Bandai’s Digimon franchise is deeply beloved and hit at just the right time for kids who grew up in the 90s. But it’s one of those properties whose earlier installments have been difficult to get physical releases of for one (usually rights-related) issue or another. Fortunately, things are about to change, because several older Digimon media are making the jump to Blu-Ray.
As revealed during this weekend’s Otakon, Discotek acquired the licenses for both the English and Japanese versions of the anime’s second season, commonly known as Digimon Adventure 02. It’s the first time the season has has a Blu-Ray release, and it’s been upscaled in AstroRes, similar to how Discotek handled the first season. The English dub will have its own standalone release first, followed by a Japanese version later on, and they’ll both have different extras: the English Blu-Ray gets art galleries, while the Japanese version’s have yet to be finalized.
Along with Adventure 02, Discotek also plans on releasing an upscaled Blu-Ray for the first three Digimon films. Those movies—Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure: Our War Game!, and Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!—were stitched into a single entity that comprised what was known in 2000 as Digimon The Movie. The original Japanese dub for those three films will be intact, however the English dubs feature the still-living members of that original cast has been redone. For the roles that were recast entirely, Discotek explained it cast actors “based on energy, & giving a voice & vibe that fits what you heard almost 25 years ago.” Sound Cadence Studios, the agency handling the dubs, has handily provided the cast list for each of the three films.
As for the actual Digimon The Movie, that too is being remastered. Its English soundtrack will be the same as it was back in the day, however it won’t have the Angela Anaconda short that opened the movie. There aren’t set release dates for any of these Blu-Rays yet, but knowing they exist is exciting enough?
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