Multi-platform media co. Shout! Studios and iconic Japanese studio Toei Animation Inc. have announced a new home entertainment distribution deal to bring Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning, the 2023 feature film based on the sequel series from the global hit Digimon anime franchise, which marks its 25th anniversary this year. The announcement was made today by Melissa Boag, Shout! Studios’ Executive Vice President, and Masayuki Endo, President and CEO of Toei Animation Inc.
“We are delighted by this new opportunity with Toei Animation and excited by this contemporary story of the DigiDestined from Digimon Adventure 02,” said Boag. “Over the years, we enjoyed tremendous success with Digimon Adventure tri. film series and Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna. We look forward to presenting Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning to anime fans and families through home entertainment very soon.”
This multi-year partnership provides Shout! Studios with North American home entertainment distribution rights to Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning for cross-platform releases in the U.S. and Canada, including all packaged media and electronic sell-through digital rights. Shout! Studios plans a strategic rollout of this new movie across multiple entertainment platforms and home entertainment shelves in 2024. Additional information and activities tied to the release will be revealed in the coming months.
“Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning was a hit with franchise fans around the world, and we’re thrilled to bring it to homes across North America through this partnership with Shout! Studios,” said Endo. “Today’s news is one of many exciting things planned during 2024 as part of Toei Animation’s year-long celebration of the 25th anniversary of Digimon.”
Synopsis: It’s 2012, and 10years have passed since the adventure in the Digital World. Daisuke Motomiya is now twenty, and he and the rest of the DigiDestined seem to be changing bit by bit in terms of appearance and lifestyle. Then one day, a giant Digitama suddenly appears in the sky over Tokyo Tower. Daisuke and the others encounter a mysterious young man named Lui Ohwada, who informs them that he’s the first ever DigiDestined in the world…
Produced by Toei Animation, Digimon Adventure 02 The Beginning was enjoyed by fans in theaters across Japan and around the world in 2023, including its two-day U.S. theatrical release on November 8 and 9 by Toei Animation and Fathom Events. Based on the series Digimon Adventure 02, which debuted a new cast of characters to the franchise in 2000, this brand-new movie adventure is a contemporary continuation of the series which follows the DigiDestined children as 20-year-old young adults.
Director Tomohisa Taguchi and scriptwriter Akatsuki Yamatoya with production by Toei Animation — the same team behind the most recent film Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna — reunite to weave this new story.
The home entertainment release will feature an English-language dub produced by Toei Animation specifically for the U.S. theatrical run. The film’s English voice cast is led by Brian Donovan as Daisuke Motomiya, reprising his role from the series, Jeannie Tirado (My Hero Academia), Bryce Papenbrook (Digimon Adventure), Tara Sands (Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna), Johnny Yong Bosch (Digimon Adventure tri.) and Derek Stephen Prince (Digimon Adventure 02), among others.
