This one is going to cover Pendulum Color 6: Saiyu Warriors, which covers a bunch of Shambala Digimon! Fujamon (the chompy fish that would be assigned to the much-earlier-released Xiangpengmon line) from a while back debuted here. The Saiyu Warriors virtual pet features Digimon that are based on Japanese and Chinese mythology, so a lot of New Century and old Collectors Digimon are showing up here. We're going to cover a bunch of the new Digimon there, and a couple of extras from the Time Stranger game!
And this, for now, will be our last Digimon Reviews segment for a while.
At the time of writing, Beatbreak is still wrapping up. And I would honestly rather see the entire lines and get the full profiles and pictures before going into them -- a lot of my 'reactionary' reviews for monster designs have always been pretty bad and I had to rewrite the Digimon and Pokemon ones that I did while they were the freshest thing around. So I wouldn't do it even if the profiles came out next week.
Plus, there are a couple more additional designs (such as the Tenkomon line) that haven't gotten profiles yet. And while updated older reviews have been slowing down, there's a non-zero chance that I do a proper rewrite/republish of the X-Antibody Digimon variants if I ever get the itch to.
(As far as monster reviews go, we'll be catching up on 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons, and a couple of stragglers, before going to some other long-term projects that I've been putting off.)
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Fukamon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Baby I
- Type: Smoke
- Attribute: None
Oh, it's a cute one! Fukamon is a smoke Digimon with no mass like a cloud, and is most certainly based on the magical cloud that the Monkey King Sun Wukong uses to travel, the Jindou Yun. Anime fans would recognize its Japanese pronunciation as Dragon Ball Goku's Kinto'un.
Fukamon just... just hangs around, not really being able to move around much on its own and gets blown around by the wind above Shambala, and has to hide behind larger objects during stormy days. It's an all right design, with a cute face and teeny-tiny hands.
6/10._________________________________________________________
Mococomon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Baby II
- Type: Smoke
- Attribute: None
I like the Baby II stage as well, still being a golden cloud, but with slightly more defined features like the little hair-lick, and the two disembodied Haunter-like arms floating around it. Mococomon also has a larger, more mischievous mouth. Mococomon can now move more vigorously and independently than how it was when it was a Fukamon. It attacks by spitting 'sticky cumulus clouds', which I suppose is whatever equivalent of the sticky bubbles that the classic baby Digimon blow.
Mococomon is interestingly respected in the Eastern Digital World, and even ferocious Digimon steer clear from laying hands on it. It is the 'origin of all evolution'... which is true, since at the time of release, it is the only option to evolve into all the available Child-levels for Shambala. I thought that's cute, that since most Digimon evolved from this Baby form, there's an universal protective instinct towards it in Shambala.
7/10._________________________________________________________
Kakamon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Child
- Type: Beast
- Attribute: Vaccine
So since we're already talking about Sun Wukong/Son Goku, it's worth reminding that a full set of Journey to the West Digimon exists. Among them was Gokuwmon, who debuted around the time of the Xros Wars: Hunters anime. Gokuwmon and its associated allies appear in the Saiyu Warriors pendulum, but of course we need a dedicated Child-level.
So Kakamon is the Child-level that is a monkey. Credit where credit's due, I like that Kakamon isn't just 'small Gokuwmon', but a somewhat unique-looking orange monkey with a mohawk, a long tail, martial arts pants and headphones for some reason. Kakamon really likes singing and music and sharing its songs with other Digimon. It's also a huge fan of Pandamon (who is also featured in this virtual pet, of course).
It's not really my thing, but I appreciate the effort in making Kakamon stand alone on its own merits. The virtual pet assigns Lianpumon (which have ape-ish arms), Ginkakumon (it's humanoid?) and Tururiemon (since Lopmon isn't here) as its possible Adult-level evolutions, but it also gets good old Hanumon / Apemon as one of its Adult-level evolutions. Hanumon can evolve into Gokuwmon as Perfect evolution, and then...
4/10._________________________________________________________
SeitenGokuwmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Tathagata
- Attribute: Virus
Of course the virtual pet gives Gokuwmon a proper, dedicated Ultimate-level evolution. I honestly am a bit surprised when Gokuwmon first appeared that they didn't just assign the Ultimate level to it initially, since they were doing that with so many random new mythological 'imports' anyway. SeitenGokuwmon draws its title from Seiten Taisei (Qitian Dasheng, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven), one of Sun Wukong's most famous titles.
SeitenGokuwmon is a Gokuwmon after it has completed its journey in search for truth doctrines, finding a power that embodies unity. With its allies ChoHakkaimon and Sagomon, it has found a new power. It's not quite a Jogress fusion, but SeitenGokuwmon does have plush versions of ChoHakkaimon and Sagomon on its shoulders. Which... the colours do clash with SeitenGokuwmon's mainly red/gold/black look, but I do like the concept.
