Digimon Universe: Invasion Of The Aqualians

 

I've been working on a novel length Digimon FDD for the past month. Digimon Universe: Invasion Of The Aqualians is a sequel to the 2006 Digimon Universe series a few online friends and I worked on way back in my early teen years. Inspired by series like Digimon Adventure Tri and Last Evolution Kizuna, I decided to age up my characters and likewise do a continuation after 13 years. The story is in PDF form and can be downloaded by clicking here --> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n8l5xb46dYBluY7dFALmXUS1CKr2zsxA/view?usp=sharing <-- Here. 

Here's a plot summary: It's been 14 years since their first adventure with the Digimon. Evander and Jessica have settled into living a married life in Nakano, Japan where Evander works as a detective and Jessica, a Kamishiro employee. When Jessica is attacked by the King of Aqualia who accuses her of going to Aqualia and assassinating most of the royal family, the couple will team up once again with their childhood friends; the Digimon in order to prevent all out war from breaking out between two planets. 

Readers of the first series will be happy to see Jessica's home world explored in much more depth. There's a lot of world building going on here. 

Digimon Universe: A Group Project Fan Fiction From 2006

 

Back in 2006, when I was 14 years old, I joined a forum called "Digimon Universe RPG". Around this time, there were several "RPG" forum websites. Digimon Universe was one such group. This is a group project story involving multiple people leaving their novel-like posts on a forum to create a drive a story. Describing what this is to someone who's never participated in anything like it isn't easy, but imagine that you're writing a novel with a group of friends, but each one of you is only in control of specific characters. There is a head leader of the novel who drives the story by controlling all other non-main characters, the villains, and even a couple of main characters of his own. He's pretty much in charge of the main plot. Each post describes the actions and feelings of a character, and each post reads like an excerpt from a novel. If your character speaks to or interacts with another forum member's character, that forum member will write a response post describing how his character responds to yours.

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Example:

Poster 1: Bob was unsure of what to say regarding the pizza that sat in front of him. It had anchovies on it, and he had never had anchovies before. He spoke up "I appreciate you buying me dinner, but could you perhaps send this pizza back and order another one? I want one without anchovies."

Poster 2: Sam frowned. "Have you even had anchovies before?" Sam asked.

Poster 1: Bob folded his arms behind his head and leaned back. "I haven't, but everyone I know besides you hate them, so I probably will too." Bob said.

Poster 2: Sam chuckled a little and looked off to the side. "Just because everyone else in our friends group hates anchovies doesn't mean you will. You ought to at least try it before you knock it." Sam said before taking a slice of the Anchovie covered pizza and taking a bite out of it.

Poster 1: Bob sighed. He knew Sam was right. So he reluctantly picked a piece of pizza up and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up. "This is delicious!" He said, his words distorted because his mouth was full of pizza when he said it.

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The original Digimon Universe series was just like this. I controlled two human characters named Evander Glovion and Jessica, who for some reason, I never gave a last name to. I also controlled their Digimon partners; Evander's Ladybugmon, Terriermon, and Agumon, and Jessica's Leormon, PawnChessmon, and Gabumon. There was another poster who went by "Mario" who controlled his own characters and their partner Digimon, but he also drove the story along by controlling the villains and other important characters. There were two other forum members as well, who also had human characters and their partner Digimon.

At around 30 episodes in, Mario decided to quit the novel-like project. But being so invested in it, I decided to write up the rest of the series on my own in a Word document. I saved these episodes in an e-mail on my Yahoo address and 15 years later, compiled them into Google Doc documents and exported them as PDFs. Below are the PDFs, divided up into 4 volumes.

