Digimon Reviews, Episode 48: Digital Monster X [2017-2019 era releases]

These are just a bunch of Digimon that are done exclusively for video games and such, while the franchise as a whole did a far more well-thought-out Appmon spinoff series (which I haven't watched, and am planning to maybe sometime in the future), and as such the designs showcased here are honestly pretty... m'eh? It's not that the fact that I don't have any emotional attachment to any of these designs, which is definitely a fair point, but also the fact that making them for trading cards or as one-off video game villains really just cause these designs to honestly feel very bland and unengaging, just mostly "generic huge anime dragon with loads of details".

This basically covers a lot of the Digimon released in the 2017-2018 era, including a batch of a whole ton of X-Antibodies released in 2019. In 2020, apparently has a new Adventures-reboot anime or something? I'm definitely not caught up on that, and a majority of the reviews that I did after Xros Wars Hunters are done with me just reading up on them in the wiki.

It's a super long article, though, which I took too long to edit. I've placed most of the X-Antibodies under a break.

I honestly have to say that... a lot of the Digimon from this period also doesn't really appeal to me. Perhaps not as much as the period between Hunters and Tri, but still, I do apologize for being a bit low-energy in this page. Note that I actually did the first draft of these post-Hunters article way back in 2019 and it took me near close to two years to finally finish it, so apologies if I sound a bit inconsistent in-between reviews. 

Sakumon & Sakuttomon

It's a blob with a knife jutting out of his head, and we're getting another full evolutionary line that's just "slow evolution from point A to point B". These are the Baby I and Baby II forms and as early as the Zero Two season we've really not been having a whole ton of exciting, unique baby forms. These two are... they're all right, I guess, and I do chuckle at the thought of blobs with knives apparently sometimes getting stuck on the ceiling. I'll lump the forms of this evolutionary line together because, well... I'm just so indifferent about them. These two are cute, but I don't really have much to say here. 

 4/10.

Zubamon & Zubaegermon

Ehhhh, it's sort of like Hackmon if Hackmon was a lot less interesting. Just like its pre-evolved forms, Zubamon's whole deal is that he's gold, and he has a sword on his face. Its profile is a generic 'chosen one' nonsense about how he's a mighty weapon that, depending on who wields him, Zubamon can save or destroy the world. Apparently he is the "Twentiest", but no one knows what that means, not even Zubamon.

Zubaegermon, the Adult form, looks a bit more unique, but I honestly do feel that maybe they wwapped out Zubamon and Zubaegermon's designs? Like, Zubamon has a cape, loses it and becomes the quadrupedal beast Zubaegermon, and then re-gains the cape and stands up when he evolves further? Eh. Aparently Zubaegermon can turn into a knife, so this is sort of similar to the Ginryumon line, but a lot less interesting and more gold.

 3/10.

Duramon & Durandamon

Named after a legedary blade in a French epic poem, the Perfect and Ultimate stage Duramon and Durandalmon are... they're... they're sword-knight people? I am just running out of things to say about this line. They're not ugly, but are just so devoid of any real appeal to me that I just find them so god-damned boring. Hell, the franchise's even done humanoid knights with knives for arms and whatnot and made them look far less tacky and look so much more interesting. I do really like that apparently they are born from the "data of mythological weapons from video games", which is such a rare, fun detail to see in modern-day Digimon profiles. So instead of being born out of Durandal the French epic balde, Durandamon is born out of Durandal, the weapon from Fire Emblem. That's neat, I guess. Not my kind of thing -- I don't hate this one, but comparing this line to... well, the next year, I guess, I just really don't care for this one. It's neat. 

 3/10.

Cotsucomon & Kakkinmon

No, not Costcomon. Cotsucomon. Anyway, this pair of Baby I/Baby II Digimon are basically the 'shield' equivalent to the entire Durandamon being the sword. DIGIMON SWORD AND SHIELD! These two are clearly just pretty much stronger/weaker versions of each other, but at least they make the effort to make them look more unique compared to Sakumon and Sakuttomon. These are two all right ones, if not too creative. I guess we're going with this format of two Digimon stages for a lot of these video-game tie-in "whole new evolutionary line!" families if I don't have much to talk about them, I suppose. 

 4/10.

Ludomon

Oh, hey, I actually like Ludomon! This Child level little critter is such a funny looking little gremlin, and so colourful with all sorts of weird circular shields strapped onto him. He looks like he could be a fun, cute little gremlin mascot for Splatoon or something, and I really do like that slightly pissed-off face, the quasi-samurai-esque layout of his armour, and the stubby little arms with shields latched on to the side.  I also love the little bits of... graffiti? "Camouflage", in some way or form? Whatever the heck compelled Ludomon to decorate his giant disc-arms with pink and blue, anyway. It's such a fun, wacky way to do a shield-themed creature, compared to the obvious route that the Zubamon line goes through. 

 6/10.

TiaLudomon, RaijiLudomon & Bryweludramon

On the same token, I do like that the Ludomon line isn't just obvious "same thing, but in different poses with different details" the way that Zubamon and the rest of them are. It's just a shame that TiaLudomon instantly loses almost anything interesting that his Child-level counterpart has, and just becomes a pretty bland, monotone generic futuristic robot. A massive step down. And TiaLudomon evolves into RaijiLudomon, who is another pretty generic robot-man that doesn't even look interesting by the standards of robot-man Digimon. I really have nothing to say about this Perfect form. It's so boring. So I guess the theme of the evolution line is "shoulder shields" or something? 

