300 Yen Digivice & Crest Gashapon Toys

December 1st, 2015. Bandai of Japan has put out the formal launch announcement for its next line of gashapon toys, which will include a set of memorial goods in commemoration of Digimon Adventure. The Digivice collection will include nine different colors, based on the original Digivice's base colors and the eight variations used during the Chosen Children's super evolutions. There will also be a set of eleven tags with crests, comprising the original eight plus the crests of Destiny, Miracles, and Kindness. (These crests are derived from Digimon Adventure 02 and the two-part movie Hurricane Touchdown!! / Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals.) The Digivice and crest collection is currently available at select machines, and each capsule costs 300 yen. (Approximately $2.50 at the current exchange rate.)

Gashapon toys are a popular market for collectible toys in Japan, distributed randomly through blind capsule machines. While the individual capsules can range from 100 to 300 yen out of the machine, due to the difficulty of acquiring a complete set, select items in each collection can sell for much more on secondary markets. The previous set of Adventure gashapon toys was briefly previewed by actress Mimori Suzuko during the November 20th promotional livestream for Digimon Adventure tri.

12/06/15 Update: The new gashapon toys have been added to Bandai's online catalog.

11/20 Adventure tri. Livestream Draws 50,000+ Viewers

Left to right: Mimori "Mimorin" Suzuko (Takenouchi Sora), Enoki Junya (Takaishi Takeru), and Ikeda Junya (Kido Jo).

November 20th, 2015. As a prelude to the Japanese premier of Digimon Adventure tri., Bandai & Toei organized a special livestream hosted by the voices of three of the movie's principle characters, Mimori Suzuko, Enoki Junya, and Ikeda Junya. (Jokingly introduced as "double Junya.") The broadcast, which clocked at about an hour and a half, featured its hosts showing off a number of new products created for tri., announcing new information on Digimon, and participating in activities together. Fans were receptive to the stream, breaking into memetic cries of "JOOOOOOOOO" at any mention of Kido Jo, flooding the screen with his name. A recording of the stream can be viewed below.

The broadcast opened with a survey of the viewers asking how they planned on seeing Digimon Adventure tri. 49.2% of respondents said they would see it at a theater, 13.2% said they would see it through iTunes or PlayStation Video services, 16.2% said they would see it on Blu-ray or DVD, 10.6% said they would see it in a theater and then buy the packaged version, and 10.6% were undecided in where they would see tri.

Mimori Suzuko was as enthusiastic as ever, caught taking selfies of herself with her character's stand, and beginning her tri. gashapon collection on camera with a test run of the newly-released machines--which initially seemed to eat her money, until she realized it was a 300 yen machine and not a 100 yen one.

"Who will it be? Who will it be? Who will be born? Ah, Yamato is born."

Mimori also showed off backstage notebook with well-wishes from several Digimon staff, including Yoshida Hitomi (current voice of Tachikawa Mimi), and Tamura Mutsumi (Izumi Koushirou).

"Wait, this isn't a spoon, this is chocolate!"

The three of them were served each of their characters' corresponding dishes from the currently-running Digimon Adventure tri. Animate Café; Mimori was served a Magical Fire drink with Sora's "Love-filled Tomato Stew," Enoki was served an Air Shot drink with Takeru's "Angel Parfait," and Ikeda was served a Marching Fishes with Jo's "Praying to Pass! Exam Chazuke." Enoki initially mistook the white chocolate wings in the parfait for a spoon, prompting admonishing cries of "Takeru!"

A group speed drawing session with the seiyuu drawing their characters' Digimon partners quickly went awry when it became apparent that both Mimori and Enoki's  skills were lacking; Ikeda accused Mimori of drawing Big Bird instead of Piyomon.

The TGS trailer for Digimon World -next 0rder- was also reviewed during the broadcast, after which a special announcement was made that tamers will be able to get a special Adventure tri. related download in the future, downloading the movie-original Maicoomon into their games.

The first twelve minutes of Reunion were then shown to promote the film, and as the broadcast drew to a close the tone became somewhat more somber. Mimori implored fans to see the film, stating that she had the feeling something amazing had begun. Enoki closed it out with a view of the film's poster, autographed by a combination of the original and new voice cast for the chosen children.

