#(Kiyoshiro was also cute)

[izzyizumi]

(Speaking of {Not!}Meiko...)

{from G.G. Ep 59 Preview shots} (re-sized by Me)

So Kiyoshiro is "hitting it off" with this girl (/side supporting-only for now implied chara But---) next ep.

[cochidinh]

The illness hit my brain again and I will ramble about why I like the Ota tribe. Again. Yes. Again.

I mean, look

Soooooooo badass, right?!

The 5 characters in the photo come from Ota City, where polluted by industry, and has become a slum filled with crime. That's why they are Ota Tribe.

When they first appeared in the anime, I didn't even see the art above, what I saw was a group of people wrapped in robes and looking like beggars asking for money. When Haru (one of the main characters) gave them a piece of candy, it was enough to make them happy and I was like "Aww they do look a bit weird but it's cute somehow"

no shit. they fucking blew up the mansion after taking the gold with them. But still...cute? (sorry the mansion owner, you have too many girls with you, I'm jealous). In short, that's enough for me to have a basic opinion about these characters.

They steal, but they are also not picky with what they get. They are chaotic, but they have their own rule.

I look at the cast of characters in the anime and it's funny, not counting the NPCs that look like they're copied and pasted, the main cast is like this

I swear the air and water in Ota are polluted from the dye factory or something that's giving them that edgy emo make-up aesthetic look (Oh don't worry Saigo you look great, and Yukigaya you look adorable)

I looked at this team and the only thing that popped into my head was that they were all picked up from the trash can and taken to a garbage dump (effortlessly) by Sonoda.

Sonoda is the ermmm pretty boy with the mask in the center. Yeah I know he looks normal and you can find a bunch of white-haired anime guys like him or whatever. That's right, why are you wearing a shirt, tie and bow-tie shoes in this city? Are you a lost high school student or are you trying to look more mature with that style? (It's suit you <3) and I still love this photo of you.

Even though he's an asshole, I have to admit that his looks are so deceiving. His eyes are very sad, he drags out the last syllable, he apologizes when people tell him he's not allowed to do that (still does), and he likes to bring food home to share with everyone ( even though it contains explosives). He beats and kills people because he likes it, oh what an atrocity. Best boy ever. We should throw him down the drain.

He already lives in such a stinky place? whoops

Haneda Kiyoshiro. yeah that baby face boy. yeah. He is obsessed with his leader. In a best-worst way that makes you back and forth between "he has a crush on Sonoda" and "He wants to crush Sonoda". It's very complicated but I wrote a fic on ao3 about him so you can check it out-

anw I was a bit surprised because I thought they had dumb luck when it came to making this and that machine but honestly, they're pretty good, aren't they? Especially Haneda's birthday fact, he used paper to write down and analyze Sonoda's behavior. I thought that the Ota tribe was completely illiterate, they couldn't read and never had a book or something ToT (It's all because the battle with Minato was so impressive)

Yukigaya, girl, so cute I want to adopt her. She's always hungry and eats cakes all the time, but she's still 44kg?? girl u okay???

Asahikawa, the joker gremlin. He is. everything. I'm sorry for calling you joker. You are funny, always happy and smiling but your taste in music is...urg...

Saigo. Everyone needs a big man in their team. He looks the most normal but I don't know? He is on good terms with all the members. But is there really a normal person in Ota?

[shunsao]

tribe nine tier list except i only explain the top 3 because it got too long and i love my faves lol

Kiyoshiro Haneda:

Kiyoshiro has stuck to me since the VERY beginning. He has always been one of, if not, my favourite Tribe Nine character of all time. On some of my socials I legit just have his name as a username.

Although his character seems to be revolving around Sonoda most of the time, you can determine most of his personality if you truly look into his character. Kiyoshiro is a very smart and analytic person when he takes his time to do stuff and not just rush to it like he always rushes to kill Sonoda. He is also a generally good person who wants the best for his - i assume - hometown, even if he takes weird or drastic measures to get to that point, since he has to blend in with the rest if he wants to even survive. But even if he's a good guy he doesn't seem the type to be too optimistic about things, he seems more on the pessimistic side of things. Which makes him all the more realistic given the circumstances of his lifestyle. There is absolutely no insight on his backstory, however, so there's not much to talk about here.

But there's also little things I like about his character, too. For example, he is paaaaaaaaaathetic!! I mean, really, but it's cute honestly. For instance, this guy is afraid of snails!! Can you imagine this. Living in a lawless, chaotic, pollution-filled city full of criminals, where you know you could meet your demise at any point in time... and the thing you're afraid of is snails??

