#shagaramon

HAPPY ODAIBA DAY!!!!!

These are all the pieces I did for the @digigirlzine this year!!!

Like the last two years, I'm giving my opinion on all the new Digimon released in 2025. My criteria is that the Digimon must have received a reference book entry to count, which does cut off the Godzilla crossover Digimon and a few forms from Time Stranger, as well as the revealed Digimon from Alysion and some of the new v pet mons. I'll give an honorable mention to those at the end. My tiers are A for Digimon I really like, B for those I think are fine, and C for those I'm not that fond of. There will also be one S for my favorite of the year and one D for my least favorite.

Starting with the Digimon debuting in Liberator this year we have the Maquinamon line. I give Maquinamon itself an A. Cyborgs are old hat for Digimon, but Maquinamon being split down the middle is new and interesting. Plus, it having the Appmon cable and one Appmon showing up in Liberator and more in the card game really gives Maquinamon the chance to bring Appmon back to the franchise in a big way. I also like how its evolutions branch into a mechanical and biological line and will presumably merge again a la the Dracomon to Examon lines. Also the two branches being machines in the shape of animals and animals in the shape of machines is inspired. As for the evolutions I'll start with the biological line. I give Turbomon a B. It was initially a C based on its reference book art, but an illustration in the Liberator web novel made it look so much less awkward and dumb, bumping it up. Maneuvermon is an A. I love the idea of a biological fighter jet that you have to enter through the mouth. Like with Turbomon, the Liberator art makes it look better. While Dalphomon is almost certainly the evolution of Maneuvermon, it doesn't have a reference book entry yet and all we have to go on is one appearance and illustration in the Liberator web novel. I will withhold judgement on that until next year.

On the mechanical side we have Mulemon, who I give a B to. I do like it, but not enough to bump it up to an A. I think making it look more like its namesake would have helped my opinion. I do like that it has 2 faces though and that it seems to be based on those robot dogs that carry supplies and have videos of people kicking them. I will give an A to Mockingbirdmon. I really like the fact that you can tell it's a bird while also making it look abstract and kind of alien. It looks like a drone sent by some unknowable force and I dig that. It also makes a good much-needed evolution for MailBirdramon. I like it when new Digimon line up well as evolution or pre-evolutions for existing ones. Finally we have Metatromon, who I give an A to. An artificial angel Digimon is such a cool concept and I love the idea that while it believes itself to be an angel, it is actually a false creation inferior to the true angel Digimon. The idea of an artificial angel is one that lends itself to lots of cool stories. I also think Metatromon makes for a great evolution for Shakkoumon, which has always gotten the shaft compared to its fellow 02 fusions. Paildramon got Imperialdramon and Silphymon gets Valkyriemon, yet Shakkoumon was stuck with Vikemon for some reason. Metatromon is much more fitting.

Next up from Liberator, we have the Hanimon line. I like puppet Digimon so I was happy to see these. I really like how both new puppet evolution lines from Liberator are partnered with sisters. I waffled a bit on Hanimon itself but ultimately decided to put it in B. It's a fine design, but it feels like the odd one out among its line. It is based on historic Japanese terracotta figures, which is cool. The rest of the line gets all As. I like the Japanese aesthetic and them being based on Japanese dolls and karakuri. I also like how both Pokemon and Digimon decided to make their takes on Kaguya-Hime into bamboo rocket ships.

Next up, we have the new members of the Elizamon line. I love Lamiamon. The prissy noblewoman aesthetic melded with the utterly evil behavior it has and the reptile elements makes Lamiamon an instant classic in my mind. This is my S tier, though I will say, it was tough for me to pick the S this year. Nothing jumped out at me the way Hi-Commandramon and Chaperomon did for 2023 and 2024, so I really had to debate which one was my favorite. Lamiamon edged out the competitors though, and is deserving of the S rank.

Medusamon is not as impressive to me as Lamiamon. It still has a lot of the elements I like, but they just don't meld together in the way Lamiamon's do. I'm not a huge fan of this take on Medusa's snake hair, which I think does drag it down for me. I give it a B.

