Digimon Adventure 02 is something that I am very conflicted about liking. There is much to like but also much not to like. I didn’t pick up on a lot of the latter as a kid, but now that I’m older and can understand behind-the-scenes stuff and analyze stories much better, I’m a bit confused about whether I still like it or not.

As a kid, what I liked most about it, was that my favorite character from the original series, TK, was now more of a main character, even though he’s still not the leader. I vividly remember that he was my first childhood crush, particularly on a fictional character. I liked seeing him, along with Kari, a bit older and more capable, doing things without their older siblings. However, I also realized I didn’t care much for the new characters. I don’t really have any distinct memories of them that don’t ALSO involve TK or Kari. That is, except for Ken.

I LOVE Ken, or at least, I love what he started out as. To have more character-driven stories like in the original show made his backstory hit hard. He became bad out of grief for his brother’s death. He wanted to control SOMETHING in his life after a very traumatic event. this led him to the Digital World, thus becoming the Digimon Emperor, and this led to one of my favorite Digimon scenes EVER: Ken and TK fighting in Ken’s base. Ken whips TK in the face! There’s blood and everything! As a kid and as an adult (with the standards of a kid’s show), it’s still one of my favorite scenes. What upsets me, like many other moments in the show, is that they’re just moments.

One of my biggest issues with the show as an adult is that, unlike the first series, there isn’t a consistent plot. Constantly throughout the season, stories are brought up, then dropped repeatedly. Some of them are interesting, but they’re never concluded. As an adult who loves stories, this is very disappointing to me. Now I can only imagine how they would have ended. However, along with the Digimon Emperor storyline, there was one arc that I really enjoy even now as a kid: The World Tour Arc.

In this section of the story, Digimon has escaped the Digital World and is causing havoc all around the human world. This leads to the Japanese Digi Destand, including the rest of the original gang from Digimon Adventure, having to go all over the world to help other groups of Digi Destand get these Digimon back where they belong. I love seeing the characters in different outfits, going to new places, and meeting new people, but most of all, I love seeing the ORIGINAL group be more active in the show. Up to this point, one or two would show up for an episode or two, but they were mainly sidelined for the new cast, so seeing them out and about again feels really good, even as an adult.

I think this is the highlight of Digimon Adventure 02 for me, at least in terms of entire arcs, this, and the Emperor arc, of course. Otherwise, however, there are just little moments that I like. Everything else, at least to me, is pretty forgettable because of the lack of character development or consistent plot. So.although I do recommend this season for Digimon fans, it’s not my favorite season for those without nostalgia for the season already.