Volume 1: https://drive.google.com/file/d/115HNE6XYB0SdN6ftEfyfJxEcDBnexnqv/view?usp=sharing

Volume 2: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wg5NAGXSOGwwb1F0Za8QL4uiW9buNeWt/view?usp=sharing

Volume 3: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13Ss4p2c0uH4Y-WAx5Ogu2bxvaltKwzKj/view?usp=sharing

Volume 4: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N_ovIrwlTtR9ITTpvig2fcyz-H5XJvBe/view?usp=sharing

You'll notice that a small handful of the episodes are missing, and also the writing styles of the different forum members differ wildly. That's unfortunate, but we were just kids playing around. It's not like we were hard at work trying to produce a professional looking novel. Nevertheless, I hope you'll still enjoy the story anyway. I'm currently working on a sequel to this that will explore the lore of the planets the non-human Digidestined are from in much more depth. So stay on the lookout for that.

And Mario, and the girl who portrayed Zai, if you find this, contact me. I'd like to talk to you again after you lost touch. Maybe we can become Facebook friends, and maybe I can actually learn what you look like. After all, this was back when people didn't even use their real names on Facebook. You weren't Bob Smith, for example, you were Bobatron_3000 or something like that. :-)

I Was Wrong - “Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna” Makes Sense.

         

SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE! 

So I have been perhaps Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna’s harshest critic for a year now. But I am one to admit when I’m wrong and change my mind when presented with new information. I puzzled and puzzled and puzzled until my puzzler was sore, and I think I finally can make sense out of Kizuna’s premise that doesn’t reduce it to just Tai and Matt’s Digimon being mere allegories of childhood hobbies or some BS like Digimon needing to go away because their kids got too old. I thought long and hard about it, and the more I did so, the less critical I became. But just to make sure, last night I watched it for a second time. 

What Is The Potential They’re Talking About? 

Ok, so Menoa stated in the movie that the Digimon chose their partners because of their boundless potential. Actually it was homeostasis, this mysterious godlike force that possessed Kari in Digimon Adventure and Adventure Tri to communicate with the Digidestined that partnered the Digimon up with their humans, but we can chock that up to a minor mistake on Menoa’s part. Anyway, the reason children are always chosen as Digidestined is because of their boundless potential. Its because of this boundless potential that makes the digivice work and enables Digimon to digivolve. And, obviously, for those who have watched the movie, Tai and Matt are going to lose their Digimon - Agumon and Gabumon are literally going to go poof - because they’re running out of their potential. 

The “Potential” thing confused me for the longest time. Potential for what? Potential to grow it would seem. But surely we all have room to grow as human beings even when we reach adulthood. I’m more mature and wise now than I was when I was 20, and when I’m 50, I’ll have even more life experience and will have grown even more as a person. I’ll have grown in wisdom, knowledge, morally, etc. The idea that you become this potential-less, set-in-stone human being when you entered your 20s didn’t set right with me. Growth is a lifelong process. Life never stops shaping you as a person. You never stop “Evolving”.

But what if the potential-for-growth applies to a very SPECIFIC KIND of growth? Maybe it just means going from being a baby, to a little child, to a bigger child, to a teenager, to an adult. If that’s the kind of growth the movie speaks of, then this obviously comes to an end when you hit your 20s. And since human growth is the analogue for Digivolution, then once you hit 20, you’ve “maxed out” your level, so to speak. You’re fully grown. You can’t grow anymore. You can age, sure. You can go from a young man to an old man, but gaining some wrinkles and age spots is not “growing”. It’s just aging. 

Now, it cannot be that a Digimon disappears when their Digidestined partner is fully physically mature. Why? Because Dr. Menoa Belluchi lost her Digimon, Morphomon, when she was only 14 years old - the same age Tai, Matt, Mimi, etc. were back in Digimon Adventure 02. So it’s something to do with their growing into adulthood, but growing into adulthood is not simply becoming a physical adult. In Menoa’s case, she was a genius; a child prodigy. She was on her way to college in her mid-teens and was already aiming for and working on a career. According to Digimon Wiki, Morphomon disappeared “The possibilities for her future were closed when she became an ‘adult’”.

