Digimon

[Ryo-Okay]

We are a week away from Digimon Con, so I guess I'll post some predictions. I still don't have high expectations, so these predictions are a best-case scenario where Bamco learned from last year's mess of a show.

Anime wise I don't think we'll get much. I don't think Ghost Game will be wrapping up anytime soon. Personally, I think it will hit 100 episodes at least. If it ends this year I think it won't be until September, in which case a new anime wouldn't be announced until Digifes. Just because the end of the show has been written doesn't mean they will be getting there anytime soon, it just means they have an end goal that they can build too through all the one-off episodes. I haven't been keeping up with the new 02 movie, so maybe they will show a trailer or give a release date. There will probably be some news about the Adventure: dub, possibly a release date.

For games I'm having a hard time believing anything new will get properly announced since new Digimon games are usually announced through V-Jump. Maybe Bamco wants to use this as their own kind of Nintendo Direct and give us some game reveals though. If any new games get announced then it will obviously be the next Story game. If it is releasing this year then I would expect them to show a significant trailer, if it isn't coming out until next year then I don't expect any kind of trailer to be shown and instead, we will just be shown a few screenshots of the game, and get the designs of the main characters revealed and maybe the starters. For mobile games I think we might get an announcement that the Chinese mobile game is getting a global release. I've also seen people talking about and sharing quotes from Habu about some Digimon otome game, so if that is real then maybe that could be teased. Now for a really out-there prediction that I don't think would actually happen, but they could do a port of the PSP Adventure game and release it globally. The Adventure: dub is in the works, and Adventure nostalgia is still there, so putting the Adventure game on Switch could appeal to old fans and could be treated as a tie-in to the reboot, despite obviously having a different story than the reboot based on the original anime.

I don't think many toys or any v-pets will get announced. The BE just came out and the Ver. Color hasn't been released yet, so I doubt they would announce any new v-pets. Maybe announce some new Dim cards, or since I've heard the new BE mobile app sucks they could announce ways they are going to fix it. If the Adventure: dub has a presence at Digimon Con then I could see them maybe announcing some western toys that will be released alongside the dub. Maybe some new Japanese figures and toys too, but I don't keep up on toys much so I don't know what they would announce.

As for some miscellaneous stuff, they need to announce the 25th-anniversary digimon. If it doesn't get announced here then I can only assume they are dropping the idea of anniversary digimon altogether, which would be unfortunate.

[WarOmnimon]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwlntPwFYaA

A reminder that Digimon Con 2023 begins in about an hour and a half (8:00PM Eastern US time, 5:00PM Pacific US time). Meanwhile, a merchandise leak related to a new anime titled Digimon Seekers and a BE Memory Card for Loogamon (Supposedly the main Digimon for Seekers) has popped up. (I'll post an image if anyone wants to see it.) Perhaps that's the big 25th anniversary announcement on the schedule? Digimon Ghost Game was recently confirmed to be ending at the end of March unless it changes timeslots (Another anime is replacing it at the beginning of April), so this actually seems feasible.

I would have to guess that if this Seekers leak is true, they'll consider Loogamon to be the 25th anniversary Digimon due to the fact that Seekers would be considered an anniversary season in that case (The announcement that could be Seekers is specifically touted as being a new project for the anniversary on the schedule as I noted above).

Anyway, my responses to Ryo-Okay's predictions (Which are solid, just gave him a +1).