Finally we have Styracomon and oh boy. I am so incredibly disappointed by this because it loses every element that made the Elizamon line so unique and interesting and just made it very generic instead. No femininity, no frills, no lace, no venom and nasty behavior, they didn't even keep the pink. The appeal of the Elizamon line to me was the femininity in juxtaposition with their cruel behavior and being partnered with a very masculine human. Styracomon feels like someone at Bandai said "wait a minute! We can't have our male character partnered with a g-g-girl!" and ordered a rushed, last-minute design to be slotted in. The only plus I'll give Styracomon is that it makes a great Triceramon evolution. It basically looks like a Triceramon that stood up and put on armor, which is classic Digimon evolution. They're also both based on ceratopsid dinosaurs. Styracomon gets my D-tier. It's kind of wild that the same evolution line got both the S and D.

Next up are the two new Ghostmon final forms and I give both of these an A. Of the two, I prefer Necromon. I think it's such a good culmination of the Ghostmon -> Bakemon -> Phantomon line. It gets the blue fire elements from Ghostmon, the Bakemon minions, and the executioner sword feels like a good step up from Phantomon's grim reaper vibe. Everything works. Necromon was a candidate for the S-tier. Dullahamon is also really awesom. I especially like it using a coffin as a shield and it's own severed head as part of its axe. Very metal. I can also see it using a bladed weapon attached to a chain as being an evolution of Phantomon's scythe and trinket on a chain. I like it when evolutions have elements that compound like that. Dullahamon would also make an excellent evolution for MetalPhantomon.

Ariemon is absolutely adorable and is one of two new Digimon this year who fit two niches I really wanted filled: an evolution for Mermaimon that isn't AncientMermaimon (I don't like using the ancient Digimon as regular evolutions) and a plausible merged form for Ranamon and Calmaramon. For those reasons, I give it an A. Fun fact, it's name comes from a type of yokai. I initially thought its name came from Ariel and it was a Little Mermaid reference and was confused why it was in the Shambala v-pets until I found out the real origin.

Last Year, I gave Cendrillmon a lower score than it otherwise would have gotten because I fell it visually didn't fit the rest of the Shoemon line. Nyabootmon feels like a do-over to make something more visually fitting and I do feel like it's a better match for a Shoemon evolution. However, one of my main issues with Cendrillmon wasn't addressed and that's the loss of the patchwork plushie appearance of the rest of the line. That element was my favorite part of Shoemon, Shoeshoemon, and Chaperomon and having it vanish again is disappointing. Nyabootmon being a plush cat would be really fitting, too. Sadly, despite liking the Puss in Boots reference and carrying the shoe element all the way through, I can't give it higher than a B.

I went back and fourth on how to rank Magneticdramon. On one hand, it lost the sand and ancient Egypt themes I really liked from the rest of the line (except Proganomon) and that's kind of disappointing to me. On the other hand, it's a dragon made of magnets and electricity and that's fucking awesome. In the end, I had to bow to the part of my brain that likes explosions and metal and give it an A.

(I have to combine the images to stay under the limit)

Next is the new Digimon from New Century and I'll start with the new members of Shikyoju. Both Yihumon and Taotiemon are As. I like Yihumon mostly because it looks like a great evolution for Mihiramon. So many of the Devas don't have great options for evolutions that keep with their themes and Yihumon really works great. I really want to see more Digimon that look like evolutions (and pre-evolutions) for the Devas. Taotiemon is fun because it has that great combination of cute and menacing. The New Century art is even better for showing that the cloud has a giant mouth. It also has the plush toy aesthetic I like from the Shoemon line.

On the hero side of New Century we have Shagaramon and Nezhamon Crimson Mode. Both are As and both are notable to me for their own reasons. Nezhamon Crimson Mode is the first New Century mode change I actually like. Compared to Erlangmon and Takutomon's mode changes, Crimson Mode looks good. It should have a motorcycle battle with Beelzemon. As a side note, I don't get why the New Century art doesn't include the motorcycle when that's the coolest part of the Digimon. Honestly, the motorcycle is what makes it for me. If Crimson Mode didn't have that, it would probably be a B. Shagaramon is the other Digimon that works as a Mermaimon evolution or Ranamon/Calmaramon evolution. It also almost made the S for me. Like it took me a while to decide if i liked it or Lamiamon more. Even now, I could be convinced to change my mind.