The mythological Sun Wukong has been depicted with golden fur and aura once he has ascended, but that massive chunk of spiky golden hair is more likely than not a reference to the other famous Son Goku and his Super Saiyan forms. SeitenGokuwmon is noted to be more composed and has more control about its belligerent nature. Its power rivals the guardians, the Tentei Hachibushu, but it refuses to be bound by destiny and constraints and remains a free spirit.
Not quite classified as an alternate form, SeitenGokuwmon receives an extra piece of art in its Reference Book profile. Its staff has been upgraded into ridiculously large proportions (as is expected) and is noted to double as a bazooka. Now that is a Digimon-level upgrade. Much more fun, however, is that SeitenGokuwmon can summon its own kinto'un cloud, which manifests in a glorious giant masked cloud-beast with spikes at the bottom and a whole set of giant steampunk, er, bamboo-punk exhaust vents. It's ridiculous, but in all the best ways.
It also has a bunch of other weapons and abilities all inspired by the mythology, but I'm not going to list every single one from its rather long profile. Suffice to say that I'm actually quite happy with it after finding the original Gokuwmon to be a boring, straightforward 'let's put Sun Wukong into Digimon' adaptation. This is a bit more fun!
7/10._________________________________________________________
Takinmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Child
- Type: Beast
- Attribute: Vaccine
The four Child-level options in Saiyu Warriors are Kakamon, Fujamon, Kamemon (to lead to Sagomon) and this little friend, Takinmon. It's a cow! It's just a cow, with some extra tattoos and bands on its front legs. Or, well, fine, it's a takin, which is a kind of ungulate native to the Himalayas, looking like a ox but actually more closely related to sheeps and goats.
Takinmon is noted to live in mountainous regions, and its golden fur has minor telekinetic energy that protects it from weather and elements. in combat, it focuses this energy to its horns to toss boulders around, or to clear mountain paths. Adorably, this sometimes causes sleeping Gotsumon to float and get tossed around, leading to disputes.
As far as I can tell, this isn't based on any mythological beast, and is just a nice little acknowledgement of one of East Asia's wildlife. Takinmon's assigned Adult-level evolutions are Kinkakumon (a lady), Tururiemon (a bunny), Lianpumon (a sentient mask) and the new Hakubamon (a horse). I suppose Hakubamon would be the 'attached' evolution, although I appreciate, again, that the colours and general 'vibe' are quite a bit different.
6/10._________________________________________________________
Hakubamon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Adult
- Type: Holy Beast
- Attribute: Vaccine
Hakubamon is based on the White Horse ridden by Monk Tang, who was adapted into Sanzomon in Digimon. In the original myth, the White Horse was originally a dragon that was transformed into a horse, so Hakubamon has draconic features -- scales and claws for front legs, and a golden mask with dragon beard. It's surprisingly subtle for a newer Digimon, I feel, and fits the idea that this is 'just' an Adult-level.
Hakubamon are noted to be solitary, unless it sees younger Digimon in peril from natural disasters such as wildfires at which point it will rush in and try to rescue them. To match the myth, Hakubamon refuses to let any other Digimon other than Sanzomon (which is one of its possible evolutions) ride it. It sure is a horse! It's another one that's more or less obligatory since they're adapting Journey to the West. I don't really otherwise have much commentary on this one.
6/10._________________________________________________________
ZombiePlutomon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Undead
- Attribute: Virus
We're jumping to the Digimon Story: Time Stranger game, one of the most recent Digimon games and one that was heavily praised for its graphics and story. It features both time travel and the Olympos XII Digimon in the first real story focusing on all twelve of them as the 'gods' that they are. I've never been a fan of the Olympos, but I am happy that they are getting proper fiction. Maybe someday I'll even play the game.
ZombiePlutomon is an alternate form of Plutomon. I don't know the context of it in the actual game, but the official profile notes that this is a state where Plutomon's Digicore shut down due to reaching the end of its lifespan, but its body is still functioning... essentially, well, a zombie. Instead of being a strict-but-fair god of death, ZombiePlutomon just indiscriminately devours the data of others, consuming Digicores to try and quench its insatiable hunger. In addition to being able to absorb Digicore data and create energy in the shape of sickles, ZombiePlutomon is also able to infect enemies with a virus to turn them into 'marionette abomination' puppets.
It's a reasonably more interesting design than the regular Plutomon for sure, actually going a bit far in making it feel like a proper 'god of death'. The details are a bit hard to make out in the busy design, but it's got a lot of cool skeletal features like the hands, the one exposed feet, the tail tipped with one of the 'cerberus' heads, and best of all the exposed spine connecting his hip and torso armours together. I also still like the fact that Plutomon is one of the few Olympos members to be designed to incorporate features from a pre-evolution, with the thematic Cerberumon heads looking even more monstrous.
