Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!
{{short description|2000 anime film}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!
| image = Digimon Our War Game.jpg
| alt = Film poster
| caption = Film poster
| native_name = {{Infobox Japanese
| kanji = デジモンアドベンチャー ぼくらのウォーゲーム!
| revhep = Dejimon Adobenchā Bokura no Wō Gēmu!
| l = Digimon Adventure: Children's War Game!
}}
| director = Mamoru Hosoda
| producer = Hiromi Seki
| writer = Reiko Yoshida
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on = {{based on|Digimon|Akiyoshi Hongo}}
| starring = {{unbulleted list|Toshiko Fujita|Chika Sakamoto|Yūto Kazama|Mayumi Yamaguchi}}
| narrator =
| music = Takanori Arisawa
| cinematography = Motoi Takahashi
| editing = Sinichi Fukumitsu
| studio = Toei Animation
| distributor = Toei
| released = {{film date|2000|3|4}}
| runtime = 40 minutes
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese
| budget =
| gross = ¥2.16 billion
}}
{{nihongo|Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!|デジモンアドベンチャー ぼくらのウォーゲーム!|Dejimon Adobenchā Bokura no Wō Gēmu!|lead=yes}}, also known as Digimon Adventure: Children's War Game!, is a 2000 Japanese anime short film directed by Mamoru Hosoda and produced by Toei Animation. A part of the Digimon media franchise, Our War Game is a sequel to the 1999–2000 anime television series Digimon Adventure and is the second Digimon film overall. The film premiered in Japan on March 4, 2000 as part of the Toei Anime Fair (being screened alongside One Piece: The Movie); in North America, portions of Our War Game were included in the 2000 film Digimon: The Movie. Hosoda has cited Our War Game! as a major influence on his 2009 film Summer Wars, with critics noting numerous similarities between the films. The events of the film take place after Digimon Adventure.
Plot
Following the return of the DigiDestined from the Digital World,{{efn|As depicted in Digimon Adventure.}} Izzy discovers a corrupted Digimon on the Internet that grows by consuming data. He rushes over to Tai's apartment, where they observe its consumption disrupt computer systems across Japan. Tai and Izzy are contacted by their Digimon partners Agumon and Tentomon from the Digital World; they battle the corrupted Digimon, but are defeated.
With the local PSTN crashed, Tai and Izzy attempt to contact the other DigiDestined by an emergency voicemail system, but most of the DigiDestined are unavailable. Fortunately, they are able to contact Matt and T.K., who are visiting their grandmother in rural Shimane. Matt and T.K.'s Digimon partners Gabumon and Patamon join the fight, but are quickly defeated by the enemy.
The enemy Digimon, having evolved into Diaboromon, creates thousands of duplicates of itself and hacks The Pentagon to launch an LGM-118 Peacekeeper missile aimed at an unknown target. Izzy deduces that Diaboromon is playing a guessing game, where by defeating the original Diaboromon, the missile won't activate its fuse. Upon entering the area with thousands of Diaboromon, WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon are overwhelmed by their attacks, not helped by them being slowed down as a result of thousands of e-mails being sent to Tai and Izzy by other children observing the battle on their computers around the world.
Desperate, Tai and Matt magically enter their computers, and rally their Digimon to jointly evolve into Omnimon and defeat the duplicates. With only mere seconds left until the missile hits, Izzy forwards the thousands of emails to the original Diaboromon, slowing him enough to be defeated by Omnimon. With Diaboromon vanquished, the disarmed missile crashes harmlessly into Tokyo Bay.
