An absolutely brilliant story disguised as a kid's show. If you are an adult, I highly recommend watching this show. It will remind you of what it was like to be a kid.
Digimon Tamers is a show with far too many overarching themes to be shoehorned as a particular type of show. It is a coming of age story; it shows the beauty of child-like innocence and the loss of it; it is a story about loss and grief; it is a story which raises environmental awareness; it is a story which poses extremely difficult questions such as what life matters and who decides the fate of those lives; and it is a story about destiny. There are too many themes prevalent in the show to name in this short review. I could write for hours about how good this show is. I will only talk about one important question raised from watching this show. I hope you can come up with more on your own after viewing.
What is life, how should life be respected, and who chooses which life deserves positive treatment? Tamers poses a very difficult question straight out of the gate. We are presented with these life forms and are told they are beneath humans. As the show progresses, we learn that they have intelligent thoughts and they can be our friends. However, because they are not made of physical matter, does it mean their pain is inconsequential? Yamaki, one of the first human characters we meet, uses this logic as reasoning to spread the belief that his actions are just. It relates a lot to how we treat animals. We convince ourselves they do not have personalities and feelings to justify our cruel actions towards them. Who decided that only cats and dogs deserve to live happy lives? It is the same with Digimon. They have the potential to be both friend and foe, but one bad egg shouldn't decide the fate of an entire species. This is but one philosophical question Digimon Tamers poses.
Of course, it would be foolish to write a review about an anime without mentioning the animation. The artwork itself is nice to look at. However, even taking into account the time it was produced (2001), the animation is not great. They clearly cut a lot of corners when it came to animating shots. Still, it is serviceable and you will get used to it after a while.
Despite this, the story is so well crafted it heavily outweighs any negatives present in the show - meaning I can only give it a 10/10. It is up there with shows such as 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' and 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' in the way it makes you think critically about important issues and events we will deal with in our lives. On top of that, the show is very funny. Just watch out for those surprise feels attacks. Oh, and *spoiler* (only reason I had to tick the spoiler box) this show has one of the best redemption arcs in modern storytelling. Not quite Zuko from ATLA good, but not too far off. Keep an eye on the red scarf! *end spoiler*
I hope this review encourages at least one person to watch Digimon Tamers. You won't regret it.
Digimon Tamers is a show with far too many overarching themes to be shoehorned as a particular type of show. It is a coming of age story; it shows the beauty of child-like innocence and the loss of it; it is a story about loss and grief; it is a story which raises environmental awareness; it is a story which poses extremely difficult questions such as what life matters and who decides the fate of those lives; and it is a story about destiny. There are too many themes prevalent in the show to name in this short review. I could write for hours about how good this show is. I will only talk about one important question raised from watching this show. I hope you can come up with more on your own after viewing.
What is life, how should life be respected, and who chooses which life deserves positive treatment? Tamers poses a very difficult question straight out of the gate. We are presented with these life forms and are told they are beneath humans. As the show progresses, we learn that they have intelligent thoughts and they can be our friends. However, because they are not made of physical matter, does it mean their pain is inconsequential? Yamaki, one of the first human characters we meet, uses this logic as reasoning to spread the belief that his actions are just. It relates a lot to how we treat animals. We convince ourselves they do not have personalities and feelings to justify our cruel actions towards them. Who decided that only cats and dogs deserve to live happy lives? It is the same with Digimon. They have the potential to be both friend and foe, but one bad egg shouldn't decide the fate of an entire species. This is but one philosophical question Digimon Tamers poses.
Of course, it would be foolish to write a review about an anime without mentioning the animation. The artwork itself is nice to look at. However, even taking into account the time it was produced (2001), the animation is not great. They clearly cut a lot of corners when it came to animating shots. Still, it is serviceable and you will get used to it after a while.
Despite this, the story is so well crafted it heavily outweighs any negatives present in the show - meaning I can only give it a 10/10. It is up there with shows such as 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' and 'Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood' in the way it makes you think critically about important issues and events we will deal with in our lives. On top of that, the show is very funny. Just watch out for those surprise feels attacks. Oh, and *spoiler* (only reason I had to tick the spoiler box) this show has one of the best redemption arcs in modern storytelling. Not quite Zuko from ATLA good, but not too far off. Keep an eye on the red scarf! *end spoiler*
I hope this review encourages at least one person to watch Digimon Tamers. You won't regret it.