Digimon Reviews, Episode 60: Erlangmon and Friends [New Century]

It's now time to delve into the Chinese mythology inspired designs from Digimon New Century! We've seen a bunch of them in episode 55, but 2024 and 2025 had a lot of new designs from New Century as well as the TCG-tie-in webcomic Liberator. I'm still trying to keep to a rough release-schedule-based coverage, but here are roughly a bunch of the New Century designs released mostly in 2024! 2025 features another slew of them which we'll cover a bit later. I'm doing the best I can!

New Century's plot summary is a bit long, but what's a bit important is that we get a new subgroup in the Tentei Hachibushu -- the Eight Warriors of the Heavenly Emperor -- who are a group of eight powerful Digimon that guard Shambala, the setting of New Century. They are made up of a group of Digimon based on mythological / religious figures from East Asia, including the Buddha-based Shakamon that was released quite a while back. We'll cover most of the remaining Tentei here, saving a couple for a later episode, as well as a couple of associated releases from 2025-2026!

I am never the biggest fan of the 'adapt a myth straight-up' Digimon, hence my scathing reviews of the Olympos XII, and I want to stress again here (and I honestly might go back and redo some of the Olympos XII reviews) that I love my own mythology and legends, and these reviews are about me talking about how they are adapted, specifically, into Digital Monsters and how much the designs speak to me!

We'll cover the New Century Digimon introduced in 2024 (plus the other Tentei), while also starting to delve into one of the evolutionary lines from Liberator! 

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Erlangmon

• Alternate Names: Iranmon/Yilanmon (Japanese pronunciation)
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: God Man
• Attribute / Subgroup: Vaccine / Tentei Hachibushu

Erlang Shen is a Chinese deity with a third eye that allows him to see the truth, and is accompanied by a hound. Remember that third eye, as that's going to be a bit important down the road. Erlangmon itself is just a nice-looking warrior guy, with Erlang Shen's three-pointed-double-edged blade. His hair is glowing, but clearly the main point of focus is the floating spectral dog head next to it, representing its canine companion, Xiao Tian Quan (Kotenken in Japanese). I love, by the way,  that this floating dog head is a bit more mechanized and chunky, bringing to mind designs like MetalGarurumon, Garummon and all the other robot dogs we've had over Digimon's history. 

Erlangmon is a Digimon that's all about truth and justice, wanting to rid the wicked hearts of other Digimon. Just like its inspirational myths, Erlangmon could also shapeshift to take the form of other Digimon, although not their abilities. Its 'third eye' allows it to see the weak spots and wicked hearts of its foes, although I am quite disappointed at how low-key it looks, being a simple gem on a head decoration. 

• Alternate Names: Erlangmon: Blast Mode
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: God Man
• Attribute / Subgroup: Vaccine / Tentei Hachibushu

Fortunately, this being a fancy Ultimate-level tied to a subgroup, we get a super mode called Erlangmon: Blast Mode. The blade is glowing and larger, and Erlangmon's got a bunch of octopus-like tentacles made up of water. He's got a big dog head on his chest, too! But most importantly, the third eye has been expanded and is now a gem hovering in a ring. This third eye is also Erlangmon's Digicore, making it a double-edged power-up. In a nice bit of making this feel a bit like one of those Tamers or Frontier Digimon, Erlangmon enters Blast Mode only by combining with his heavenly dog. 

Overall... I don't dislike this. There's enough to differentiate it from the various Royal Knights and other knightly humanoid Digimon, and the adaptation of the mythology is faithful enough while also taking quite a bit of creativity with how they adapt the celestial hound and third eye. It's not bad and the artwork looks cool, and I am actually very happy to see Chinese mythology represented in Digimon... but I do still have to be honest about my feelings about this 'as a Digimon'. 

 5/10.

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Nezhamon

• Alternate Names: Natamon (Japanese reading)
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Cyborg
• Attribute / Subgroup: Data / Tentei Hachibushu

Another Chinese deity, and star of a recent series of animated movies that were quite popular in Asia, Crown Prince Nezha is a warrior deity of protection most well-known for being able to ride on a pair of magical Wind Fire Wheels to fly and slay demons. Nezhamon, meanwhile, is drawn as a youthful young lad with gigantic Mad Max wheels and engines strapped to his feet. Now this is a Digimon adaptation! It's still quite respectful to the original myth while taking some creative liberties. 