Cast
{{See also|List of Digimon Adventure characters}}
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! colspan="2" |Character name ! colspan="3" |Voice actor |
| rowspan="2" width="20%" | Japanese
! rowspan="2" width="20%" | English ! rowspan="2" width="20%" | Japanese{{cite AV media |people=Hosoda, Mamoru (director) and Yoshida, Reiko (writer) |date=March 4, 2000 |title=Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! |medium=film |language=Japanese}} ! colspan="2" width="40%" | English |
|---|
| {{small|Fox Family Worldwide/Saban (2000)}} !{{small|Sound Cadence/Discotek |
| scope="row" |Taichi Yagami
! scope="row" |Taichi "Tai" Kamiya |colspan="2"|Joshua Seth |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Sora Takenouchi
|colspan="2"|Colleen O'Shaughnessey |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Yamato "Matt" Ishida
|colspan="2"|Michael Reisz |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Koshiro "Izzy" Izumi
|colspan="2"|Mona Marshall |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Mimi Tachikawa
|Elsie Lovelock |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Takeru "T.K." Takaishi
| colspan="2"|Wendee Lee |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Joe Kido
|Eli Farmer |
| scope="row" |Hikari Yagami
! scope="row" |Kari Kamiya |colspan="2"|Lara Jill Miller |
| scope="row" rowspan="4"|Agumon
! scope="row" |Agumon |rowspan="4"|Chika Sakamoto |colspan="2"|Tom Fahn |
| scope="row" |Greymon
|rowspan="2"|Bradley Gareth |
| scope="row" |MetalGreymon |
| scope="row" |WarGreymon
|colspan="2"|Lex Lang |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Gabumon
|colspan="2"|Kirk Thornton |
| scope="row" |Piyomon
! scope="row" |Biyomon |Atori Shigematsu |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Tentomon
|colspan="2"|Jeff Nimoy |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Palmon
|Shihomi Mizowaki |colspan="2"|Anna Garduno |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Gomamon
|colspan="2"|R. Martin Klein |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Patamon
|colspan="2"|Laura Summer |
| scope="row" |Tailmon
! scope="row" |Gatomon |Yuka Tokumitsu |colspan="2"|Edie Mirman |
| scope="row" |TV Announcer
! scope="row" |Newsman |rowspan="2"|Jason Marnocha |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Gennai |
| scope="row" |Taichi's Mother
! scope="row" |Yuuko Kamiya |{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Dorothy Elias-Fahn |
| scope="row" |Sora's Mother
! scope="row" |Toshiko Takenouchi |{{N/A}} |Elizabeth Rice |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Grocery Girl |{{N/A}} |Tifanie Christun |Marissa Lenti |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Chisato (Birthday Girl)
|{{N/A}} |Tifanie Christun |Madeline Dorroh |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Noriko (Party Girl 1)
|{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Wendee Lee |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Kinu (Matt and T.K.’s Grandmother)
|{{N/A}} |Philece Sampler |Elsie Lovelock |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Female Shopper 2A |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Female Shopper 2B |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |Molly Zhang |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Older Brother 2A |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Little Brother 2A |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |Molly Zhang |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Phone Operators |{{N/A}} |Edie Mirman {{small|(Recorded Operator)}} Bob Buchholz {{small|(Voice Mail Operator)}} |Edie Mirman {{small|(Recorded Operator)}} |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Male Neighbor 2A |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |R. Martin Klein |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Female Neighbor 2A |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Male Elderly Neighbor 2B |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Sho (Uncle Al/Andy)
|{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Bob Buchholz |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Floyd |{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Jeff Nimoy |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Elderly Husband 2A (Barney) |{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Jeff Nimoy |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Yasuko (Aunt Bea)
|{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Anna Garduno |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row"|Professor |{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Neil Kaplan |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Kuramon
|{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Brianne Siddall |
| scope="row" colspan="2"|Diaboromon
|{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Paul St. Peter |
| scope="row" colspan="2" |Miko
|{{N/A}} |colspan="2"|Michael Sorich |
| scope="row" {{N/A}}
! scope="row" |Yolei Inoue |colspan="2" {{N/A}} |Jessica Peterson |
Kayleigh McKee, Valory Pierce, Michelle Marie, Peggy O'Neal, Clifford Chapin, Mark Allen Jr., Alexis Tipton, Molly Zhang, R. Martin Klein, Bryce Papenbrook, Tom Fahn, and Eli Farmer provide additional voices in Discotek's dub.
Production
Our War Game was directed by Mamoru Hosoda, written by Reiko Yoshida, and produced by Toei Animation. It is the second of two Digimon movies directed by Hosoda, following 1999's Digimon Adventure. Hosoda was given both Digimon films to direct by the company after he expressed a desire to make movies. Hosoda pitched two plots for the film: a road movie inspired by Midnight Run in which Kamiya and an original character travel to Okinawa, and a WarGames-inspired film in which the protagonist saves the world without leaving their home. Toei selected the latter concept. In early drafts of the script, Our War Game focused on a plot where the Year 2000 problem was caused by a Digimon. Hosoda stated that he wished to use the film to make the problem more understandable for children, but later abandoned the concept, believing the film would become dated after the year 2000 had passed; references to the Year 2000 problem nonetheless appear in some promotional materials for the film.
