Digimon Reviews, Episode 61: Pteromon and Friends [Liberator]

So we have a bit more focus now as we get a huge batch that were released to tie in with a piece of fiction. And that is the web-comic (and associated web-novel spinoff) Digimon Liberator, which was released to tie into the 2020 reboot of the trading card game. And Liberator has gorgeous artwork as well as a surprisingly large amount of new Digimon!

I've read through most of the Liberator manga in the process of doing these new articles. I know nothing about the card game so I do admit to skimming through most of the battle explanations, but the artwork and new Digimon designs do help to carry the reading experience.

I'm a TCG guy anyway if you can't tell by the MTG content in this website (and it used to have a lot of Yu-Gi-Oh and Hearthstone content too) but I don't think I have the capacity to learn another TCG. The artwork for the cards are gorgeous, though! I have been resisting dropping the new TCG artwork on a lot of the older reviews.

The premise is similar to a bunch of other Digimon media, with main protagonists Kazama Shoto and Kinosaki Arisa arriving through a virtual-reality MMORPG into a 'digital world', except in the world of Liberator, the most popular aspect of Digimon is the card games instead of the combat. They find two brand-new, strange Digimon that are independent and seemingly not tied to the pre-existing cards -- Pteromon and Shoemon -- and end up being embroiled in card games, an ominous organization, and attempting to rescue these living digital creatures. 

The manga focuses on Shoto, Arisa and a couple of other characters Violet and Owen... but the accompanying web-novel expands the cast and gives us a lot of additional Digimon forms with the rest of the 'Debuggers'. We'll cover all the TCG / Liberator designs more or less together, though!

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Yolkmon

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

Ohhh!!! A cute!!! I like this. Yolkmon is a sentient yolk, with a cute face drawn on the yellow part of the egg while the white part just blorbs around it. And it's wearing the Digitama shell as a hat! That's adorable. The fact that it's a sentient egg fits with both the oft-ignored 'slime' designation of the Baby I stage, as well as the fact that this is the baby form of a brand-new Bird Digimon.

I love the profile for this one, too, which notes that the Digitama shell actually allows Yolkmon to use it for camouflage, allowing it to evolve without being spotted. That's cool! Actual unique lore for Baby Digimon instead of going 'it's a small version of the marketable Child-level'!

 9/10.

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Fluffymon

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

This does look like Pomumon's relative a bit, doesn't it? Fluffymon has got that jagged bird beak with teeth that Pomumon has, in addition to being a round friend with two tiny bird feet. I like it! I like its colours, and there's even a plant-esque vibe to Fluffymon. Digimon started off introducing a lot of its birds and plants together in the Wind Guardians set, leading to a bunch of birds and plants sharing features, and Fluffymon could very conceivably evolve into a Floramon or a Pomumon instead of its assigned Pteromon. It's like, yes, there are more features that correspond to Pteromon than other Child-levels, but the whole point of Digimon is some degree of being able to change into other forms of digital data creature! And that's what I like out of these baby Digimons!

Fluffymon's wings are underdeveloped, and its feathers allows it to camouflage in the trees, but it runs really fast and headbutts enemies for intimidation. A cutie!

 8/10.

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Pteromon

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

Not to be confused with the jet-pterosaur Pteranomon, which was indeed shortened to 'Pteramon' in the English dub. Pteramon is a new bird-dude Child-level Digimon sharing the same body style as Piyomon, Hawkmon and the two Falcomons. With its name referencing a prehistoric dinosaur, though, there's a bit of a subtle 'Lost World tribe' to Pteromon. It's got more primal, jagged-looking set of feathers on the underside of its arms, spikes on its long tail, and a helmet-mask that looks like salvaged bone. It's not so obvious to be eye-rolling like the tribal getups of Allomon or Sepikmon, but subtle enough that Pteromon looks different from its other Child-level bird friends. It's not evident in this official artwork, but Pteromon has the same mouth as Fluffymon under that mask. I kind of like it. 

