Digimon Beatbreak

I’ll preface this by saying I’ve been a digimon fan for over 20 years, ever since I was a little kid watching it on Jetix, Fox Kids, etc. This series is very near and dear to my heart. While I haven’t seen EVERYTHING post Tamers/Frontier, I’m still confident in saying Digimon Beatbreak is the best digimon series I’ve ever seen. Yes, over Adventure and 02. There’s just been nothing that’s had this level of maturity in writing and character development in this franchise imo. I know handling darker subject matter doesn’t inherently make something better, but when you handle dark subject matter well and it’s actually relevant to the story and characters.. it does allow you to take a story more seriously and become more invested in it. I absolutely loved how this series dealt with some sensitive topics, not just for the sake of edge, but to actually expand on the world and characters was really impressive. Like yes, show me people using digimon to commit crimes, that’s a very realistic thing that would occur if you gave people digimon! It to mention the family dynamic, twists, animation and overall emotional connection we developed to this cast. 49 episodes went by in the blink of an eye and it felt like we grew up alongside this group. I am going to miss them so much. The family aspect of Beatbreak is easily the best part. The glowing dawn have their fights and growing pains, but at the end of the day, they come back together and grow stronger from their arguments. It just felt like a real world family where you have days where you can’t stand each other, but you’ll never let anyone take advantage of your family. You can trash talk them, others can’t. Their strong relationship is the backbone for everything in this story, it is what helps them overcome every obstacle and I know a lot of people are tired of the power of friendship stuff, but look man, when it’s done right it’s actually really heartwarming and Beatbreak is it done right. They don’t just all come together and it’s lovey dovey, no, you actually see them grow, you see them lash out and have temper tantrums and that makes their bond stronger. It’s just like friends and family in real life. By the end of the series, it was so strong that I was bawling my eyes out after some big set pieces. That bond also rubs off on other characters throughout the series who of course are able to be redeemed and have their lives changed by the Glowing Dawn. I like my characters flawed and I want teenagers to act like teenagers. Although he definitely pissed me off a LOT at the start, I could not be prouder of how Tomoro developed as a protagonist as this show went on. Just like people irl, he takes steps forward and steps back a lot, but around the halfway mark, he really starts to get it together and seeing the way he ended the series vs where he started just makes me feel like the proudest big brother in the world. In fact, he was able to save other people who were going through similar situations as him by using the same sort of motivational speeches and it just felt like a cool full circle moment. Again, you definitely need to be patient with Tomoro because he does a lot of stupid rash stuff, but don’t all kids? They have mood swings, temper tantrums, don’t understand the consequences of their actions etc., but what matters is that they learn and grow from their situation and he definitely did. He’s not the only one, though. Reina, Makoto, the tactics members.. every single character in this story is so well developed, they feel like kids who have grown up right before our eyes which makes the final climax so much more satisfying because you know what they’ve been through! Well done, Toei. Now for the story, I pretty much loved every single arc here, some better than others, but for a 49 episode show, pretty much every episode was must watch television, even the filler episodes. The only arc I was disappointed on was the GIFT arc because I felt the ending was kind of disappointing for all the set up, but it did end up being critical to the final arc, so all good. I also would’ve liked to have seen more explicit romantic development between a few characters in the series.. but I guess that’s one of the downside of only having 49 episodes. The bond between the cleaners and their digimon made up for it, though. They’re all basically married anyway lol. For a long running show, the show looks great for most of the run. There’s definitely some episodes that have better sakuga than others, but they’re all really decent. Toei knew when to turn up the heat and I appreciate that. The soundtrack and voice acting are also top notch. As a huge Kissy, I was so happy to hear kiss of life on the last ED, but I kind of wish we’d have gotten another OP? Feels a bit wasteful to only use 1 the whole time, but it is what it is. For me, Beatbreak is easily the best digimon media I’ve seen and the fact we got this and Time Stranger around the same time just made it an insane year for digimon fans. I’m forever going to be grateful for this last year and I cannot wait to see what Toei do next with the IP. Beatbreak gets 10 Sapotamas out of 10

