There is no need to be upset

Comparisons will be made to mostly Ghost Game, the season that is very beloved to me which is the one that came right before BB and has been unfairly judged due to its episodic format, and Savers, which is easily the best season of Digimon to this very day and it has many of the same people behind it than BB does. Other past seasons will be mentioned too.

This also comes with a disclaimer, that yes I have watched all of the previous Digimon seasons before this and played many of the games, so I have a feeling that I know what I am talking about.

I will be going through BB chronologically, episode by episode. Please note that by the time I am writing this, 40 episodes of the series have come out, but I do feel there is something wrong with the series if it takes that long for it to become somewhat good for an episode or two.

This is also going to be very emotionally charged from my behalf, so while I do have fair criticisms, I am aware of the colorful language chosen and my personal biases shown here.

Shoutout to my wife pupusukka for adding her two cents to this as well

Anyway! Spoilers start here!

A new Digimon series teaser drops, and I was as excited as everyone else. This one was going to be like Savers (the best one), Digimon is at its peak right now, so surely this is going to be absolute cinema, right?

No. Not one bit. I've had problems with this damn thing since episode one, so let's start from there.

We are introduced to three of the main characters from the very beginning, before shifting focus to the main character, Tomoro

While I love protagonists who are assholes in the beginning (their dickhead shenanigans are usually fun to watch, and it means that there is usually an amazing character arc to become a better person in the horizon), but not with Tomoro. He starts off as this edgy asshole which is to be expected, but (spoilers ahead), after 40 or so episodes, I feel like he has barely changed from his episode 1 self.

The first episode sets up Tomoro's backstory, how he gets his Digimon partner and the importance of his brother... But all in a very, very rushed manner.

Tomoro is not very likeable by default, and this episode goes to cold heart Asuka the first moment it can, and it just made me left thinking... Why should I care? I know nothing about these two characters besides the fact that Tomoro is an asshole, so why should I relate to his or Asuka's misery in any way, when there has barely been any set-up before the catastrophe strikes? As a viewer, it seems very emotionally distant to me, and having all of this shoved in the span of one episode just feels way too rushed. How does the same 20 minutes given to BB feel a lot shorter than the 20 minutes given to Ghost Game, which sets up the series' premise, introduces us to the main character and his partner Digimon, gives us an antagonist, and delivers a satisfying ending? (this is no criticism towards cliffhanger endings though, do not get me wrong)

While the first episode sets Tomoro's main goal - to save Asuka from his cold hearted state - after 40 or so episodes, it really feels he has barely done anything to get closer to his goal. He just... Becomes a cleaner after a little bit of hesitation in the following episodes, and he has been going through the usual daily grind ever since? Every time something happens that takes Tomoro a step closer to his goal, it feels like it happens by accident instead of his own hard work and it is really damn frustrating to watch. It is as if his fate is not something he strives for actively himself, but he waits for it to come to him instead.

At least Hitomi is cured of her cold hearted state in the beginning arc, but then again... Why should we care? And why should Tomoro care?

But yes, the first few episodes set up the entire gang - Tomoro and his fellow Golden Dawn cleaners Kyo, Reina and Makoto (and their Digimon partners), who just. Sort of make their home as the main characters as a big chunk, instead of getting their own individual introduction episodes Ghost Game style (Ruli got an episode of her in in EP3, while Kiyoshiro became part of the main cast as late as EP5. But even before they were set in stone as main characters, they did show up in previous episodes too in side roles so we know who these were)

Next up in BB is the entire Pandamon thing. While the arc itself was... Fine, what is not so fine about it is that it is so early in the series - we have multiple episodes centered around this Digimon, when we have barely been introduced to Reina, Makoto and Kyo, so instead of focusing on them, the focus is shifted to this side character.

What was especially annoying about this part to me is the fact that Gekkomon seems to care more about this damn panda than his own partner (which is like. Fair, given how Gekkomon's partner is Tomoro), so in the end all of that ended up just feeling ridiculous, with the series not even committing on keeping Pandamon dead (not committing to harsh story elements is a problem that is a constant thing that will reappear time and time again in BB as time goes on, this is just the tip of the iceberg)

After the Pandamon thing, Nirinso is introduced. We are back on track with the "main plot", and this does tell us about Kyo, who often feels more like the main character instead of Tomoro.

What confuses me very much is that Kyo, alone, feeds the baby Digimon - since the very early episodes we have been made clear that Glowing Dawn doesn't delete the Digimon, which brings the question: where do they go?

Why don’t Reina and Makoto also know about this, why haven’t these two questioned where the babies go? Why hasn’t Tomoro asked them?

