So with the majority of Ghost Game's cast out of the way, we're going on to more Digimon released in 2022-2023. In addition to the Ghost Game anime itself, the original Adventures canon continue to shamble on by releasing a movie follow up, Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning, starring the much-neglected Zero Two cast. It's actually a pretty good movie if taken as a standalone story... but it does place a lot of focus on the brand-new character almost to the exclusion of the actual Zero Two cast. I find it a nice, fun 'epic' movie with a nice story for the movie-original character Lui, but for people who wanted something more substantial to the 02 cast it does leave something lacking.
That said, not trying to do anything too daring with the main cast does make me appreciate the 'movie story' they are telling, instead of nitpicking it like I did when I was watching Tri and especially Kizuna. So it was an enjoyable movie, although at the cost of giving the already neglected 02 kids proper spotlight.
This review will cover the primary new Digimon from 02: The Beginning -- Ukkomon -- as well as a batch of Digimon that were released in Digimon New Century, a Chinese-market video game.
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Ukkomon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Child
- Type: Ancient Fairy
- Attribute: Free
Ukkomon is the strange little buddy that the movie claims to be the 'first Digimon' to cross over to the real world, at least in the Adventure canon. Ukkomon presents itself to a abused little boy, and begins granting it wishes... and it's an interesting corruption of the typical human/Digimon partnership where Ukkomon genuinely comes from a place of wanting to make its human partner happy and has no ulterior world-ending motives beyond that, but does so in the most fucked-up way possible. Without spoiling too much, I actually thought that was a nice subversion that we haven't really seen in the animated Digimon media before -- normally it's the human that's the evil side of the equation, or the Digimon in question is actively manipulating their human for malicious end goals. Ukkomon is entirely pure, which makes its confusion at Lui's horror even more sad.
Ukkomon is vaguely based on the Clione, or sea angel, which was chosen to give it the feeling of a 'primordial', almost cell-like creature. That orb in the middle of its translucent chest is likely just a typical DigiCore, but looks like a nucleus. We already had a sea angel Digimon in MarinAngemon, but Ukkomon's dumpy head and particularly its face gives it a look that's simultaneously cute but also creepy. There are also features that remind me of other Digimon as well, with the colouration and highlights bringing to mind classic Gomamon, but those eyes are also transplanted directly from Digimon's darling firstborn mascot, Agumon.
Ukkomon's profile notes its two primary abilities displayed in the movie, with its 'Liar Dream' being its mind-controlling powers, while the profile also notes that it can grant the wishes of others. The profile (which I don't think is true to the 02 Ukkomon) notes that Ukkomon was a survivor of the 'Ancient Digital World', which was destroyed, and the only thing known from this ancient world is how so many Digimon gathered around Ukkomon to get it to grant their wishes. It's a cool little alternate backstory, nicely painting Ukkomon as some kind of ancient, 'elder fae' or 'elder god' style being that just happens to look like a dumpy lumpy little sprite.
I don't mind this form, it's a nice combination of cute and creepy!
7/10._________________________________________________________
BigUkkomon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Ancient Fairy
- Attribute: Free
Ukkomon's Ultimate form when it appears in the present day was initially very underwhelming. BigUkkomon isn't the most threatening name out there, and being a bigger, pink version of its Child form isn't all that cool. Sure, its skin is pink, its ears are smaller and those eyes have glossed over, but it is still just a 'big' Ukkomon.
That's kind of lame, but here's the thing. BigUkkomon spends maybe thirty seconds in that big form, before spending the entire movie looking like this:
Yeah. That adorable head splits open to reveal rows and rows of... teeth?> And then masses and masses of tentacles unfurl out. An outer later of spike-plated tentacles surround a central 'pistil' that's just a mass of orange wires surrounding a central pitcher-plant-like structure. Even BigUkkomon's original sea angel body is now split with extra rows of teeth. It's a very cool and surprisingly creepy 'eldritch horror', a rare organic version that we haven't really seen too many of in Digimon... we usually get something that's a huge mass of demonic shadows, or mechanical. BigUkkomon feels fresh, unlike poor Eosmon a couple of reviews back which I felt I've seen in some variation throughout Digimon's long history of Big Bad Monsters.