I'll start with a disclaimer: I've always been a Digimon fan, ever since the first Digimon Adventure, but I haven't followed the animated series beyond the classic Adventure 1 and 2, so my impressions of this series may be influenced by the fact that I'm not completely familiar with the franchise. Moreover, since those are my only point of reference with the Digimon media franchise, that's what I will compare this series with. Let's get started. Digimon Beatbreak was a disappointment.When it was announced, I was really looking forward to it. I liked the art style, and finally I could properly follow a Digimon series from the beginning. Now, one year after the first episode, I can say that it was a tiring experience, and all the hype I had at the beginning died within the very first few episodes. But let's go in order. **Characters:** the characters are pretty forgettable, to the point that after 50 episodes I don't think I could remember the protagonists' names. It's hard to get attached to them, since they don't really develop as characters, except during the first few story arcs, after which they remain more or less the same. It's difficult to relate to their problems because the story itself seems to forget to give them much weight. Nothing to be done: I never felt like I was part of the family. The supporting characters are also pretty forgettable. **Digimon:** the Digimon are the most disappointing part. I'm not going to say that "the old designs were better," because some really interesting new monsters have been introduced in recent Digimon games. But the protagonist Digimon have some truly terrible designs, not to mention their evolved forms, which are one worse than the other. Gekkomon is quite cool: its evolutions are the worst. At least they're enjoyable as characters, but aesthetically, they're really ugly. **Antagonists:** one more forgettable than the next. Even after twenty years, I still have the indelible memory of the Digimon Emperor, or Devimon. Enemies you could feel in every episode, who created consequences that affected the entire world and represented the main driving force of the plot. Here, the enemies in each story arc have been pretty pointless, with the exception of the very last enemy, who unfortunately only appeared as part of the twist in the final two episodes, rather than being an actual enemy to confront throughout the series. **Setting:** this is perhaps what I struggled with the most. Digimon has been many things, but one of the aspects I've always felt most attached to is the fact that there is usually the real world, the one we all know, and the DigiWorld, and the two often come into contact with each other, opening up so many possibilities. Here, none of that exists. We're in a futuristic world that we never really get to experience, and the DigiWorld is replaced by a truly sad and characterless mirror dimension. **Plot:** practically nonexistent for 90% of the series. Nothing really interesting ever happens, except in the penultimate episode, when I thought, "If they had done something like this halfway through the series, it would have been so much better." Overall, the main problem I felt is that this series could have worked much better if it hadn't been branded as "Digimon." If it had simply been a story about little monsters created by an AI bug, I could have gotten on board with it. But because it's obviously part of the Digimon franchise, I'm naturally going to compare it to the things I've enjoyed about this franchise. And I'm not saying this because I see Digimon Adventure through the lens of childhood nostalgia. I've rewatched both series as an adult and, despite their many problems, they were still entertaining. Digimon Beatbreak is the only series in my life that I had to watch at 1.25x speed. And that honestly makes me sad, because in recent years Digimon has been creating some genuinely great stories for its video games, while it seems to be putting 1% of its creativity into the anime. Games like Digimon Survive and Digimon Time Stranger are absolute gold from a storytelling perspective. So why does it work in a game, but not in what should be the franchise's main medium for storytelling—the anime?