So here’s what the writers are getting at; human growth into adulthood is analogous to digivolving. If you’ve played the Digimon video games, you’ll know that, unlike Pokemon where there’s one throughline for each species (Charmander → Charmeleon → Charizard), Digimon have multiple different species that they can digivolve into. Veemon has probably the largest number of different forms that it can become. It has all of its armor digivolutions (Flamedramon, Raidramon, Magnamon, etc.), but it can also digivolve into Veedramon (Champion level) and then AreoVeedramon (Ultimate level) and then UlforceVeedramon (Mega Level). Or Veemon can digivolve into ExVeemon (Champion), and then Paildramon when fused with Stingmon (Ultimate), then Imperialdramon (Mega) and then it can form change into Imperialdramon Fighter Mode and Imperialdramon Paladin Mode. Veemon is to Digimon what Eevee is to Pokemon. But even Digimon like Agumon have multiple possibilities. Agumon can become Greymon, then MetalGreymon, then WarGreymon, then Omnimon when fused with MetalGarurumon. Or Agumon can become GeoGreymon, RizeGreymon, ShineGreymon, and ShineGreymon Burst Mode. Agumon can also become Tyrannomon, Agumon can become Numemon, or Agumon can become a BlueGreymon and the ultimates and megas those different champion stage Digimon can become. The POTENTIAL for what your Digimon can become is greater the earlier in its digivolutionary stage that it is.

Likewise, children have a near endless number of careers that they can pursue. They can become firefighters, police officers, lawyers, seminary professors, astronauts, physicists, auto mechanics, IT workers, or they can open up a Mom and Pop shop. There’s just so many possible routes a child can take in life. But, like a Digimon, the lines close when they reach the final stage. Once you choose a career path, you can’t really just up and do something else. It’s not impossible to change your life’s course and pursue something different, but if you’re a lawyer with a successful law firm, it will be more difficult (not to mention less prudent) to decide “You know what, I’m going to go back to school to learn to become a physicist.” Your potential in how you go about adulting closes once you start doing it.

It is THIS potential for growth that is closed off, and ONLY this potential. You can still grow as a person in wisdom, maturity, morality, and other ways, but that’s not the analogue for digivolution. In the video game Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, a Mega Level Digimon can still go from level 1-100, but it’s not digivolving to a new stage further. 

Why Does This Affect Whether Tai and Matt Can Keep Their Digimon?

Now the question of whether the connection between human growth potential and a Digimon’s life is plausible. So Tai is set to become a diplomat and Matt is aiming to become an astronaut. So what? Why should this affect what happens to Agumon and Gabumon. Well, the mental and emotional states of the human partners has always affected the digivolution capabilities of the Digimon ever since the first series. For example, in order for the OG digidestined to reach ultimate level, they had to show signs of character development that corresponded to their crests; courage, friendship, love, knowledge, etc.

WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were able to DNA Digivolve into Omnimon in Digimon: The Movie (Digimon: Our War Game in Japan) because of the strong desires of children all over the world wanting to protect the world from the web wrecking (pun intended) Digimon, Diaboromon.

With a good number of the aforementioned character traits, the kids actually didn’t have those traits initially. They had to grow INTO them. Tai needed to muster up the courage to go through that metal wall thing that had the potential to kill him if he didn’t touch the right spot. Matt had to learn how to be a good friend to Joe. Sora had to learn not only to give love (which she was already good at) but to receive it as well, since she was under the impression that her mother didn’t love her, and she at least believed she was incapable of showing love contrary to Tai telling her that her crest was just perfect for her. But even with traits some of the kids seemed to already possess (Izzy possessing lots of knowledge) there was still a special moment when that trait needed manifesting a specific way for the digimon to digivolve beyond their champion stages.

So, with it being well established that the humans, through their digivices, are connected to their Digimon, and that the human childrens’ mental growth is connected to their Digivolution, it isn’t at all implausible that the running out of potential for growth could have adverse consequences for their Digimon partners.