BigUkkomon's official profile notes that it supposedly sacrificed itself out of the tragic sorrow of the destruction of the ancient Digital World, possibly even creating the Digitama that birthed the current Digital World. There's some vague mention of the Ten Warriors (remember them from Frontier?) probably coming from this ancient age too, but it's all speculation... speculation that ties into the combination of BigUkkomon causing vast destruction due to tragic misunderstandings and circumstances, something that befell its tragic movie counterpart.
Beyond the storytelling, BigUkkomon's giant mass of tentacles menace the city that it manifests in, forcing our heroes to fight through its massive hordes of tentacles and reach its core before it can grant a particularly harrowing 'wish'. It just looks so monstrous, so wrong, and I just find it surprising that this came out from modern Digimon.
Also, a quick little biological trivia... this is even based on real-life sea angels. We all know sea angels as being adorably-shaped sea slugs, but real sea angels feed by extending their 'buccal cones'. Which actually looks very nicely nightmarish, and clearly what BigUkkomon's basis is. Sea Angels have snuck their way into mainstream media to show up as the basis of a bunch of newer monsters, and I love that, but I love Digimon a lot for using the sea angel's very cool natural features as the basis of their Cthulhu. Very cool, very creepy, and again, while The Beginning arguably fails as a way to extend the story of Daisuke and the rest of the 02 cast, it does a damn good job at telling a horror-tragedy story with Lui and Ukkomon.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...
9/10, almost 10._________________________________________________________
Cthyllamon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Fairy
- Attribute: Virus
Oh! What? MarinAngemon got a 'devil' counterpart? That's adorable! It's even named after Chtylla, daughter of Cthulhu (no, really!) in the Cthulhu Mythos. The design is pretty neat, taking some of the 'puppet' themes of early Digimon and transplanting it to MarinAngemon. The wings are replaced with some Megadramon-style tattered wings, the mouths are jagged and partially stitched up, its tail and right arm are partially switched with other fabric, it's got a Digimon Belt (tm) and a skull on its chest.
That skull, by the way, is the only thing that glows in the deep dark Net Ocean, and thus Cthyllamon is known by the alias of 'Phantom of the Ocean'. That sounds like a very cool twist on bioluminescent deep-sea creatures, of which you can usually only see a single part of their anatomy. Cthyllamon, by the way, debuted in Digimon Ghost Game as a rival to Jellymon/Amphimon, but I thought I'd include it here to hang out with its cousin Ukkomon.
Funny that this is a second mind-controlling sea angel based evil Digimon released in almost the same year, but Cthyllamon also has the ability to mind control lesser deep-sea Digimon to fight for it. That's where the 'puppet' theme comes from! It's not as epic as BigUkkomon up above, but Cthyllamon also has a 'Buccal Rush' attack where it 'opens its mouth wide and attacks with its three, long flexible tongues like a whip'. Which it does do so in the Ghost Game anime! The Digimon team in 2023 was really in a 'sea angels are actually cool, holy crap' phase!
As a Lovecraftian-inspired Ultimate-level, this actually makes Cthyllamon one of the few appropriate final forms for the original face of the Lovecraft mythos in Digimon, good old enigmatic Dagomon! Who, as I remind most people, is a mere Perfect-level despite the hype that the 02 anime and its fandom gave it. Cthyllamon also serves as a nice, appropriate final evolution for another underwater tentacle monster, Calamaramon. I mean, I would like a proper kraken or Cthulhu or Scylla themed final evolution for either one of those two Perfects, but I also like the idea that they transform into an evil eldritch elder god that also looks like a little gremlin sea slug.
This is what constitutes a good 'evil repaint', by the way. Both visually and thematically, they did something cool with it.
