As 2023 is about to end, I'm gonna rank the new Digimon that debuted this year. This is purely my opinion based on how much I like each species. My tier list will run from S to D, with S being my favorite and D being my least favorite. I will only put one in each S and D. A will be Digimon I really like, B will be Digimon I like but not as much, and C will be ones I'm more ambivalent toward. I want to say that I don't dislike any of the new Digimon from this year, I just like some more than others.
The only new full evolution line we got this year is the Loogamon line. The baby stages are Fusamon and Bowmon. They're both cute and perfectly good Digimon, but it's generally hard for me to get excited about baby stages compared to the later stages. C-tier for both.
Loogamon is fun for being a new prototype Digimon with ties to Dorumon and Ryudamon via Seekers. I do think canine Digimon are overdone, but Loogamon sticks out nicely among the flood of Garurumon expies, which is a definite plus. I think I like it more than previous expies like Gaogamon and Dorulumon. I'll give it B-tier
Loogarmon I quite like. Again, canine Digimon are overdone, but this one manages to have a much more unique silhouette than the likes of Gaogamon, Dorulumon, and Fangmon. I love that the fire it breathes formes a muzzle, that's such a cool and unique idea. The wolf Digimon being a scary werewolf/garm monster is also a great step away from preguous Garurumon-style Digimon. A-tier.
The two Perfect/Ultimate level forms for Loogamon are Heloogarmon and Soloogarmon, with Heloogarmon being intended as a dark evolution, like the SkullGreymon of the Loogamon line. It's a badass werewolf made of hellfire that has the uncontrollable instinct to burn everything around it in a mindless rage. That is such a cool and scary concept, I absolutely love it. Easy A-tier. Soloogarmon as the good evolution is a lot less cool to me. Its the red-headed stepchild of the Loogamon family. I'm not a fan of how so many high-level Digimon turn into bipeds and Soloogarmon is definitely guilty of this. The mechanical elements also feel out of place compared to the rest of the line and that giant canister on its butt is just weird. The weapon being a wrench/lightsaber is cool, I just think it should be on a Digimon themed around engineering. I definitely prefer Heloogarmon as the Loogarmon evolution. I'm putting it on the bottom of C-tier because there is one I like less.
The Ultimate/Mega level is Fenriloogamon and I love it. Another quadrupedal Ultimate/Mega partner for a main character has been a long time coming as they're usually humanoid. For example, all the partner final forms from Ghost Game, the most recent anime, looked like people in costumes. A blue, flaming werewolf clad in silver armor is such a cool concept. I would love to see Fenriloogamon animated or in a video game. The Norse Mythology theme is also cool. Easy A-tier. Fenriloogamon also has another form called Fenriloogamon Takemikazuchi which looks like if Zacian from Pokemon was designed by a heavy metal album cover artist. The blade it bears is Kazuchimon transformed into a sword. It look me longer than it should to realize that Fenriloogamon Takemikazuchi is a reference to Alphamon Oryuken where Oryumon turns itself into a weapon for Alphamon. Given that the Dorumon and Ryudamon lines are in Seekers, we may see Alphamon Oryuken meet Fenriloogamon Takemikazuchi. I also give this one an A-tier.
Commandramon is a high contender for my favorite Digimon of all time (which is ironic given how anti-military I am in real life), so I was super happy to see new evolutions of it for Seekers. Heck, the D-Brigade will be featuring in the Digimon Adventure fanfic I've been working on (please give me constructive criticism on what I have so far) Commandramon itself is not in this list because it's been out for a long time now. The new Adult/Champion level evolution is Hi-Commandramon, which is such an amazing evolution for Commandramon. I think its a better evolution than Sealsdramon, even though in canon Hi-Commandramon evolves from Commandramon who failed the test to become Sealsdramon. Hi-Commandramon is like Digimon distilled into one design, a high-tech cyborg dinosaur with military equipment. It may be a bit early in my tier list, but Hi-Commandramon is my S-tier.
The new Perfect/Ultimate level for Commandramon is Cargodramon, a dragon tiltrotor. It gives some air support and transportation to the army that is the D-Brigade. Cargodramon is definitely a callback to Tankdramon as the weirdly out of place vehicle evolution of Commandramon. I give it a B-tier.