Bryweludramon, which is a bitch to type, is... it's the ultimate form, and I am slightly surprised at how we go from humanoids with shields plastered on randomly to a massive dragon made out of flame, with its recognizable limbs and wings being shields. It's pretty neat, and definitely refreshing to see some of those "tied together by theme" thing going on in Digimon evolution lines as opposed to just the very banal thing Durandamon has going on. It's a neat-looking dragon, but not the neatest-looking dragon we've ever seen in Digimon. Definitely do feel that it's a bit too cluttered, although I do appreciate that between Bryweludramon and Volcanicdramon, we have a couple of modern lines that end up with a non-humanoid Ultimate form.

I'm sorry -- I don't actually actively dislike any of these like the Collectors designs, but I just really don't have too much to say here.

 4/10.

RagnaLordmon

Oh, yeah, you got to have a Omegamon-style Jogress, huh? The Zubamon and Ludomon lines are version counterparts in their respective digital pet lines, and their two final forms combine into an anime knight dude with a sword and a shield. Durandamon becomes the sword, and Bryweludramon becomes the shield. And holding them is a completely generic dude in armour. Like, I'm trying to be positive and pretend that I actually have something interesting to say about this form, but I really don't. It's a decent anime knight dude, and at least Durandalmon and Bryweludramon actually look like they are meant to turn into weapons. Not impressive, but not terrible.

 3/10.

Pusumon, Pusurimon & Herissmon

It's a cute hedgehog! And a hedgehog child mode! And a hedgehog slime-ball with Pabumon's little pacifier thing! An evolutionary line created as the mascots of a mobile game, I... I actually don't mind them. Pusurimon is a fluffy hamster buds. Pusumon is a hairy fluffy buds. He's neat. Herissmon (sometimes "Erismon") looks more like a knockoff Digimon made by cheap Chinese companies trying to catch a quick buck, but I still can see him being a mascot for a Digimon manga or whatever. Not my favourite design, but they're all pretty decent. I don't have anything much to really say here, they're clearly designed with Herissmon first and the other two to tie to him. This line is basically the exclusive evolution line for the Digimon ReArise video game. It's... it's an all right mascot, all things considered. I don't care about them, personally, but they're all right.

 4/10.

Filmon & SteFilmon

Herissmon evolves into a predictable fur-man creature, and by this point we've seen so many of them that look cooler, better, more beastly, more organic, and even more humanoid. Filmon and SteFilmon are just there. They're humanized furry hedgehog-lion things with very generic "something something super-powerful digizoid" bios. I find them utterly bland and boring. Filmon's proportions just look weird (how do those elbows work?). SteFilmon is a bit better but also it's the type of design I don't particularly care for. I do like the random cowboy shoes it has, though.

 1/10.

Rasenmon

Herissmon's Ultimate form is Rasenmon, which... is, again, the sort of anime knight-person with a lot of random details slapped on to it. And I know, I know, I've been harping on that sort of design like a broken record, but there are a lot of these designs, y'know? The default Rasenmon has swapped its massive amount of hedgehog spikes for a bunch of giant drills that jut out of his back, which... okay, that does give him something that's somewhat unique compared to its two pre-evolutions. Rasenmon is noted to be able to absorb the powers from his allies' emotions, which would be something special if all other Digimon don't already do that.

A lot more interesting, though, is Rasenmon's "Fury Mode", which is presumably how you originally obtain Rasenmon in the game based on how the profiles are worded. And, as usual, the monstrous form is the far more interesting one, with gigantic claws and gigantic tails that lash all around. It's basically yet another Nine-Tailed Fox reference, but it's a pretty cool monster and I do like that a lot of the details on Rasenmon: Fury Mode do translate into equivalent details on the regular Rasenmon, like the gigantic golden claws (that become upside-down gauntlets in regular Rasenmon) or the tails that turn into drill-bits. Individually, I don't think they would be all that impressive, but as a duo of alternate forms, they do bring enough to the table to get a pretty neutral 5/10 rating.

 5/10.

Blucomon & Paledramon

Blucomon here is the mascot for another mobile game, this time one from China, "Digimon Encounters". I do actually like Blucomon a fair bit, and I suppose it's no surprise that he looks a bit more monster-like compared to a lot of the ones we just went through. I do like that Blucomon is described to be literally made out of ice, and that his power will actually decrease if he walks out of icy habitats. I also like the fact that he's got a parka-esque fur around his neck despite being a mostly reptilian draconic creature on the same vein of Agumon. It's also apparently good buddies with Penmon, which is such a randomly adorable detail.

His adult form, Paledramon, is basically him but bigger, with pretty cool arms made out of ice and... well, I suppose those tacky ice-crystal wings are to be expected. He is still a pretty decent humanoid dragon/dinosaur creature, though, and I don't think I realized until writing this how few ice-themed Digimon we have. Paledramon is noted to be cold enough to be immune to the changes in environmental temperature, but he's still very much susceptible to Digimon with fire attacks. Eh, they're not terrible, but I'll probably forget them after writing this article. 

