Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers' Battle

Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers' Battle (デジモンテイマーズ　冒険者たちの戦い Dejimon Teimāzu Boukensha-tachi no Tatakai; Dub: Digimon: Battle of Adventurers) is a film. It is the first film to be based on the Digimon Tamers anime series, and it is set during the series' events.

It premiered on July 14, 2001 as part of the 2001 Summer Toei Anime Fair, alongside ' and '.

=Characters=

=Summary=

Teaser
In a digital space, Omegamon corners Mephismon—a Digimon who, as Omegamon accuses him, is reborn from remnants of an Apocalymon's data, and therefore carries on both Apocalymon's hatred of life and Apocalymon's plans—and declares that he cannot be allowed to live. Mephismon is unfazed and attacks Omegamon. The two exchange blows and are evenly matched. However, when they unleash blasts of energy at each other that clash, Omegamon's overpowers Mephismon's and blasts him backwards, throwing him against a digital wormhole that forms behind him. Before Omegamon can intervene, Mephismon slips into the wormhole, and it closes behind him.

It is late July 2001, during the summer. In his home in, Matsuda Takato is packing for a summer vacation to while Culumon observes him. His parents are sending him alone, intending that he visit family graves in Okinawa in their place; Takato is not happy about the trip, as he would rather spend his summer playing video games. He also smuggles Guilmon along for the trip in a suitcase.

Takato is joined on the flight by Lee Jianliang and Terriermon, who take the flight for the first leg of their trip to to tour the. Culumon is also in the cabin with them, and wanders off and causes mischief that requires Takato's intervention.

Meanwhile, Makino Ruki and Renamon remain in Tokyo.

Act 1
Takato and Jianliang's flight arrives at, and despite Takato's apprehension about going to visit his cousin Urazoe Kai alone, the two part ways. Culumon wanders off again, and Takato chases after him.

While Takato waits for Kai to pick him up, he watches a live news interview with Tamashiro of VP Labs, who is also in the airport. The interview, in which he talks about his product, the "V-Pet"—a dog-shaped digital companion—is interrupted when Kai wanders in in an attempt to find Takato. Takato rushes to find him, and reaches him just as two security guards attempt to apprehend him. Tamashiro talks the guards out of it with a speech about children being the future of Okinawa and Japan. Meanwhile, back in Shinjuku, Matsuda Yoshie notices Takato and Kai's appearance in the broadcast and, too late, calls Matsuda Takehiro in to see them.

Takato and Kai take a ferry to Kai's home island, and Takato gets seasick. Kai dives off the boat and swims the rest of the way, leaving Takato to finish the journey alone.

Once they reach the island, Takato starts to walk the rest of the way, pushing Guilmon's suitcase. Guilmon is fed up with being in the suitcase, but Takato falls asleep from exhaustion. Guilmon emerges from the suitcase and takes Takato the rest of the way, exposing his existence to both Kai and his grandfather, Urazoe Wataru. Takato does not awaken until sunset, where he finds that Kai and Guilmon have already become friends. While Kai, being familiar with the Digimon multimedia franchise, recognizes Guilmon for what he is, Wataru interprets Guilmon as a "talking dog" like the mythical . Wataru takes Kai to assist with hospitality for Takato and Guilmon, and Takato, Guilmon and Culumon head for the beach, where the two Digimon play while Takato watches.

In Tokyo, Hata Seiko is taking care of Ruki while Makino Rumiko is in for a modeling shoot. The two read an email that Rumiko has sent while a V-Pet frolics on the computer screen. When Ruki leaves the room, Renamon appears and alerts her to the arrival of a Digimon. The two travel to an industrial sector where they face a Pteranomon who is bombing the area. With the assistance of a Battle Tomahawk card that Ruki Slashes, Renamon is quickly able to defeat and load Pteranomon, but she observes to Ruki that there was something different about Pteranomon compared to other Digimon that they have faced. From somewhere far away, Mephismon gloats that the moment has come for him to unleash his hatred, and for humanity to destroy itself.

The next morning, Wataru leads Kai, Takato and Guilmon in a martial arts warm-up, although Takato and Guilmon are unable to keep up. Afterwards, Takato, Kai, Guilmon and Culumon take a boat out to go diving. Despite his initial apprehensions, Takato greatly enjoys the experience and is struck by the beauty of the seafloor. Kai and Guilmon hunt an octopus and catch it for lunch.