•Anime, Digimon 25th anniversary posterboy: See my comments above in relates to the Digimon Seekers leak. Unless Ghost Game is switching time slots, it's wrapping up in March. And if that's the case, the big announcement will probably be Seekers and they'll probably consider Loogamon to be the anniversary's posterboy because the big announcement is explicitly stated to be for the anniversary.
•Video games: Probably nothing new. There is a segment for the Switch / PC version of Digimon World Next Order on the schedule, but if the new project announcement ends up being Digimon Seekers, we won't be getting a reveal for the next Digimon Story just yet. If the announcement doesn't end up being Seekers, chances are that it will be the new Digimon Story.
•Toys & v-pets: Again, it goes back to the Seekers leak. If real, Loogamon is confirmed to be getting a BE Memory Card, so they are continuing to roll with the Vital Bracelet BE and BE Memory Card releases. There is a segment specifically for toys and so forth, and they've already confirmed that they will be revealing the results for the fan poll to determine the Adventure Mission Unlocks on the Agumon / Dracomon / Hackmon and Gaomon / Coronamon / Lunamon BE Memory Cards, so those will be announced as well as further details on those (Release dates and the mystery Megas; my guess is either ShineGreymon and MirageGaogamon's Burst Modes or Omegamon Zwart D to tie into Next Order given that he's usually a ShineGreymon + MirageGaogamon DNA Digivolution in the games). I'm expecting BE Memory Card announcements at absolute minimum. Possibly something related to the Digimon Pendulum X 20th anniversary if we're lucky, a Version 20th of those would be neato.

[Ryo-Okay]

The Digimon Seekers leak is certainly real because, let's be honest, nobody cares enough to make Digimon fake leaks. It is most likely an anime, but I guess we don't know for certain. Loogamon is interesting because his name is close to the Appmon Logamon, and on the leaked image there is a character that is hard to make out but it looks kind of like Offmon. We might have a Huckmon-Hackmon situation where we are getting a Digimon that is clearly inspired by an Appmon, and Offmon is popular so he would be the one to copy.  Also if Loogamon ends up being the MC mon then it will be only the second time I believe that the MC mon isn't a dino or dragon. A change that I am pretty happy with.

It's a shame that Ghost Game is most likely ending. I'm way behind, only on episode 30, but it felt like it had more it could do. They are only just now getting their megas, so I expected at least another 15-20 episodes.

I know in the schedule under "25th Anniversary Project" it says "New Project Announcement" but that doesn't necessarily mean Seekers will be the only thing announced. "New Project Announcement" could simply be referring to the 25th Anniversary Project as the singular project despite them often having many new games/anime/etc that are considered a part of them. Like the 15th Anniversary Project is considered one project, but both Digimon Adventure PSP and Digimon World Re:Digitize are considered a part of it. So we could get something else besides Seekers because it seems strange to me to spend 20 minutes on just an anime that won't be starting until July at the earliest. Assuming it won't be moved to a different timeslot and will follow up the Run For Money anime that's replacing Ghost Game.

[WarOmnimon]

The Digimon Seekers leak is certainly real because, let's be honest, nobody cares enough to make Digimon fake leaks. It is most likely an anime, but I guess we don't know for certain. Loogamon is interesting because his name is close to the Appmon Logamon, and on the leaked image there is a character that is hard to make out but it looks kind of like Offmon. We might have a Huckmon-Hackmon situation where we are getting a Digimon that is clearly inspired by an Appmon, and Offmon is popular so he would be the one to copy.  Also if Loogamon ends up being the MC mon then it will be only the second time I believe that the MC mon isn't a dino or dragon. A change that I am pretty happy with.

It's a shame that Ghost Game is most likely ending. I'm way behind, only on episode 30, but it felt like it had more it could do. They are only just now getting their megas, so I expected at least another 15-20 episodes.

I know in the schedule under "25th Anniversary Project" it says "New Project Announcement" but that doesn't necessarily mean Seekers will be the only thing announced. "New Project Announcement" could simply be referring to the 25th Anniversary Project as the singular project despite them often having many new games/anime/etc that are considered a part of them. Like the 15th Anniversary Project is considered one project, but both Digimon Adventure PSP and Digimon World Re:Digitize are considered a part of it. So we could get something else besides Seekers because it seems strange to me to spend 20 minutes on just an anime that won't be starting until July at the earliest. Assuming it won't be moved to a different timeslot and will follow up the Run For Money anime that's replacing Ghost Game.

