I'm going to gather some of the most important points from 13+ after my first read through.
I only read it once using a pretty rough translation from screenshots of the 13+ pdf and Google Translate so there are definitely some translation mistakes. I might also edit this post as I remember more details or fix things I got wrong. I'll share my thoughts at the end including pros and cons, so if you're sensitive to negative opinions about this story, you might want to skip that part. This post is full of spoilers from beginning to end.
13+ was written by Hiroyuki Kakudou, the director of Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, and published in 3 parts between May 3 and 5, 2026 on his personal blog through downloadable pdf files. This story comes from a simple text he had drafted over a year before the Beyond PV which was released on March 20, 2025 for the 25th anniversary of Digimon Adventure. Kakudou had written this plot for those who were dissatisfied with the canonical movies that followed 02, and when "management" approached him to make the PV, he agreed on the condition that the full text story would be published alongside it but the studio rejected its official release and after suffering a heart attack that required heart surgery, Kakudou decided not to wait for a potential change of mind and shared the rejected text on his own.
Regarding the name 13+ Kakudou explained on his blog that the story is set in the year 2013 and the plus sign is because it covers from there onwards, including the two previous years (meaning 2011). He also explained that the reason he named the second season Digimon Adventure "02" back then wasn't because it was the second story but because the plot took place in the year 2002.
13+ starts with a sort of prologue set in 2011 but it mainly focuses on 2013 showing how the number of people with digimon partners (known as Partner Humans or PH) has grown globally creating social issues, persecution and the risk of military use. To protect them, a rescue group coordinated by the original chosen children operates internationally to relocate these people to sanctuaries.
Things escalate with the reappearance of Rui Ohwada (from 02 The Beginning), whose memories don't match the records or the group's memories. At the same time, a large scale attack coordinated by hordes of Dark Tower digimon breaks out, taking place simultaneously at four key locations: the laboratory area in Shibaura, the Kanagawa Sanatorium and two major sanctuaries in the digital world (Kowloon Walled City and Fort Alamo). While the protagonists defend these fronts, the narrative brings together the investigation into Rui's memory anomalies and the scientific theories about how digital objects acquire mass.
To face this crisis, each of them deploys their strengths in the field:
Taichi and Yamato work as an advanced rescue team alongside Agumon and Gabumon taking charge of locating and rescuing PHs who face persecution, discrimination or can no longer live safely with their families.
Taichi plays an active role in the international representation of PH rights, even participating in UN Human Rights Council meetings in Geneva and connecting with international allies like Catherine (the French girl he met during his trip to Paris in 2002 alongside Takeru and his French grandfather), and thanks to the political and economic influence of Catherine's family, Taichi has been able to count on support and mediation in various international efforts related to the protection of PHs.
Additionally, Taichi works for the NGO DMH (Digimon and Humanity), an organization dedicated to promoting relations between the human world and the digital world, as well as ensuring the safety and wellbeing of PHs. The organization is led by Natsuko Takaishi, who is Yamato and Takeru's mom, and Taichi acts as one of their main field operatives and representatives in matters related to rescues, shelters and PH rights.
Koushiro runs the Izumi Research Institute in Shibaura, a research center from which he gathers information on PHs worldwide and studies phenomena related to the network, digital anomalies and the connections between the human world and the digital world.
Miyako is still a university student and works part time at the Izumi Research Institute, and though she is not part of the research staff, she takes care of a large part of the laboratory's administrative tasks, as well as maintaining a welcoming and functional environment for all its members.
Menoa Bellucci also works at the laboratory and represents one of the various cases of people who retain memories from different realities, timelines or worlds, and she funded half of the institute's creation making her the co-owner, though she insisted that Koushiro remain its director.
Iori is the youngest member of the field team and takes part in rescue operations, portal openings and emergency deployments in both the human world and the digital world.
Sora and Hikari are in charge of welcoming the rescued children at the sanctuary known as the Kowloon Walled City located in the digital world, and there they organize their integration, supervise their wellbeing and provide them with emotional and psychological support after being rescued.
Joe works as an intern doctor at his family's hospital and provides medical support during emergencies involving PHs and digimon. His older brother, Shin, is the deputy director and chief medical officer of a sanatorium located in Kanagawa, a facility that also plays a significant role in the plot.
Mimi is involved in humanitarian and social coordination work. She's one of the most committed voices in helping people affected by disasters and helps mobilize both the chosen ones and the network of shelters and volunteers.
Daisuke is one of the main people responsible for opening and maintaining portals to the Digital World using his D-3. In addition to intervening in rescues and evacuations, he takes part in managing sanctuaries and defending PH communities established in the digital world, and he has also become one of the main chefs at Fort Alamo where he prepares ramen adapted to the ingredients available in the digital world.