Don't even get me started on the way he can't tell jokes. Like at all. On Kai's birthday he told him a bunch of jokes that were so offensive/unfunny Kai had to pause and look at him like 😐 . IT'S SO FUCKING FUNNY?? Like that guy laughs at everything and nothing all at once. How did it come to this... I'm so curious now I really wanna hear those jokes

And don't even get me started on how insane he is about Sonoda. He sees BUTTERFLIES and starts to think about him because of the design on the back of his coat

(did you know that pattern has significance to Sonoda's character?? because of the butterfly effect in the chaos theory?? Okay well now you do. The GAREKI WAR edit also represents him mostly but also Ota tribe in general, obviously it is their theme so).

It's like the Pavlov's dog experiment, the one where they conditioned the dog to salivate at the sound of a bell if that sound was presented at the same time it was given food. Yeah it's like that but with Kiyo and butterflies/Sonoda.

Anyway, another thing I adore about him is his voice, both in the sub and dub. It fits him perfectly and I think Nozuyama and Zach did amazing jobs. I love both of them but his dubbed voice is sassier and funnier to me. Fav line was ''But just look at me now, carting the goods around like his personal errand boy!'', because it is so ironic that he says that as he is literally doing what Sonoda wants, and I'm assuming this and the robbery/bombing at Setagaya wasn't the first time he's been doing it. You really are an errand boy Kiyo. And the tone he said this in was so fucking funny to me

Oh and his design is absolutely great. He is so ugly especially in the anime version. His shit is so fucked up too. I love him to death he's so cute I wanna squish his cheeks.

Last but not least, his name, Kiyoshiro is also very intriguing to me, because if you look at it's etymology, you'll find that his name quite literally means "Pure Death", which could mean a lot of things. The way I see it, it could be a reference to how he lives his life in Ota as an assassin (Death), but has (Pure) intentions. Maybe I'm looking too much into it but if not then hey that's an awesome detail

Taiga:

On God this guy is the most mentally mistreated character in all of Tribe Nine history. And what I mean by that is how the Minato tribe treats him like a huge joke. Nobody takes him seriously, nobody even tries to help him, nobody praises him (sincerely) when he gets better and treats it like it's a one-time thing when he is actively learning and trying to better himself. The complete opposite effect of how they treat Haru, honestly. I think the Minato tribe doesn't understand the concept of a person changing, because they just took their first impression of Taiga from when they first met and ran with it.

He becomes the butt of the joke very often and I genuinely don't get why the closest thing to snapping he did was tell Haru to fuck off after Haru tried to help him and threw his bat on the ground AFTER he left.

But honestly, when I think about it, it shows how despite being a usually emotionally-driven guy, he can show to be emotionally mature at times. I think he changed this aspect of himself a lot after Shun's death. And even more after he became Hanafuda's pupil and after Ojiro took the crown and changed the rules of XB.

If you study his behaviors after episode 8 (especially in episode 10), you'll understand what I mean by this. He goes from being a man who makes idiotic and selfish decisions and doesn't ask for anybody's advice, to relying on and opening up to people when he needs to and tries his best at helping the people he now cherishes deeply.

I don't have any picture to provide here really just please rewatch the episodes I mentioned!!!

His character growth is just amazing and that's just one of the many things I like about him because with that he is one of the most relatable characters in Tribe Nine to me.

I do believe his backstory should be more looked into though. All we know about Taiga's backstory is that he's been a fisherman most of his life and that he comes from overseas (presumably Ireland? given his accent) to become the "strongest man in the world". That last part feels very loosely written to me and I think should be talked about. I mean come on he is literally the main character alongside Haru. I also believe he is very much implied to be AroAce, given the fact that he refutes many of the romantic/sexual advances that have been made towards him throughout the show. (This could also be read as gay coding, since women are mostly the ones trying to engage with him romantically/sexually but I feel like AroAce describes him more since he doesn't try to get with men in the show either. Or anyone for that matter.) But I won't go too much into it considering it's not explicitly canon (and I doubt it ever will be, sadly) and this is just a sort of headcanon based on stuff that happened in the show. And the things that happen in it can be interpreted differently from person to person. I do however think it's a cool thing about him

Anyway, another thing I liked about him was his short-lived one-sided rivalry with Shun, it was pretty funny to me and they had an awesome dynamic.

Since my explanation was rather brief here's a video of them (I can't download anything in the sub so uh have this compilation from squiddy_t on twt)

Speaking of awesome dynamics, his friendship with Haru is SOOOOO good. When I think about it for a second I don't think they were all that involved with each other much (at least positively) in the beginning of the show, although I did cherish their little interactions from time to time, but once Taiga became stronger after his training and saved Haru from getting killed, that was the start of it all really

Their little duo and everythinggg..!!! I especially loved them in episode 12, their little conversation on their train was so sweet and Taiga trying to comfort Haru after being rejected by Saori at the end made my heart tear up a little.