There's a lot in Nezhamon's design that also makes sense with the context of the myth, with his belt and even his face referencing the lotus plant -- mythological Nezha was reborn in a lotus and he held the title of 'Third Lotus Prince'. Nezha also wields the Fire-Tipped Spear, interpreted here also with little engine exhaust vents, and the Red Armillary Sash that's also depicted here. Nezhamon is described as a bit of a troublemaker and having a bit of an anger problem, but ultimately heroic -- something that most myths of mythological Nezha tends to depict. 

• Alternate Names: Nezhamon: Crimson Mode
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Cyborg
• Attribute / Subgroup: Data / Tentei Hachibushu

Nezhamon of course also gets a super mode, Nezhamon: Crimson Mode, where the Wind Fire Wheels have transformed into a fancy red-and-gold bike. Nezhamon itself also has sprouted four extra arms, each wielding a different weapon; and two extra heads. This is actually a 'super mode', if you can call it that, of the mythological Nezha -- who is able to transform into a three-headed, six-armed form most famously depicted in Journey to the West. 

I don't like the motorcycle as much as the giant chunky wheels strapped to Nezhamon's feet, but having cyborg armour that transforms does fit with the vague cyborg-superhero vibe that Nezhamon is designed as. Again, I do like it when they put in a bit of effort in adapting the mythology into Digimon instead of just drawing it as-is. 

 6/10.

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Takutoumon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: God Man
• Attribute / Subgroup: Vaccine / Tentei Hachibushu

Takutoumon is based on Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, from Chinese legend, most well-known for carrying a pagoda in his hands that can capture any spirit within its walls. Li Jing is also known as (or an analogue of) Vaisravana. Takutoumon, again, looks quite cool as a well-drawn and well-designed armoured warrior with a glowing sword and a glowing pagoda that can seal other Digimon, but feels otherwise like a straight-up transplant from mythology. 

Takutoumon is noted to be a hero that despises deceit, and often imposes its own sense of justice onto others... which is probably why it got recruited into the Shambala equivalent of the Royal Knights. Takutoumon is extremely taciturn, does not make an effort to explain itself, and relies on its tiny mouse robot friend Paishu (you can see him on Takutoumon's shoulder!) to talk to others. That's actually cute. 

• Alternate Names: Takutoumon: Wrath Mode
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: God Man
• Attribute / Subgroup: Vaccine / Tentei Hachibushu

Takutoumon has a super mode, and it has basically merged with its pagoda, hence giant roof-like shoulder armour and those demon-face kneecaps. Paishu, its mouse friend, has merged with its sword to form a trident. This design is more explicitly based on Vaisravana, one of the Four Heavenly Kings and also known as Bishamonten in Japan. 

The lore is otherwise brand-new to Takutoumon, noting that this is a form where it unleashes the trapped spirits within its pagoda, the Bao Ta, and has gained great strength while also going berserk. The armour pieces can be detached and launched at enemies, or act as amplifying lenses for the energy beams from its trident.I appreciate the reference to the legend, but while the art is cool I'm, again, not the biggest fan of these more 'legendary figure turned into a Digimon' monsters. I'm giving it a slightly higher score because I do find the artwork and armour design to be refreshing, but it's still 'not my thing'. 

 4/10. Could be 5.

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Enmamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Demon Lord 
• Attribute / Subgroup: Virus / Tentei Hachibushu

We are jumping around a bit since some of these debuted in 2026 or so, but let's just get them all out of the way. Enmamon is an adaptation of Enma, and representing Yomi, the realm of the dead, Enma is one of the two members of the Tentei Hachibushu (which are the group of historical/mythological figures tied to New Century) alongside Shakamon that isn't affiliated towards a specific set of islands in the setting. Enmamon is essentially what you'd expect from an adaptation of the King of Hell in Buddhism. He's sitting on his throne, he's judging the dead, and he's got the regalia that is drawn frrom myth like the large mirror that reflects your life, as well as the great scroll that records the deeds that one does throughout life. 

Enmamon does have two PetitMeramon-looking friends called Zenzu and Akuzu that fly around holding the scroll for him, which I thought was cute. Enmamon presides over Digicores (i.e. souls) and look for bugs. Those that are determined to be too buggy are not reincarnated and remain in Yomi. It's a cute way to bring in the reincarnation myths and framing it as a digital world thing. 