Gennai and his associates obviously knew about this fatal consequence ahead of time as Gennai discloses this to Tai in the Kizuna movie, and in the original Adventure anime series, Gennai and his associates were revealed to be the ones who built the digivices. 

The Problem Of The 02 Epilogue

One of the obvious objections to this movie is the epilogue of Digimon Adventure 02. In this epilogue, we see the Digidestined all grown up 25 years after the battle with MaloMyotismon in the episode “A Million Points Of Light”. In this epilogue, they have a variety of careers ALONGSIDE THEIR DIGIMON. Tai and Agumon become diplomats, Matt and Gabumon become astronauts, etc.

The adventure 02 ending is still considered canon. In an interview with the producer, he said:

“I'm sure that everyone is aware that it's going to be that kind of story. But I don't think that their story ends there. For them [the characters], it's simply one of many important turning points in their lives. Since their world in 2028 is already depicted in the last episode of "02," we think of that [last episode] as the end goal while adding in details of what else could have happened before arriving there.”

So, since the producer himself assured us that the Digimon are coming back, that makes the ending a LITTLE less sad. And lest you think, as I did, that this was just a lie put out by the producer to prevent major backlash from a huge plot hole, pay close attention to the movie’s ending credits! You can clearly see them aiming for the very careers they had in the 02 epilogue. You can tell the writers were conscientious of the epilogue and wanted to show the audience that. Moreover, in the 02 epilogue, we see T.K finishing a novel about their adventures with the Digimon. And guess what Matt tells Tai over a pint? T.K is working on his first novel. Why would they so obviously allude Tai becoming a diplomat, Matt becoming an astronaut, T.K becoming a novelist, etc. in the ending credits and dialogue itself if they were chucking the 02 epilogue into the waste bin?

So, their Digimon come back. But, the question arises; HOW? How do they come back? This, I do not know. If the problem of them disappearing was a lack of potential, do they get their potential back? Does Izzy find some way to circumvent this whole potential issue? The writers really left this up to fan speculation, and I hate it. I really would like another movie to give us a solid answer. Maybe a Last Evolution Kizuna 02 where Davis and Ken have to go through the same thing with Veemon and Wormmon, except they find a way to reverse it. 

AliceShiki123 on Reddit in he thread “What is the deal with last evolution Kuzuna’s ending?”, said

“Taichi must have found a way to reunite with Agumon, or maybe Koushirou [Izzy] did. They did what Menoa couldn't because they didn't fall to despair like she did.

And remember, she was pretty darn close to getting there, she had even recovered all of Mothmon's data already, she would have probably gotten somewhere if she kept trying without the Aurora appearing.

 

Also, they still had access to Menoa's research. Miyako even entered Menoa's PC, so maybe they backed up all her data and stuff... From that point they might have found where she failed in her research and continued from there to successfully find their partners again.

 

Not to mention that Menoa probably had no way of entering the Digital World on her own anymore, while Taichi and the others were still able to do it just fine. They might have been able to get more info there that led to recovering their partners.

 

Yet another possibility is that they actually made use of Koushirou's back up. Remember he did back up everyone's data in Tri? While that data was within Meicoomon, it did get released during the fight against Ordinemon. It's quite possible he still has said data, so he'd be able to restore their partners from there.

... Well, we don't have an official explanation of course, but there are plenty of valid theories to why the 02 epilogue still works just fine. (Especially because it was already cleared stated to be canon)”

Kazu_Mastumoto wrote on Reddit that: 

 

“I posted this in another thread but it's relevant to what you're asking:

As for where all the characters end, I don't see the issue with it clashing with the 02 ending. We have to remember 17 years are yet to come for these characters, that is a remarkably long time, plenty of time for career changes etc. So lets look:

 

Tai: By the end of the film he's looking to become a police officer, not a huge jump to assume that in the 17 years he could move up the ladder and eventually apply for a diplomat's position, especially if he specialises in Digimon related crime.

