is the form used in this very wiki). Some go even further and call it Digimon Adventure Colon, due to the fact the series' title officially includes it.
Goddramon is also known as Chaddramon for it's top heavy design, bulging muscle, bristly beard, enormous power and penchant for punching it's opponents square in the face.
Genius Bonus: When AtlurKabuterimon grips Calmaramon's tentacle and pulls at it, he taunts her about testing their respective strengths (chikara). In the series, AtlurKabuterimon has a theme of Sumo Wrestling, and an ancient name for the earlier forms of sumo was precisely "test of strength" (chikara kurabe).
The fact Machinedramon appeared in the background of the MetalGreymon digivolution sequence led many to believe that it would be a dark digivolution for Agumon. In episode 24, they were proven correct.
There were those who realized that the title for episode 32, Soaring Hope was going to be way more than a reference to Pegasmon. Sure enough, guess who shows up in the episode as Patamon's alternate Adult-level evolution to Angemon!
In the Digivice: toy linked with this anime series, amongst other things, the presence of BlitzGreymon, CresGarurumon and Holydramon as alternative Ultimates for Agumon, Gabumon and Tailmon (alongside the aforementioned Patamon>Pegasmon, and the jogress form of the former two, Omegamon Alter-S) made many suspect that the aforementioned three would appear in the series with the same roles. As of episode 36, this is seemingly confirmed with the introduction of BlitzGreymon as an alternative Ultimate for Agumon.
This would later be fully confirmed all the way. Holydramon appears in Episode 50, and CresGarurumon appears in Episode 56, as alternative Ultimates for Tailmon and Gabumon respectively. And in the final episode, Episode 67, Omegamon Alter-S would finally make an appearance for the final battle.
The initial use of Omegamon at Episode 3 was seen as both a homage to Our War Game to kick off the new series and A Taste of Power for the main lead characters and thus wasn't seen with much ire, especially thanks to the excellent animation. Then Episode 18 chooses to simply recycle the exact same plot beats again, but far more rushed, far less satisfying, and with far less impressive animation. Due to this poor usage of the character, Omegamon is seen as a reoccurring Deus ex Machina and a vehicle for nostalgia rather than the ultimate fan-favorite he once was. This is made worse by how Last Evolution Kizuna similarly paid homage to Our War Game around the same time in similar ways.
Just Here for Godzilla: Thanks to the huge amounts of new Digimon, new and old, iconic and obscure, expected and unexpected, and some finally getting an animated appearance, many people tend to become attracted to this series in order to see all sorts of stuff be brought into the Digimon anime.
Memetic Badass: Despite being nowhere as relevant as the one from the original Adventure, Leomon's popularity (and infamy) gradually increased throughout the series out of not only successfully taking out an Ultimate offscreen, but racking up a survival streak that eventually became the longest of any prolific Leomon/lion Digimon in the series and included living through the finale.
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Mimi, who while easily the most polarizing of the original Digi Destined children in the original series who gained most of her popularity in subsequent series, is more widely liked here for being a lot less bratty and is instead widely considered one of the most popular of the Digi Destined children in this iteration. One major example of this is the arc where Mimi ends up with an entire castle, where the original Mimi became a bratty princess the reboot Mimi became their Benevolent Boss.
Special Effect Failure: While this is to be expected of a series running weekly for over sixty episodes and disregarding the show's escalating stakes/cast on top of maintaining an increasingly complex art style, the series received some backlash for how many later episodes look in comparison to the theatrical quality animation of the first three episodes. It should be noted that many of the best animators also have work in many other Toei anime such as One Piece: Wano Country and Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai, with Adventure: itself being a mostly outsourced production, so the show looking as good as it does is rather impressive. Of course, certain big episodes like Episodes 24, 30, 50, and 67 are obviously exempt from this.
Tainted by the Preview: The fact it's yet another Digimon Adventure work, produced right after the divisive Digimon Adventure tri. and its sequel movie, irked some Digimon fans at the previews, causing accusations of nostalgia pandering being thrown around too frequently at the cost of any new content for the franchise. As such, there's the extended opinion that, if it had happened in place of tri a few years back, there would have been much more enthusiasm and hype about it, regardless of how the product eventually turned out. Even detractors of tri. themselves, who should have been approving of a series that doesn't mark the original's continuity and in turn keeps its art style and overall story, tend to believe that the 2020 anime might have come around just too late to fix things.
The series' fixation on battles over story or characters proved rather contentious with the fandom, as most episodes are invested only in showcasing high-stake fights and making the cast attain levels as soon as possible, all while leaving little space for the character development and worldbuilding that marked the original Adventure. While there were hints that those aspects would be compensated in the future, this never really happened, causing the perception that the series allows itself to be lazy due to its reboot status, taking advantage of the fact that many viewers are already familiar with the characters and setting in order to avoid going through the effort to (re)build those.
To the displeasure of a number of people, Agumon and Gabumon are the only Digimon who get proper evolution sequences. In previous series, everybody's evolution sequences followed the same structure, but now the Digimon apart from the aforementioned duo are just relegated to barely a dozen seconds with nary a dynamic effect. Complaints of Protagonist Power-Up Privileges extending to even this aspect ran rampant. Somewhat rectified in the Perfect Level Arc as every character got a decent to amazing transformation, though again, only Agumon and Gabumon would receive the stylized sequences animated by Ryo Onishi.