 5/10.

CrysPaledramon & Hexeblaumon

At this point it's basically a given that any given Digimon line gets to become more humanoid as he evolves, yeah? Volcanicdramon notwithstanding? CrysPaledramon is basically how you expect Paledramon to become more humanized, gaining huge chunky Wolverine gauntlets and having his ice wings be more elaborate and Gundam-esque. And then his profile just details about how he's more powerful and stuff. And then we get to Hexeblaumon, a generic anime hero man which has apparently mastered "ice sorcery (a high-level programming language)", which I do appreciate how magic in Digimon-land is always prefaced with it being a programming language. It's got an ice sword and its ice wings now resemble Strike Freedom Gundam. They look cool. Get it? Cool?

 4/10.

Jazamon & Jazzdramon

Debuting as part of the "Digital Monster X" virtual pets, (which is a reason for the large resurgence of X-Antibody Digimon in the recent years), Jazamon is a brand-new chlid stage that's basically a baby bird, but also a robot. It's pretty adorable, and, well, I do like robots and baby birds are cute. I do think that Jazamon is a wee bit too complex for a child-stage, but at this point I don't really think it matters a whole ton. Jazamon is noted to be unable to actually fly, is very skittish and timid, and can only glide around with its metal wings. Cute, but honestly kind of mundane.

Jazzdramon, meanwhile, is a pretty cool design. It's noted to combine both traits of a "dragon and a fighter jet", but it really ends up looking like it's inspired by both but isn't really either. I absolutely love the funky way that those legs connect to the body, and those legs, while still resembling some sort of VTOL engine, also resemble giant boots and this gives Jazzdramon a very Mega-Man boss vibe. The head does look a bit disproportionately large, but that might just be the forced perspective of the artwork. Overall, I actually like Jazzdramon's design a lot.

 7/10.

Jazarichmon & Metallicdramon

The Perfect and Ultimate stages for the Jazamon line are a bit more obvious robotic dragons, and in the somewhat more generically cool sense instead of the wacky style that Mugendramon or Megadramon are, but that's okay. Jazarichmon is a bit less sleek compared to its pre-evolved and evolved forms, but it's still a pretty decent looking metallic wyvern-thing. I really don't have much to say here, it's not a super-revolutionary design, but it's still a pretty cool robot dragon. 

Metallicdramon is basically what you expect the final form of one of these things to look like, but a giant metallic dragon/bird creature is still a whole lot cooler than something like Hexeblaumon. I do like the design of the wings and the fact that the tail-stinger thing grows increasingly larger and larger as the line evolves. Metallicdramon apparently moves around so fast that other Digimon can't even see it, and when it shows up, it's a portent for some huge event. Whenever it flaps its wings, apparently particles that will "preserve the harmony of the world" are scattered. Okay, that's a pretty mythical quality to it or something, but I dunno, we don't really learn enough about Metallicdramon from just that.

 5/10.

Sistermon Ciel

We're done with the full, complete lines, so now we get a bunch of randos now! Okay, so one of the Sistermons have apparently decided that she doesn't want anything to do with the nun theme, decided to get a mouse hoodie-hair, wears an eyepatch and runs around with a katana slicing people. That's... that's... what? Again, if this was just a background character in an anime, I probably would've actually liked her. But as a Digimon? Eh.

 0/10.

GraceNovamon

I have to zoom in to really understand what they're going for here. Like, jeez -- one of the most important aspects of character design is to make a recognizable silhouette. You can add as many random nonsensical details like flaming red manes and floating swords and claws from the shoulders and a galaxy cape or whatever, but the design will always feel "cluttered" and not majestic or whatever they are going for. GraceNovamon is the fusion of Apollomon and Dianamon, the two mascot Olympos XII dudes from Dawn and Dusk, but honestly doesn't have the appeal of either of them. It is somewhat interesting in the fact that the profile at least tries to say about how it has a galaxy within its body, but the design is so messy that it kind of gets lost in all of the clutter.

 2/10.

NoblePumpmon

Oh, okay, what now? Pumpmon gets an evolution nearly two decades after his debut? NoblePumpmon is the real, honest-to-goodness proper Ultimate evolution for Pumpmon, and it's... it's basically a Jack Skellington style affair, only with a pumpkin instead of a skull. And y'know what? Considering how Pumpmon is portrayed in that one iconic episode of Digimon Adventures, how it's supposedly hired as what's essentially a contract killer but would rather spend his time going around celebrating Halloween, before getting his ass killed for it by the evil big bad Vamdemon. And NoblePumpmon is... basically everything Pumpmon wants to be, but in actual style. No longer is he running around in a pudgy potato-sack body with an ax stuck to his head, but he's got spindly limbs, a proper suit, a hat, a cane, all the works! His personality is that he just wants to bring smiles to everyone with the pumpkin dishes he's able to conjure with his cape, and that's so wholesome. He's even got a pair of downwards-facing angelic wings that double up as a 'cape', and the whole combination ends up with such a stylish evolution for good ol' Pumpmon that you can't dislike this thing. The description of NoblePumpmon's attacks are even hilarious -- it's either giant pumpkin bombs (which are mundane compared to its predecessor) or "pouring a huge amount of pumpkin soup into the enemy's body and causing them to explore". Hahaha, that's brutal!