Constrained by the 40 minute runtime of Our War Game and seeking to make a film less serious than Digimon Adventure, Hosoda created Our War Game as a "childish, simple story where you just have to enjoy the thrill." Noting that he "couldn't make a great emotional story" in 40 minutes, he narrowed the focus of the film from the television anime series' ensemble cast of eight characters and their Digimon partners to just four core characters {{ndash}} Kamiya, Ishida, Izumi, and Takaishi. Inspired by the 1994 film Speed, he structured the film around a countdown to add suspense, with the events of the film occurring approximately in real time.
The film's soundtrack is composed by Takanori Arisawa, who composed the soundtrack for the Digimon television anime series.{{cite magazine |title=「デジモンアドベンチャー０２」歌と音楽集Ｖｅｒ．１ |url=https://www.billboard-japan.com/goods/detail/1424 |magazine=Billboard Japan |access-date=27 August 2020 |language=ja}} Maurice Ravel's Boléro and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" are used as motifs, the latter of which was included by Hosoda as a reference to its use in the bomb run scene in Dr. Strangelove. The insert song "Requiem", which is sung during the climax by The Little Singers of Tokyo, is a revision of "Pie Jesu", a traditional Catholic hymn. "Butter-Fly" by Kōji Wada is used as the film's opening theme song, while "Sakuhin No. 2 "Haru" I Chōchō ~ Bokura no War Game!" by AiM is used as the ending theme.{{cite web |title=「春」イ長調 |url=https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/229849/products/165057/1/ |website=Oricon |access-date=20 August 2020 |language=ja}} The film's soundtrack is included on the album Digimon Adventure 02 Uta to Ongaku Shū Ver.1.{{cite web |title=Digimon Adventure 02 Uta to ongaku shu Ver.1 |url=https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NECA-30024 |website=CD Japan |access-date=20 August 2020}}
Release
Our War Game was released in theaters in Japan on March 4, 2000. The film was released on the same day as One Piece: The Movie as part of the Spring 2000 Toei Anime Fair; limited edition Digimon Carddass cards were included with advance ticket purchases for the film.{{cite web |title=新世紀を切り開く２０００年春東映アニメフェア |url=https://www.toei-anim.co.jp/movie/2000_spring/index.html |website=Toei Animation |access-date=20 August 2020 |language=ja}} The film grossed a total of ¥2.16 billion at the box office.
The film was released on VHS for rental on July 14, 2000, and for purchase on November 21, 2000. A DVD collecting Our War Game and the 1999 film Digimon Adventure was released on October 13, 2000 for rental,{{cite web |title=デジモン DVD |url=https://www.ob.aitai.ne.jp/~nitoro/digimon-dvd.htm#DRTD-02003 |access-date=20 August 2020 |language=ja}} and on January 21, 2001 for purchase.{{cite web |title=Digimon Adventure |url=https://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/DSTD-2003 |website=CD Japan |access-date=20 August 2020}} The film was released for free on YouTube from March 22 to April 16, 2018,{{cite web |last1=Miyahara |first1=Rei |title=ねとらぼ |url=https://nlab.itmedia.co.jp/nl/articles/1803/22/news129.html |website=Search Results Web Result with Site Links ねとらぼ |access-date=20 August 2020 |language=ja |date=22 March 2018}} and on Bandai Channel from May 3 to May 9, 2020.{{cite web |title=劇場版デジモン6作品を無料配信、「ぼくらのウォーゲーム！」「暴走デジモン特急」など |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/376689 |website=Comic Natalie |access-date=20 August 2020 |language=ja |date=24 April 2020}}
In North America, footage from Our War Game was edited with footage from the films Digimon Adventure (1999) and Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Landing!! / Transcendent Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (2000) to create Digimon: The Movie, which was released in theaters on October 6, 2000.{{cite web |last1=Aitchison |first1=Sean |title=The Weird History of Digimon: The Movie's Banger Soundtrack |url=https://www.fanbyte.com/features/digimon-movie-soundtrack/ |website=Fanbyte |access-date=20 August 2020 |date=2 April 2019}}
In July 2023, Discotek Media announced plans to release both Digimon: The Movie and the individual films. The films were given new English dubs featuring surviving members of the original cast, including Joshua Seth, Michael Reisz, Mona Marshall and Lara Jill Miller, as well as newly cast members.{{cite web|title=Discotek to Release 3 Digimon Films With New Uncut English Dub Featuring Classic Cast |url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-07-29/discotek-to-release-3-digimon-films-with-new-uncut-english-dub-featuring-classic-cast/.200803|publisher=Anime News Network|date=July 29, 2023|access-date=July 29, 2023}} It was released on December 17, 2024.{{cite web | url=https://collider.com/digimon-movies-blu-ray-original-dub-cast/ | title=The First Three 'Digimon' Movies Are Coming to Blu-Ray in a New Set | website=Collider | date=14 September 2024 }}
Reception and legacy
In Anime Impact: The Movies and Shows that Changed the World of Japanese Animation, critic Geoffrey G. Thew assesses Our War Game favorably. He notes that the theatrical release Our War Game immediately preceded the release of the 2000 television anime series Digimon Adventure 02, which introduced a new central cast of characters; he argues that Our War Game "plays heavily on the audience's nostalgia" for the original cast of Digimon Adventure, noting that "without our emotional investment [...] the film would be little more than eye candy."
