Digimon Frontier has amazing potential to be a live action adaptation that will crossover tokusatsu and Digimon. Many features of the iconic Digimon series could allow the adaptation to become a fantastic and unique tokusatsu series.
The iconic fourth anime released for the Digimon franchise features a well known twist that sees DigiDestined becoming Digimon, featuring a toku aesthetic for the series. Digimon has yet to debut as a live action series, despite using the method for teaser trailers. Here is a breakdown on why this season of Digimon would be a fantastic tokusatsu adaptation.
Warning: There could be Digimon, Super Sentai or Kamen Rider spoilers ahead. Proceed with caution.
Tokusatsu has entered into anime in greater quantities in recent years, including upcoming isekai anime series, The Red Ranger Becomes An Adventurer In Another World. FUUTO PI is one the of most direct adaptations as a sequel to Kamen Rider W, with Ultraman also featuring in a range of animated releases. Digimon Frontier featured as the fourth Digimon anime series in 2002 that broke the mould compared to past incarnations. This is due to the Digidestined becoming Digimon rather than having Digimon partners. This was also previously seen in Digimon Tamers as the Mega Digimon merged Tamer and Digimon together, with Justimon also featuring as a tokusatsu inspired monster.
Digimon Frontier has a lot of potential as a tokusatsu series as the Digimon series includes the main features required. This includes six Digidestined becoming superhero like Digimon using Spirit Evolution. The anime series has never received a sequel and only made small appearances in predecessor seasons such as Digimon Xros Wars: The Boy Hunters Who Leapt Through Time. However, there is a lot of potential featured in this formula breaking original series that features in the Digimon franchise.
Why Digimon Could Digivolve into Toku
The fundamental fact that the Digidestined could use their Digivice to become hero like Digimon is clear tokusatsu material. The spirit evolution feature of the fourth season of Digimon could be used to allow the franchise to enter into a new type of concept. These Legendary heroes include Digimon such as Agunimon and Lobomon, along with other various characters. The Beast spirit, hybrid, and unity spirit evolutions also feed into the gimmick, allowing for a build in the story as the heroes gain more power.
There are many ways a reboot could add dramatic changes to the story, including providing a different world than what Digimon currently feature. Whether it be adding some new forms or providing a Isekai like the latest anime releases, there could be many routes that a tokusatsu adaptation could take. Naturally there might be limitations but the latest technology for toku could help provide the ingredients to bigger features. This has been seen in Ohsama Sentai KingOhger, which features virtual sets to provide otherwordly environments.
Teasers From Fan Made Content
There has yet to be a live action Digimon series but some fans have provided the first possible teaser to what is possible. Anime Fire is a YouTube channel that features live action adaptations of anime series and Digimon is the latest to be included in the treatment. Digidestined features a glimpse of Agunimon as he de-digivolves after losing a battle against a Blackwargreymon. Although he only appears for a short duration, this Digimon live action release provides a sneak preview of what a live action Digimon series could look like.
Whether it be a reboot anime or a live action adaptation, it’s clear that Digimon frontier has the potential to be a tokusatsu title. Digimon is currently focusing on the Digimon Card Game with its latest project, Digimon Liberator. However, there is a teaser for an anime announcement potentially revealing in 2025. Although there is no likelihood of tokusatsu merging from Digimon, it would be interesting to see this concept Digivolve further by entering this genre. Digimon is certainly in need of a new anime, plus the Digimon Card Game could always be included to heighten the entire Digimon franchise.
Digimon Liberator currently features as the active Digimon project including a free online web comic and web novel series via the Digimon Card Game website. An announcement has been teased by Digimon Partners regarding potential anime news for the franchised expected to be revealed on January 5, 2025.
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