Brigadramon is the new Ultimate/Mega level for the D-Brigade. In-universe, it was designed for a replacement for the original Darkdramon after that one went rogue. It acts as a commander that surveys from the air and guns down enemies from above. While I still prefer Darkdramon as a Commandramon evolution, Brigadramon is still great. It also works as an evolution for a ton of different Digimon without seeming out of place, which is a great factor in a series like Digimon with branching evolution lines. Off the top of my head, I can see virus MetalGreymon, MetalGreymon 2010, Gigadramon, and maybe Jazarichmon all evolving to Brigadramon. Easy A-tier.
Two new related Digimon are Luxmon and ArkhaiAngemon, who are both new angel Digimon. Luxmon is the new Child/Rookie level angel Digimon. I really like Luxmon, I think it's a great starting point for any angelic or holy line and I like that it looks like a child Angemon in footie pajamas. This may be heresy to say, but Luxmon is a better Angemon pre-evo than Patamon. I give it A-tier. ArkhaiAngemon is a new Perfect/Ultimate level angel and I do like it, but I think its probably the last interesting angel of its level compared to HolyAngemon and Angewomon. I kind of wish we got another feminine angel Digimon of this level (or any angel thats not a blonde white person) because it could be a great through line between Dacmon and LovelyAngemon without having to double-up on using Angewomon as the Perfect/Ultimate level when she's pretty firmly established as Ophanimon's pre-evo. I'll give ArkhaiAngemon a B-tier.
Quantumon is a cool design and is neat as the closest we've gotten to a Digimon form of Adventure's Homeostasis (even though she appeared in a completely different continuity). I Also appreciate another feminine Ultimate/Mega that's not sexualized. Honestly the biggest thing I have against Quantumon is that the end of Ghost Game sucked. I give her a B-tier.
Cthyllamon as an evil MarineAngemon is neat, but more interesting is that it many be a refenrence to an obscure bit of the franchise. Bck in the Digimon Accel virtual pets, multiple existing Digimon got Blast Modes. These modes only existed in those games and don't have reference book entries. One of these was MarineAngemon Blast Mode, which looked like an angry MarineAngemon with bat wings. We never got anything more than sprite artwork for the Blast Modes, but given the similarities, I think Cthyllamon is a callback to MarineAngemon Blast Mode. For that, I'll give it an A.
All the new Digimon introduced in Digimon New Century have bee great and Dijiangmon is no exception. As far as evil Digimon go, Dijiangmon is a interesting one. Instead of destroying things or raising armies, it just hangs out, being completely expressionless and never making a sound. It also has the power to telepathically induce other Digimon to fight. It's like the Digimon version of a creepypasta monster. I like it. A-tier.
A Digimon that has been announced but not yet fully released is Tlalocmon. We have the art and the knowledge that it's a Jogress/DNA Digivolution of Eldoradimon and SaberLeomon, but no lore yet. Despite that, what we have is super cool. It's an adorable Ultimate/Mega level, which is super rare, and its named after the Aztec god of rain Tlaloc. A twitter Digimon fan and Mesoamerican history enthusiast did a big post breaking down the design influences and mythological references in Tlalocmon that you should definitely read. Easy A for Tlalocmon and I can't wait to see it in action.
Another announced by not yet released Digimon that will be coming from New Century is Takutomon. I'm gonna be honest, I'm not nearly as excited about this one as I am about Tlalocmon. The design is fine, but I'm not too excited about another "dude in a costume" Ultimate/Mega level. Maybe my opinion will change as we get more information, but for now it's C-tier.
The final new Digimon released this year (not counting the one teased in the announcement for the new card game project which we don't even have a name for yet) is BigUkkamon. The name says it all, it's Ukkamon but bigger. And pink. And with less detail. Gotta say, this one is pretty boring. They didn't even include the weird head tree thing from 02 The Beginning in its official art. The lore is decent, but BigUkkamon is just bland. This one's the D-tier.
A-tier: Loogarmon, Heloogarmon, Fenriloogamon, Fenriloogamon Takemikazuchi, Brigadramon, Luxmon, Cthyllamon, Dijiangmon, and Tlalocmon
B-tier: Loogamon, Cargodramon, ArkhaiAngemon, and Quantumon
C-tier: Fusamon, Bowmon, Takutomon, and Soloogarmon
Between Seekers, 02 The Beginning, and announcements for new card came and video game projects, 2023 was pretty good for Digimon. Hopefully next year keep on going and helps the Digimon renaissance keep going.