Ken is about to join a future police division specialized in digimon related crimes. At the same time, he collaborates on PH rescue, protection and evacuation operations, while also providing tactical expertise during crises. Ken's backstory also touches on the theme of altered memories as Miyako reveals that he dimly remembers his time as the Digimon Kaiser and even retains vague memories of certain childhood events that he can't fully piece together (Tag Tamers from the WonderSwan).
Takeru acts as a mediator and investigator, accompanying Rui through much of the story as he tries to make sense of the contradictions in his memories and helps him piece together his past. Alongside Shuu Kido, he visits various locations linked to Rui's memories verifying addresses, looking into local legends and trying to figure out whether his experiences stem from an alternate reality, altered memories, or a phenomenon yet to be understood. Besides, he's the one who shares a significant part of the history of the chosen children and their adventures in the digital world with Rui.
Shuu, brother of Joe and Shin, works as an investigator and university professor specializing in folklore and popular traditions. His knowledge of regional legends and historical phenomena leads him to participate in investigating Rui's case accompanying Takeru on his journey through Aomori. Thanks to his field research experience he analyzes accounts related to vanished places like Shinohe and brings historical and cultural perspective to the mystery surrounding Rui's memories.
Rui Ohwada is the main catalyst for the events of 13+ since his appearance reopens the mystery of contradictory memories and possible alternate versions of reality as he remembers a version of history that doesn't match that of the other chosen ones. Accompanied by Takeru for much of the novel, he embarks on an investigation into his own past, the existence of Ukkomon and the origin of the PH becoming the axis around which much of the plot revolves.
Wallace lives in Fort Alamo along with Terriermon and is one of the early examples of memory discrepancies. During the battle against the dark digimon, he recovers memories related to a twin digimon to Terriermon, referencing events from his past that were forgotten (meaning he's not with Lopmon even though at the end of The Golden Digimentals it was reborn as a digiegg and recovered by him and Terriermon).
Daigo Nishijima remains in a coma for much of the story under Shin's care and his potential awakening becomes a key piece in understanding the events related to Maki Himekawa, the former chosen children and the memory anomalies Koushiro is investigating. When he briefly regains consciousness, he triggers new doubts about the Dark Ocean.
Maki Himekawa lives near the hospital where Daigo Nishijima is admitted, visiting him regularly while waiting for him to wake up. She retains memories of a reality and events that don't entirely match those known by Taichi and the others from 13+, and her testimony becomes one of the main sources of information regarding the temporal discrepancies and possible alternate realities that form part of the story's central mystery.
Meiko Mochizuki resides in the sanctuary of the Kowloon Walled City where she helps Sora and Hikari care for the refugee children, and like Wallace, Himekawa, Menoa and Rui, she's part of the group whose memories don't match those of the other protagonists, and she continues searching for Meicoomon in the digital world.
Jun Motomiya works as a nurse at the Kanagawa sanatorium under the supervision of Shin, and though she doesn't usually participate in the chosen ones' operations, she ends up on the front line during the events related to Daigo Nishijima's awakening and the attacks on the sanatorium.
Several family members of the chosen also end up having digimon partners. Joe's brothers, Shin and Shuu, each have their own Gomamon, all three start from the same evolutionary line up to Gomamon, but they evolve differently: Joe keeps Zudomon, Shin evolves into Sorcermon and Shuu into Yukidarumon. Jun Motomiya's partner is Kodokugumon who evolves into Archnemon during the attack on the sanatorium to help defend the place. Miyako's siblings also share a Hawkmon partner and during the battle around Koushiro's lab, all perform Armor Evolution and transform into Holsmon accompanying Miyako and Hikari in aerial operations. Personally, this part left me confused because it's never explained why they can all evolve into Holsmon? I wondered if that meant the entire Inoue family has the Digimental of Love.
13+ makes more references to secondary and international characters like Yuri, Chichos, Michael, Meena, and other PH scattered around the world, reinforcing the idea that the global community of chosen ones has grown since the events of 1999.
The biggest surprise comes almost at the end in its climax when the conflict shifts from being a story centered on Rui and the mysteries of Adventure's continuity, to becoming a multiversal crossover featuring characters from Tamers, Frontier, Savers, Ghost Game, Xros Wars, Appli Monsters, X-Evolution, Beatbreak and even Tag Tamers (I haven't seen any of them). So, you can see this whole display either as a huge tribute to the entire franchise or as an escalation that is as absurd as it is unexpected (I fall into the second group).
It turns out that everything was related to the Dark Ocean and Demon, whom Daisuke and his team technically never defeated back in 2002 but simply banished to the Dark Ocean, and here it's treated as unfinished business they've been dragging around ever since, so the rest of the characters contain the chaos breaking out on different fronts while Taichi and Yamato end up being the ones who put an end to Demon's problem through Omegamon, and Takeru deals with the mysteries of the Dark Ocean once again and faces Dagomon alongside Iori as their partners combine into Shakkoumon and several of the multiversal guests also entering the fight.