5/10._________________________________________________________
GreatGryzmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Beast Man
- Attribute: Vaccine
Speaking of the Olympos XII, the original member of the Olympos to appear chronologically was Marsmon, who was the Ultimate-level evolution of one of the lines debuting in Digimon World 3 -- Bearmon. Themed after martial arts, Bearmon is a bear cub that evolves into a bigger bear, Gryzmon; then a cyborg lion, GrappuLeomon; before evolving into a wrestling war god, Marsmon. Being a 'Leomon', GrappuLeomon has often found itself associated with the many, many different Leomon Ultimates instead, however. And there's also an alternate Ultimate-level to the Bearmon line, Callismon from V-Tamers (explictly noted to be a modified Gryzmon), which surprisingly makes an appearance in this game.
This meant that there was a bit of a thematic Perfect-level hole in having a more bear-y Perfect-level between Gryzmon and either Callismon or Marsmon... and so GreatGryzmon was introduced in this game. It plays to both of Bearmon/Gryzmon's associated Ultimates, being a Gryzmon that has basically stood up to eventually transform into the more bipdeal, humanoid looks of either one of the Ultimates. It's got a fancy black 'coat' and one of its claws is covered in like a metallic gauntlet.
GreatGryzmon also shares Marsmon's vague wrestling themes, and probably plays into it more with the bright purple 'suit', the flame and X decals, and the mask on its face. GreatGryzmon's motto is to 'entertain spectators above all in battle', and it tries its best to entertain anyone watching it in the battlefield. It considers fellow entertainer-sports Digimon PileVolcamon to be its rival. In addition to its flaming claws, and the bizarre ability to breathe explosive poison mist, GreatGryzmon is also able to summon a ring from the earth, and strike them with a lariat. That's similar to Pokemon's Incineroar... but being able to simultaneously summon a wrestling ring is always appropriate for a wrestling monster!
I wasn't too impressed with this one originally, but the wrestling themes won me over.
7/10._________________________________________________________
Sharkmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Cyborg
- Attribute: Virus
Featured very heavily in the promotional trailers and receiving a couple of brand-new Digimon are the undersea areas in Time Stranger. I love it! I feel like in the past dozen or so new Digimon reviews, between the Sangomon virtual pet and the MarinBullmon TCG line, the ocean is getting a lot of brand-new Digimon and that's great.
We've never had a Sharkmon in almost 30 years of Digimon being a monster franchise, which is genuinely and utterly surprising to me. We've got aquatic monsters, sure, with dolphins, piranhas, tylosaurs, whales of all kinds, and other fanged fishes, but the closest thing we've got to a proper shark is the hammerhead-shark-man Divemon, and that was also a relatively recent addition. It does irk me that we get so many dragon knights and god-men when we are missing one of the most quintessential animals... but let's not go in that direction. This is Sharkmon's entry!
The Perfect-level Sharkmon's a pretty neat-looking, grisly shark monster. Multiple rows of teeth, and the upper half of Sharkmon's body is robotic and meant to resemble a warship or a battleship. I love those eyes, too, having the 'sunken flesh around the eyeballs' that many old-school cyborg Digimon like MetalGreymon and Megadramon have. I really like that the fins are tipped with blades (similar to Tylomon!) and I love the trails of thick wires floundering behind from either side of its dorsal fin. Which is also tipped with a blade, and meant to resemble like the 'bridge' of a battleship.
It's not seen here, but Sharkmon also possesses an anchor since it's a shark that has taken in battleship data. It launches its anchor to bind enemies, and then reels them in to devour them. Sharkmon also fires little torpedoes that have little shark faces. I was going to call them 'Sharpedo' just to be cheeky, but the profile actually gives these little buddies an official name -- Plutodumon, making them one of those 'accessory Digimon' similar to the original Tyumon, KoDokugumon, or Octomon's little barnacles. Time will tell if Plutodumon ever graduates into having official profile status!
(Despite its name and Plutomon being majorly featured in the game that it debuts in, Plutodumon actually draws its name from Isistius plutodus, the scientific name for the large-tooth cookiecutter shark!)
9/10._________________________________________________________
SkullSeadramon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Undead
- Attribute: Virus
Oh, what??? Another addition to the Net Ocean area is SkullSeadramon, a Perfect-level evolution to Seadramon! Seadramon is one of those non-main-character Digimon that had a full evolutionary line from the earliest days of the franchise with MegaSeadramon and MetalSeadramon... but having a skeletal, undead version was definitely unexpected but very welcome!