8/10._________________________________________________________
Zanmetsumon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Beast Dragon
- Attribute: Virus
There is a new Vital Bracelet virtual pet with occasional updates, and we're going to sprinkle the Digimon introduced in those virtual pets with these articles. Zanmetsumon is a pretty neat Perfect-lvel samurai-themed centaur Digimon. I don't think this is based on any specific yokai? Zanmetsumon has a centaur-like body, with the upper humanoid body being a four-armed, blue-skinned samurai with a dog head. He's also got four swords, of course. The lower centaur-like beast body is a fuzzy beast with a massive tooth-filled maw on its front end, bringing to mind other centaur-like Digimon we've had in the past like Gulfmon or GranDracmon. Oh, and Zanmetsumon's also got a sword at the tip of its tail, giving it a total of five swords.
The centaur-crotch mouth can unleash a roar that can paralyze its prey in its tracks, but I like that Zanmetsumon actually hates doing this since it wants to prove its sword skills and defeat its prey with its sword and nothing but its sword. That's a nice little character quirk!
It's all right. It's not my thing exactly, but I appreciate it existing and I appreciate how easily this could've been just a regular four-armed samurai without the badass beast centaur body. Zanmetsumon currently has a bunch of random protagonist Digimon as its pre-evolved and evolved stages, but in addition to reminding me of centaurs (so potentially between Centalmon and either Gulfmon or GranDracmon), Zanmetsumon also fits in as a much more thematic samurai Perfect-form between Adult-level Musyamon and Ultimate-level Zanbamon! ...even if Zanbamon does admittedly look less impressive visually now next to this four-armed, monster-mawed creature.
7/10. He's a'ight. _________________________________________________________
Bombermon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Mutation
- Attribute: Virus
It sure is a bomb dude! Another Perfect-level, Bombermon initially looks boring to me, until the details start standing out. Bombermon is a humanoid figure whose straitjacket trails off into wraith-like tatters at the end. Its head is itself a bomb with a fuse, and it is snapping its fingers a la Roy Mustang. Most adorably and crucially, Bombermon is surrounded by a tiny swarm of little spider-legged bomblings (named "BB"s!) that float around it. Those little bomb spiders that Bombermon commands and sets off as explosions really does salvage this design from being 'just a minor gimmick anime enemy'.
Since we've already referenced Roy Mustang, let me also reference good old Deidara from Naruto, whose personality has been translated to Bombermon here. Bombermon is an 'Explosive Artist' who is guided solely by the beauty of the explosions it makes, heedless of the damage it does. The tiny BB's that Bombermon commands explode depending on the emotion and passion that Bombermon has.
I didn't like it all that much initially, but I've grown to appreciate it a lot more as this crazy artistic ghost that commands little exploding spiders. We've had bomb-themed Baby and Child-level Digimon in Bommon/Bombmon and Missimon, and I guess BomberNanimon exists as an Adult level? It's all right. Over the process of writing the review he went from a 2/10 to a more neutral score.
6/10._________________________________________________________
Fumamon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Cyborg
- Attribute: Data
It sure is a robot ninja. Fumamon is yet another Perfect-level that is based on the fuma-ryu ninjutsu technique, and is described as a mercenary assassin that disposes of its targets with its badass ninja attack styles. It pursues its enemies relentlessly, and the only way they can save themselves is to defeat Fumamon. In addition to the expected repertoire of ninja tools, Fumamon can use its ninja scroll to summon hordes of undead Digimon.
I don't know. It is a cool robot ninja, but other than that bladed tail (which might be a robotic attachment anyway) this could be a background character in any anime show, much less an actual Digital Monster. Remember how Digimon used to do ninjas? Igamon was an onion ninja-monster, and Shurimon had a badass vine-plant theme to it. The relatively newer Tuwarmon and Monitamon both have their own additional themes that play with the 'disguise' and 'monitoring' aspects of a ninja while still having more flair than just being a dude in a suit.
Fumamon's got cool art, I just don't vibe with it as a Digimon. They really are just giving 'Perfect' status to everyone, huh? Some of these feel very Adult-level.