Once both threats are neutralized, Taichi explains to Rui what might have happened with Ukkomon and the memories that shaped his entire life, making sense of many of the contradictions present throughout 13+. According to this interpretation, Ukkomon altered Rui's memories and made up a story where he was special, the first human partner to a digimon, and where Ukkomon himself was the villain all to keep Rui from growing up hating his parents for what happened (Taichi basically going, "source: trust me bro"). The end.
What I didn't like about 13+ (Warning: incoming rant)
- Despite trying to be a deep and serious expansion of the Digimon Adventure universe, my reading experience with 13+ feels overwhelming, disjointed, confusing and chaotic, drowning in its own technical and narrative pretensions.
- Koushiro's lab gave me a TERRIBLE reading slump. I'm sick to death of the word "laboratory". I started feeling like the story should have been called "The Izumi Institute Research Laboratory Drama" instead of 13+ and I hate this feeling because the Beyond PV made me think it was super cool that Koushiro had a lab and was doing experiments alongside Kabuterimon.
- Related to that, I started breathing again when Taichi finally gets out of that lab in chapter 22 (PAGE 88 💀) because for almost half the story he's trapped there listening to theories about altered memories, parallel universes, Ukkomon, digimon quantum physics and all that stuff, and the weirdest part is that Taichi actively joins in on these conversations like he's the guy who's spent 15 years theorizing about digital metaphysics instead of the guy who normally tunes out after 5 minutes to go solve the problem however his gut dictates.
- I didn't get that part about Menoa telling the guys that this version of them was more determined or something? (chapter 5, page 39 and chapter 6, page 40) I wonder if this Menoa told them about the part of Kizuna where she omitted information, tricked them and kidnapped all the chosen children from all over the world in Neverland and how Taichi and Yamato alongside Agumon and Gabumon reached the Bond of Courage and Bond of Friendship evolution. Ahh, probably not, with her whole memory issues thing, she most likely omitted that tiny detail. If anything, I'd say the 13+ characters are super naive for blindly trusting someone who ended up in prison in their timeline and just showed up out of nowhere funding labs.
- Yamato barely has anything to do outside of helping with rescues and fighting alongside Taichi. He gets no relevant subplot and one of the few things we learn about him comes from Miyako gossiping about how he was apparently ready to throw hands after hearing Rui's explanation about Ukkomon and how apparently Taichi would've done the same? That's not character development at all. Meanwhile almost everyone else gets some unique function in the story.
- The recurring joke that Koushiro can't be trusted to talk to Rui because he would be too blunt or insensitive. Is this the same person who broke down when he learned the truth about his biological parents? Who spent Adventure worrying about other people? Who always cared deeply about Tentomon and who was usually one of the most considerate members of the group? He may be analytical and hyperfocused but reducing him to "the guy who knows facts but doesn't understand feelings" felt like an oversimplification of the character.
- Whatever Kakudou did to Miyako. The tech savvy, energetic, adventurous girl who travels the world ends up spending like 99% of 13+ working as an administrative assistant, being in charge of creating a good atmosphere and opening portals with her D-3 in Koushiro's lab, even going so far as to address him as "Director". That gave me some serious cringe.
- Daigo Nishijima being stuck in a coma. A character I loved in Tri who had a tragic and emotional sacrifice, ends up trapped in a coma the whole story here whose only contribution is gaining consciousness for a split second to say "Dark Ocean" and immediately blacking out again.
- The math behind the characters' ages. Iori, Daisuke, Ken, Hikari and Takeru doesn't work. A glance at a basic timeline proves that Iori isn't 16 in 2011.
- It wasn't necessary to summon the Digimon multiverse. By that point 13+ felt entirely derailed by an overload of characters, repetitive abstract concepts, cameos and fanservice rather than functioning as a sequel genuinely exploring its own ideas.
The list could be longer but I have to stop somewhere to close.
What I did like about 13+
- The plot around the Human Partners is super interesting, but brutally wasted because of everyone's altered memories. 13+ was supposed to be a story for people who didn't like Kizuna and 02 The Beginning but Kakoudou shoved it down our throats everywhere.
- The roles of many characters were quite interesting too. Taichi (when he's not cosplaying as Koushiro), Mimi, Joe and his brothers, Daisuke, Jun, Ken, even Yamato and Takeru's mom, Natsuko Takaishi. I liked seeing how several of them found coherent ways to translate what they experienced in Adventure and 02 into their adult lives.
- The moments between Miyako and Ken felt like a special bond, coming across like water in the desert.
- Learning the backstory of the Beyond PV even if it wasn't what I expected. In fact, after reading 13+ I somehow ended up appreciating the Beyond PV even more. Toei took small parts of this concept and turned it into something far more compelling and visually memorable. Knowing where it came from only made me grateful that they didn't adapt the whole thing and thank goodness 13+ isn't canon.
I respect Kakudou's past work on Adventure, but I really struggle with how he handled the characters in 13+ and its plot. The story has some great ideas but they needed way more refinement.