Digimon first aired in Japan on March 7th, 1999, and over the next year, viewers followed Tai, Matt, and the other DigiDestined. Together they explored the Digital World, learned more about themselves, and bonded with their Digimon partners.
Toei Animation never imagined Digimon’s popularity would reach such heights, especially following the series’ international release. This led to the series still being loved and releasing new content across multiple media forms 25 years later.
Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna premiered in America for the first time on October 16th, 2024. The screening was part of a celebration hosted by the Japan Society in collaboration with Bandai and Toei Animation.
Digimon Celebrates 25th Anniversary in New York City
Fans had the pleasure of attending this event sharing in everything it had to offer. However, the delight of a selected few was the chance to sit down and speak with Hiromi Seki, one of the most prominent Digimon anime producers.
The lobby was lined with four glass display cases, each displaying four Digimon video games: Digimon Story Cybersleuth, Digimon Story Cybersleuth: Hacker’s Memory, Digimon Survive, and Digimon World: Next Order. As Digimon began as virtual pets, it was great to see this kind of representation. Even if the case only contained 4 game boxes. In the other 3 cases, there were upcoming statutes.
The largest and most magnificent statue was an Omnimon with miniatures of Tai Kamiya and Matt Ishida standing atop its shoulders. Each statue was beautiful, and the desire soared to buy them all at once.
In the next case, three very popular Digimon were displayed: Beelzemon, Gallantmon Crimson Mode and a significantly larger Angewoman. The final case contained gigantic Gallantmon, BlackWarGreymon, and Imperialdramon statues, as well as smaller statuettes of Guilmon and Veemon.
With a red carpet underneath, were the original artwork of the eight DigiDestined and their partners. Attendees could stand before a backdrop featuring the bright heroes as they appeared in the Digimon Adventure video game.