Pteromon's descriptions aren't the most interesting, although I appreciate any discussion of these Digimon biology. Pteromon uses its horns as sensory organs, perceiving changes in climate by reading the wind striking against its horns; and also has instant-regeneration abilities for its feathers. (Despite its artwork, it doesn't manipulate the wind any more than any other bird Digimon). Anyway, it feels a bit less special since we've had a bunch of other birds before, but I do find this one to be quite a pleasant new addition. 

The Pteromon line is used as one of the partner Digimon in the Digimon Liberator web-manga, where it's the partner of main character Shoto. Interestingly, while most Digimon manga tend to go for dinosaurs and dragons, Shoto is associated with birds even though he's in a setting where he could have multiple Digimons -- with Shoto's other main partner being a Muchomon of all things. 

 7/10.

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Galemon

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

Pteromon evolves into Galemon, a 'wyvern' style dragon-dinosaur with a more serpentine body. I do like this look quite a bit, and the mix of serpentine features and avian bird features work quite well to give Galemon a unique look. Its head is a lot more 'Digimon-esque', looking like the helmets we see in the Greymons and Megadramons of the world, and there are some extra fuzz around its chest and talons that I'm not sure I like. But overall, a pretty neat little wyvern monster.

Galemon is noted to scuttle around on its four legs (again, like the wyvern-style dragons we see a lot in modern fantasy media) and its horns are far more sensitive than its pre-evolved stage to detect things around it almost like a sixth sense. Galemon is also described to particularly like fruits and nuts, developing a great symbiotic relationship with many Plant-species Digimon, guarding their territories in exchange for food. 

It's a neat-o! I like it. 

 8/10.

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GrandGalemon

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

Is it the Perfect-stage or the Ultimate-stage that it becomes a dude? It's the Perfect stage, this time around. I do like GrandGalemon a lot less than its two pre-evolutions, but it's still a pretty cool bird-dragon-man. The silhouette and colours used for this one is pleasing and doesn't hurt my eyes... I think that's also a problem I have with some of the uber-detailed flashy dragon-robot-men that I complain about so much; it's sometimes really hard to even describe or tell what I'm looking at. GrandGalemon doesn't have that problem. It's an armoured muscular bird-knight with two large robot wings. 

I like that it still has the same feathery tail that Galemon and Pteromon has, and the horns are even more epic. Known as the 'King of the Forest', GrandGalemon has covered its body with magical armour that allows it to camouflage perfectly in the forest. That's not a giant hammer/mace that Grandgalemon is holding, but rather a gunbai fan, a mythical wind-controlling item from Chinese/Japanese myths. 

Apparently, GrandGalemon is part of the 'Vortex Warriors' led by... MedievalDukemon? That's not a name I've heard in a long time. MedievalDukemon is also one of GrandGalemon's possible evolutions that Shoto's Pteromon turns into a surprising amount of times. It's a cool bird warrior. I can't say I dislike this, but it's also a bit of a 'safe' direction for the main 'mon.

 5/10.

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Zephagamon

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

Zephagamon is the big final Ultimate form, and it gets the expected set of robotic armour bits and pieces to streamline its arms and legs. I don't think it's a surprise at this point that I like this form a lot less than GrandGalemon, but... but as far as these things go, Zephagamon is actually quite neat? Again, the silhouette is really clear here. A central knight with two massive bird wings attached to it with those white armour, and its arms extend outwards in windy wing-blades? That's a neat enough design, even if it's not 'my thing'.

Zephagamon is known as the 'God of Wind' of the digital world, a title that I'm surprised we haven't really gotten. Digimon has never really been big on the traditional RPG fantasy elements, but I don't think wind's been particularly represented even in the video games. Zephagamon uses the wind not just to fight enemies, but all the other positive aspects of wind that helps it to protect the environment and stuff. Zephagamon's chest-wings that cover its chest actually covers its Digicore, and in times of need it will open it up and unleash all the energy from its core.

 4/10, could be 5.