The special livestream drew over 50,000 simultaneous viewers at its peak and just under 80,000 comments, posted live through NicoNico Douga's unique inter-video comment system. Afterward a staggering 88.3% of viewers rated the stream as "Very good" in NND's standard post-stream poll, 8.4% "A little good," 31.8% "Ordinary," 0.4% "Not very good," and 1.1% "Not good." The majority of livestreams never break 80% for "Very good" ratings. A subsequent poll rating Wada Kouji's newest recording of Butter-fly, shown after the stream, was ranked 94.2% "Very good," 3.7% "A little good," 0.9% "Ordinary," 0.3% "Not very good," and 0.9% "Not good." The Butter-fly recording is not included in the video for copyright purposes.

You Can Download Meikuumon in Digimon World -next 0rder-

November 20th, 2015. In today's Digimon Adventure tri. livestream, hosts Mimori Suzuko (Sora), Enoki Junya (Takeru), and Ikeda Junya (Jo) revealed the latest information on the upcoming open world game Digimon World -next 0rder-. In a crossover campaign between the two branches of the franchise, tamers will be able to freely download the Adventure tri. movie-original Digimon Meikuumon (shown in silhouette) to their copies of -next 0rder- for use in the game as one of their two Digimon partners. Any possible evolutions or "EXE"-Volutions for Meikuumon are currently unknown. This appears to be the "linked content" alluded to in previous issues of V Jump magazine.

A recording of the livestream is currently being edited and processed for YouTube.

Update: After several delays, the recording of the stream has been uploaded.

Meet the Seiyuu: Mimori Suzuko

Digifes '15 group shot of the two generations of Digimon Adventure seiyuu, and the voices of their partners, c.Newtype.

Born in 1986, Mimori "Mimorin" Suzuko was thirteen years old when Digimon Adventure first aired. The third oldest of tri.'s new cast, in 2015 she was revealed as the new voice of Takenouchi Sora, replacing Mizutani Yuuko. Unlike some of her coworkers, Mimori has been reserved about her experiences with Digimon, and it's unknown if she even saw Adventure during its original run. Mimori has been enthusiastic about attending events related to Digimon Adventure tri., appearing at its October prescreening in-character with Hanae Natsuki and Ichimichi Mao.

Originally a stage actress, Mimori was first scouted as a seiyuu by Bushiroad CEO Kidani Takaaki. Mimori first began doing voice work in 2010, taking on her breakout roles as Sherlock Shellingford in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes, and in 2011 as Cardfight!! Vanguard's Tatsunagi Kourin. The Shellingford character--along with the other Milky Holmes cast--would continue to make cameos in Vanguard through 2013, but the mass exposure of working in a Sunday morning children's show versus a late night anime made Kourin one of her defining roles to the present day. Mimori would also make regular appearances as a TV host for the Vanga-road program, and later on Bushiroad's weekly Cardfight!! Vanguard livestream events, alongside Morishima Shuuta and Nakamoto "Doctor O" Nobuhisa.

Digimon Adventure tri. will premier in Japan on November 21st, 2015.

Meet the Seiyuu: Hanae Natsuki

Ichimichi Mao, Hanae Natsuki, and Mimori Suzuko at tri.'s prescreening. Original image uploaded by @Digi_advntr15th

With less than ten days remaining until the Japanese premier of Digimon Adventure tri., it's an appropriate time to learn about the men and women behind the film. Hanae Natsuki is the new voice of Yagami Taichi ("Tai" in the English dub), selected along with seven other seiyuu to replace the aging human voice cast of Digimon Adventure. Born in 1991, Hanae grew up watching Adventure while in second grade, being seven years old when the series began its Japanese run in March '99, and eight when it ended in 2000.

Hanae was strongly influenced by Taichi's character as a child, and consequently his voice actress Fujita Toshiko. At the 2015 DigiFes event, Hanae admitted to having difficulties stepping into the role of Taichi because the character was such a big hero to him as a child. Sakamoto Chika, voice of Agumon, encouraged him by reminding him that as the new Taichi, Hanae is himself a "chosen child." (The Japanese equivalent to the dub's "DigiDestined.")

Hanae first began working as a seiyuu in 2011 and 2012, playing minor and supporting roles. His first leading role was as Haimura Kiri in 2013's The Severing Crime Edge. Outside of voice acting, Hanae is also a gamer and fan of League of Legends, having done voicework for the game in addition to playing it.