Digimon Is Finally Getting the HD Update Fans Have Waited 25 Years For

Well-known among a generation of anime fans, the Digimon franchise had its heydayin the early 2000s. Now, one of these early entries is being released on Blu-ray disc, and it’s being joined by several other titles.

Known for distributing classic anime on modern software, Discotek Media is setting its sights on another season of a certain anime involving digital monsters: Digimon Tamers. As the third season of the Digimon anime, it was notable for switching up the formula, even as its main competition was already becoming stagnant. Along with this anime, the next wave of releases includes other programming, including a Showa-era Kamen Rider classic.

Discotek Digivolves Digimon Tamers and Kamen Rider with New HD Blu-ray Releases

Digimon Tamers is perhaps the biggest name in Discotek Media’s upcoming line-up of anime and Japanese media Blu-ray releases, as the company has already released the previous seasons on Blu-ray. This time, the entirety of Tamers will be upscaled into HD, with the initial release being the English dub of the anime, as the Japanese version with English subtitles is scheduled to come out later.

Besides this now-old-school fan favorite, other works coming to Blu-ray through Discotek Media are Hana Yori Dango (also known as Boys Over Flowers) and the live-action exploitation film Journey to Japan: The Kyoto. Both will have HD remasters, with Boys Over Flowers having both an English dub and the Japanese version with subtitles.

The tokusatsu entry among these works is Skyrider, also known as New Kamen Rider or simply Kamen Rider. The sixth entry in the Showa-era Kamen Rider franchise was intended as a soft reboot that revisited elements of the original series by Shotaro Ishinomori.

This is the series’ first HD Blu-ray release, making it easier than ever to revisit this old-school special effects showcase. There’s no definitive street date for any of these, but given that this year is the 25th anniversary of Digimon Tamers, it and the other Blu-rays are likely to come out sometime this year.

Digimon Tamers was notable for ditching the concept of the “DigiDestined” and setting the action in the proverbial real world rather than the Digital World. This, along with a card-based system and a darker tone, made for a very different anime, especially compared to rival franchise Pokémon, which stuck with what had worked before.