Looking back to this episode with the knowledge I have from E40, this would have also been a perfect place to give a little tease on Kyo’s past with the place, instead of dumping it all into the recent few episodes when it was finally time for his arc, which brings me to:

This is a very good example of a problem that is a major, on-going issue through the entire series going forwards: BB does not do any kind of foreshadowing to anything, despite certain pieces of story absolutely being written beforehand. I am not sure is this because of the current theory crafting culture online which usually ends up in fans making theories and then being disappointed when they do not come true, or the growing impatience and lack of paying attention of the current generation (I am allowed to say this, I have ADHD)

This is also the part where the problem of going on random episode-long sidequests starts (From this point forward, each arc/episode will be cast as either a main quest or a side quest, because let’s face it. That is what they are)

Beatbreak is marketed as this new Digimon series that has a story that spans the entire season (unlike that dirty Ghost Game and its episodic structure! /sarcasm), but we get a random GG-esque episode in-between in the form of E08 Vanishing Classroom. Which would not be a problem otherwise (like I said - I love GG), but it becomes a problem when what you get is different from what you were promised.

When you go into GG, you are mentally prepared for it to be episodic. So when it is episodic and you know it, you are not set up for disappointment. Each episode is its own little thing, that starts and ends in the span of that 20 minutes.

BB is marketed as if it was Savers - one long story with different story arcs that happens in the span of one season, but it is really not that. It has multiple arcs - so far the beginning, Pandamon, Nirinso, now the random Vanishing Classroom - so the random one-episode long stories feel really jarring, when you enter the series expecting every episode to take the main story forward, but instead you get the episodic structure.

Next up is the two-episode arc with Haruko and Shademon (is this a main quest or a side quest? I am not sure). Haruko and Shademon's thing was actually really fucking good, but we then get a full blast of information about Makoto and his past. Again, no foreshadowing on his family situation whatsoever. This again feels that it should have been a bigger thing towards the young Makoto, who needs to be in contact with his family again, but we are just.. Kind of doing this? It would be a perfect opportunity to enhance the ties between GDawn cast that they are a family and stand behind Makoto. But there is no need for that I guess???? Good for Makoto for being a well-adjusted individual who has dealt with all this interesting emotional stuff before the series instead of during it?

In general, the character growth parts that happen to our main characters only seem to happen in the episodes dedicated to them - while what Makoto and Chiropmon had going on in these two episodes was really sweet, I do feel like some of it should have happened in the past episodes already. Like... Have these things happen little by little in each episode, instead of big bursts only happening during the episodes when the growth is needed. Gives me the feeling of "oh fuck, we forgot to build this in previous episodes, quick let's do damage control in this one episode real quick" and it just does not feel natural at all.

Next up, we go back to the main quest again with Kyo's five star reveal, a dark evolution of sorts to Gekkomon, and eventually his evolution into Armalizamon (I do appreciate the series taking the main character’s partner evolve this late! Nice change to the usual formula). Cool stuff, but again, it does feel like the writing is rushed for the evolution to happen instead of it building gradually.

Here rises another problem with this series' writing: things happen between the characters, but even after a major improvement happens to the bond between two characters, the very next episode it feels like none of it ever happened: after this, Tomoro and Gekkomon's bond still seems to be very much like it was before. Gekkomon being fucking annoying, and Tomoro being fucking annoyed which is a dynamic that was cute at first, but gets really irritating way before the 40 episode mark (comparing this to Appmon for a change: Eri and Torajiro start off hating each others guts' so seeing them slowly become homies is one of the best things in Appmon, which is really fantastic in its own right)

Here's also a sidenote with the dynamics of the bonds between the tamers and their partners this season: this season's lore is that the Digimon are reflections of their tamers, but it really ends up feeling that the tamer and partner are too samey (Makoto-Chiropmon and Reina-Pristimon for example). While the harmony in these duos is fine, there is really not that many fun dynamics between them, like, let's compare Jellymon-Kiyoshiro from GG which is a duo all right (although I admit, by the end of GG I was kind of sick of this too, but at least it was fun for the majority of the GG run!)

So yeah, the partner-tamer duos seem to be either too samey, and the one that isn't (Tomoro-Gekkomon) is just frustrating to watch because their bond just doesn't seem to improve as the episodes go on. While Gekkomon is a gremlin, his entire character does have the same old habit of past main Digimon protagonists of having most of his personality to be about being hungry all the time, so more negative karma to Gekkomon

Gonna compare Tomoro-Gekkomon to Hiro-Gammamon a bit here while I am at it: while these two duos strive to do different things, I think Hiro-Gammamon is easily better because it manages to catch the balance of it being sweet, but also having their rough patches too (like the Spiral Beach episode as a good example), when Tomoro-Gekkomon is nothing but rough patches, and for 40 episodes, it gets really tiring

Anyway, back to the main quest - next up we meet Tactics 7, and while I have no problem with the members of that group (they are really good actually, credit where credit is due!) (except for Naito who is just a simp for Klay and that is really fucking funny to me) but again, it does feel like the side characters and their growth here are given more focus than the actual main characters.