That last point is certainly true! I was thinking a bit ahead there, LOL. You already mentioned the 15th anniversary's multiple aspects. There's also the fact that the Digimon 20th anniversary project had multiple aspects (Digimon Ver.20th, Digimon Pendulum Ver.20th, a tie-in with the Appmon arcade game, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory, etc.).

It is also worth noting that Seekers will be the first time that an anime of any form is explicitly part of Digimon's own anniversary rather than Digimon Adventure's anniversary (Like tri. and Last Evolution Kizuna were for Adventure's 15th and 20th). Based on the release date for Loogamon's BE Memory Card (It's listed for Q3 2023 in the leaked image), it will also be the first anime to start in a year ending in 3 or 8! Previously, the only anniversaries Bandai could really nod on those years are the Digimon Pendulum, Digimon Pendulum X, and V-Tamer, though we don't usually get stuff for the latter... speaking of which, I would love to see something for V-Tamer's 25th this year though, perhaps a Digivice 01 cover for the Vital Bracelet BE (Similar to the v-pet covers included with the 25th anniversary edition BE) and a V-Tamer BE Memory Card could happen?

^ The leaked image that me and Ryo-Okay are discussing for those who haven't seen it. (Ryo-Okay also has a point with the leaks always being real, because Digimon Ghost Game got leaked the day before it was announced. The same thing seems to be happening here, albeit on a smaller scale this time.)

[Ryo-Okay]

So, Digimon Seekers isn't an anime, but a web novel and a new series of live-action shorts. Going back to having no Digimon anime for the foreseeable future is disappointing, but I'll give Seekers a chance. Loogamon doesn't really do it for me though.

Overall this Digimon Con was just as much of a nothing burger as last year. Seekers is the only real announcement we got, no new games or anime. We got a few new Digimon; Loogamon, the two new angel Digimon, plus a few new ones in the promo art for Seekers. At least it was only 4 hours this year instead of 6, and none of the segments were as bad as last years. The music segments were good, and the anime interview at the start was pleasant. I really wish Bandai would open up the shop on Partners globally though.

If Bandai wants to keep doing these then they need to either have some actual announcements or think up some better segments.

[WarOmnimon]

Overall this Digimon Con was just as much of a nothing burger as last year.

Last year's Digimon Con, I'll give you. That was a nothing burger, because the only announcement we got was a teaser for the Digimon Frontier Dims. (And then the Pokemon Presents the next day one-upped them.) This year's wasn't a nothing burger because we got actual announcements this time. (Not to mention that they didn't put it before Pokemon Day this time, avoiding that potential problem from happening again.)

Frustrating that Digimon Seekers isn't an anime, I'll agree with you on that too. I still think this was a better attempt than last year's Digimon Con by a mile or two. Not by a country mile, but like I said, a mile or two. We actually did get some actual announcements this year, 3 new Digimon as you just said (Loogamon doesn't look like much now but his Digivolved forms will probably be cool, Luxmon is just adorable, and ArkhaiAngemon finally completes the Digimon angelic choir)... well, technically 5 new Digimon because we also got Loogamon's Fresh and In-Training forms, some additional Vital Bracelet BE announcements. And hey, we're getting some improvements to the Vital Bracelet Arena app, such as actual single player content. I think that's pretty significant IMO.

In terms of me and Ryo-Okay's hopes going in, we can actually say we got two of them. Loogamon is our 25th anniversary Digimon (Already preordered his BE Memory Card on which note; love that Herissmon and Bemmon's lines are also on it), and we're getting Vital Bracelet Arena app improvements. 2 out of what we hoped for ain't bad.

If Bandai wants to keep doing these then they need to either have some actual announcements or think up some better segments.

Same here, except that'd probably ruin their strategy... if they did that, they'd have to undermine DigiFes which usually hosts the really big announcements. So I don't expect it to happen. The idea they are probably going with is Digimon Con for not so big info drops, and then DigiFes for the really big ones.