Ouuughhh I know I said I didn't like Haru but their friendship everything to me.

They are also very silly in the official arts. Taiga always trying to grab something from Haru's hands is so silly to me. Taiga is so silly to me.

Back to just Taiga, his design is cool too, my favourite thing about it is his tattoos. What could they mean?? Maybe he got that as a stylistic choice given he always has his chest out to show off his tattoo even in other outfits he wears.

Edit: Just did a google search. ''Often representing wisdom, freedom, and strength, an Eastern-style dragon tattoo is a symbol of power.'' Yeah pretty much represents him well.

Also many people may not agree on this one but I love his dubbed voice. I think it's a nice detail that Taiga has another accent other than an American accent or whatever. It makes it realistic since he does come from overseas. I also like his sub voice because 1 I'm a big TWEWY fan and he shares the same voice actor as Fret and 2 it fits him very well, maybe I'm also just used to it but there's this spark in his voice I can't really describe that makes it fitting.

Yui Kamiki:

I can't quite explain it completely but she is so interesting to me. I truly hope she makes a comeback in the game and becomes the main antagonist because she is just amazing.

Kamiki is a woman who looks nice and loyal to her co-workers/tribe members, but is rotten and evil-scheming on the inside. The reasons for her trying to govern Neo-Tokyo from the shadows is currently unknown, but I think one of the reasons why might be a hunger for power. The hunger for such power may come from an inner conviction of lack of self worth or a lack of feeling acknowledged that probably stems from something that happened to her in her life, or the fact that she's been just a secretary to the Chiyoda government for so long.

To cut this short, she is a very mysterious character with an extremely mysterious motive for her goals. And I love mystery characters. A lot. Which is why she is on my top 3.

She was already there before the Chiyoda illustration novel came out, and after its release, well lets just say I loved her even more! Kamiki is sketchy and that is my favourite attribute to her because you never know what she might do. Which makes her an amazing antagonist,

With the novel's release, I also was able to a better look on the enemy relationship between her and Kazuki, and I am obsessed with it. They had such an impact on me after reading it that I kept thinking about the both them for weeks. I beg of you to read it even if the translation will probably get messed up a little.

Link: https://tribenine.tokyo/news/873/

I beg of you to read all the novels actually if you think the story of Tribe Nine is lacking in content.

Much like Kiyoshiro and Taiga, I love her voice, both sub and dub. Her voice is soft and smooth and the tone of her voice makes you kinda get that vibe from her that she is up to something somehow. Thank you Amber-Lee and Komatsu. 🙏

Don't even get me started on her design, she rocks both the Chiyoda uniform and the XB gear. Period.

Her carrying a gun is such a nice detail to me. Because she can easily enforce her authority onto others with a simple weapon, which makes her character all the more better. Because even though she is clearly very strong, and even trains for it every single morning, she still wants to ensure she is superior to others.

Her name also fits her in that regard, You see, in Kamiki, the "Kami" (神) part meaning "god/deity" reflects her superiority complex over others. Which I find to be an amazing detail. It fuels my headcanon of her having a God complex at least a little bit. Last but not least I love her appearance in the webtoon more than the anime. And by that I mean her role in it and how she is depicted.

She is more often by Ojiro's side here than in the anime. Which makes you really see her role in the story before her whole ordeal.

With that, this essay is done and over with. Throughout the writing of this I realized how lengthy this post was and decided to only include my top 3. I am exhausted, frankly, but hey at least I'm getting my thoughts out there. I've been mostly quiet about my Tribe Nine opinions for years so it's nice to do so now.

[ran-orimoto]

I want to know you bettah. A favourite character and ship for each Digiseason

Funny, Anon!!!!!! ~~~~~ I don’t really have defined opinions on the series that come after the first four, with the exception of Appmon and Ghost Game. So, sorry if I will skip those other three!

Adventure 01

• Mimi: My princess💕. Along with Katara from ATLA, she’s my own definition of what a girl character should be written like, but I don’t think you want to read long explanations😂.

• Michi: Mimi was a second mc by Taichi’s side. I feel like she had a mirror role in comparison with Taichi’s, as if she’s some sort of girl icon for the franchise. I don’t know how to explain it, but she has got so much presence in the anime, in the merch, in posters; she is voiced by AIM which allowed her to have her own ending, and somehow it feels like this fact makes her omnipresent in the history of the Digimon anime. Wishful thinking, but I like them together because of so many other reasons. THEY JUST CLICK SO WELL.