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Vortexdramon

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

As mentioned in the previous episode when discussing Ryugumon/Ariemon, all the main characters would receive an alternate Ultimate-level during the story. While Pteromon has also moonlighted as a MedievalDukemon (!) in the story, its proper alternate Ultimate would be Vortexdramon. Which is a lot cooler by virtue of being a draconic entity and not just a dude. Vortexdramon's got a serpentine body, two arms that end in wings with blade-like feathers, and two more robotic 'regular' wings. Its head is a knightly-armoured face, and there are a couple of extra details like those vines with orbs hanging from it, and even more mini-wings below it. 

The design is a bit too cluttered for me to fully say I love it, but I appreciate where we're going with this one and it feels like a much grander 'wind god' form than Zephagamon. From the official profile lore, Vortexdramon also acts as the mount of MedievalDukemon, and alongside Pteromon's other highly-evolved forms is part of the 'Vortex Warriors'. Okay!

Those tiny orbs on Vortexdxramon's vines (?) contain other types of magic which allows Vortexdramon to combine other elements with its wind, allowing it to create elemental wind attacks like blizzards, scorching-hot sandstorms, or giant blades. It's not 'my thing', but it's a much cooler final form than Zephagamon for good old Pteromon. 

 6/10.

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Forgebeemon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Cyborg
• Attribute: Virus

The Funbeemon line (Funbeemon, Waspmon, Cannonbeemon, TigerVespamon) debuted around the same time that the Commandramon line did, in that time between Frontier and Savers. And the two of them would languish in not being used as either partner Digimon or as adversaries in that anime, instead being relegated to being minions in the Digimon Next manga. Which I loved the depictions of them therein! Funbeemon unexpectedly became one of the partner Digimon of one of the web-novel characters, and got some new forms in the process!

With the Commandramon line getting a split adult evolution, the Funbeemon line also got one. Forgebeemon is an alternate Adult evolution instead of Waspmon, and I love the idea here that we're depicting the 'worker' caste instead of the 'soldier' caste. And just like how Waspmon was a giant robot wasp death-machine, Forgebeemon is a robot wasp construction mecha. I love its robotic buggy head, but while the official artwork shows Forgebeemon from the front, it does have a proper insectoid body layout -- that yellow orb is the thorax, and the abdomen stretches on behind. Forgebeemon's even got the requisite six limbs! Its two giant taser/mecha-arms are obvious, but it's also got two smaller humanoid arms that can manipulate power tools. And it's got a pair of chunky legs. I love that on top of the thorax are tiny little nonfunctional wings. Real 'worker' bees can fly as well as their 'soldier' counterparts, but I do like the idea that these Digimon bees have specialized so much that they've given up flight. 

I really like this. It's a nice bit of world-building of older Digimon 'sets', if you will, while still feeling very different and feeling like it's actually building towards the completion and world-building of the Funbeemon family. Love the little detail that Forgebeemon's gun is actually a glue gun, using 'honey glue' that it produces to help in its construction. In a rather cute little detail, Forgebeemon are noted to not actually know what they're building, they're just following orders. 

 9/10.

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Vespamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Cyborg
• Attribute: Virus

The original Funbeemon line ended in a 'TigerVespamon', without there ever being a Vespamon. Well, we have one now. (Vespa is just the scientific name for a wasp). Vespamon does an actually good job at looking like a less-impressive version of TigerVespamon, with a lot less laser-cyborg brouhaha. I actually prefer Vespamon's look much more, with its simpler silhouette and a lot of the details being easier to pick out. It's got a lance and a 'honeybee comb' forcefield shield. Neat.  

Where its fellow Royal Base Perfect Cannonbeemon is a giant mobile base, Vespamon are the equivalents of elite soldiers that hunt down specific targets around their territories. The new bio establishes the Vespamon as being the 'royal guards' of the queen, and the most elite of them are promoted into the TigerVespamon. 

I would like Kamen Rider TheBee here a lot less if it didn't really come in a set with all of the rest of the Royal Base, but as it is, I find him neat!

 7/10.