Time for Time Stranger debuts and to start, I'll say that both the new fusions are getting Bs. They're cool ideas, but ultimately, both Craniummon + Enbarrmon and Titamon + SkullBaluchimon are just two Digimon stacked on top of each other. Enbarrmon also gets a B. I like the metal skeleton horse thing, but I think I honestly would have preferred it to be either a skeleton or metal. The mythological reference is cool though.

MasterBlimpmon and GreatGryzmon are both evolutions for Digimon that really needed them. Of the two, I like GreatGryzmon a lot better. It's a pro wrestler bear with fire powers, how can you not love that? The only downside to GreatGryzmon is it makes me sad we don't have a great evolution for it. Callismon is supposed to be a corrupted Gryzmon, so a good Bearmon final form would be amazing to have. A-tier. MasterBlimpmon is a mixed bag for me. On one hand, this is exactly what I'd expect from a Blimpmon evolution. On the other hand, I just prefer the kind of grungy kind of steampunky design of Blimpmon more than the shiny and chrome Masterblimpmon. It's a B and honestly, the main thing keeping it out of C is it having two pairs of eyes. I just think that's neat.

New aquatic Digimon are always appreciated, so how do Sharkmon and SkullSeadramon shake up? Sharkmon is amazing. It has a design that's over the top but not too extreme, which is very Digimon of it. The cables are a cool touch, I like the torpedoes being their own Digimon, and the armor reminds me of a placoderm. This kind of feels like a Digimon we should have gotten 20 years ago. Like what do you mean it took almost 30 years for us to get a Sharkmon? Easy A. Now, I should absolutely love SkullSeadramon. I love sea serpents and I love skeletons, so this should be an A verging on S for me. However, somehow this just does nothing for me. It's like two great tastes that just cancel each other out and leave you with nothing. I think this is a case of me thinking about what could be versus what we got. There are so many cool things you could do with an undead sea serpent and somehow they kind of just went with the most bland option. I'm not happy about it, but I think I have to give this a C. Also that one boss fight was bullshit, so maybe that's coloring my opinion as well.

Also, an honorable mention B-tier for Parallelmon. It's not really a new Digimon since it was created for V-Tamer 01, but it only just got a reference book entry this year. Bandai does not like the V-Tamer Digimon for some reason.

Moving onto the new v-pet Digimon for Shambala. We only got the reference book entries for the baby and Child/Rookie forms this year, so a full ranking of the higher levels will have to wait until next year. Starting off, the babies are all Bs. I have a hard time getting excited about baby Digimon a lot of the time, but these are cute and more creative than the usual bouncing heads.

Kakamon is a B. It's a good design, but it makes me realize how shafted Koemon/Monmon has been. Like of the Digimon World 3 partners, Bearmon has been getting a lot more attention in the past several years and Kotemon gets to be in lots of games and act as the default pre-evo for a lot of knight and samurai Digimon. Meanwhile, Koemon/Monmon has more or less vanished. These new v-oets would have been perfect for giving the og monkey some more attention, but instead they replaced it. None of this is Kakamon's fault, but it does sour my opinion on it.

Takinmon has a lot going for it in my opinion. For one, we've needed another hoofed Child/Rookie for a long time. If you want to make an ungulate evolution line, you're kind of stuck with Bakumon/Tapirmon and Pillomon as your only options and both of those have other gimmicks. Takinmon acts as a great pre-evo for a lot of Digimon that previously didn't have something fitting, like Centarumon, ShimaUnimon, and Bullmon. It's also based on a golden takin, an obsure animal that I really like. And on top of all that it's psychic too? Gotta be an A. Fujamon similarly fills a nich of having another fishy Child/Rookie that can act as a pre-evo for lots of stuff like Coelamon, Tobiumon, even Manbomon. I like Swimmon, but it never struck me as a good partner Digimon because nothing in its design suggests it could travel around with a human on land. Fujamon explicitly can move on land, solving that problem. Another easy A.

I've said before that Digimon has too many canines. The creatives just keep making Garurumon over and over again. I think if you're going to make another dog Digimon, you at least need to make it stand out from the pack. Wankomon delivers in that category. It's cute, it's visually distinct, it has its own ball, it's an A. Gasamon is my favorite Child Rookie of the year. An octopus samurai is an incredible concept that I want to see expanded into a whole line. It's a shame that Gasamon seems to mainly exist as an alternate Child/Rookie for the Sangomon-> Ryugumon line (I guess someone told Digimon creative that corals aren't mollusks) because I want to see a lot more from this little guy. A-tier.