Digimon Beatbreak is the newest addition to the Digimon anime franchise, and after Ghost Game being rather disappointing, this was a very nice surprise for a long-time Digimon fan like myself. Digimon Adventure was the first anime I remember watching when I was 5-6 years old, and my love for Digimon as a whole has followed me throughout my life ever since. First of all, the setting and worldbuilding of Beatbreak are superb. It has never been better in a Digimon season. We've got the Cleaner system, cyberpunk vibes, the World Union and a deeply compelling Digimon lore, which meshed together becomes an incredible stage for the plot to take place in. It is dystopian, futuristic (taking place in 2050), and subplot undertones of how problematic AI can be are present in the story as well. My catnip is when a Digimon season dares to 'go there.' As in being dark, especially making a lot of sense in Beatbreak, because of the setting and since one of the creators said it is aimed more at adults, which certainly can be felt. Human trafficking, refugees living in an active war-zone, suicide, 'terrorism', unsettling murders and violence. This is the season where the largest amount of named and unnamed characters died, which speaks for itself, but all the deaths had a purpose. Beatbreak takes place in a brutal world. No digivices are around this time. Smartphone eggs known as 'sapotamas' take their place, and I adore when Digimon dares to do something new, since historically that has not always been well received by fans. The evolution sequences look great, and there's incredible Digimon designs this season. Pristimon's and Chiropmon's lines in general, Atratusmon, Albatusmon and Volvemon are definitely top-tier designs. In Beatbreak, emphasis is placed upon the fact that without immensely strong e-pulse (what powers up the Digimon through the sapotamas), the characters can't evolve their Digimon past Adult (Champion), and they can only get to the highest stage if they push themselves past what is supposed to be possible. It makes for great power-scaling, and it therefore makes sense that not just anyone can have a powerful Digimon partner. Mad Pulse is a great opening. The endings and the evolution theme as well. Really gets your blood pumping. The original soundtracks are well-produced and mirrors the scenes perfectly. The action scenes of a Digimon season has NEVER looked this freaking good. I was on the edge of my seat during most of the fights, which says a lot. Battle choreography was top notch, animation and art too. Tomoro is the greatest and most fleshed out protagonist the franchise has ever had and I stand by this statement. He has a clear-cut goal from the beginning; to save his brother from being cold-hearted (a chilling concept, and one I enjoyed a lot). He's not annoying or stupid, but introspective and is more of a lone wolf than a classic goggle boy, which was a nice change. I was moved by his story several times. No notes there. Gekkomon is a chaotic little gremlin, and their partnership was cute. Though, the best character is Kyo. His story is so tragic. He lost so much, both in his past, but also towards the end of the season. He wanted to be better, but his circumstances before forming Glowing Dawn didn't allow him to be. The care put into writing this character might be the best out of any season. His partnership with Murasamemon made my heart ache - the trust between them was profoundly touching. I will never forget this partnership or their outstanding character development. Reina was great too. She's confident and sometimes sassy, and her Digimon partner Pristimon is ADORABLE. Love that little red panda. Their action scenes were often well-made. One of the most iconic moments of the season was when Reina herself went into battle against a Digimon to protect Granit - badass as hell. Out of the main four, Makoto is the weakest writing and development-wise, but I warmed up to him along the way. He wasn't a bad character, he just paled compared to the others. Chiropmon is a cutiepie though, he's the baby of the Digimon partners. If I have to give a bit criticism, I wish we saw Artiomon and Nosferamon some more, and that the season was longer, since I wanted as much time as possible with this amazing cast. There was a large cast this season and in general all of them served a purpose. I greatly enjoyed Tactics Team 7 from start to finish, in particular Granit. Miharu was another character I really felt for, especially because of what led her to go down the path that she did. Rose was rather cool too. Towards the end, there's some thrilling plot twists. I must say, even as a diehard Adventure continuity fan, this was the best season in Digimon history. It took all the great things from previous seasons and enhanced them. Only Adventure, Tamers and Savers comes close. Mad respect to the writers.

This show? Heh. Let's just say it was peak. But more seriously, I genuinely think this show is amazing and well worth a watch. It was the first Digimon show I got to watch while it was actively airing, and I thoroughly enjoyed coming back to it every week to see what was coming next. It's serious, sometimes very stressful, but also just perfect in the way that it shows how important it is to not only trust others, but yourself. It's genuinely amazing at it's character growth, I genuinely think back to how Tomoro was at the start of the story in comparison to how he ended and find it to be such a shocking difference. But the thing about that is the fact that the progress was slow and well thought out to see that change, that you don't really register it until you look back at the past version of himself and get hit with it like a truck. Not to mention the fact that visually? This show was so gorgeous and stunning. The style is amazing, the animation is amazing. I just loved every single frame it was so good. Please, watch Beatbreak. It's beautiful

A pretty solid Digimon story. I'm too old to remember how good the Saturday episodes used to be back in 2000s but I was able to stick with this one. I really only have one complaint. "Ya know" I dreaded hearing that every episode. Literally the last words (second to last) said mind you. Everything else about the show is decent. I can't help but want more depth from them though. Felt a bit basic to me. It's your usual run of the mill power of friendship show. Not saying those types of shows can't be good but this one leaves you socks on if you know what I mean.