8/10.

Voltobautamon (a.k.a. Boltboutamon)

Somehow, when you combine the vampiric Vamdemon and the demon clown Piemon, you get... Voltobautamon, who is a crazy looking ghost pirate demon thing with multiple arms? It's an interesting design, and probably the bad guy in like everyone's childhood Digimon Adventure fanfic since its component parts are the two most memorable villains from the show, but I don't love-love it. It's cool enough, being a demon pirate with a funky cape and all, and I definitely appreciate that it isn't a cheap mis-mash of the two more iconic Digimon. But... we really don't get a whole ton, yeah? It's got a very pirate-y theme to it, I feel, and I do kind of actually appreciate how Voltobautamon actually has it's own identity, sort of? Voltobautamon is apparently controlled by some other entity or something, though, and his official profile doesn't really say much beyond him being the final boss of one of the newer games. I'm not the most interested in this guy, but the sheer Adventure-fanboyism in making a combination of Vamdemon and Piemon is something I can approve out of principle. 

 5/10.

BlitzGreymon

I have a feeling that the Digimon design team just get tired of being told to design an alternate -Greymon and -Garurumon final forms for every other video game that show up. There's the original versions, the black repaints, the X-Antibody versions, the Ancient ones from Frontier, Victory and Zeed, and probably like a couple more I can't think up of right now. BlitzGreymon here is actually not bad, probably because it explicitly tries to look different. It's a pretty decent robot-man Gundam ripoff, which is pretty common in Digimon, but those pair of massive gatling-gun arms do look col, and those dinosaur-face wings (are those wings?) do look neat. More than anything, BlitzGreymon genuinely feels like a variant of WarGreymon, instead of just "WarGreymon drawn differently with a couple of extra accessories". You can see that this dude has a similar body layour, with the awkward wings and arm-mounted weapons, but the different colouration and being themed after guns instead of arm-blades is definitely fun, if admittedly obvious, way to make him have a unique feel.

 4/10.

CresGarurumon

The Garurumon variant is... the exact wrong way to do this, I think. Sure, it's distinct and pretty damn unrecognizable from MetalGarurumon, instead being a generic bipedal werewolf-warrior with a massive glaive and like a couple too many accessories latched on to it. It got all of the problems that MagnaGarurumon or MachGaogamon have, but without any of their charm. Its profile is also just a list of the names of its weapons and armour and crap, which means absolutely nothing when it doesn't really tell me about what CresGarurumon itself is. The design and artwork isn't that awesome either. It's not the worst thing in the world, but utterly forgettable to me. 

 1/10.

Omegamon Alter S & Alter B

So BlitzGreymon and CresGarurumon have their own Omegamon variant, which is basically Omegamon with a black cape and having the two new heads of his new formative Digimon. I would care more if we haven't had like seven different Omegamons or Omegamon-style Digmions already. There's also a black repaint, because, of course. Artowkr's nice, I guess. 

 2/10.

_____________________________________

A whole ton of X-Antibody variants this time around, and it's interesting that we're bringing back X-Antibodies for a lot of random old designs, y'know? A lot of expected prominent characters like members of the Royal Guard or the Seven Demon Lords and anime partner Digimon, but also a bunch of delightful random ones. Whenever possible, I'll group a bunch of them together, because, again, I don't have a whole ton to say about many of these.

Craniummon-X, Sleipmon-X, LordKnightmon-X

Three more Royal Knights get the X-Antibody treatment, and... they're honestly still the same old style of "let's draw this in a completely different art style!" But in this case, I actually do like these three. Maybe going through the past couple of glut of utter shit from the TCG and Hunters have made me mellow out somewhat on "decent but uncreative" designs, but there's a fair amount to like here, from Sleipmon-X's multiple arms to the sheer amount of blades they managed to fit onto Craniummon's armour. This is also why these particular designs work and GraceNovamon didn't... I can instantly look at the picture and tell that Craniummon is an armoured knight holding a big-ass pointy weapon, and I can instantly tell Sleipmon is a centaur archer.

I didn't really care a whole ton about LordKnightmon-X, and I'm somewhat disappointed he lost the massive metal glove that regular LordKnightmon has. It trades that giant metal gauntlet for two sets of golden feather-like wings, which is decent, but also kind of makes him look a lot more generic compared to how he originally was. All of these aren't terrible, but they're a case of basically just redrawing a couple of old designs in a different art style. And of course, the art style's good, but that honestly just feels like the artist redesigning these guys instead of actually making a different form, y'know? 

3/10.

Gankoomon-X, Examon-X, Jesmon GX

We are getting the Royal Knights out of the way because... I really don't have a whole ton to talk about them, and none of them have very interesting profiles (it's basically detailing crazy attacks and stuff that at this point don't even sound like anything special). Gankoomon-X is... it's still just a dude, but now he's lost his JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stand and has gained a pair of glowing gloves. Very boring. Also, this guy's profile is basically a huge list of the random powers it can utilize, all with super-long and tedious names.