3/10._________________________________________________________
Lianpumon
- Alternate Names: Ryenfumon (JP reading)
- Stage: Adult
- Type: Mutation
- Attribute: Data
Digimon New Century gives us a bunch of new Digimon based around Chinese mythology, and I am pumped to talk about this! The location is on the 'Eastern Digimon World' or Shambala, with many designs that are based on aspects of Chinese mythology. Lianpumon here is based on lian pu, traditional face masks, and perhaps most well-known internationally not just for Chinese Opera, but also in the Beijing Bian Lian ('face changing') art. In bian lian, the actors can rapidly swap masks with a flourish of their hands or a prop.
And that's what Lianpumon is all about! It is wearing its 'default' mask face, which is that of a typical Chinese Opera mask, but its main body is a small, furry body with two large arms that end in webbed fingers. But what draws your attention isn't that 'real' body, but the massive cape with an assortment of masks based on other Digimon -- Sunflowmon, Andromon, Pumpmon, Starmon, Pandamon, Vilemon, Tentomon and... Gomamon, maybe? Mamemon! These masks are not static, and the bio notes that Lianpumon has masks in its cape based on the Digimon that it gets along with.
Lianpumon isn't a creepy mask salesman like Majora's Mask, though, and is completely festive and happy! It dances around in a festive atmosphere, expresses itself through gestures and mask changes, and it will always have another mask if you remove its mask. Its abilities involve putting on different masks to allow it to access different powers, like a defensive aura, healing abilities, or just the rage to unleash all its other masks like shurikens. It's just a really fun one! I like this one.
8/10._________________________________________________________
Xingtianmon
- Alternate Names: Shintenmon (JP reading)
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Mutation
- Attribute: Virus
I had originally reviewed these two separately, until I realized that they were not standalone but tied to each other. Xingtianmon is the associated Perfect-stage from Lianpumon, and it is based on Xingtian, a mythological figure in Chinese history who was beheaded, but continued to fight on -- with his nipples and bellybutton turning into a new head and mouth as he continued to fight.
It's an... interesting myth, and the design interprets this with more pizazz. You can see the furry arms and legs of a white-furred humanoid, which ties it loosely with Lianpumon up above, but the primary design has to be the 'body-face' -- interpreted here as a combination of Ogremon's 'oni' face, metal armour, and opera mask details. The head-stump is given a little flair of a glowing wispy blue flame. Pretty cool design for what it is, and I like that the axe and shield both have 'faces' on them.
In a reference to the mythological Xingtian being too stubborn to give up even after he is beheaded, Xingtianmon is noted to be stubborn and refuses to accept defeat no matter how hopeless the situation is, and throws himself into battle regardless. It's an interesting take, and I do enjoy them taking effort to make it fit the Digimon style, unlike many of the Olympus/Journey to the West/Peter Pan myth-transplants in the 2010's.
6/10. Not my thing, but I respect it. _________________________________________________________
Dijiangmon
- Alternate Names: Dijanmon (JP reading)
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Oni
- Attribute / Subgroup: Virus / Shikyoju
Oh! Dijiangmon is the Ultimate stage after Xingtianmon, and it's introduced as the first in a set of four -- the Shikyoju, or the Four Perilous Beasts. Based on the Four Perils of Chinese mythology. That's cool! The faceless mythological Dijiang is also commonly known as the Hundun, who's relatively recently featured in Marvel's Shang-Chi as a mythological creature there. Dijiangmon doesn't have much to do with that design beyond being faceless, but the Four Perils are never consistently described anyway, so.
Dijiangmon is a 'mutant' Digimon whose entire body is covered in leather, many belts, and a bunch of seals. From what we can see of its exposed anatomy, Dijiangmon has gray skin, red claws (one feet having a metal prosthetic slip-on) and a tail that ends in barbs. Those arms are unnaturally long with joints that look uncomfortable, and two sets of wings pop out of Dijiangmon's back.
Dijiangmon doesn't have a mouth and doesn't express anything, which seems to be a nod to its Lianpumon form. It stands in a spot in eerie silence, 'has no interest in self-expression', and is an evil creature that specializes in robbing others of life. It slips into crowds of Digimon and sends signals that incites them into violence. In combat, it opens up its zippers to suck foes in... and not even Dijiangmon knows what dimension that his zippers lead to. Spooky!