A common criticism by many for the reboot is the decision to make most enemy Digimon silent. While some at the beginning of the original were depicted as wild animals, later villains did have henchmen capable of speech, not to mention most of the arc villains having strong personalities. Here virtually every week-to-week villain says nothing even if they clearly have greater intelligence, which can make them come across as almost no different from what the heroes fought last episode. This even extends to some major villains: Eyesmon, a Digimon crucial to the plot, isn't given any dialogue despite having a fairly long fight by this series' standards. It’s only much later in the series, in the second half, that some of the minor villains such as Gogmamon and especially Oppossumon engage in verbal back and forth with the Chosen. However, Millenniumon itself is also equally as silent, which is in stark contrast to just about every other final villain in Digimon that at least talked somewhat. Even the true final villain, Negamon, says squat. Negamon flat out doesn't even have a voice actor, with Algomon serving as his mouth piece.
It took 51 episodes (basically the length of the entire original show) before the reboot did anything plot related to acknowledge the Crests, which were absolutely instrumental to the plot in the old Adventure. And as a further kick in the teeth, it used them in a way that brought back the Party Scattering trope that blighted the first half of the reboot.
This series adds a number of new evolutions for the partner Digimon. This in itself isn't a bad thing as it potentially should help keep things fresh, in practice it helped bog down the series' pace considerably as almost all of these forms get a focus episode and most of these are not big plot or character events. This means more than half of this almost 70 episode series is structured around introducing new forms, most of which are only seen in that episode. The only exception is Pegasusmon.
When the dub was announced, it revealed it would recast everyone, true to the original Japanese. Some fans did not take this well. While it was expected for several characters for one reason or another, many found it disappointing that Joshua Seth, who had returned to the role of Tai Kamiya for Digimon Adventure Tri after retiring from voice acting to focus on his career as a stage magician, would not reprise his role considering that many associate Joshua Seth's Tai as the voice of Digimon as a whole.
The very Chosen Children and their Digimon partners are perceived to be this, as it is felt that, unlike the original Adventure, this series features little significant Character Development and barely touches upon the characters' personalities and dynamics beyond episodic plots that are ultimately non-consequential.
Millenniumon throughout Digimon properties carries many themes and deep connections with the characters, ranging from being the force that passes the torch between generations to representing an unyielding fear of loss and living with unfavorable circumstances. They are also noted for being a fusion between two distinct hybrid Digimon, an organic and a mechanical one, and warping reality simply out of a need for security or adoration, all while being a nightmarish deity. Then, this series opts to entirely relegate the Digimon to that last part, simply being an evil that has existed for a long time and merely representing the darkness of the past that needs to be killed for good, and is fully destroyed in a single episode upon being born.
BlitzGreymon and CresGarurumon. These two forms were introduced to the Digimon roster in 2017 and were immediate fan favorites, the former being the ranged-focused Virus counterpart and the latter being the near opposite — melee-focused Data counterpart — for their respective Ultimate/Mega Level forms, which are the most popular ones in the franchise, who then combine into the very cool Omegamon Alter-S. Many fans expected them to be introduced as the new final evolutions in Last Evolution before the reveal of the Kizuna forms. Thus introducing them into the series as alternative evolutions gained in unique circumstances seems like a home run that would open a lot of story possibilities (e.g. Agumon, having already one viral Mega form he can't control now has one he can). In practice however, the forms are one-shots and no more significant to the plot than any other single episode character. BlitzGreymon shows up almost randomly during a fairly insignificant Izzy episode, holds back some minor enemies and hasn't been seen since. CresGarurumon appears in a more central role but again disappears from the show. The issue is compounded by the fact both episodes featured lower quality animation, meaning their fights were distinctly underwhelming and while CresGarurumon gets a very nice evolution sequence, BlitzGreymon gets an extremely cheap one that does not present him in a flattering light. Rather than being presented as cool additions, they felt like they were just thrown in to an already stuffed roster of evolutions.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: The many episodes in which the children are split up could have been used to explore personal story arcs or relationships between certain characters, but the show instead kept investing the time in fights and battles rather than character focus.
Joe's infamous focus on his studies over saving the world(s) strikes again, but this time is elaborated on much earlier than his appearance in Digimon Adventure tri. His debut episode shows that he is revealed to be studying for an exam that is taking place next year right in the middle of the summer camp. He even spends the majority of his time in the Digital World studying and is only worried about failing his entrance exams instead of being trapped in another world. Around this time, the entirety of Tokyo is suffering from a power failure. In Japan, the pressure to excel often takes up priority, often to an unhealthy level. This even becomes a running gag about him.
Western viewers might be at least a bit surprised to see the eight-year-old Hikari and Takeru (and the eleven-year-old Taichi) sharing an onsen in Episode 53, as in the west, contexts where children of a certain age are expected to be nude are usually sex-segregated just like adults. In Japanese culture, different standards about children's nudity and sexuality apply; while modern bathhouses also separate children by sex, having a boy and a girl their age using the same bath in a given circumstance would be still considered innocent and harmless, while Tai would also get pass for being her brother.