The profile is unfortunately not the most interesting, just describing that SkullSeadramon is a instinct-driven undead that moves surprisingly quickly through the ocean and crushes the life of anything it comes across... but what a cool design, isn't it? It's not just a skeletal undead serpent, but you can see the Digicore on its chest, I love the fact that the 'fins' and 'tail' have glowing lights and 'hard-light' fins attached to it, and even the shape of the skull looks a lot more impressive. I particularly like the anglerfish-lure like attachment on SkullSeadramon's horn, even if it's going the other direction than what an anglerfish lure is supposed to go.
Very cool. I don't have much to comment since there's not much beyond being a cool undead skeleton sea serpent, but that alone is enough to be cool, isn't it?
9/10._________________________________________________________
MasterBlimpmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Machine
- Attribute: Data
...people remembered Blimpmon existed! Huzzah!
The original Blimpmon was always a Digimon that I thought was a bit too elaborate, a bit too complex, to be an Adult-level. Heck, it has always read to me as being conceived as a Perfect-level evolution to Guardromon! But an Adult-level Blimpmon has remained. And now, we've got a MasterBlimpmon, which honestly is just the exact same design, but fully mechanical, fully metal, with shining silver armour and purple highlights. There are some more mechanical armaments, like a bunch of turrets, a more 'Gundam warship' cockpit... and a really goofy drill nose that probably isn't the safest feature to have on a blimp.
The thing is, the original Blimpmon also had the theme of being an 'incomplete' blimp, with there being a rust-coloured armour being placed around a more tan-coloured regular blimp. MasterBlimpmon does away with all that, being the post-upgraded version, and it just looks cleaner and sleeker all around. Not a particularly huge surprise, then, but I'm very glad this upgrade to Blimpmon exists!
7/10._________________________________________________________
Enbarrmon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Perfect
- Type: Undead
- Attribute: Data
Enbarrmon draws its name from the Enbarr, a mythological horse from Irish mythology that could run on the land and sea, and is faster than the wind. Its mythological inspiration isn't actually an undead horse, but Enbarrmon is fully skeletal and mechanical, particularly its legs, and has a lot of random bits and bobs of armour around its body, head and lower legs. The armour pieces actually remind me of DeadlyAxemon a bit?
Enbarrmon has that typical 'untameable steed' storyline common to many of these mythological steeds in fantasy. It is rough, belligerent, and refuses to let anyone who hasn't bested it in combat to ride it. Those that do get a 'never die' protection, however, where Enbarrmon confers some of its undead fortitude upon its rider. That doesn't get explained quite enough in the profile, and maybe something brought up in more detail in the game?
It is an undead horse, so it is quite cool in and of itself, even if it isn't really something special, but...
- Alternate Names: Craniummon + Enbarrmon
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: Holy Knight
- Attribute: Vaccine
Enbarrmon is able to 'merge' with the Royal Knight Craniummon. This is treated as an evolution and a completely brand-new form, with Enbarrmon being a Perfect, but 'Enbarrmon + Craniummon' being treated as an Ultimate-level. I mean, sure.
Level nitpicking aside, Craniummon has a bit of a Skeletor vibe to his helmet, so pairing it up with the likewise skeletal mount Enbarrmon is a nice visual delight. (Thematically, Craniummon's weapon is the also-Irish-inspired Claíomh Solais) The bio notes that Craniummon and Enbarrmon fought each other a lot, and end up building a strong relationship because of that.
Not the biggest fan (just like in Pokemon with Calyrex) when they treat 'riding each other' as an alternate form or an evolved form, but it does give a bit of an oomph to Enbarrmon, and honestly makes Craniummon a bit less boring too since now he's the Royal Knight with an actual steed. Savers did make me have a bit of attachment to Craniummon and his skeleton mask, so I'm happy he got a bit of a differentiator.
8/10 as a set. _________________________________________________________
Titamon + SkullBaluchimon
- Alternate Names: N/A
- Stage: Ultimate
- Type: God Man
- Attribute: Virus
This one is also from Time Stranger, and got a whole profile and everything, but it's just Titamon riding SkullBaluchimon. Titamon ends up being a major player in the game as it represents the 'titans' to juxtapose against the Olympian Gods. At some point in the game it apparently gets to ride a SkullBaluchimon, taming it and absorbing the vapours from SkullBaluchimon. Riding and getting this 'new form' has also transformed Titamon's zanjintou into a o-naginata, which now has holes that exhume SkullBaluchimon's evil smoke.
You know what? The names annoy me, but I do like that the 'super modes' given to old Digimon don't just go with cluttering them up even further. If they had to have a super mode, having them ride a Perfect-level mount is a bit nicer, even if I admittedly find it hard-pressed to consider it a 'proper' alternate form.
4/10 as a variant. _________________________________________________________
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