Enmamon itself is the absolute ruler of the underworld, but itself is also bound by the 'system' and unable to leave to the outside world. From what I can tell of my limited understanding of the myths, Enma Daio / Yanluo Dawang tends to enjoy his job as the judge or ruler of the underworld, and I assume that in the Digital World, Enmamon is also a relatively dutiful keeper of the 'rules of the world' put by the master computer Yggdrasil. Or something. Anyway, this is another one that feels a bit too straight-up of an adaptation. I like that there's a Digimon based on Enma, I don't like that it could be an Enma from any other anime if not for the two PetitMeramon friends.

 3/10, could be 4.

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Jougamon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: God Man
• Attribute: Vaccine

Jougamon is based on Moon Princess Chang'e from Chinese mythology, and for some reason is officially named with the Japanese pronunciation instead of being Heng'emon or Chang'emon? Sometimes this names get retconned, though, so whatever. 

As you can probably already tell from many other anime and manga, East Asia associates the markings on the moon with a lady and a bunny. Even Dianamon of the Olympos XII was a moon-bunny throughout its entire evolutionary line. Jougamon adapts some specific aspects of that myth, sitting on its moon chariot... which is a giant crescent-moon-shaped blade that Jougamon also uses for its attacks. It's got cute little bunnies that Jougamon's enemies can appreciate before they get decapitated. It is also a practitioner of Chinese martial arts, and is super graceful while doing this. Being associated with the Moon, it's also able to heal with its magic... but spends most of its time in solitude. Presumably self-imposed, unlike the mythological Chang'e, since Jougamon can just ride around that giant bladed 'moon palace' ship around. 

Rather appropriately, Jougamon can evolve from Antylamon -- the rabbit Deva inspired by the Chinese Zodiac. In a rather fun nod, Cho-Hakkaimon is another possible Perfect-level pre-evolution. Cho-Hakkai is the Japanese reading of Zhu Bajie, a Chinese mythological figure that tried to drunkenly seduce Chang'e, leading to his banishment to Earth.

The actual humanoid part... is just a lady in an armour, with a bunny tail on the back and mecha-bunny-ears. It's all right. but I did a double-take at those mooncakes on the shoulders. Just decoration, or are they for snacks? That's adorable. 

 6/10. +1 for portable mooncake snacks. 

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Taotiemon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Oni
• Attribute / Subgroup: Virus / Shikyoju

Let's jump to the villains, now. Dijiangmon from New Century was an adaptation of one of the 'Four Perils' from Chinese mythology. Taotiemon is another one of that group, being based on the Taotie -- an artistic motif of bestial features that are associated with greed or gluttony. The actual Taotie piece is the giant jade thing on top of the imp-like Taotiemon main body below, which is a delightful little gremlin guy with fluffy boots and sleeves and chunky pink claws. A massive cloud trails behind Taotiemon, and a bunch of taoist seals are placed all over Taotiemon. 

Taotie never had quite a proper and fixed description beyond those markings, and I do like that Taotiemon just had that huge piece of bronze ornament on its head. Its body is fuzzy and it looks like a child because some of the varied descriptions of the Taotie has said it has the 'fur of a goat' and the 'voice of a child'. Like its mythological inspiration, Taotiemon is constantly in a state of hunger and tries to devour anything in its path, with the ornament on its head opening to reveal its secondary mouth. It can also vomit out the large amounts of data that it has devoured! I like that the profile notes that 'it might be because it has a bug somewhere'. 

Those talismans force Taotiemon to stay in a single area of Shambala called, a mountain range called the Jakeizan. Just like Dijiangmon and the rest of the Shikyoju, the idea is that these ancient evils have been sealed by someone with great power. I like this one! I like the juxtaposition of a cute main body and the monstrous giant ornamental mouth. 

 8/10.

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Yihumon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Demon Beast
• Attribute / Subgroup: Virus / Shikyoju

The mythological Taowu is another one of the Four Perils, described as a beast with a human face, tiger's feet, a pig's mouth, and a long tail; and is associated with violence and stubbornness. Taowumon is... a bit less weird, being just a massive monster boar. Its a pretty cool one, though, with its tusks and whip-like tail being jagged, thorned tree trunks. Rows of inverse-ribcage-like growths run down its back, and a pale blue flame erupts out of its back. Its front end is also covered with a shell or bark-like armour. There's also a skull impaled on its tail. 