Possible hot take: IMO, DigiFes should be held closer to June 26, the actual anniversary of Digimon, rather than closer to August 1 which is an important date in one anime continuity but not the others... either that or do a stream closer to the anniversary like they did in 2021 (Which is when we found out about Gaiomon Fierce Blade Mode) but didn't last year for whatever reason.

All eyes are now on April 3... I have a gut feeling that the beginning of Digimon Seekers might include more BE Memory Card info drops. If so, Dorumon and Ryudamon at minimum given that they're next to Loogamon in the key visual and the Digimon Pendulum X anniversary is in, well... April.

Side note: That upcoming Bird/Angel BE Memory Card's lineup even before the fan voted Adventure Mission unlocks come into play looks SNK boss tier good. My jaw actually hit the floor when I saw Dominimon, because that means the other V-Tamer Digimon are officially on the table to be considered for later BE Memory Cards and / or possibly even the new Digimon Story. Yes please.

[Ryo-Okay]

Same here, except that'd probably ruin their strategy... if they did that, they'd have to undermine DigiFes which usually hosts the really big announcements. So I don't expect it to happen. The idea they are probably going with is Digimon Con for not so big info drops, and then DigiFes for the really big ones.

The big problem I guess is Digimon Con hasn't really justified the length of the event with the content it has. I think they either need to do a better job of getting worthwhile announcements, or they should focus more the celebrating the franchise parts. The interview with Hiro and Takuya's seiyuu was enjoyable, AiM's concerts were great. They should focus on making Digimon Con more like a digital DigiFes where people around the world can see performances like DigiFes has without going to Japan. Downplay the announcements more so people don't build the event up to be something it isn't and instead hype up Aim's concerts and more interviews with seiyuu would be good. Does anybody care about the card game segments that take up almost an hour of the event? Cut those and just have a 20 minute segment showing off new cards.

Digimon Con has less news than a Nintendo Direct but is 8 times longer.

Possible hot take: IMO, DigiFes should be held closer to June 26, the actual anniversary of Digimon, rather than closer to August 1 which is an important date in one anime continuity but not the others... either that or do a stream closer to the anniversary like they did in 2021 (Which is when we found out about Gaiomon Fierce Blade Mode) but didn't last year for whatever reason.

I think you just get too hung up on anniversary stuff sometimes and want everything to revolve around it. DigiFes started as a celebration of Adventure, Odaiba Day was already a big day for the community by that point, and Bandai dubbed August 1st Digimon day. Nothing wrong with letting that continue to be a big day for the franchise instead of trying to change it almost a decade into the event.

[Ryo-Okay]

Interestingly it seems that a Ghost Game dub is in the early stages, but the Adventure: dub hasn't aired yet. I don't watch dubbed anime myself, so this news on it's own doesn't mean much to me. It does show that Toei and Bandai are seriously committed to the western market though. 10 years ago we weren't even getting games in English, now we have two anime dubs in the works, games are getting global releases, and Bamco just had the Digimon event in California. Despite some problems I have here and there the series really is in a good spot, especially for western fans.

[WarOmnimon]

Digimon Con has less news than a Nintendo Direct but is 8 times longer.

Except that in this case the Nintendo Direct that happened days before Digimon Con was pretty much "Nintendo Direct: Ports, Remasters, & DLC Edition". They didn't announce any major new games that we didn't know about before aside from, well, ports and remasters. (Pikmin 4 doesn't count because it had already been announced prior, and yes, I consider the Game Boy and Game Boy Advance apps to be in the same category as ports.) Digimon Con actually gave us legitimate new stuff. In this specific case, I don't think that's a fair comparison. If it were pretty much any other Nintendo Direct, though? Yes.

I think you just get too hung up on anniversary stuff sometimes and want everything to revolve around it. DigiFes started as a celebration of Adventure, Odaiba Day was already a big day for the community by that point, and Bandai dubbed August 1st Digimon day. Nothing wrong with letting that continue to be a big day for the franchise instead of trying to change it almost a decade into the event.

