Digimon Reviews, Episode 50: Hackmon and Friends

We've moved Hackmon here, so this episode has more than just the sword-and-shield line and have a little bit of excitement! Also allows me to title this article 'Hackmon and friends' instead of using Zubamon or Ludomon, who are not as memorable as Hackmon. Sorry, sword and shield guys!

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".

A lot of them are released in full lines that, except for Ludomon, are very obviously just the same thing but slowly bigger and bigger. While I do enjoy continuity between forms, this really felt like the designers had an idea for a Child and Ultimate forms and just filled in the gaps with whatever. It feels a lot less interesting especially when you compare it with the anime's evolution lines. Even the most 'thing grow bigger' tend to throw in some curveballs in the middle stages. 

EDIT: This episode initially had a bunch of rushed X-Antibody reviews, that have been moved here. It also contained the Blucomon, Jazamon and Vorvomon lines, which were moved here.

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Hackmon

• Alternate Names: Huckmon (alternate spelling)
• Stage: Child
• Type: Small Dragon
• Attribute: Data

One of the main recurring characters (well, less recurring character and more "deliverer of mysterious messages") is Hackmon here, who would later be revealed to be the Child form of one of the Royal Knights, who, if you forgot, are the thirteen or so knights that zealously guard the peace of the digital world and are basically like Templar Knights or something. Hackmon is... he's cool, I guess? The cape is a bit too much and I'd probably like him better without it, but the design of this ambiguous creature that's equal parts wolf, dinosaur and armour actually makes Hackmon look pretty unique, like he truly is some sort of bizarre digital monster instead of a simple animal association. His Bandai bio is pretty drab and just mentions his training and none-too subtly notes that it's going to become a Royal Knight, but eh, I can appreciate the design.

 6/10.

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BaoHackmon

• Alternate Names: BaoHuckmon (alternate spelling)
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Dinosaur
• Attribute: Data

Not a big fan of these two forms, and I actually found out that I really don't have much to say about them individually. The Adult form of Hackmon, BaoHackmon, is... is basically Hackmon, but angrier, scarier and with a more bipedal-monster look. SaviorHackmon, the Perfect form, is the same, but more knightly and humanoid instead of draconic. I'm not sure how I feel about Digimon whose evolutionary changes are sort of telegraphed and look more like a gradual change. On one hand, I do like that it actually makes the change look more gradual and more like real evolution... on the other hand, just making it "bigger and another step to Jesmon" is a lot different than, say, changing Greymon into MetalGreymon or changing Terriermon into Gargomon. BaoHackmon is all right, I guess, but it and SaviorHackmon just fall into a soup of "yeah, these are intermediary forms we didn't really put too much thought into designing". 

 4/10.

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SaviorHackmon

• Alternate Names: SaviorHuckmon (alternate spelling)
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Dragon Man
• Attribute: Data

They also clearly didn't put too much thought into his bio, just re-stating Hackmon's mission statement and all sorts of random over-powered powers it can do. Like, I legitimately can't find anything to talk about these two. They sure are cool sword knight dragons, but they really feel like we're just putting some obligatory steps between Hackmon and Jesmon. 

 4/10.

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JESmon

• Alternate Names: Jesmon
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Holy Knight
• Attribute / Subgroup: Data / Royal Knight

And here's the final Ultimate form, Jesmon. You'll probably want to take a look at his Toei movie model to really understand what they're going for. It's a cluttered mess, but it's a design that works a bit better in motion, with a anime knight with swords for arms and legs, and a tail with a blade attached to it. Oh, and it summons those orange... little friends or whatever those are, and command them to do battle. Jesmon does always feel a bit too cluttered for his own good, but at least it has something relatively unique going on for it. Its profile is a huge mass of "look at this overpowered, godlike being" nonsense that make me roll my eyes, but as a design... it's all right. Our of the Royal Knights that actually show up in the Tri movies (Jesmon, Alphamon, Omegamon) he's easily my least favourite, but he's a somewhat solid design, I suppose.

 6/10.