Taowumon is described as being a creature that's usually buried underground, slumbering. But when it wakes up, it disperses intense cold from... the... tail-skull? Okay? Taowumon is also sealed within the Jakeizan mountains, and any time it wakes up it just keeps trying to bash its head against the barriers that surround it. Like Taotiemon, it's sealed and you can see all the seals around its tusks.

It's a big icy monster boar. I don't quite like this as much as Taotiemon or Dijiangmon, but I can't be too mad at a giant monster boar. If nothing else, Vikaralamon of the Devas finally gets an appropriate Ultimate-level!

 6/10.

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Taowumon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Beast Man
• Attribute / Subgroup: Vaccine / Shikyoju

Yihumon is based on the Qiongqi, the final of our Four Perils. The Qiongqi is given two differing descriptions in the source mythology, with the main common thread being that it eats people. Yihumon draws from the second description, noting that it's a tiger with wings. Which we actually already have in Digimon in the tiger Deva, Mihiramon... so, uh, that means Yihumon is depicted as a massive, muscular tiger-man with wings growing out of its forearms. 

Yihumon is noted to be brutal, cunning and malicious, and has the similar 'sealed since time immemorial' lore that the rest of the Shikyoju have, and the talismans are slapped all over its body. Yihumon's profile is probably the most boring out of the Shikyoju, being just a description of its kung-fu abilities. 

I suppose they can't all be winners, and with how much I like Dijiangmon it's a bit hard for the other three to catch up to it. And to be fair, not all the Four Perils have super-long descriptions even in the source material. I am quite happy that we're getting a new set of villainous Digimon, if nothing else. 

 4/10.

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Shagaramon

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

Going away from the villains to the final batch to close out this episode, we have Shagaramon! Shagaramon is named after Sagara, one of the Eight Dragon Kings in Buddhism. And here it has been interpreted as... a dragon-woman, but one that actually looks quite majestic as a 'fish-person', with claws for hands, and a lower body that trails off into a multi-winged sea serpent body that terminates in a feathery tail. Even Shagaramon's humanoid head isn't fully so, with the upper jaw of a dragon giving way to the lower face of a woman. The end result is actually quite 'inhuman but majestic', exuding a beauty while not just being an excuse to draw just yet another hot lady. 

Shagaramon is described to reside in Ryushogu, the Dragon Crystal Palace, and it creates ocean current gates to open gateways and portal for others to travel in and out of its palace. It is impossible to reach Shagaramon's palace without its consent and its currents. It is entrusted as the gatekeeper of the Ryushogu Palace by Ryugumon below. Additionally, in the New Century story, the Shagaramon of that storyline evolves from Ranamon and Calmaramon, the spirits of water from Digimon Frontier, so that is a really unexpected tie-in!

Just like East Asian Dragons, Shagaramon can also freely fly through the air as easily as it can swim. I actually like this one quite a bit, and the colours of its body being based on Chinese porcelain art is quite cool too. Not a bad one, but admittedly Shagaramon is kind of overshadowed by its master below...

 7/10, could be 8.

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MarinBullmon

• Alternate Names: MarineBullmon (EN dub)
• Stage: Perfect
• Type: Mollusk
• Attribute: Data

Oh yes. We're closing off the New Century Digimon for now as we move to the TCG tie-in, Digimon Liberator. We'll get a proper intro when we talk about Pteromon and Shoemon and all the other main characters. That doesn't matter. 

MarinBullmon matters. This is a creature that was explicitly designed as a Perfect-form evolution to Shellmon, doing so in the manga and highlighted in its bio. Shellmon. Shellmon! I'm sorry, what? Poor, forgotten Shellmon, one of the many classic Adult-level Digimon that showed up as a villain-of-the-week, well-remembered for doing that... and forgotten, with a handwave that maybe it can evolve into MegaSeadramon or Zudomon or a bunch of other Perfect-level aquatic monsters that don't really match it. 

Well, Liberator says nuts to that! Even the in-universe characters highlight how some older Digimon has found new forms. Heck yeah.

MarinBullmon takes the mollusk vibe and goes full-on with it, giving us a sea slug kaiju. The name is because sea slugs are called umi-ushi (sea bulls) in Japanese. That doesn't really matter. We get a hot-pink-and-neon-blue kaiju. MarinBullmon has no eyes, but two bright-yellow-and-red horns above a dinosaur-like set of jaws. It has two large clawed arms, at least one of which has a cannon strapped onto it. It has got a giant flaring mass of green tentacles on its back, and its legs and tail are squishy like a slug. Just giving me a sea slug Digimon would be great in and of itself, but making it a slug kaiju? That's cool.