E15 Little Courage is just. Ass. But with that aside, we are introduced to Haruomi and his partner Commandramon!

Haruomi is one thing in BB that is really good actually, but it is kinda sad how this man manages to get more interesting lore as a side character in the two episodes he is in (E18 Price of Freedom and hopping a bit ahead here, E26 Taste of Guilt - shoutout to Elizamon here, she is fantastic) compared to the like you know. The main characters.

In the midst of Tactics arc, we get E19 Black Market auction which is kind of a sidequest, but does end up in Raito (again. A major thing happening to a side character) getting fired from Tactics 7. While this episode seems to get a lot of praise for its human trafficking subplot and while I agree, Digimon is amazing for being able to cover dark themes like this, but this episode as a part of a bigger whole? It feels like it was added just to add shock value and be "hey look! We are a mature anime now!" when we have. Entire Ghost Game and its existentially horrifying themes, and also hopping away from the anime side, Digimon Survive exists too which is another thing that gets torn apart more often than it should

We are nearing the end of the entire Tactics arc and wrap it up, and here is many of my ever on-going problems with the series rise:

While having a dark evolution of sorts happen is always cool in Digimon, the difference between BB and ones before it (Adventure and Tamers for example) (Oh and Survive now when I think about it!) is that the seasons before left an impact because the dark path happened only once. When Tomoro and Gekkomon go through it on multiple occasions, it loses its impact and just gets more ridiculous the more it happens. Especially when it doesn’t seem to affect their bond in any meaningful way, or them as characters.

This series also seems to have the habit of having the main group have their assess kicked, but every time that happens, I do not feel a damn thing. They get up again (which is expected), but none of the characters seem to be left with any trauma after any of these incidents - it really does not feel it matters whether or not said horrific thing happened at all. A lot of horrifying and character growth things happen in these series, but by the next episode, it is as if the characters forget about them.

For a little while after the Tactics arc, we go on sidequests again - first with the Starmon episode, which has one good thing about it: it is revealed here that Makoto likes movies. It is little things like this that are missing from BB that would make the characters more complex and more human

In GG, while the main cast do not have any bigger long-term goals to strive for (which Tomoro has, but doesn't seem to work towards), it adds a lot more character to them with the little things that make them human - just from the top of my mind I can tell that Hiro likes camping and cooking, he is a people-pleaser, Kiyoshiro is a fucking weeb (which is like. The funniest thing to me ever), loves donuts and is a child genius, Ruli likes to play the piano but also loves the occult, she has balls of steel, etc etc

What can we say about the characters in Golden Dawn? Tomoro likes to play the drums, Makoto likes movies, Reina... Well Pristimon likes tea I guess???? Kyo is a malewife?

I was sort of hoping Tomoro’s musical interests would actually play into his character more. He keeps having the drum sticks on his hands in the opening and in the eye catches, but we haven’t seen him doing anything music related since the first few episodes.

“But isn’t this the change in character you have been hoping for?” No, not really. This feels more like a case of the writers forgot about it.

Gekkomon doesn’t seem to have any musical themes either, despite being a mirror of Tomoro’s soul. Wasted character design potential here. Just slap some rockets and a helmet on a dinosaur and call it a day I guess

But yeah the sidequests continue for a few more episodes, which I do not mind one bit for once because I am Very Normal about Mummymon and Vamdemon and I can be trusted with them, but I cannot be trusted to have unbiased opinions of their episodes so I'll just say that to me personally, those two episodes have been the single best things out of the entire series to me. I rank this Mummymon S-tier

After a little bit of sidequesting, we go back to the main quest with E30 Wings to Protect You, another Makoto episode. This is kind of a perfect example of how this series has many good ideas and concepts, but most of them are executed so, so badly. The same pattern as before happens here - we have not given one of the main characters any proper buildup in the previous episodes, we are introduced to a problem and have it solved in the span of one episode, you know the drill by this point.

While E31 One Step Forward with Argomon is another sidequest episode, at least it was a good one. But if you removed this one out of the bigger picture, it wouldn't really change a thing, so my inner GG fan likes this one, but BB hater doesn't.

I could be an asshole and say that E31 was just filler, but that would be an insult towards filler episodes - those episodes are usually used to deepen the main character's personalities with the little things (like I mentioned in the GG comparison above), but not in BB. Again and again, it puts all of its effort on the side characters (which it does good when it does good, like the Mummymon episode you can trust me with), but the thing is, it doesn't have to be either or! GG had a perfect balance of showing the side characters go through things in the span of one episode without sacrificing the development of the main characters!