Last but most certainly not least is Digimon Beatbreak. I have high hopes for the evolutions from this series, so let's see how they do. Starting with Gekkomon's line, the babies of Kekomon and Kekkomon are both in C. Like I said above, I'm just not that excited by baby Digimon and the hopping heads design is overdone. Gekkomon itself falls into a B. I really like how silly it is compared to a protagonist whose trying to look serious and I like how it's ugly, but in a fun way. A perfectly serviceable design. Armalizamon is also a B. A worthy addition to the lizamon/rizamon family (Sunarizamon is still my favorite, don't tell the others). Armadillo lizards are cool and I like that we can let the main hero have a pink partner.

Pristimon and Wolvermon both go in A. Pristimon has the plush toy aesthetic I love. It also really gives me the vibes of a really short person will couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag but insists on starting shit with people. Wolvermon has such a classically Digimon design. The giant pants are so goofy and I love them. Wolvermon is my favorite Beatbreak Digimon so far.

I love bats so it's no surprise that I love Chiropmon. A little bat wearing clothes is so adorable. Chiropmon gets an A and I was looking forward to its evolution. When NightChiropmon debuted, I initially really didn't like it. In fact, I was considering making it the D instead of Styracomon. However, thinking about it and watching an analysis video changed my opinion. I think i really had my hopes set on getting a bat or a vampire as the evolution, so ending up with a tokusatsu ninja really caught me by surprise. However, NightChiropmon really does fit it's human partner's technology focus. In the end, Styracomon and NightChiropmon were both Digimon I had initial negative reactions to. However, thinking about NightChiropmon for a while improved my opinion on it while thinking about Styracomon for a while just made me dislike it more. I'm still giving NightChiropmon a C, but it's the best C.

Finally for the hero team we have Cougarmon and Murasamemon. Cougarmon is a B. It's fine, but it is a bit bland for my tastes, but its perfectly serviceable and makes a good pre-evo to Digimon like Mihiramon or even Bastemon. Murasamemon feels like something I should like, but I don't and I honestly can't figure out why. There is nothing wrong with this design and yet for some reason it just doesn't click with me. The only thing I can figure out is that it bears some similarities to Leomon X what with both of them being shirtless humanoid felines with big, round swords. Leomon X is probably my favorite X Antibody counterpart so maybe I feel like Murasamemon is a downgrade. I don't know, but I have to give it a C. Hopefully I'll warm up to Murasamemon in time, because I want to like it.

Finishing off the year, we have Hyemon. I love this scrunkly little thing. It's so delightfully nasty and it clearly knows it. That is the face of somebody who knows they're a little shit and loves every minute of it. Look at it and tell me that isn't the grin of someone who just ate a kitten. We have seen a Hyemon evolve to Fangmon, which is a great choice, but I really hope we see some unique evolutions for Hyemon too. A-tier.

Final tier list

S: Lamiamon

A: Maquinamon, Maneuvermon, Mockingbirdmon, Metatromon, Kokeshimon, Karakurumon, Kaguyamon, Necromon, Dullahamon, Ariemon, Magneticdramon, Yihumon, Taotiemon, Nezhamon Crimson Mode, Shagaramon, GreatGryzmon, Sharkmon, Takinmon, Fujamon, Wankomon, Gasamon, Chiropmon, Hyemon

B: Turbomon, Mulemon, Hanimon, Medusamon, Nyabootmon, Craniummon + Enbarrmon, Titamon + SkullBaluchimon, Enbarrmon, MasterBlimpmon, Fukamon, Mococomon, Tomorimon, Onibimon, Kakamon, Gekkomon, Armalizamon, Cougarmon

C: SkullSeadramon, Kekomon, Kekkomon, NightChiropmon, Murasamemon

D: Styracomon

For the honorable mentions who were revealed this year, my favorites are the Gemmon line, ZombiePlutomon, and SeitenGokuwumon while I'm not too fond of Manekimon, BerserkTitamon, and the new Renamon evolutions (with the exception of Sekkamon). The rest fall in the middle. My opinions are very much subject to change as we see the reference book entries and what roles they'll have in future media, which I'm excited for.