Digimon Adventure Tri Part 5: Coexistence Review - Cruising for a Snoozing

Written by Shiggins

Part 1 Review - CLICK HERE

Part 2 Review - CLICK HERE

Part 3 Review - CLICK HERE

Part 4 Review - CLICK HERE

Note: This review is as SPOILER-FREE as possible.

*yawn*

The penultimate entry in any series always has one goal; Build up the tension for the finale. It's not an easy job and many have failed. And unfortunately, Part 5 of Digimon Adventure Tri is so dull that I am looking to the finale of Tri (announced for Summer 2018) with nothing but trepidation. Well, only after I injected myself with adrenaline to wake up.

Girl power! Ha, if only.

The plot takes place immediately after Part 4, which I absolutely recommend re-watching because it can take a while to remember everything going on. The evil version of Gennai has caused Meicoomon to go absolutely nuts and transform into her Ultimate form, which causes distortions/portals and now Digimon are going nuts and arriving in the human world. So the Digidestined must escape the Digital World, which is literally trying to get rid of them, and stop Meicoomon's rampage.

I know that sounds exciting, but it really isn't. In fact, most of the story is just spent in conversations between the Digidestined. And the writing is just not strong enough for these scenes to be as deep, interesting or even fun. And a large part of that is due to the character Meiko, who forcefully steals every scene from the characters that deserve it so she can be sad.

Meiko has been a pivotal character to the Tri series since Part 1, but she has officially ran her course. There is only so long I can put up with someone whining and needing to be comforted by the characters from my childhood, and I've reached the limit. There is more time spent on her being sad and needing a fucking hug than there is on the Digimon themselves. Admittedly, the scene she has with Agumon is quite sweet but my patience is gone by that point and it is far too little too late.

This Digimon is called Raguelmon. I know this because I had to check wikipedia, after Tri was too busy making Mei sad to tell us something as important as the name of one of the main forces behind the actual plot.

Unlike every other section so far, none of the original Digidestined have a personal arc that they focus on. While the poster for Part 5 might show Kari and Meiko together, Kari is almost non-existent until the final battle. They touch on the possibility of her having a story when she suddenly thinks that the Digital World views the group as a nuisance, but that is quickly cast aside when they return to the human world... somehow.

And that brings us to the worst thing about Coexistence; Nothing is properly explained.

The final battle between the Digidestined and the raging Meicoomon is interrupted by the appearance of Jesmon, whom I am only familiar with because of the underrated Cyber Sleuth video game. Like every other Digimon the group has encountered during the finales of Tri, he says nothing and just exists to attack. What makes this even more awkward however is the sudden entrance of another enemy during this fight that attacks Jesmon with no reason whatsoever. Due to Jesmon and this other antagonist having no facial expressions, lines of dialogue, sound effects or any other way to interact, they have absolutely zero personality and so any decisions they make are confusing and require dozens of guesswork. Why did he attack Jesmon? Why did he attack the Digidestined? No idea!

Just a tip; If you ever buy Cyber Sleuth, get Jesmon on your team. His special ability is really helpful for fighting some of the more difficult bosses.

This final battle is made even worse by the resolution. Without wishing to spoil, a tragic incident occurs (and that incident is so obviously fake that I'm actually insulted) and it causes a Digivolution. This Digivolution is only in the film for a few minutes and what happens next to it is by far the most perplexing thing I have seen in years. I finished this film with a million questions, and it is actually frustrating to think how much time was wasted earlier. Time that could have been used developing these twists.

Looking back, there was only one scene I actually enjoyed and it had nothing to do with the plot. It was a scene where the Digidestined told each other scary stories at night. This was the only time the plot calmed down and stopped trying to be something epic and pretentious, and instead just relaxed with the characters. And even then, it was burdened by bad timing and Meiko.

Protect Meiko! She's the only one that matters for some reason! Who the hell is Izzy? Screw that dude! MEIKO!

In short, this movie sucks. It has me scared to see Part 6, and worried the writers are trying to be something Digimon is not. Digimon was fun. Now I nearly fall asleep. And that's just sad.

Opinion: 1/5

Character of the Movie: Agumon for having the only good scene with Mei.

Best Part: Scary stories.

Worst Part: Meiko is not baeko.

You know that inevitable scene where the heroes argue over whether or not the raging monster that was once their friend should die? Yeah, I was campaigning for lots of death. (And just fyi, calling Meiko's Digimon Meicoomon is awful writing. Just awful)

Shiggins:[Admin]
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Born under the stars of the Dark Gods, Shiggins owns the power of the Great Eye and is utterly magnificent in his omniscience. If you dare to discover more about someone as great as him, then go ahead. And to all my friends and family members, YOU are wrong and I should be disappointed! Not the other way round!,. You can find out about him or ask him stuff on ask.fm/shigginsishere or go to his tumblr page http://otakugajeel.tumblr.com/