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Gankoomon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Holy Knight
• Attribute / Subgroup: Data / Royal Knight

The final member of the Royal Knights to be revealed, and he is easily the most freaking boring one. Gankoomon here fills a slot I didn't even realize was empty and waiting to be filled among the Royal Knights, and.... He's just an anime dude in some fancy armour, and... I don't know. He's got that weird JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stand coming off of him, but both the Stand and Gankoomon himself just looks so... boring? He looks like a rejected villain-of-the-week from Yu-Gi-Oh, let's put it that way. I realize I haven't been the biggest fan of the Royal Knights, but I've always found them to be pretty cool Not Gankoomon, though. Is that meant to be the point? Everyone else is a cool spiky armoured anime knight, and Gankoomon is just some dude with a JJBA Stand? His official profile is just straight-up a headache to read, and he's basically just Hackmon's mentor. I appreciate the JJBA-esque aesthetic, but not enough to really care for this one.

 1/10.

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Rafflesimon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Fairy
• Attribute: Data

We surprisingly got an alternate Ultimate-level option for Palmon (and by extension, most plant Digimon). Were the Bandai designers just not comfortable that Palmon and Lalamon had the same Ultimate-level final evolution? Rosemon's a neat design, but Rafflesimon is also all right, basically being similar to Rosemon if she was designed after a ball dancer as opposed to a skin-tight dominatrix. Rafflesimon's all right, I guess. I don't really like her at all, even if I do enjoy the fact that she's a variant of Rosemon. The dress has some funky psychedelic patterns going on, although I'm definitely disappointed that other than the colours and maybe the spikes, we don't actually get anything resembling the real-life rafflesia flower. I do like the little detail that she enraptures people with sight, while driving them away with stench. And despite being an Ultimate-level, apparently it has a short lifespan? It's... it's all right. At this point I'm honestly just indifferent to yet another "just a lady". Rafflesimon has a hell of a nice dress, though.  

 4/10.

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Sakumon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Baby I
• Type: Weapon
• Attribute: None

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. 

 4/10.

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Sakuttomon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Baby II
• Type: Weapon
• Attribute: None

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.

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Zubamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Child
• Type: Weapon
• Attribute: Vaccine

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.

The real world reason, of course, is that the Zubamon line was created in to tie in with the 20th anniversary of Digimon. That is probably the main reason to like this guy, because otherwise the whole line is just a very monochromatic, swordier version of Hackmon. 

 3/10.

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Zubaegermon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Weapon
• Attribute: Vaccine

"I, who am the Twentiest, will never halt!"

Zubaegermon, the Adult form, looks a bit more unique, but I honestly do feel that maybe they swapped 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.

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Duramon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Weapon
• Attribute: Vaccine

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. 

 3/10.

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Durandamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Holy Sword
• Attribute: Vaccine

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 it really is just a knight with sword feet and arms, and it's all gold and stuff. Both Duramon and Durandamon drop the silly 'Twentiest' gimmick. We could've had something memorable with that. Also, these guys are part of the "Legend-Arms" subgroup, which are Digimon that can turn into weapons. You can find most representatives of the Legend-Arms here, plus Spadamon from Xros Wars. 

 3/10.

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Cotsucomon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Baby I
• Type: Armor
• Attribute: None

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. 

 4/10.

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Kakkinmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Baby II
• Type: Armor
• Attribute: None

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.

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Ludomon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Child
• Type: Armor
• Attribute: Data

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.

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TiaLudomon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Armor
• Attribute: Data

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. Kudos for not just going through the 'same thing but bigger', but I'm not a fan of this one. 

 4/10.

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RaijiLudomon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Armor
• Attribute: Data

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".

 4/10.

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Bryweludramon

• Alternate Names: BryweLudramon
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Armor
• Attribute: Data

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.

 4/10.

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RagnaLordmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Unique
• Attribute: Virus

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. It's expected, I suppose. 

 3/10.

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Armamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Weapon
• Attribute: Free

Armamon is the main villain of a Nintendo DS game to tie in with Xros Wars, and Armamon's basically a walking plot device that's a "legendary weapon" Digimon. This was originally reviewed with Xros Wars stuff until I realized it's part of the Legend Arms guys. And... he sure is holding a sword and has a sword for a lower body, and looks like a mechanical angel-demon thing. 

• Alternate Names: OmegaArmamon, Armamon: Burst Mode
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Weapon
• Attribute: Free

OmegaArmamon: Burst Mode (later retconned to just being 'Armamon: Burst Mode') is just a bunch of badass sounding words strung together to give Armamon a completely unwarranted and badass final transformation. Apparently the combined forms of Armamon and the demon lord Barbamon (the old man one). OmegaArmamon looks like he's a rejected Yu-Gi-Oh card design, honestly. I don't know. I just don't care for these two.  

 1/10. 

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