Next up, we enter the GIFT arc, starting with E32 Cold Rain.

A Leomon dies. Good episode, I liked it, but again, it is good because it does not focus on the main characters one bit, but does its one episode long side character thing.

Then we have more sidequests - it is fun how this one is called the GIFT arc, when it really does not focus on it too much. At least Reina's lack of confidence in herself is built upon in the span of multiple episodes, instead of having her have it happen at the beginning of the episode when it is important. Although it is funny as shit to me how Reina is having a therapy session when a literal ticking time bomb is about to explode at any moment.

Next, we are finally back in the main quest in E36 Twisted Code. This is another example of good ideas executed really badly in a rushed manner - I probably shouldn't laugh, but Miharu's sister killing herself over Digimon instead of being there for her younger sister is just so stupid. Older sister of the year, everybody!

So yeah, the GIFT "arc" is just a string of sidequests that end up in two episodes that fully focus on the actual GIFT, and that is done and done with. What was the point of any of this again???

After GIFT, we are surprisingly back to another main quest instead of sidequesting for a while with E38 Hollow Thirst, and I actually have no complaints about Souji. What a fascinating little freak he is, like god damn they cooked with this one, and the arc seems to be off to a great start besides couple of things:

A major part of the entirety of BB is the theme of Golden Dawn being a family, which is how the Kyo arc starts off too. It would be sweet otherwise, if the series had done any heavy lifting beforehand to emphasize how these four (eight, actually, counting their Digimon partners) really are a family.

I cannot pinpoint a single moment when these four had done anything that would make each individual two characters and their interactions or GDawn as a whole to feel like they were anything but coworkers (a side-note: if a workplace irl describes themselves as a family, you run the hell out of there.) Really the one thing that keeps happening time and time again to signal how these four would be family in any shape or form, is how these four keep repeating “we are a family”, but really nothing else.

Sure, they go shopping and cook together, but other than that, there’s… Nothing, really. I guess they have Nirinso, but that also feels like work to the viewer more than anything else, and Kyo does give emotional support to Reina at least, but the most it feels like these three kids have one shared dad, but nothing much happening between each other. Kind of reminds me of Walter White yelling “we are a family god damn it” as if that would magically make his family a family again

Another annoyance was the entire scene with Kyo leaving Golden Dawn and fighting against the rest of the gang. It is shown as this very dramatic thing, but it does not have any impact at all, because as the viewer, we know it is all a show made by Kyo. Compare this to Thoma’s similar thing in Savers - that shit got me real good, because we didn't know whether or not he was genuine with it!

Right after Kyo kicks the shit out of the gang, it takes less than 2 minutes anyway for them to figure out it was all fake from Kyo's behalf, so again. What is the point of all this?

That scene aside, this Kyo arc is actually really good? The emotional impact is there, Souji is not one bit well in the head and I love him for that, my god am I glad they didn't show the deaths of the three babies on screen or else I would had exploded hOLY SHIT IS THAT ARUKENIMON??????????!!!!

Whatever they are cooking with this Kyo arc is finally like, actually good!

But... That got me thinking.

It took this series like 40 or so episodes to get me any way invested in it. I finally saw my third silly Arukenimon die in a horrific manner once more so there is literally no side hoe for me to look forward to anymore (which is the one thing BB seems to do right) so... Why should I continue watching this?

I don't give a damn about any of the main characters or their struggles. None of it had had any lasting impact on me or on them. There has been no Tamers Leomon deaths, no Yujin reveals, no Ken Ichijoujis or Yukio Oikawas, no barriers between the real world and the digital breaking, absolutely nothing that changed the course of the series forever afterwards. After Kyo's arc is done, I know the series will just proceed as normal as it has so far, with no change in anything, with more sidequests coming, maybe a main quest with one less Five Star to deal with afterwards, until it will all eventually end, and I will be left feeling more hollow than before inside.

The main problem with BB is that it wants to be Savers, but has the episodic structure of GG and ends up failing at what it aims to be. It is GG without the horror, and Savers without its strong cast of main characters and overarching plot. So it is nothing.

So I am dropping this

I saw a clip of BB on Insta the other day (the scene where GDawn talks to Klay in prison), and it made me realize something

If you try to clip any major scenes from the past seasons to fit the 1-2 minutes long social-media friendly timeframe, it would most likely not make any sense, since said scenes most likely has multiple episodes of past build-up behind them for the scenes in question to have any weight to them - it would simply not make any sense without all the past context behind it

BB though? All of the relevant information to major scenes is all shoved in the span of that 1-2 minutes, so that it could be clipped to fit the social media friendly timeframe, so no wonder the entire series feels like a collection of smaller, fast-paced scenes