While they cook the octopus for lunch, Takato and Kai discuss the experience, and Kai points to the beauty of the Okinawan seas as the reason for his desire to follow in his family's footsteps and become an . The conversation is interrupted when they see Uehara Minami rapidly approaching them on a jetski, being pursued by a Tylomon. The group gets back in their boat and intervenes: Kai dives in to save Minami when she is thrown from the jet ski, while Guilmon engages and defeats Tylomon.

Takato, Kai, Guilmon and Culumon take Minami, as well as the bag that she was carrying, back to the Urazoe family' house. While Kai rushes to find Wataru, Takato attempts to tend to Minami, and realizes that there may be contact information for her family in the bag. Inside it, he finds a laptop which, when he tunrs it on, has a V-Pet loaded on it.

Back in Japan, Lee Shaochung plays with a V-Pet on the family computer.

Jianliang concludes his expedition to the Yonaguri Monument. At Terriermon's suggestion, the two head off to pay Takato a visit.

Act 2
That evening, Minami awakens from a nightmare to find herself at the Urazoe family' house, with Takato, Guilmon, Kai and Wataru. When she shares her name, Kai recognizes her as a former bodyboarding champion who has not competed in some time. She is reluctant to answer any of their questions about why she was being pursued, and Wataru convinces the group to save their questions for later.

The family invites Minami to dinner, which rapidly descends into chaos due to Guilmon and Culumon. Although Minami is initially amused by their antics, her mood turns dark and sad, and she does not respond to the others' attempts to cheer her up.

In Tokyo, computer systems are malfunctioning and the city is descending into chaos. Lee Jiang-yu calls Jianliang and attempts to report his findings, but the call cuts out partway through when the malfunction hits the phone lines. Jiang-yu witnesses the V-Pet on his computer start physically eating away at his television streaming program's window.

At her home, Ruki begins to miss her mother, and Renamon laughs at a quip she makes on the matter. Meanwhile, Rumiko is on her flight home, asleep.

In Okinawa, Minami admits to Takato and Kai that she thinks Tylomon was after her laptop, which her father had told her to flee with. Kai volunteers to take her to find her father the next day, supposing that doing so will be a simple matter of tracking down the V-Pet developer company. At Takato's request, Minami gives him the laptop to examine what she identifies as the original V-Pet. She opens up to Takato and admits that the original V-Pet had been made specifically for her and was meant to be the reincarnation of Mei, her deceased pet dog, who died saving her from stormy seas, for which she still blames herself. She clarifies that she objects to the very idea of the V-Pet replacing Mei, even though both she and Takato acknowledge that her father was just trying to help her feel better.

Later that night, as the group sleeps, Guilmon awakens and senses a Digimon approaching. The Digimon, an Anomalocarimon, attacks the house, and Takato and Guilmon lure it away to the forest while Kai gets Minami to safety. Guilmon initially struggles against the Anomalocarimon's gunfire, but fares better once Takato Slashes an Aero Wing card to improve his mobility and enable him to dodge. He dive-bombs the Anomalocarimon and detroys it.

A Hangyomon also appears at the house. Kai and Minami flee while Wataru unsuccessfully attempts to hold it off, but the Hangyomon quickly catches up and grabs Minami, causing her to drop the laptop. At that moment, Siesamon emerges from the laptop and easily destroys the Hangyomon. Siesamon attempts to introduce itself to Minami, although she is terrified at the sight of it.

As Takato, Guilmon, Wataru and Culumon approach Kai, Minami and Siesamon, a Mantaraymon emerges from the ocean, slaps Siesamon aside, and abducts Minami. Siesamon attempts to pursue, but the waves are too strong for it to get far. Culumon flies away.

Meanwhile, the havoc caused by the V-Pets begins spreading to reach the city's plumbing and sewage systems, as well as Rumiko's flight. On screens, the V-Pets transform from the dog design into small devils. Ruki and Renamon track down a Digimon that Renamon had sensed, Blue Meramon, who erupts from the sewers. The Blue Meramon shrugs off Renamon's and hits her with a blast that weakens her, then attempts to attack Ruki. Renamon dives in front of Ruki and takes the strike, which freezes her against a wall.

Jianliang and Terriermon witness a ferry explode before their eyes and careen into the pier. An Ebidramon emerges from the wreckage. It shrugs off Terriermon's as it dives at him.

Culumon is anxious, and his powers activate, evolving Renamon and Terriermon into Kyubimon and Galgomon. The two Digimon easily evade their opponents attacks and destroy them.

Culumon appears before Ruki to warn her that Takato is in trouble. A light appears before both Ruki and Jianliang, and Omegamon calls out to them, asking for their help. They disappear into the light.