 

Yamato: We see him in the OVA picking up an aerospace book and it's heavily implied that he's following the space dream in the credits as he is posing by a rocket.

 

T.K: Kizuna explicitly shows he's working on a novel, links to his future as a novelist

 

Sora: The OVA really helps here, she said she want's to be a normal girl and not be involved in the fighting or be the daughter of a flower arranger. This is important as it sets her up to break free from the floral arranging and use her creativity in another profession, fashion design perhaps?

 

Kochiro: Not a big jump to assume that as a CEO he can begin to shift his company focus into reasearch into the digital world.

 

Mimi: She's currently running a proto-amazon style company so she's quite open to move into other aspects as she is going to make a ton of cash from that. Why not try her hand at a cooking show as a passion project?

 

Joe: He's already a Doctor and in 17 years it's not a great leap to assume that he will begin to move further towards medicine involving Digimon too.

 

Hikari: One of the most open in Kizuna, makes sense that 17 years later she may move into teaching.

 

Daisuke: Talks constantly about wanting to open a Noodle store (in New York!) so tracks for his international noodle chain

Ken: The whole 02 subplot of sleuthing into the office works as a set-up for Ken becoming a detective, maybe this is where he realised he was good at it and followed on.

 

Miyako: Could track with Ken, she was the main sleuther for the 02 kids and maybe that's what draws her to Ken, then she settles down with their kids (She's also the first person Ken asks about during the battle, a tiny hint towards their relationship)

Iori: Was always the youngest of the group so has the most potential to develop. Seems he's still in high school? So again it's not a huge jump for him to begin or even currently be studying law.”

So it’s still up for fan speculation as to how the Digimon return, but we do know THAT they return even if we don’t know HOW. 

 

The Moral Of The Story 

 

The moral of the story is another issue. Obviously, the writers are trying to send a message about growing up. This is meta. This is outside the world of the story. What is the message the writers are trying to tell us? That you can’t enjoy Digimon anymore now that you’re an adult? That you can’t enjoy anything from your childhood? You have to put it all away and become a boring adult with your 9-5 job?

Well, there is some extent to which becoming an adult means putting childhood hobbies behind you. Completely at first, but then partially later on. When you’re first finding your way in this adult world and are either working on a degree or something, you may not have ANY time for that new Digimon game or to spend afternoons playing Yu-Gi-Oh with your buddies. But once you’ve settled, you can bring those things back partially. I cannot spend nearly the time I did when I was a kid playing video games. I can probably complete 4-5 games PER YEAR if I really put in the effort to carve out the time. 

There’s also something to be said about reliving your childhood through your children. 

 

As Dak_N_Jaxter said on Reddit in the thread “What is the deal with last evolution Kuzuna’s ending?”; 

 

“In the story, the loss of Agumon is meant to coincide with the loss of the limitless potential of his childhood, in lieu of choosing an adult path. However, in some philosophies, once your adult life has been established, its common to rediscover your inner child and the potential that comes with it. So possibly that's what they were going for,

If you look at it from a meta perspective, it's pretty common in life to drop off from some of your interests as you mature, either because you're busy or outright want to reject "uncool" or "childish" interests. But then when you get older, you end up reconnecting with the things you loved growing up.”

Conclusion 

 

In conclusion, I was wrong. The movie doesn’t make the finale of an isekai sci-fi anime into a fantasy Peter Pan Disney type of thing. When you think about Adventure’s mechanic of digivolution, and how the childrens’ growth was linked to it all along, if it isn’t implausible to think Tai’s becoming more courageous can make Greymon become MetalGreymon to defeat Etemon, it isn’t implausible to think that losing the potential to go off on different adult life paths would have an adverse effect on Agumon’s life via the very same digivice.