Digimon is one of the best children's anime series around and it's one of those rare series that won the hearts of children and has managed to stay just as meaningful and well-made for that audience over the many years since the original incarnation of the show was completed. This creative and energetic anime focuses on a group of kids (known as DigiDestined) who have become intertwined in the Digital World and must save it and the natural world.

The second season is a bit of a mix-up compared to the first outing as it's without an entirely new group of characters thrown into the digi-mix, as it's a nice combination of characters: it introduces some new characters to the proceedings with Davis, Yolei, Cody, and Ken and doesn't toss the old cast aside either. There is room for expanding upon the original main characters and to add some new ones in that are also interesting.

The journey continues for the characters four years after the events of the first season. While it appeared as though everything was good in the Digital World at the end of the first season, it's certainly something that faces new challenges this season. The digiworld now has an Emperor who is determined to rule it and eventually take over the world. The new quest involves many returning characters and character-specific moments for the original DigiDestined team but it also begins a new storyline that involves the other new characters, who are to become newly appointed DigiDestined. The stakes this time around are not of the fate of the Digital World alone or in finding a pathway home (one of the main areas of importance the first year) but saving the entire world.

The second season of the show offers some good similarities and differences to make it distinct enough and with its own charm as separate from the first season outing. The return of the main characters from the first year of Digimon was a great choice. While the first season reached an acceptable level of closure for those characters, it still didn't feel complete in an ideal way for fans and it was a pleasant return to revisit these characters. This allows the show to give more closure to fans looking for a new adventure with Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, and T.K.

Some fans felt the second year of the show was a major disappointment and yet there was also tremendous support from fans who felt everything about it built upon the first outing in an interesting and satisfactory way. The series does build, but in an unexpected direction. It dramatically shifts focus as it brings the natural world to the forefront. Characters can be transported back and forth between the two worlds this time, and the stakes involve both environments. The series also brings back the signature brand of silly humor at times but everything has a newly added coat of darkness that surrounds the intense plotlines, as the DigiDestined have to bring back peace to the DigiWorld and save Digimon from the new "Digimon Emperor" determined to make Digimon evil and to take over our natural world.

The series is just as delightful in its second season as it was in its first. The show is great entertainment for kids because it offers an opportunity to see characters of both genders undergoing challenges with intelligence and skill, and it's a well-written storyline that dramatically excels in the craft of storytelling in comparison to many other creations.

This season marks the end of the original Digimon era of storytelling, because with the conclusion the writers managed to wrap up the main storyline well for both the original characters introduced and for the new characters just appearing this season. I definitely appreciate the efforts of the writers to bring closure to fans. This essential element is a fundamental reason the show is successful artistically. Future seasons featured all new characters.

Digimon's second outing features action-packed adventure, fun characters, stellar animation, and a well-told story. For fans of the original journey into the DigiWorld, returning to the saga of the DigiDestined is great entertainment and is worth the journey beyond being a nostalgia trip, with this fantastic collection containing the entirety of the 50 episode season spread across an eight-disc set.

The DVD:

Video:

Digimon is presented in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33.1 (full frame) and it looks about as good as it did when it was broadcast on television. The sources can be inconsistent occasionally and it's clear that the episodes as presented on this set come from a couple of sources.

Most fans won't notice the minute differences in the encodes but it does appear as though some episode feature more in interlacing and edge enhancement than other episodes: some episodes are softer and others featured greater clarity in focus. It's a mixed bag, but it's consistently an agreeable (if unremarkable) presentation.

Audio:

The 2.0 English language audio preserves the original English dubbing and its accompanying sound mix, but the original Japanese language version has not been included (which is likely because of a combination of licensing issues and because some moments were edited in the North American version). The sound quality is decent: clean, clear, and easy to understand. There isn't much to this sound design but it gets the job done.

Additional Screenshots:

Extras:

The only extras are a printed 32 page booklet featuring a Digimon: Season 2 Character Guide and a Gallery featuring more than 40 sketches of Digimon.

Final Thoughts:

Digimon expanded into something even more ambitious with the second adventure as it added several new characters into the mix without leaving behind the originals, and the challenges in the DigiWorld became even more complex when the fate of the entire world became mixed in with the overarching journey.

This wonderful anime series is a great one and it is still enjoyable for longtime fans and is worth rediscovery (or discovery). The PQ/AQ is decent quality and while the collection lacks much in the extras department, it gains some considerable favor for containing every episode of the 2^nd season (all 50 of them!) in one reasonably-priced collection.

Highly Recommended.

Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema. He aspires to make movies and has written two screenplays on spec. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.