Act 3
In Okinawa, Takato, Kai, Guilmon and Siesamon take a boat out to another island, following Siesamon's senses. While Takato is not sure that Kai should have come, Kai insists on helping in his own way. Meanwhile, Guilmon "speaks" with Siesamon and learns his name, and Takato and Kai comment the connection with the myth of the shiisaa and how it relates to Siesamon's emergence from the laptop.

The group sails into a cave on the island, and a Depthmon pulls Siesamon into the water. Guilmon dives in after him and is attacked by the Mantaraymon. Takato's D-Ark begins to glow, and Guilmon evolves into Growmon, who destroys Mantaraymon with a single swipe of his. The three surface inside a metal facility and conclude that they are in the right place. An Archelomon swoops down on Growmon, but is also easily dispatched in one blast. Meanwhile, Siesamon crushes Depthmon in his teeth and surfaces to rejoin the others.

Deeper in the facility, Minami is being held in a cell while a group of Digimon threaten both her father, Uehara Takehito, and Tamashiro. One of the Digimon, Baromon, demands the return of the V-Pet, on pain of Minami's death, and triggers lasers in the walls to threaten her. In desperation, Minami prays for Siesamon to come help her.

Siesamon smashes through the wall of the cell, followed by Growmon, and they engage both the Digimon and the cell's laser systems. Growmon destroys the other three enemy Digimon—Sepikmon, Pipismon and Ponchomon—in one blast, then, while Baromon is distracted with Siesamon, stabs it in the back to destroy it as well. Takehito regroups with Minami and the others as the facility begins to flood, and they attempt to flee.

Meanwhile, in digital space, Omegamon escorts Ruki, Jianliang and their Digimon to the facility and explains the situation: how he had traveled from another dimension's Digital World in pursuit of Mephismon, and how Mephismon aims to end all life. As they travel, they are attacked by a Metal Tyranomon, an Archelomon and a Pteranomon, all of whom Omegamon effortlessly dispatches.

In the facility, Takato speculates that Siesamon is the result of the laptop V-Pet realizing, and that its protective instinct toward Minami is because it is Mei. Takehito reveals that if that is true, then Siesamon carries the vaccine program to neutralize the other distributed V-Pets, who had been infected with a virus during the development process. At that moment, Tamashiro arrives, having just overheard the exact information he had wanted about the vaccine. Growmon immediately senses that Tamashiro is actually a Digimon. Siesamon and Growmon attack "Tamashiro" but are easily beaten, and "Tamashiro" sheds his human disguise to reveal himself to be Mephismon. Siesamon is forced to devolve into Labramon.

Around the world, the infected V-Pets move on to the next stage of Mephismon plan's plan for the destruction of humanity. They cause Digimon to begin Realizing and attacking, on top of continued malfunctions.

From digital space, Omegamon deposits Jianliang, Ruki and their Digimon in the facility with Takato, ready to confront Mephismon, although he is unable to leave digital space and join them himself. The three partner Digimon attempt to attack Mephismon, but Mephismon responds with a blast of light that consumes the facility and sends the group into a digital space of his own creation: a landscape depicting human civilization in ruin.

Growmon, Kyubimon and Rapidmon's attacks continue to have no effect on Mephismon directly, but Growmon fires a blast that knocks a ship down from above Mephismon, causing it to slam into him and create a massive explosion.

As the dust settles, Labramon speaks to Minami, and assures her that the death of Mei was not her fault. She questions why he keeps saving her when she has been so disrespectful, and acknowledges that deep down, she appreciated that her father made the V-Pet for her. She realizes that Labramon is dying, and cries out Mei's name, finally acknowledging that Labramon was, in fact, Mei. The name "Mei" is also the keyword to initiate the V-Pet vaccine program, and Mei/Labramon decomposes into the vaccine, which spreads around the world. The vaccine destroys all of the infected V-Pets and the Digimon that they summoned, resolving the disruptions to electronic systems. On her flight, Rumiko awakens, having slept through the entire crisis.

However, despite the vaccine destroying some of its scenery, the digital space does not disappear, and Takato concludes that Mephismon must still be alive. At that moment, Mephismon erupts from the ground, having evolved into Gulfmon.

Growmon, Kyubimon and Galgomon move to engage Gulfmon, but their attacks still do not affect it at all. It responds with a massive blast from its abdomen that knocks everyone aside. Culumon flies in to check on the Digimon, and Growmon gets to his feet and declares that they will not lose. Culumon's power activates, and the three Digimon Matrix Evolve into Megalo Growmon, Taomon, and Rapidmon.