Not disagreeing with you there, LOL. My primary point with that comment is that it's super inconsistent that there was a stream near the date of the Digimon 24th anniversary in 2021 whereas there wasn't a stream near the date of the 25th anniversary last year, particularly because 24th isn't a milestone anniversary number like 25th is... and yet, THE iDOLM@STER Million Live! 10th anniversary got a stream with notable announcements and updates last week, and on its exact date noless. Had to bring it up because Digimon and iM@S are both Bandai Namco franchises... which makes the whole thing look even more inconsistent.

Off topic: If you want to talk about me getting hung up about anniversaries, the ToHeart 25th anniversary last year passing without even getting a passing mention from Aquaplus? Despite the fact that it was one of the more influential franchises on Japanese media at the time and its influence is still felt today? I get it, they were busy with the Utawarerumono 20th anniversary... but then they also bothered to give the White Album 2 Closing Chapter 10th anniversary a passing mention while still completely ignoring the ToHeart 25th? That, I'm actually hung up about.

Interestingly it seems that a Ghost Game dub is in the early stages, but the Adventure: dub hasn't aired yet. I don't watch dubbed anime myself, so this news on it's own doesn't mean much to me. It does show that Toei and Bandai are seriously committed to the western market though. 10 years ago we weren't even getting games in English, now we have two anime dubs in the works, games are getting global releases, and Bamco just had the Digimon event in California. Despite some problems I have here and there the series really is in a good spot, especially for western fans.

^ All of this. Sending you a +1.

[Ryo-Okay]

Ghost Game ends tomorrow. Seekers starts in just over a week. Adventure 02 The Beginning finally has a release date, it's October 27th. And this year's DigiFes is announced to be happening on July 30th. Lots of things going on right now.

[WarOmnimon]

The Digimon Color V3, V4, and V5 were announced at the beginning of the week and went up for preorder. Unlike the Digimon Color V1 and V2 which simply copied the Ver.20th lineups and added one new Mega apiece, they actually changed most of the Megas for the V3 to V5 with only HiAndromon and Machinedramon being retained on the V3 and V5 respectively. As for changes, V3 got BanchoLeomon and Reapermon (KingEtemon is gone), V4 got Darkdramon, Bloomlordmon, and Gankoomon (Everyone was changed; both Aegisdramon and Titamon are gone), and V5 got Gaiomon and Raidenmon (Puppetmon is gone). They also added Kimeramon as an extra Ultimate to the V3, and it appears that Chaosmon, Millenniumon, and Gaiomon Itto Mode are available as DNA Digivolutions if you have two (Chaosmon for V3 + V4, Millenniumon for V3 + V5, Gaiomon Fierce Blade Mode for V4 + V5). On which note, the removal of Aegisdramon means that RustTyranomon is gone as a DNA Digivolution (He was Aegisdramon + Machinedramon on the Ver.20th).

Statistically and including the Vital Bracelet, this marks the first v-pet appearances for Reapermon, Gankoomon (Specifically his base form; Gankoomon X was raisable on the Digital Monster X3, but we haven't been able to raise his base form on a v-pet until now), Raidenmon, Millenniumon, and Gaiomon Fierce Blade Mode. If you don't count the Vital Bracelet as a v-pet (I do), it's also the first v-pet appearance for Bloomlordmon.

I've already preordered my V5, that one having both Gaiomon and Raidenmon (Not to mention the shell color matching Raidenmon; this wasn't intentional obviously because the original V5 came out before he was a thing, it's merely an awesome coincidence) sold me on it. I'll be preordering a V4 as well once there's more money in my PayPal (Should be soon), curious to see which out of Gankoomon and Bloomlordmon is going to be Gaiomon's DNA Digivolution partner for Fierce Blade Mode. Either or could work, honestly.

EDIT Got my V4 preordered, too. Gaiomon Fierce Blade Mode is my goal on the Digimon Colors once they get here in September. For now, still working on Vital Bracelet BE related stuff. Draconic Blaze and Rampage of the Beast come out next Saturday, and I'll be going for GraceNovamon once those get here.