Dijiangmon is a member of the Shikyoju, the 'Four Perils', whose members will be fleshed out by subsequent releases over the next couple of years as the New Century story plays out.
Again, it's another humanoid Digimon that I fairly like! It's not that being humanoid that makes me roll my eyes, it's being humanoid and repetitive. Dijiangmon manages to feel like a Digimon villain without me going 'yeah, but it's just X with extra details', draws from a nice context without just plagiarizing it, and stands well enough on its own as a creepy long-armed 'sealed evil' monster even if you don't know what it's referencing. That, by the way, is an important aspect of these creatures that draw from mythology, and why I praise designs like Nidhoggmon and Dijiangmon who are cool standalone designs regardless of whether you know the inspirational myths, and not many of the Collectors-era additions that would just be some dude or lady if you're unfamiliar with the original myths.
8/10._________________________________________________________
Fujamon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Child
- Type: Aquatic
- Attribute: Virus
Fujamon technically debuts a couple of years after its evolutions, but we'll be covering it here. The next set of V-pets is Pendulum COLOR, which incorporates a bunch of the newer Digimon introduced in other sources. Fujamon debuted there, to give a Child level to its next three forms that also debuted in New Century!
Fujamon is based on the Hujiao (though unlike the other Digimon based on Chinese mythological beings, its official name is with the katakana reading?) which is a mythological creature with the body of a fish, the tail of a snake, and the call of a duck. Fujamon is a nice shade of light blue with lavender accents, and it sure has a saky tail connecting its fishy body and its fishy tail! I love its head, though, which has a fanged 'inner mouth' and the blue part forming a 'helmet' similar to many old-school Digimon. Note the beak on the blue 'helmet' portion, that's going to be important later on.
I love how much this fits into Digimon's old-school style while clearly being something new. Fujamon's described as a violent, territorial beast that bites intruders with its venomous fangs, and uses its powerful snake-like tail to swim upstream and its fins to waddle on land. Nothing in the details mention its duck call, but I assume it still quacks. Can you imagine being chased by this ill-tempered snake-fish slithering across the riverbank, threatening to maul you, while all you hear is 'quack quack quack'?
8/10._________________________________________________________
Xiquemon
- Alternate Names: Shichumon (JP reading)
- Stage: Adult
- Type: Bird
- Attribute: Vaccine
We get another trio of Digimon from New Century, this one based mostly on the mythological Peng -- a giant bird from Chinese mythology that has the ability to transform into a fish called the Kun. This context is important! Adult-level Xiquemon is just a regular bird for now, with some Chinese-clothing inspired details on its chest. Xique means 'magpie' in Chinese. Other than its accessories, Xiquemon is otherwise a mostly regular bird... with a fish tail! It's not as evident here, but incorporating the Peng myth early on is a good thing for sure.
Its bio notes that Xiquemon can dive into the water and navigate waterways as smoothly as it can fly -- which isn't a strange thing to do, as seagulls and albatrosses all divebomb and navigate the waters relatively well. That's why it's got those goggles... those are swimming goggles! Which I find rather goofy looking and not the biggest fan of.
There are some extra details, like how Xiquemon is a migratory bird, eats very little food and therefore freezes its leftovers, and is renowned as a sign of good luck. My favourite detail has to be its special attack 'Gyoryuho', where it fires a missile shaped like a fish from its mouth. It's all right, but I'm more excited for its evolved forms.
6/10._________________________________________________________
Huankunmon
- Alternate Names: Fankunmon (JP reading)
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Aquatic
- Attribute: Vaccine
And like the Peng, it evolves into a fish! Whereas Xiquemon is a bird with fish features, its Perfect-level evolution Huankunmon ('mythical Kun', with Kun being Peng's fish-form name) is a fish with bird features. A pretty bird-fish, too, with the central fish body being a gorgeous mix of teal, blue and gold; while its wing-fins and other details are a great shade of pink. The end result looks like a colourful Betta fish, albeit one with a horrific beaked mouth that reminds me of prehistoric fishes like the iconic Dunkleosteus. That's a clever way to suggest a bird's beak while also looking 'fishy'!
