20th Anniversary of Digimon Frontier!

[MarcFBR]

Time for another anniversary! It's April 7th in Japan, so Digimon Frontier began 20 years ago on April 7th, 2002!


(Various text below has been used in prior anniversary articles.)


Frontier was a show that both tried to go back to the anime roots of something akin to Adventure, but also trying numerous new things, including not having Digimon partners.


The show went back to the lost/trapped in the digital world adventure, and 5 kids were joined by 2 Digimon for most of the series (with other characters joining later.) Frontier did a lot of interesting things, but it's always been questioned how 'well' they did them, with a sticking point for many people being that the majority of the cast never seemed to have much, if anything to do, but the show overall is still a pretty amusing watch.


Frontier was the end of the original run of the anime, but it did proudly make it thru it's product line (with some impressive releases near the end) and not burn the franchise out. Various Digimon products not only continued to come out after Frontier ended, but Frontier itself was popular enough that after it's ending, there were attempts in both the US and China to do continuations of Frontier (a cancelled manhua in China, and a new toyline in the US that would have story content.) The 2004/2005 'no affiliated show' toyline in the US used a modified version of Bandai's Digimon Frontier toyline logo and had a number of Frontier products in it.


It feels like in recent years Frontier has had more fans. During it's original run it wasn't quite as easy to watch in the US, as part of Disney's One Too block after the end of Fox Kids, and it never even aired in the UK (they only got DVDs a few years ago.)


Frontier has been caught in the position in recent years of having relatively very little, likely because with interest being elsewhere it simply hasn't made sense to do much in the way of dedicated products. Frontier characters showed up in various 20th Anniversary brand products, recent V-Pets, and even appeared in recent games, but fans continue to hope for a fancy figure, updated D-Scanner, or something else. The Frontier Blu-ray box a few years ago, which included a new audio drama, was a big item.

Now that it's the 20th anniversary, it looks like it is finally going to be the year for Frontier fans to nab some good stuff though. Even though the 20th anniversary is just starting there are already pre-orders for 6 Dim Cards, pop-up shop products later this week, and plenty more coming!


Plus we already have 20th anniversary artwork!

A bit of a fun time for Frontier fans to share their thoughts on the show.



The Digimon Frontier Blu-ray box is still available to order: (Affiliate link)
Digimon Frontier Blu-ray Box



We did a full breakdown of the Digimon Frontier Blu-ray box, along with the new audio drama translated, like we do for many media releases, including the Tamers Blu-ray Box. If you are able to, donating or joining our Patreon can be a big help.




We also did a breakdown of the Digimon the Movies box a few years ago. This contains the Frontier movie.

The Movies Box got split apart into singles a few years ago, and everything is still available, including the full box: (Affiliate link)
Digimon the Movies Blu-ray Box
Digimon Adventure Movies Blu-ray
Digimon Adventure 02 Movies Blu-ray
Digimon Tamers Movies Blu-ray
Digimon Frontier & Digimon Savers Movies Blu-ray


Update- New social media art from Digimon Web to celebrate!

The attached message:

Today is the 20th anniversary of Digimon Frontier️
The 4th Digimon anime began airing on April 7th, 2002
LB Pop-Up Theater shop will be open starting the 9th, Dim Cards for the Vital Bracelet are available to pre-order, & the Toei Anime Museum Channel will show an episode every week for a limited time, & more much.
Now the legend evolves

 

[BlankShell]

Frontier was always a bit of an odd duck to me. Maybe it's because it coincided with my decrease in interest in the series (I guess childhood programming in general, this was just on the transition into junior high so I was going through some changes in hobbies) but I recall not liking a lot of it when it first aired. I did a rewatch recently though, and I think it holds up better than I was giving it credit for. I think part of what I didn't resonate with was this melodramatic dourness; especially with the Royal Knights arc, it's just gloom and doom for like, twelve episodes, which still doesn't quite land. Also the lack of partners is a weak link. However, I did have a D-Tector and some toys, so it wasn't all bad, and the plotting isn't as filler-y as I remember.

All that to say, interested in seeing what they have in store for the 20th. A figure would be great honestly; it could be practically anything and it would be new and exciting, but time will tell.

 

[Ricardolindo]

I thought it was a few days ago.
Not a favorite, but happy 20th anniversary, Frontier.

 

[MarcFBR]

Added the new social media art.

 

[Muur]

I don't think Frontier is too bad and is a passable show but it defo would've been better if Agunimon and the other Digimon were their partners. In addition the Royal Knight arc where they lose to them for like 20 episodes (even if it wasn't that long it felt like it...) went on way too long. It then makes it kinda silly and takes me out of it when the Royal Knights win 20 times and never kill the kids but the first time the kids win they kill the Knights. If that was realistic the kids would've died way before. Anyway I'd still list it in the bottom 2/3 of the Digimon series but like I said I don't think it's a bad show at all.

 

[Blaziken257]

I understand all the criticism but this season is my favorite because it's like Digimon Power Rangers (which I really loved back then)

 

[Ricardolindo]

I don't think Frontier is too bad and is a passable show but it defo would've been better if Agunimon and the other Digimon were their partners. In addition the Royal Knight arc where they lose to them for like 20 episodes (even if it wasn't that long it felt like it...) went on way too long. It then makes it kinda silly and takes me out of it when the Royal Knights win 20 times and never kill the kids but the first time the kids win they kill the Knights. If that was realistic the kids would've died way before. Anyway I'd still list it in the bottom 2/3 of the Digimon series but like I said I don't think it's a bad show at all.

Another problem is that the second half of the season focused too much on Takuya and Kouji.
I find it the weakest series if you don't count Hunters separately from Xros Wars.

 

[Vice]

After Digimon Tamers was over & Fox Kids was shut down, I didn’t know there was another season of Digimon. I was 11 and I didn’t have the internet back then. I discovered Digimon Frontier, when they turned on the TV at school and they had UPN on, and I said oh that looks like Digimon season 4?

First episode I watched was a Hunka Hunka BurningGreymon, and then I later rewatched this series on ABC Family & Toon Disney, even managed to tape some episodes. I didn’t really care that the Digidestined turned themselves into Digimon, I still enjoyed the story for what it was and was happy that Digimon still existed after Digimon Tamers. I think my favorite episodes were the ones that revolved around Duskmon & Sakukumon. That episode where Takuya first became Aldamon against Mercurymon was epic. I’ve managed to rewatch this series a couple times, in Japanane and in Spanish the Latin American dub, it still holds up pretty well.