I'm doing homework and watching Digimon Tamers (aka the third season and my favourite!). I'll never get too old for Digimon ;)
I remember as a kid, everyone thinking it was weird that I thought Tamers was better than Adventure 02 AND Adventure. But I rewatched episodes of Tamers, and it still holds up today. Now people just think I'm weird for still loving Digimon ;)
I think this season has the best developed characters. They're all subtle, realistic, and obviously change over time. Their dynamic was at it's best as well. Their digimon partners were fantastic and this is still my favourite digivice to date, plus the way they included the cards was brilliant.
The main reason I prefer this season to the others is the grittiness. This season is dark, gritty, violent, and people/digimon DIE and don't come back. Even the ending is depressing. I love this :) My sole flaw with the season is Kazu and Kenta who really added nothing to the plot. They were fine early on but they really shouldn't have gotten digimon partners or gone to the Digital world later on. xD
Holy crap, I haven't seen Digimon in ages. I remember really liking the 3rd series when not many did.
I loved the first and second series but I dropped out on the third - probably because of channel issues in that I didn't have the right one. But if you say it's better then I'll look around to check it out.
Clancy, keep in mind that this I'm in the minority with this. Most people prefer the first season...but I loved the characters and the plotlines in the third season most. So this is my own personal "unpopular opinion" ;)
I'm plotting out the storyline for the third film in my live action Digimon series, and I've been researching Tamers for the last three years. I've got the story all mapped out, but you're gonna hate me when you see who I kill off. :(
Without hyperbole, Digimon Tamers is God's gift to the Japanese for being better than us.