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Queenbeemon

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

It is kind of unavoidable that the 'Queen' of the Royal Base ends up being a queen bee waifu, isn't it? I suppose it does make sense, in a way, and it does fill in the niche since the TigerVespamon should be guarding something. It has been a while since we've gotten one of these 'sexy lady' Digimon, and I'm a bit bummed (if not surprised) that the boss of the badass robot bee hive ended up being one of these. There are some nice details, like the metal mask, the hexagon honeycomb cape and the end of her ponytail being a bee abdomen... I suppose there's a 'tokusatsu villain' vibe to her backstory of being the scientist that created all of the technological advancements of the Royal Base. She does kind of resemble Bee-Woman from the original Kamen Rider, doesn't she?

Queenbeemon is noted to be weaker than its fellow Ultimate-level TigerVespamon, which makes sense since those are her guards. That fan is noted to be flashy but does absolutely nothing at all. However, Queenbeemon compensates herself with her... 'Royal Throne'?

Oh HA HA HA! Okay, with the Digimon official profiles really liking to give profiles to every other alternate form out there, Queenbeemon's Royal Throne isn't actually considered an 'alternate form'. Even though 'Beelzebumon on a bike' is considered an alternate form?

Queenbeemon's royal throne is pretty cool. It's goofy, yes, but since I'm already comparing TigerVespamon, Vespamon and Queenbeemon to tokusatsu villains, this does feel like a big wacky mecha that would show up in one of those shows. I like the big, bulbous orb-body that recalls Waspmon, and it's got giant chunky arms with launching stinger fingers, and a bunch of cute little propeller-headed bee minions. Oh, and that giant wasp-stinger-cannon at the bottom of the Royal Throne is, of course, a big honking sci-fi laser cannon. Again, I am also a big fan that this is a cheesy giant bee throne and not just a big robot bee Gundam. Which would be cool too, but would be redundant with TigerVespamon and this giant mobile base actually fits with the military themes as well. Actually, the older and newer lines would fit better if we swapped the Perfects, with Waspmon going to Vespamon and TigerVespamon as a soldier that gets increasingly promoted, while Forgebeemon to Cannonbeemon to Queenbeemon plays off the trope of the military base. Neat!

Queenbeemon on her own would have earned a very lukewarm, maybe even scathing response from me, but with her giant awkward mecha suit? I am actually happy about it.

 7/10.

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Dinomon

• Alternate Names: Dynamon (alternate EN dub)
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Dinosaur
• Attribute: Vaccine

That's just Godzilla! Burning Godzilla! Not to be confused with actual Godzilla crossovers that would not be covered in this blog!

Dinomon is an Ultimate-level dinosaur on fire, described as the 'pinnacle of Dinosaur Digimon' that has awakened ancient power. Dinomon is the dinosaur Digimon, then, being coloured an impressive set of red, black and yellow with giant fireballs for fists, and smaller bits of flame popping up from its head and shoulders. Little green markings pockmark its body, showing that... yes, Dinomon was a Tyrannomon, and the designers of Liberator wanted to give a proper, non-cyborgified Ultimate level for Tyrannomon! That's awesome. Tyrannomon has always been ignored in favour of the more marketable Greymon, but it's not that Tyrannomon hasn't received a lot of alternate evolutions either... they're just all robots. Spinomon and maybe Dinorexmon are the closest, and they are one of those Ultimate-levels that have been "powercrept" in terms of how impressive and elanorate Ultimates are now. And those aren't exactly a T-rex! I love that someone took a look at Tyrannomon, really liked it, and decided that it's time that the chubby T-rex becomes Godzilla. 

I am a bit Godzilla fan, even if I haven't seen as many of the older movies as I would've like. The original "Nightmare Soldiers" V-pet actually had its sprites designed to resemble Godzilla kaiju before they dropped the crossover and designed brand-nee artwork out of the dot spri

Again, Dinomon's profile is essentially Godzilla. It builds up heat energy within itself, and ultimately will unleash so much heat and energy to destroy the terrain into ash and lava. So it needs to go into the sea to cool down its body. Not quite the reason Godzilla goes into the sea, but it's a nice way to incorporate that trope. Anyway, I like this one. I like that they're giving the option for dinosaurs to embrace their dino-ness and not just become one of the humanoid WarGreymons and VictoryGreymons and ShineGreymons and Siriusmons and Regulusmons and Dorugoramons and Darkdramons and Slayerdramons and Gaioumons and Dorbickmons and Dynasmons and Imperialdramons and UlforceVeedramons and Examons and -

 7/10.