The anatomy is even correct, with the sea slug of the Hypselodoris genus coming in hues of bright pink and purple, and having two bright antennae and a distinct set of branchial plumes -- that flower-like set of gills. Very, very appreciated. 

MarinBullmon is noted to often coexist alongside Shellmon and Sangomon, both of which form perfect Adult-level and Child-level pre-evolutions respectively, and are actually given those in the Liberator webcomic. MarinBullmon is extremely protective of its charges, but is otherwise very protective of enemies that enter its territory. Its body is covered entirely with mucus that causes strikes and slashes to be hindered, making it a surprisingly defensive creature. This isn't how real sea slugs behave (if anything, their gills are retracted to avoid attention) but MarinBullmon hunts by burrowing itself under the sand, leaving its attractive green tentacles visible to attract prey before it ambushes them. 

This is so cool. It would've gotten a high mark even if it was just a standalone monster, but the tie-ins to Shellmon and being a recurring character in both the Liberator manga and now the Beatbreak anime makes this easily one of my favourite modern Digimon!  

 10/10.

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Ryugumon

• Alternate Names: N/A
• Stage: Ultimate
• Type: Mollusk
• Attribute  Subgroup: Data / Tentei Hachibushu

But wait! That's not all! MarinBullmon gets an evolution... and that evolution is one of the Tentei Hachibushu that Erlangmon and some of the others above are part of. Ryugumon is also the master of Ryushogu and Shagaramon... and Ryugumon is a sea slug dragon god. I love that. It would have been so easy to make Ryugumon just a dragon, and that would still be cool. I would still love that for the Shellmon and MarinBullmon, but I would've been a bit disappointed. Ryugumon, however, makes it clear that it's still a slug with long, flowing robes that are also sea slug anatomy; while most of its body is long and flowing with 'wings' that also resemble colourful, wacky sea slug anatomy. How cool is that? How different is that? 

Ryugumon just looks majestic all around. It's got a cute little dragon face with two long antennae that flow around like robes, and on its back is... a castle? I'm not sure if it's a super-gigantic Digimon like Xiangpengmon, but I can believe that. Ryugu means 'Dragon Palace', meaning that Ryugumon isn't an adaptation of the many Dragon Kings in Japanese and Chinese mythology but rather the trope of Dragon Kings having underwater palaces. That's so cool, and that avoids the need of having anywhere from four to eight samey 'dragon king' Digimon. That's awesome. 

Ryugumon is noted to be beautiful and can use its blinding light to charm those that see it, but wants above all else to protect the peace of its denizens in its palace. The cerata (explicitly identified as those organs!) on Ryugumon's tail allows it to absorb and share energy with others. It's a bit of a shame that Liberator has most of its action take place with these Digimon manifesting only in card games, but Ryugumon does look pretty cool in that webcomic. 

It really is just a very awesome-looking sea god all around, with the right amount of complexity for me to easily tell what's going on and it still feeling instantly majestic. I am quite happy with seeing MarinBullmon and Ryugumon as independent designs, and knowing that Ryugumon is actually deemed important enough to join a group of those 'godly' Ultimates is definitely a huge win! 

 9/10.

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Ariemon

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

All of the main character Digimon in Liberators would receive an additional Ultimate evolution in the second 'season' of the Liberator manga, and technically these monsters debuted in 2025 when we're still covering 2024 releases... but it's going to be a lot less confusing. MarinBullmon's alternate Ultimate is Ariemon, ostensibly based on the yokai amabie. The design is mostly just a rather mundane fish-person, though, a bit of a downer after MarinBullmon and Ryugumon... but let's not knock Ariemon too much. I like that its lower legs are just super-long shells, and it's got a fancy giant conch-crown. Ariemon's also got a large fish tail in addition to legs, and is noted to be able to float around when traveling on land. 

Ariemon's "hair" is actually seawater data, and it can use it for offense, defense, or even as beds for smaller Digimon. Ariemon is compassionate and captures its opponents, has supremely powerful healing abilities, and often appear to warn and prophesize calamities. It's an all right 'sea nymph' design, I suppose -- Shagaramon and Ryugumon just spoiled me in how good they look! Ariemon's all right. 

 6/10.

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Next up... more Digimon Liberator!