The whole point of what made Examon interesting to me is that he breaks away from the humanoid-knight mold that the other Royal Knights are stuck in, instead being a huge dragon. Well done, you took everything unique about Examon-X and eliminated it. We covered Jesmon-X last time, and I forgot we even did that! Oh, and Jesmon gets a super-duper-awesome super-Ultimate form called Jesmon GX, who also loses the cool small buddies. 

The artwork's all very cool, but as usual I'm rating the X-Antibodies based on how they improve or vary from the original, and these just feel like they don't really improve all that much on the original design.

0/10.

Barbamon-X, Belphemon-X & Demon-X

All the Demon Lords also get X-Antibody forms, too. Barbamon-X is a lot more threatening-looking than the gaunt sorcerer he used to be, and I do like this a lot. The 'wings' made out of energy behind his long sorcerer robes is also pretty neat. It's a bit hard to tell without zooming in, but Barbamon-X has basically fused the demonic staff it used to carry around with its right arm, and you've got a bunch of pretty neat monstrous detailing there. Also, since the original Barbamon really didn't have much to do with "greed", this new form allows Barbamon-X to rip out an enemy's Digicore (a.k.a. their soul) and lay claim to it. 

Belphemon-X is... again, one of those X-Antibody forms that just looks like the original design drawn in a slightly different art style, but there's enough changes done to Belphemon-X to really make him look a fair bit more impressive, like those pinky-pink giant claws. I do like the new arrangement of the wings, and keeping the chains and the huge 'face' in the middle of his torso are both neat details. 

Demon/Daemon-X also basically looks a lot more monstrous than before, losing a lot of the goofiness of the fur-man of his original design and basically just going for a monstrous demon-man with a lot of metallic-esque detailing. He's got two giant claw-cannon things on his shoulders, which looks neat. Again, there's really not a whole ton for me to say here. The Demon Lords actually look like variants and look a lot more distinct, I feel. 

6/10.

Leviamon-X, Lilithmon-X & Lucemon-X

See, Examon? This is how you do an X-Antibody update. You can still retain your monstrous form and add a more humanoid gait, y'know? Leviamon is still a giant long-mouthed crocodile creature, it's still got its ridiculously long crocodile head, and he's got the expected addition of giant demonic wings, a giant halo over his head and two giant horns, plut a bunch of armour over him, but he's still got the basic Leviamon look and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Basically, Leviamon-X can now run around in land, sea and air, which is a pretty neat upgrade. 

Lilithmon-X's new design is pretty simple, you basically give her a pimped-out kimono and two giant butterfly wings, plus a gauntlet with a giant middle finger. It's not the most exciting update and she still looks too humanoid to be a Digimon, but apparently Lilithmon is so into this whole obsession of beauty that she just wants to evolve into a more beautiful form. Okay, then. Also, she's taken the extra title of a 'god of death', mind-controlling enemies with her Lust powers, then watching as they die serving her. 

Lucemon-X is... well, at least it's different? He's now fully armoured, and both sides of his half-angelic half-demonic wings are all golden, bringing a sense of symmetry to his originally asymmetric design. I really don't have a whole ton to say here, but I do think it's a more pleasant-looking design than the original Lucemon. I kinda wished that they updated one of the two more monstrous stages of Lucemon, but I also acknowledge that the bishonen-humanoid Lucemon is definitely the more iconic one.

6/10, mostly for Leviamon-X.

Ogudomon-X

All of the Seven Deadly Sins got X-Antibody forms, and so do their big boss, Ogudomon-X, which is, like, their master or something, and... and I do appreciate that he still remains somewhat bizarre? It's no walking giant crab-spider creature, and there's something that vaguely resembles a torso like structure at the center of those twisting tentacles, claws and wings, but I do appreciate that it still looks bizarrely formless. I'm not sure if that's by design, or if the art's a bit too cluttered, but either way, I do like that Ogudomon-X still remains somewhat indecipherable. The X-Antibody has apparently mutated Ogudomon that all of the Seven Demon Lords' sins are overflowing and that Ogudomon-X is basically a massive force of destruction that will destroy the world by merely existing (et cetera, et cetera, every Royal Knight and Demon Lord basically has a similar 'it is so awesome it will break the world' vibe to their bios), and it's so mindless that it's going to attack anything nearby it, whether it be friend or foe. A neat concept, but a messy one.

4/10.

Keramon-X & Diablomon-X

After the whole Royal Knights and Demon Lords stuff, the next couple of entries are going to be Child and Ultimate forms of some of the main characters of previous Digimon series, and what better way to start off than our good old movie antagonist, Keramon? And hoo boy what the fuck is going on here. The original Keramon always had this thing where the head's orientation is either a smiling face or a frowning face thanks to multiple sets of eyes, but Keramon-X just went over-the-top by essentially stapling like three Keramon faces together into a single sphere, and I'm not sure how to read that face, and that's glorious. It's either a massive multi-jawed mouth like some sort of hideous deep-sea worm, or it's just what it looks like, a bunch of grinning faces glued into a single face. Its original weird jellyfish body has basically grown to be a bit more bizarre -- it's still got a single pair of zombie arms, but the amount of tendrils and 'wings' and whatnot seems to be the result of, well, a bunch of Keramon glued together. Keramon-X is noted to have "divided its face" so that it can chew through even more data, and apparently this includes Ultimate-level Digimon because Keramon is a badass. 