Huankunmon's bio notes that its scales are as tough as Chrome Digizoid, but it's normally gentle and calm, protecting lakes and rivers from environmental pollution. It can jump into the air and fly through it, swallowing flying Digimon whole. No! Poor Piyomon! Interestingly, due to its large size, Huankunmon flies alongside large flocks of Xiquemon and covers the whole flock with magical bubbles that distort light and makes the whole flock invisible. That's a neat way to allude to its 'mythical beast' status.
I just really find this one quite pleasant!
9/10._________________________________________________________
Xiangpengmon
- Alternate Names: Shanponmon (JP reading)
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Holy Bird
- Attribute: Vaccine
The final stage is shaped more like a Chinese Dragon instead of a bird or a fish, and I like Xiangpengmon a bit less than Huankunmon... but it is an appropriate final stage. And I'm happy that it's still bestial instead of turning into a dragon-man. Xiangpengmon is still classified as a bird, too, despite its body shape. It does have a beak and talons, albeit four pairs of them. The design is a bit busier but not to the degree of some of Digimon's worst, and a lot of it has to do with the clouds that gather around Xiangpengmon's body. Otherwise, it's got a small set of accessories... which I feel one or two could've been removed and would improve the design quite a bit. I really do like the blue-and-pink colouration of the main serpentine/fish body.
Xiangpengmon is also very big, with a 'body large enough to cover a mountain', and usually slumbers deep beneath the ocean, and its sheer size allows aquatic Digimon to use its body's crevices as nests and hideouts -- while providing it with energy and nourishment in a symbiotic relationship. Its data regulates the surrounding environment, and wakes up when it senses that a different location has been polluted and deteriorated, to make it its new nest. Its immense size means that it causes a lot of abnormal weather patterns when it moves around.
Its artwork definitely doesn't showcase just how big it is -- do we really have Digimon that are super-duper big like this? ElDoradimon and Ceresmon, I suppose? But it's interesting to have a Digimon that's less of a kaiju and more 'it's a whole chunk of the terrain'. Anyway, the size is neat, although I would note that I still prefer its previous lines.
7/10._________________________________________________________
Luxmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Child
- Type: Angel
- Attribute: Vaccine
...it sure is a kid Angemon? I mean, I guess Lucemon Child has all the baggage of having the name of a Demon Lord and everything, but Patamon is right there. Not every stage needs to be blatantly angelic, and honestly I'd prefer if they had taken Patamon and given it an Angemon-themed coat of paint. This just feels lazy and unnecessary, and honestly cheapens Angemon more than the three dozen other Angemons out there.
Luxmon at least has that characteristic 'helmet covering eyes', or rather 'hat covering eyes', and an old-school style zipper. I still don't care about it. It gets bullied a lot by Impmon and PicoDevimon, because it can't see through lies.
In development, this was called 'PicoAngemon', and I really would've liked that a bit better... although Puttimon/Cupimon (who were originally tied to Lucemon Child) kind of already serves as a nice little 'child angel Digimon' without just being a child angel with no subtlety, right?
2/10._________________________________________________________
ArkhaiAngemon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Principality
- Attribute: Vaccine
I suppose it's about time we started filling in the 'nine angelic ranks', since we kind of have a bunch of them filled out. ArkhaiAngemon fills out the 'Principality' level, and it's... it sure is an eight-winged angel? Two of its wings cover the skirt, and it sure is an Angemon wearing a fancy spiky crown and holding a torch. They really could've made this one a bit more interesting. I get that the various Angemons are just trying to fill out the angelic heirarchy, and ArkhaiAngemon finally gets to fill one of the more obscure ranks in 'Principality'... but it's just so boring.
The profile notes that ArkhaiAngemon specializes in defense, and acts more as an advisor and commander due to its ingenuity, protecting the soldiers assigned to it. I do like the detail that it employs Gargomon (Gargoylemon) and Manticoremon as familiars. So this is the angel Digimon that's responsible for trying to weaponize the feral manticores! That's interesting because of Manticoremon moreso than ArkhaiAngemon itself, though.
2/10._________________________________________________________
