Here is a KOOL article from Rei Sameko. Check it out.
It’s August 1st and every Digimon fan knows what that means: Odaiba Day is here!
Some of you may be wondering: What exactly is Odaiba Day and how do you celebrate it? Look no further! Your friendly neighborhood Digi-geek is here to explain everything you need to know about the annual Digimon fan celebration and how you can celebrate too!
The original Digimon anime series, Digimon Adventure, follows seven (eventually an eighth child is added) young kids who went to camp for the summer and wound up having an adventure in a Digital World.
In-universe, this event occurred on August 1st, 1999. This was confirmed in the twenty-first episode of the series, which also premiered on August 1st in Japan. Without spoilers because I highly recommend Digimon (available on Hulu in the US) to everyone, we see one of our main cast visit the real world while all his friends are still in the Digital World. He looks at a calendar and remarks that it’s still the same day he left. Time passes differently in the Digital World so no time has passed in the real world at all.
In the second anime series(Digimon Adventuee 02), which is a sequel to Digimon Adventure, the new cast of characters join the original cast for a small gathering to celebrate the anniversary of their first adventure together. What day was that? You guessed it: August 1st!
Since then, fans around the world have celebrated August 1st as an unofficial Digimon holiday, similar to May the Fourth being celebrated by Star Wars fans. Naturally, things like this don’t stay unofficial for long.
First launched in 2014, the Digimon Adventure 15th Anniversary Project saw our favorite Digital Monsters as the next popular retro brand to be revitalized for its now older, nostalgic fans. That was the first year Toei held an official Digimon celebration event in honor of Odaiba Day, sometimes also called Odaiba Memorial.
The original event included a screening of one of the Digimon movies, a concert featuring Wada Koji, and the surprise announcement of what would become known as Digimon Adventure Tri., a new anime series featuring the original cast as teenagers.
Every year since then, around the August 1st weekend, an official Digimon anniversary event has been held by Toei as the 15th Anniversary Project has slowly evolved into the 20th Anniversary Project. They’ve had more guests and have expanded the events to celebrate the entire Digimon universe.
Odaiba Day is a fun celebration of Digimon, but it isn’t just for the fans in Japan. Anyone can celebrate Digimon wherever you are in the world. Whether you’re by yourself or with a big community of fans, here are some ways you can celebrate Odaiba Day.
Watch Digimon!
The series is available on various streaming services.
Play Digimon video games! There’s a bunch to choose from. I highly recommend Digimon Story: Cyber Slueth.
Take care of a V-Pet! Though it’s often compared to Pokémon, it’s very Different! Digimon got its start as a virtual pet marketed at Boys. You raised your monster and took care of it and then used it for battle! You can find V-Pets just about anywhere these days.
Share your love of Digimon on your social media feeds!
If you have never heard of Digimon before today I highly recommend starting with the anime. It’s campy, fun and aimed at kids, bit adults enjoy it too.
Happy Odaiba Day!
Stay Geeky!