Diaboromon-X is... it is another one that originally looks like "oh, it's the original but with a ton of extra details", but the more I look at this thing, the more I like it. The way its body is contorted, and the fact that those lavender parts of his body doesn't even seem to be solid and looks more like wispy streams of gas or something that's only holding the extensions of his body like the claws and boots and tails to his main body is a very interesting visual image. His official bio notes that Diaboromon-X moves "like a mollusk", especially the fact that apparently that pose with his legs clutching his tail like a pogo-stick is something it loves to do to disorient the enemy. Overall, a pretty cool design.

9/10.

Renamon-X & Sakuyamon-X

I like regular Renamon and regular Sakuyamon, but their X-versions are just them drawn in a fancier art style. Renamon-X's sure got a cool arwork. In Sakuyamon's case, with a massive ghostly fox, bringing home the fox theme that was sorta-lost in the original Sakuyamon. They're neat, but ultimately don't feel like they're alternate versions of the original designs moreso than someone with a different art style drew them. 

 1/10, not different. 

Terriermon-X & Rapidmon-X

Likewise, Terriormon-X is cute, but ultimately it's just the original design with a bunch of jewelry and fur details slapped on. Instead of the Ultimate form, though, we get... Rapidmon-X? This is meant to be the golden Rapidmon, though, the super-special-awesome-one from the movie, so, eh? I kind of find it hard to tell what's going on at first glance, but I guess they swapped out Rapidmon's original cannon arms for, blade arms that split apart into tridents? I think? I do like that they the bizarre chunky abdomen and clown shoes, but ultimately this isn't a design I like.

 2/10.

Cyberdramon-X & Justimon-X

Oookay, so Xros Wars isn't the last Cyberdramon variant we're getting. Look at this motherfucker! Is this still even Cyberdramon? Cyberdramon-X is still a robotic dragon-man (emphasis more on 'robot' and 'man') and while it's nowhere as monstrous as Cyberdramon-2010, it's still a pretty cool design. I mostly just like the post and the disproportionately large claws, as well as the random bits of glowing laser wings and stuff. Ultimately, a pretty cool standalone design, and one that actually feels like it stands apart from a lot of the other dragon-man and robot-man Digimon out there. 

Justimon-X, everyone's favourite Kamen Rider themed Digimon, is back in red, and while I'm kind of sad we're not referencing any specific Kamen Rider, they do really go all-in on the cyborg enhancements for Justimon, and the concept for this one is basically an 'ultimate form' that combines all of Justimon's original three arms (the 'blitz arm', 'accel arm' and 'critical arm'), with all of his original arms forms represented on each limb, and that's why Justimon-X has a huge chunky robotic left leg. It's very tokusatsu, and I can't dislike this one.

7/10.

Lopmon-X & Cherubimon-X

Lopmon-X is basically a recoloured Terriermon-X, just like the original Lopmon and Terriermon, but where Terriermon-X has a bunch of random furs that don't really make sense, Lopmon-X's huge puffballs look a lot more organic and integrated into her design. 

Cherubimon, meanwhile, has always been my favourite 'angel' Digimon due to how bizarrely different it looks from regular angels, and the X-Antibody forms they gave for both Vice and Virtue forms of Cherubimon certainly doesn't disappoint. They exaggerate all the features of Cherubimon in the best way, making the comparatively small head smaller, the pot belly even rounder, the legs look super-robotic, the collar spikier and the arms even longer and ganglier than before. The difference between the two forms are simple but pronounced, with the legs, belt, ears and hands all looking different between the two forms. The exaggeration works well, and both Cherubimon-X (particularly, of course, Vice form) look even more bizarre than it originally did. I'm not sure what those weird little spheres on Virtue's hands are, or what those wire-like structures on Vice's hands are. Not a disappointment.

7/10.

Impmon-X & Beelstarmon-X

Impmon-X is also another winner, which I grouped together with Beelstarmon-X because of his connection with Beelzebumon. Impmon-X has actually became the badass that he acts like, and I do love the somewhat over-the-top art style that the original Impmon was designed with. The eyepatch and the grinning smiley face on his belt is neat, and the huge chunky fingres wielding red and blue flames genuinely look cool. I absolutely love that Impmon-X thinks that the eyepatch unlocks some sort of power, like an anime character, but it's just a regular eyepatch. A very fun update.

I'd brush off BeelStarmon-X as a bland revisit of a fan-popular Digimon (gee, I wonder why?) with the simple addition of tacky demon wings... but the fact that she shoots little bullets shaped like her own helmet, making tiny little Sharpedo bullets, is just hilarious to me. I do think Beelstarmon-X is a straight-up just improvement on the original, pretty bland design, so yeah. It's still T&A, but at least Beelstarmon-X has something going on more than just fanservice.

6/10.