[Ryo-Okay]

Digimon Dreamers is moving from the magazine it's been published it to the official Digimon website. It's going to get official English and Chinese translations too. I'm expecting it to be a poor machine translation like Seekers is, but it is still an interesting move. Maybe someday Bandai can partner up with an actual manga/novel translation company so we can get some proper translations and a physical release.

Aside from that though not much interesting is going on with Digimon right now. I can only hope that an official announcement of the next Story game isn't too far away. I don't even need a big reveal trailer. Just share some details, the title, and the main character's design in V-Jump like they did when Cyber Sleuth was revelaed.

[WarOmnimon]

Digimon Dreamers is moving from the magazine it's been published it to the official Digimon website. It's going to get official English and Chinese translations too. I'm expecting it to be a poor machine translation like Seekers is, but it is still an interesting move. Maybe someday Bandai can partner up with an actual manga/novel translation company so we can get some proper translations and a physical release.

Aside from that though not much interesting is going on with Digimon right now. I can only hope that an official announcement of the next Story game isn't too far away. I don't even need a big reveal trailer. Just share some details, the title, and the main character's design in V-Jump like they did when Cyber Sleuth was revelaed.

Quoted for truth. All of this, 100%.

Some smaller things have been happening in the meantime. We have Loogamon's entire line courtesy of his BE Memory Card now. As I predicted, his Mega form is based on Fenrir (And is even named Fenriloogamon). Datamines also confirm that he's getting a DNA Digivolution with Kazuchimon known as Fenriloogamon Takemikazuchi, but we don't have the Pulsemon BE Memory Card yet so this form isn't raisable right now. It's similar to Alphamon Ouryuken with Kazuchimon becoming a sword, but also different in that Fenriloogamon holds the sword in his mouth (Because he's a wolf)... and it can transform into nunchuck swords. I also believe this is the first established main DNA Digivolution between a regular Digimon (Kazuchimon) and an X-Antibody Digimon (Fenriloogamon), which is something they've never really done before.

Toy listings also confirm that we're getting Digimon Adventure 02 BE Memory Cards in October just in time for the new movie (My one hope for those? BlackImperialdramon Fighter Mode please, K THX BAI) and the Digimon X3s are finally coming over to the US soon. As a reminder, if you're going to raise Jesmon GX, you'll need both versions of the X3. Still no release date for Holy Wing and Forest Guardian, but I'm sure we'll get those soon.

[Ryo-Okay]

Yup, I saw all of Loogamon's evos when they leaked. They're cool, but since I'm not actively reading Seekers and I don't have a BE they don't mean much to me right now. I didn't realize that that was the first Jogress between an X-Antibody and a non-X-Antibody until you pointed it out. That feels like a detail that might get highlighted in a Reference Book entry but then be ignored everywhere else.

I hadn't heard that the X3s were coming. With the whole mess that the English X2's release was I ended up not buying one. I should pick one up soon before the X3s come out.

[WarOmnimon]

I hadn't heard that the X3s were coming. With the whole mess that the English X2's release was I ended up not buying one. I should pick one up soon before the X3s come out.

That's because they haven't been officially announced yet, but some toy retailers (I believe the retailer was in Asia just like when the English release for the X1s and X2s got leaked before the official announcement) showed them. I have both Japanese X3s already so I don't need to get them, but the X3 Yellow's US exclusive shell color seems to be referencing Meramon X (Orange with green buttons IIRC) and looks pretty rad.

Speaking of which, I'm only missing the X1 White to have the whole set of 6. I didn't have enough money to get both X1s when they were announced and went with X1 Black because I preferred its roster over X1 White's. Renamon X, Tyranomon X, and Sakuyamon X all being on X1 Black sold me on it... not to mention that the Digimon previously exclusive to X1 White that I wanted ended up on X2s and X3s later anyway (And I got all 4 of those). I did manage to get all 6 Pendulum Zs, though. I really hope those come over eventually because they combine what's so great about both the Digimon X and the original Pendulums and more people should have the opportunity to check them out.