A live script at DigiFes 2021 featured a sequel for Digimon Tamers- with the cast facing off against Political Correctness and Cancel Culture.

Digimon Tamers, simply known as the third season of Digimon in the west, broadcast across 2001 and 2002. It saw three children save the world from Digimon, who they had only known as a card game. Using their Digivices and cards to modify and strengthen their partners, they try to save the real world, and later digital world, from a threat far greater than both worlds.

The series head writer was Chiaki J. Konaka; best known for Serial Experiments Lain and Texhnolyze. Tamers was also noted for bringing in more mature and dark themes, along with Lovecraftian motifs. However, the Tamers have now fought their greatest foe yet; political correctness.

At DigiFes 2021 (which took place August 1st), the Japanese cast reunited for a live script reading of a brand new adventure. The story would act as a sequel to the prior audio CD drama, Digimon Tamers Original Story: Message in the Packet.

Fan-subbing group The Wild Bunch included a content warning with their subtitles; warning viewers “This program promotes far-right politics and conspiracy theories.” The disclaimer quickly drew attention on social media. The content of the story which hit social media shows a character discussing dark clouds threatening to engulf the world, stripping humanity of its free values.

These “clouds” are seemingly extreme political correctness, also threatening to remove anyone who objects or has different opinions, and terminate online accounts. The gang also fight some sort of creature with an attack even called “Cancel Culture.”

Across Twitter, Reddit, and ResetEra, it would appear some have been offended by the content of the story, or at least the screenshots of certain subtitled scenes. While some have pointed out writing a story about fears of being silenced then being spread to a sizeable fan-base as hypocritical; none have seemed to discuss how they themselves are refusing to acknowledge another perspective.

so this will be the last time a major corporation will touch him.

I refrained from expressing my opinion until the end of August 7 (Japan time), because the pay-per-view was being distributed in Japan.

DISCLAIMER:

The content of the reading drama "Digimon Tamers 2021" is entirely the responsibility of Chiaki Konaka, and not at all of Toei Animation Inc. or the Digifest Organizing Committee.
Also, since the distribution of this show was for the Japanese domestic market and is not a show that can be legitimately viewed by people outside of Japan, I am not inherently responsible for expressing my opinions to the international community.

However, I know that the 2018 CD drama "Digimon Tamers 2018" was shown/heard with subtitled versions in several languages, and I knew that this reading drama would eventually be known to fans around the world.

This year's Digifest was an event that featured the 20th anniversary of the Japanese broadcast of "Digimon Tamers".
For me, it was a surprise and a pleasure to be treated in such a big way.
However, when I made the CD drama in 2018, I was convinced that I could make an official sequel called "Digimon Tamers 2020" and made a presentation, but it was cancelled as a result.
That's right. It had already been cancelled.

It may not matter much to overseas fans, but in Japanese animation, voice actors are as important as the screen, and "Digimon Tamers" was very fortunate in its casting, inspiring us creators.

As some of you may know, the actor who played Renamon had been retired. She also played Ruki/Rika's mother, grandmother, and also Alice McCoy, and "2018" was a drama that took its loss very hard to deal with.

The situation was no different this time, and the legendary Masako Nozawa, who played Guilmon and the narrator, had even tougher conditions: she had to be pre-recorded.

The reading drama is literally a drama with a script in one's hands, so it is not usually a drama with very dynamic situations.
However, I decided to include some action scenes by recreating the studio where the original "Digimon Tamers" was recorded every week in 2001, for the first time in 20 years.

Takato and Jenrya/Henry were played by ladies, as is well known to overseas fans.
Mayumi Yamaguchi, who played Henry, has a very distinctive voice, which is very convincing, even as an adult.
However, Makoto Tsumura, who played Takato, had a voice that was more appealing when he played a naive boy, which is why when Guilmon evolved into Megidramon, the power of Takato's monstrosity was surprisingly effective.
However, getting Ms. Tsumura to play a man around the age of 30 is still too much to ask.

So, there was no other way but to follow the format of "2018" again.
Therefore, "2021" is a continuation of "2018" and a live version of "2018".

The purpose of the show is to show the personalities and acting skills of the voice actors who performed to the fullest. There is no video, so there is no time to explain the details of the setting.

If "2020" had been realized, it would have been able to portray the villain of "2018", Malicebot, in depth. But that didn't happen.

Also, if the new enemy is another strong Digimon or some other being, the explanation will be complicated and the prelude to the drama we want to portray will be long.
That's why I abstracted the "virtual enemy" this time.

Realistic elements were also depicted in the original 2001 version such as Five Eyes and others as background. Tamers is not set in the "near future," but in the present day.

In "2018," it was Yamaki in the second half of the original series; this time, I wanted to see Yamaki in the early part of the series, right up to episode 23 (which Chiba-san, who played the role, pointed out was the most memorable).
It was fun to imagine how he would interact with Henry, Rika, and the others as adults.

Yamaki decided to leave the technocrat in charge of NYX after "2018". And I assumed the role of agitating for the current, less critical ones (like Henry in the play).

Some of the words I used was controversial.
However, I did not intend to condemn any particular person or group in this drama.
This is in Japan, where all the mainstream media insist on calling a positive PCR test a "confirmed infecteds". "It's not even a "case. And the numbers are piling up every day. It's been almost two years.

When the pandemic started, I stopped opening Twitter for about a year.
I also stopped watching CNN/US, which I had subscribed to on cable to see what was really going on.
And I've been reading what independent alternative journalists are gathering from open sources, referring to links as I go.
In my personal opinion, COVID-19 is of course real, even if SARS-CoV-2 has not been isolated and segregated.
In 2020, the number of applicants in the total population of Japan is lower than in 2019.

In 2021, the phase has changed (and the vaccine supply has started).
I was frustrated by the exclusion of alternative journalists from the major platforms, and by the fact that the counter perspective was hidden.

I think that my feelings were reflected in Yamaki's strong words.

However, the situation had changed between the time I wrote the scenario in early spring and August 1.
This is not so much about Japan as it is about the new difficulties that countries around the world are facing.
So, it was no longer timely to send out messages to the rest of the world.

There were people who accused me of having a particular label.
I've never expressed any particular political beliefs.
There was no anime that brought more diversity to that era than "Digimon Tamers".
So I was sad, but don't worry.
As I mentioned earlier, my plan "2020" has already been cancelled.

"I will leave the Digimon Tamers 2021 blog to be read in the future by those who liked the original Tamers, and I will delete any comments that accuse me of being a bad person.

A lot of people have defended me and told me not to apologize, but it's very hard to see such a divide among the fans.
Let me just apologize for the fact that I caused it to happen.

I don't want any more debate on this issue.

Chiaki J. Konaka