The three Digimon perform the technique, in which they turn into streaks of light and join together to form one massive, phoenix-shaped burst. The burst pierces through Gulfmon's stomach, killing him instantly, and his digital space collapses.

Takato, Ruki, Jianliang, Minami, Kai, Takehito, Guilmon, Renamon and Terriermon all swim to the surface and emerge into the sunshine.

=Screenshots=

=Gallery=

Promo
=Credits=

Soundtrack
=Production= =Reception= In a May 2020 Digimon Web poll in which users voted on their favorite Digimon films, The Adventurers' Battle placed ninth, earning 2% of the vote. It was the lowest-placing of the Toei Anime Fair films in the poll.

=Extra=

Evolutions

 * Guilmon → Growmon → Megalo Growmon
 * Renamon → Kyubimon → Taomon
 * Terriermon → Galgomon → Rapidmon
 * Labramon ← Siesamon
 * Mephismon → Gulfmon

In Other Media
Urazoe Kai returns in Digimon Tamers itself in the episode, in which he travels from Okinawa to visit the Matsuda family, a week after they flee Tokyo due to the appearance of the Mother D-Reaper.

Version 2.0 of the Japanese D-Ark toy, and Versions 2.0 and 3.0 of the Southeast Asian D-Power Digivice toy, feature Uehara Minami's Labramon as a playable partner Digimon.

Home Media Releases
=Edits=

American English
The American English dub of The Adventurers' Battle, re-titled Digimon: Battle of Adventurers, was produced by on behalf of  in 2005 (several years after production on the dub of Digimon Tamers itself concluded), alongside dubs of the other three previously undubbed Toei Anime Fair films. It aired on 's "Big Movie Show" programming block.

Prior to this, had acquired The Adventurers' Battle circa October 2001, according to Megchan who, as a translator working at Saban at the time, was tasked with translating the film. However, no dub of the film ever eventuated during Saban's ownership of the rights to the franchise.

Since its original airing, the Battle of Adventurers dub has never been issued on home media or streaming services.


 * Since it was originally produced for theatrical release, The Adventurers' Battle is in a widescreen aspect ratio of 16:9. Battle of Adventurers, however, was intended to air on the 4:3 aspect ratio televisions of the era, so it is presented.
 * As usual for American English dubbed Digimon productions, the score is totally replaced in Battle of Adventurers. However, instead of reusing music from the Saban dub of Tamers, Battle of Adventurers reuses the soundtrack of the Disney dub of Digimon Frontier, including using the Frontier dub's theme song, "A World For Us All" (albeit modified to remove the lyrics' references to Frontier 's Spirit Evolution concept) as a substitute for the Saban "Digimon Theme".