Our War Game is regarded as a "blueprint" for Hosoda's 2009 film Summer Wars, with critics noting similarities in plot, visuals, and thematic material between the films.{{cite web |last1=Burforf |first1=JB |title=Pokémon Is Fine, But Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Is One Of The Best Monster RPGs You Can Play |url=https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/10/pokemon-digimon-story-cyber-sleuth-ps4-switch-pc/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022072151/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2019/10/pokemon-digimon-story-cyber-sleuth-ps4-switch-pc/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 22, 2019 |website=Kotaku |access-date=20 August 2020 |date=22 October 2019}} The anime magazine Neo stated that Our War Game is "plainly a prototype" of Summer Wars,{{cite journal |title= Our War Game! |last=Osmond |author-link=Andrew Osmond (journalist) |first=Andrew |journal=Neo Magazine |issue=82 |date=March 2011 |page=12}} and Thew argues in Anime Impact that Summer Wars is an effective remake of Our War Game "without any of the constraints of the Digimon license." Thew asserts that Our War Game and Summer Wars "speak to how the world (and Internet) changed in the decade between the two films. Our War Game is about the then-novel ideal of connecting with old friends over the internet, whereas Summer Wars explores the idea of getting to know total strangers intimately{{ndash}}an equally novel idea at the time the film was made." Hosoda has stated that Our War Game "kind of started my idea for Summer Wars," noting that Summer Wars "became the feature-length version of that idea" and allowed him to explore material he was unable to in Our War Game's 40 minute runtime.
Critics have cited the 1983 film WarGames as an influence on Our War Game, with Thew noting that both films share a title and a plot of "a rogue AI hijacking the Internet to spread chaos and potentially destroy the world, only to be stopped by some kids on their computers."
In other Digimon media, Diaboromon returns as the antagonist of the 2001 film Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon, which contains visual callbacks to Our War Game.{{cite web |title=「ぼくらのウォーゲーム！」「ディアボロモンの逆襲」デジモン映画を連続上映 |url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/340230 |website=Comic Natalie |access-date=27 August 2020 |language=ja |date=18 July 2019}} The first appearance of Omnimon in the 2020 reboot of Digimon Adventure similarly contains visual callbacks to Our War Game.{{cite web |last1=Valdez |first1=Nick |title=Digimon Reboot Shares Major Flashback to Digimon Movie with Omnimon Fight |url=https://comicbook.com/anime/news/digimon-adventure-reboot-digimon-movie-flashback-omnimon-fight/ |website=Comicbook.com |access-date=20 August 2020 |date=20 April 2020}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist|30em|refs=
{{cite web |title=DIGIMON ADVENTURE Our War Game!! |url=https://lineup.toei-anim.co.jp/en/?id=354 |website=Toei Animation |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715000030/http://corp.toei-anim.co.jp/en/film/detail.php?id=354 |archive-date=15 July 2020}}
{{cite book |title=DIGIMON MOVIE BOOK |date=January 2001 |publisher=Shueisha |isbn=978-4087790955}}
{{cite web |last1=Camp |first1=Brian |title=Mamoru Hosoda Exclusive Interview |url=https://otakuusamagazine.com/mamoru-hosoda-exclusive-interview/ |website=Otaku USA |access-date=20 August 2020 |date=21 May 2013}}
}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0313441}}
- {{anime News Network|movie|2524|Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!}}
{{Digimon}}
{{Mamoru Hosoda}}
{{Reiko Yoshida}}
{{Toei Animation films 2000s}}
Category:Adventure anime and manga
Category:Japanese animated adventure films
Category:Films directed by Mamoru Hosoda
Category:Films set in Shimane Prefecture
Category:Japanese fantasy adventure films