Angewomon-X, LadyDevimon-X & Hououmon-X

Angewomon-X is... she actually covers up, looking more like a holy nun-angel-lady. It still looks a lot like an Angewomon, but also different enough while still working off the same concept of an angel lady. But her transformation pales compared to LadyDevimon-X! LadyDevimon-X always had a little ghost-friend made out of a torn patch of her dominatrix outfit hanging off her shoulder, and LadyDevimon-X's ghost buddy has grown into a full-blown giant specter, and her left arm has transformed into an awesome giant skeletal claw of doom, replacing the original bandaged Devimon arm. LadyDevimon-X's ghost buddy is apparently her 'familiar', and that's a pretty cool term to call a part of your latex suit that's tranfsormed into a demonic ghost. The more I look at this design, the more I appreciate how much it enhances the original LadyDevimon's design, with the zippers now having teeth, there being a random spine-and-sacrum design on LadyDevimon's front, and her new cowl also looks awesome.

Hououmon, meanwhile, went from a phoenix into a holy bird, but I'm not the biggest fan of this one. I'm not sure why the body of a big holy bird is randomly shaped like a lady, either. I guess she could be some sort of a harpy that still has a bird's head, but I dunno, I just don't like this one.  

7/10, mostly for LadyDevimon-X.

Ophanimon-X

Oh, hey, it's Ophanimon-X. Ofanimon? Ophanimon? I don't care enough. Regular Ophanimon-X looks like she's clad in a dress-armour that's a lot more practical for fighting compared to the regular Ophanimon, but while the dress is a lot more sensible, she's gotten two lightsaber-lance things glued onto her shoulders, and that is both ridiculous and awesome at the same time. Also, she has a random little yo-yo wheel under her leg. Okay. Ophanimon Falldown Mode also gets an X-Antibody form, and apparently that one yo-yo wheel has multiplied into three spiky yo-yo wheels, and Ophanimon-X Falldown Mode has turned one into the core of an energy scythe. As usual, Falldown Mode is always a lot cooler compared to regular Ophanimon.

4/10. Yo-Yo power.

RizeGreymon-X 

Oh, huh, we get a random Savers protagonist Digimon. I've never been the most fond of the original RizeGreymon, but it's a solid design. And basically, that's what I can say about RizeGreymon-X. It changes just enough of the original RizeGreymon to actually feel somewhat different, actually mechanizing the entire body instead of just the upper half while retaining regular Greymon's lower body. The new arm-cannon also looks pretty cool. And they do change a fair bit of RizeGreymon's look, and... it's a pretty decent design? I really can't find much to say here. It's yet another Gundam-dragonman, but probably one of the nicer-looking ones. At least it looks different.

2/10.
 
OmegaShoutmon-X, DarkKnightmon-X & Minervamon-X

A bunch of the Xros Wars cast join in on the X-Antibody fun. OmegaShoutmon is... basically the same design, except his fingers are no slightly disconnected from his arms, which become a bit more word-like. It's essentially the same design drawn in a grungier art style, though, and I really don't have much to say here. DarkKnightmon likewise gets a pretty cool artwork, and I must stress that I really do enjoy the cool new looks for these X-Antibody designs. I really do like the fact that SkullKnightmon's dumb face actually is a skull now, but it's still fundamentally the same design. Not terrible, but not super-innovative.

Minervamon-X would be a boring revisit of an unremarkable Digimon, but the fact that her hair has became sentient and became massive chain chomps have basically made her one of the most memorable X-Antibody variants to me. I don't care a whole ton for either regular Minervamon or Mervamon, but this is the first time it actually feels like a Digimon,.

4/10. Mostly for the chain chomps.

Numemon-X & Monzaemon-X

As we leave the updates to anime protagonist partners, we're actually headed to a bunch of random Digimon that got X-Antibodies and almost all of them are actually winners in terms of design. Take good ol' Numemon-X, for example, which is just hilarious! It's eyestalks are now crossed in an 'X',its body is now huge and shocking pick, and it's got a bunch of fangs. It's got a completely different crazed and manic expression compared to the original Numemon (or any of its evolutions) and I love it. Easily the best feature though, is that it's apparently completely slimy now instead of just being a slug, creating and budding off mini-Numemons from its body that float around it like spores. A very simple concept, yet one that's applied very well to good ol' Numemon. 

Monzaemon-X, meanwhile, retains a lot of its original teddy-bear look, albeit, again, drawn in a slightly more detailed art-style... but now it's got a halo and angel wings... made entirely out of... goop? The bio calls these "lovely gel". But said goop-wings are also budding off into little hearts and it's just so adorable, Monzaemon just really wants to love you even though it's oozing off goop. Now if you remember, the original concept for Monzaemon in both the Digimon World and Digivice games is that it's a 'hidden' Perfect evolution if you take care of your Adult-level Numemon, and while it's lost in translation to the anime, Monzaemon's original concept is that it's essentially a fluffy mecha suit piloted by a Numemon. So yeah, those goopy angelic wings and halo? It's created by a Numemon-X hiding inside Monzaemon-X, isn't it? Either way, though, all it still wants to do is to be a good buddy and bring happiness. Aww. Overall, an actually awesome update for these two.

7/10.

Black Agumon-X, Meramon-X & Virus MetalGreymon-X

Agumon-X-Antibody (Black) is basically the obligatory repaint to the regular Agumon-X. Not much to say here. Meramon-X (which I'm grouping here because Meramon was originally an Agumon evolution) is actually a pretty cool variant. the original Meramon was just a dude made entirely out of fire with a stitched mouth, but Meramon-X shows off that he's got a body beneath, a bunch of sharp claws, and it's posing like it's summoning the power of Grayskull or like he's a Power Ranger or Kamen Rider that's just completed transformation. I love this. It's got a lot of personality. 