 * In The Adventurers' Battle, insert songs for evolution scenes are used only once, when Guilmon, Renamon and Terriermon Matrix Evolve for the final fight with Gulfmon ("EVO" is played); otherwise, evolutions are accompanied by the film's instrumental score. In Battle of Adventurers, all instances of allied Digimon digivolving (evolving) interrupt the score with the Frontier dub's instrumental Spirit Evolution themes. These reflect common practices of each version of the rest of the anime: the Japanese version does not exclusively use its evolution insert songs every time that evolutions occur, and only chooses to do so when it fits the tone, context and plot beats of a given scene; while English dubbed versions almost exclusively use their designated theme songs or leitmotifs for evolution scenes, regardless of tone.
 * As usual for contemporary English Digimon dubs, dialog is generally longer-winded, previously nonexistent jokes are often added, and previously nonexistent dialog is often added over what were originally moments of silence.
 * In Battle of Adventurers, instances of Japanese text on screens, billboards and background objects are routinely either digitally edited out, or covered with box censors. Strangely, this editing also extends to an instance of English text: the "EUROPE AIR" logo is also edited out of a shot of Rumiko Nonaka's (Makino Rumiko) flight home.
 * In Battle of Adventurers, Okinawa is never referred to by name, only as "the island". Tokyo is also no longer referred to by name. This is a departure from the dub of the Tamers series, which generally retained references to Japanese locations.
 * In Battle of Adventurers, Guilmon addresses Takato Matsuki (Matsuda Takato) as "Takatomon". He does not do this in The Adventurers' Battle. This is a continuation of a trend in the Tamers dub, which perpetuated the "Takatomon" nickname significantly longer than the original version, in which it was only used in one scene in one episode.
 * The Adventurers' Battle 's title cards are partially replaced in Battle of Adventurers, and the new title cards are significantly less elaborate.
 * The standard Japanese Digimon Tamers logo footage with Culumon is cut entirely. In its place, a simple sans-serif Digimon wordmark is superimposed over the preceding shot of Hypnos headquarters.
 * The Hypnos headquarters footage cuts to the background of the The Adventurers' Battle title card, which is partially retained. However, it pauses before the point where the The Adventurers' Battle 's wordmark would appear, and the Battle of Adventurers wordmark, in an identical style to the Digimon wordmark, fades in.
 * In The Adventurers' Battle, Urazoe Wataru talks about mythical creatures from Okinawan folklore in relation to Guilmon, specifically mentioning the ' and '; the shiisaa continues to be discussed throughout the movie, and parallels between it and Siesamon (who was explicitly based on and named after the shiisaa) are noticed by the main cast. In Battle of Adventurers, the kijimuna are not mentioned, and the shiisaa is renamed "Seasarmon" (the same name given to Siesamon in the dub). Some dialog later in the movie is modified to take this change into account:
 * In Battle of Adventurers, in the scene in which Seasarmon emerges from the laptop, dialog is added for Kai Urazoe (Urazoe Kai) to have him immediately remark, "It's Seasarmon!" as if he recognizes Seasarmon-the-Digimon as being Seasarmon-the-mythical-figure. In The Adventurers' Battle, he merely asks who Siesamon is.
 * In The Adventurers' Battle, when Guilmon reports to Takato and Kai that he has learned Siesamon's name, they notice and comment on the reference to the shiisaa. This exchange is removed from Battle of Adventurers, since a) both entities being directly called "Seasarmon" leaves nothing to notice, and b) as noted above, Kai, at least, already knows Seasarmon's name.
 * A shot of Pteramon (Pteranomon) firing its missiles is cut from Battle of Adventurers.
 * Two sequences from The Adventurers' Battle—Wataru's martial arts warm-up, and Takato, Kai, Guilmon and Culumon's diving trip—are entirely cut from Battle of Adventurers, amounting to nearly two minutes of cut footage. It instead resumes on the scene of the four eating the cooked octopus on the beach.
 * During the fight between Guilmon and Tylomon, a shot of Tylomon biting Guilmon's tail is cut from Battle of Adventurers.
 * In Battle of Adventurers, six seconds of footage are cut from Minami Uehara's (Uehara Minami) nightmare about the death of Mei, removing the shot of Mei being dragged into the whirlpool.
 * The shot of the car crash in Tokyo is cut from Battle of Adventurers.
 * Five seconds of B-roll footage of the shoreline is cut from Battle of Adventurers.
 * In Battle of Adventurers, some shots of the boat explosion are cut, amounting to four seconds of lost footage.
 * On two occasions, Battle of Adventurers refers to the the three Tamers as "DigiDestined" (Chosen Children). This is inconsistent not only with The Adventurers' Battle, but with the English dub of the Tamers series which, on this matter, was consistent with the Japanese version and referred to the main cast as "Tamers", not "DigiDestined". The term "Chosen Child" is never used at all, in any context whatsoever, in any Japanese Tamers material.
 * In The Adventurers' Battle, when Omegamon draws Jianliang and Ruki into the digital space, he says that he needs their help. In Battle of Adventurers, Omnimon (Omegamon) instead says that he needs "the help of the DigiDestined".
 * In Battle of Adventurers, during the underwater fight against Mephistomon (Mephismon), Takato defiantly declares that "We're DigiDestined!"
 * The scene of Minami being threatened by the lasers, including some reaction shots, is shortened by approximately four seconds in Battle of Adventurers.
 * The sequence of Mephistomon (Mephismon) beating up Seasarmon is shortened by approximately six seconds in Battle of Adventurers.
 * Some shots during the final fight against Mephistomon/Gulfmon are cut in Battle of Adventurers, including the shot in which Mephismon is hit by the descending boat.
 * In The Adventurer's Battle, there is no dialog over the final shot of the group of protagonists in the ocean. Battle of Adventurers adds a lengthy exchange which ends with Takato declaring that he needs "a vacation from [his] vacation".
 * The Adventurer's Battle 's closing credits are cut entirely, in favor of a split-screen setup in which credits roll over black next to clips from the movie. The footage that plays in the background of the original credits—photos of the cast's activities after the film—is not repurposed anywhere.

=Additional Information=

=External Links=
 * Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers' Battle on the 2001 Summer Toei Anime Fair official website
 * Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers' Battle on the Toei Animation Production Lineup website