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Punkmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Adult
• Type: Demon Dragon
• Attribute: Virus

This one is a bit of a cute lore cut. In the development of Digimon Tamers, Impmon was originally intended to be the main Digimon, until executive meddling from Bandai ended up pushing the dinosaurian Guilmon in the role instead, and Impmon ended up being an antihero. Tamers was better for that, perhaps, but two decades later and Liberator's writers decided to give its Impmon a full evolutionary line that homages Guilmon's evolutions. Okay!

Punkmon is basically a Guilmon or Growmon with punk and metal trappings. It's got a jacket, a tattoo on its belly that replaces the Digital Hazad, a whole ton of Digimon belts, metal mouth-bracers and bright green mohawk hair. Oh, and golden knuckledusters, too, why not. While intended to be Impmon's evolutions (particularly with that pierced devil tail, and Impmon's iconic scarf), everyone and their mother points out that this is even more perfect for everyone's favourite King of Rock, Shoutmon.

I didn't care for it that much the first time I saw it, but I ended up really liking the silliness of this whole design and its ties to Impmon and Shoutmon. Punkmon, of course, hates being ordered around as a group and gets angry when there's no audience. Its special move is a homage of the song 'Blitzkrieg Bop', where is heats up its brass knuckles and pounds the opponent to brand them with the Digimoji for 'punk'. Neat!

 6/10.

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Loudmon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Cyborg
• Attribute: Virus

Okay, so you take MegaloGrowmon's insane amounts of mechanical neck-and-chest brace and... replace that with a mothefucking sound system. I love that. I love that the chunky MegaloGrowmon arms are now speakers, and its shoulderpads are like those subwoofers. That's actually genius. I do like MegaloGrowmon's design, all things considered, but I've heard people describe MegaloGrowmon's cybernetic parts as being awkward and artificial looking compared to MetalGreymon. This ls a great and maybe even more thematic reinterpretation of the design? I love MegaloGrowmon's tail being a mass of AUX cables tied together by Impmon's bandana, and even the original metal whip jutting out awkwardly from MegaloGrowmon's back is now a super-long AUX cable. 

It's just amazing. Loudmon just wades into battle and starts yelling into the microphone built onto its one-band band equipment, amplifying the noise to break down the mental faculties of its enemies. Loudmon just treats all its fights as live performances and gigs, and of course it cares more about putting an all-out performance moreso than winning the battle. Unlike Punkmon, despite its attitude during the singing, Loudmon will actually praise the opponent if they put up a good show and maybe even consider collaboration. 

Its attacks? Metallica Edge and Deep Purple Blaster. Killer band choices. 

 9/10. +1 for Metallica reference. 

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HeavyMetaldramon

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

Fuck yeah, they picked Megidramon as the Ultimate. And it's not as over-the-top as MegaloGrowmon, no, but they did replace all of Megidramon's demon dragon wings with... with metal electric guitars. The actual design is just Megidramon with some metal gear, and there are two more AUX cables trailing down HeavyMetaldramon's 'skirt', but I don't like it as much as Loudmon. 

It's still quite insane that this exists, and that it's actually done quite well. HeavyMetaldramon's personality is the same with Loudmon, where it goes around looking for exciting audiences and heavy metal songs, and even goes into Dark Area (i.e. hell) to search for exhilarating battles. I love this. I love the idea of Lucemon and Barbamon and Bagramon and all these fancy demon lords scheming and planning on how to break down the forces of good,  and this crazy dragon-man with guitars for wings just flies down, and demands a fight... but with metal. I bet it gets along well with the Etemons. 

HeavyMetaldramon's body is noted to constantly be emitting noise, and this somehow makes it hard for other Digimon to make phyiscal contact with the embodiment of heavy metal. That's neat. Its special ability? Black Sabbath. I love that. I shouldn't love this thing, but I do. Parodies are normally not my thing, but Punkmon, Loudmon and HeavyMetaldramon are just so... so fun!

 8/10.

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