We've already gotten a regular MetalGreymon-X, but MetalGreymon-X (Virus) is the same design, but with blue, and with a lot more evil detailing, like that completely mean-looking chunky sci-fi cannon that also looks like the jaws of a crocodile or something. A pretty cool design, actually, different enough from the regular MetalGreymon and the X-Antibody MetalGreymon, and looking pretty dang monstrous. I approve. 

 5/10. Again, the artwork are all cool, but mostly this is just for MetalGreymon. 

Tyrannomon-X, DarkTyrannomon-X & Dracomon-X

Holy shit, Tyrannomon got an X-form! Okay, this zombie franchise is still good for something, then. And it's even posed in the same way that real Tyrannosaurs are now known to be posed like, instead of the shuffling Godzilla-esque "dude in a tokusatsu suit" that the original Tyrannomon was. This is AWESOME, and I don't care that the only reason I love Tyrannomon-X is because of my own personal geekiness. DarkTyrannomon-X is also pretty damn cool, and while the huge "X" on its forehead is a bit much, I do love the update for the massive amounts of straps on the original DarkTyrannomon's hands, and the crystal-spikes and glowing tail. It's apparently able to produce green flames from within its body. That's cool. The artwork is cool.

Dracomon is a Digimon I've honestly never particularly cared about much either, only remembering him because of his role in Xros Wars, but moving the wings to his arms, and buffing up his appearance and face without going overboard, really adds to just how cool this turned out to be. Definitely a fan of this pair!

 6/10.

Siesamon-X, Pegasmon-X & Orgemon-X

Another trio of randoms. Siesamon-X looks glorious and utterly fabulous, but unless I'm forgetting something, I don't think Siesamon ever received a proper Ultimate-level evolution, and I kinda wish that Siesamon-X actually ended up being a proper evolution instead of an X-Antibody 'alternate form'. Actual Shiisa are often explicitly cluttered with a lot of details, so Siesamon-X is pretty on-brand

Pegasmon-X is an interesting update on an Armor evolution that I've personally always kind of forgot, but turning parts of the original Pegasmon into robotic, Tron-esque parts is pretty dang cool. The leg armour and the glowing robot-energy wings look cool, and Pegasmon-X just looks straight-up majestic. 

Orgemon-X, meanwhile, looks a bit more monstrous and streamlined, and it's gotten a bunch more black and red on its design... but that's because Orgemon's gotten a brand-new career. It's a metal rockstar now, and has traded its femur-bone-club for a combination of a rockstar's guitar, an ax and a chainsaw, and suddenly the changes in its fashion is a lot more understandable. It's basically trying to emulate a heavy-metal performer or something, and it's just something that's so out there for a simple Oni-monster design, but alsosomething that works so well. One of my favourite X-Antibody updates on this page.

8/10, mostly for Orgemon-X, but the other two are solid ones too.

Wizarmon-X & Vamdemon-X

Wizarmon-X is... it's still basically another one of "an old design, but drawn in a cool new art style", but the addition of random details like the eyepatch is admittedly pretty cool. I really do like the stylization of a lot of Wizarmon's features, like the chunky gloves or the massive zipper-mouths and whatnot. 

Vamdemon-X, however, is far more cooler. The original Vamdemon is already a cool design, and this one... it basically plays up a lot of the 'gentleman vampire' aspects of the original Vamdemon, but there's just something off. His cape looks more like bat wings, and there doesn't seem to be any arms in his sleeves. And despite his very fancy shoes and whatnot, turns out that this entire sexy-vampire routine... is nothing but a big fat fake. The bio notes that Vamdemon-X's face and body are entirely fake, and the true form lies in its cape, so the cape-bat-wings are the true arms, and I think that mask in front of his chest is meant to be the true face? There's always this weirdness with the original Vamdemon that when he evolved into VenomVamdemon, he has a 'true form' on his crotch that went unexplained, and this is a far cooler take on that concept. Very cool.

8/10.

Mephismon-X

And here we go, closing this off with one of my favourite X-Antibody updates. Mephismon was... a very... it's an all right Perfect-level demon Digimon, a cool goat-man design that's cool on its own, but ultimately sort of a forgotten design whose only real claim to fame is being the star of a Digimon Tamers movie, and even then it's his evolved form Gulfmon that takes up more screentime. And then somehow Mephismon ends up getting the chance to become an X-Antibody Digimon... and somehow, this involves Mephismon-X being reimagined as a rather hilarious... I'm not een sure what style this is. Does this count as gothic? Whatever the case, he's gotten an absolutely fancy umbrella, cleaned up a lot of the gross fur and swapped them for more pleasant-looking baggy clothes, and it's just a design that exudes so much style. And this is coming from someone who keeps decrying the amount of repetitive and boring humanoid Digimon, too -- I actually like Mephismon-X a lot, managing to look elegant and creepy at the same time, and that umbrella is glorious. It's attack is even called "merry merry destruction"! A fabulous goat.

9/10.