-Adventure 02

•Miyako: I know I know, she’s not that jewel of character when it comes to her writing, bur her concept has always intrigued me even when I didn’t know Digimon that well. She’s funny, clever, she’s connected with Mimi, she’s also got such a cute design ngl. Can I say she’s my favourite because of these shallow reasons? I think I will find many others when I rewatch 02.

• Daiyako: MY GUILTY PLEASURE. They’re so precious in each other’s regards, always being in the middle of teasing sessions but eventually showing to care about each other so much ? They can work platonically too, and I love pairings that are amazing both platonically and romantically.

-Tamers

KINDA HARD, I will admit it. I like the characters from Tamers but I don’t feel that connected to them. I used to have a huge adoration for Jenrya but it faded somehow. I like Ruki and Hirokazu but not that excessively. I relate to Juri sometimes but she has got so many moments that make me cringe out. It’s … A complex relationship…

• Takato: Again, I’m not THAT attached to him but he is a huge cinnamoroll and a great new beginning for the franchise. I like he’s so ordinary and creative, because…I can relate🤣. And I admit people often call me a girl Takato, sooooo🤣. Like you can see, I don’t have anything to say ahahahha.

• Rukato: MY BBIES, my bbies who are so pleasant at the sight too, thanks to their matching palettes. I confess I come from being a huge Jenruki shipper. Then, I’ve grown bored of those two and I’ve started getting so attracted by Ryouki and Rukato, but the latter eventually won especially because of Runaway Locomon. How could I keep myself from shipping those two after that film? I know there’s Jurato, but the future dramas made me dislike the way things develop…

-Frontier

• Junpei: my only prince son💕

• Junzumi.

.

SHOULD I REALLY SAY SOMETHING, C’MON🤣💕💕💕💕💕

- Appmon

• Eri: I like how she finally brought back a kind of digigirl who could be considered a real character with an interesting story, a nice and quirky personality, meaningful relationships. I had got tired of so many sexualized and pretty uninspiring digigirls (starting from Frontier era SIGH).

Eeeeh I don’t know. I liked Eri and Torajirou but I’ve discovered he’s 11 and she’s 14, so ehmmmmm. Even if the anime pushed it a bit, maybe it’s not the case to ship them ahaha.

I’ll go with • Haru x Yuujin because they are a parallel Jurato✨.

-Ghost Game

• Emma: I KNOW SHE IS NOT PART OF THE TRIO AND SHE APPEARED FOR LESS THAN AN EPISODE, but she ensnared me and makes me salty whenever I see her, because she would have been a perfect four member. Leave me alone, I need to cry and mope.

• Ruri x Kiyoshiro: The total flop this shipping was because in GG the kids had 0 interesting interactions and I want to cry again, because why is that anime so unfair. Still, I ship them, I don’t care. Ruri had her small teasing moments with Kiyoshiro and their personalities CLASH. Idk Ruri would take him to the worst night trips in forests, parks and he would tag along because Jellymon’s and Ruri’s personalities are so perfectly aligned!

Thank you for the ask!💕

[shidoukanae]

Tfw you’re being haunted by a ghost and there’s blood dripping from your ceiling, wdyd?

[koushirouizumi]

Some Digi-Stan @ Me: sO WHAT DID you think of GhostGame Ep 12 ---

Me: That 'Mon is almost definitely going to be recurring

Them:

Me: Or at least show /once/ later.

Them:

Me: Also Gammamon's very cute and so is Kiyoshiro (+Hiro)

[tripletyrant]

I’ll never get over the bait-and-switch Ghost Game did with Kiyoshiro. I mean, the very first teaser image looked like this:

If you know Digimon, you see this and go, okay boy on the right, I see you. The edgy, lone wolf. That’s your Yamato. Your Ruki. Your Kouji. Your Kiriha. There’s one in every season, and I usually roll my eyes at them. 

You watch the first episode, and he shows up.

And not only is he the edgy boy, he’s also smug and pompous. Yep, ramping up to be a mix of my least favorite character archetypes. 

But wait, what’s this?

What’s this?

He’s not an edgy, cool guy. He’s a coward! 

And a fucking nerrrrd! 

And has the BEST dynamic with his gremlin of a Digimon partner.

And that’s how Kiyoshiro pulled the wool over all our eyes and became the best human character in Ghost Game. He’s cute. He’s a loser. He’s Darling! And I almost feel bad because you know he wants to be the Yamato of the season, but he’s actually the Jou and he’s that much better for it. 

[noctilucentstorm]

Ghost Game Review: Episode 14

Zashiki-warashi

Kiyoshiro attends a conference and the team take the opportunity to relax and regroup after the events of the previous episode. However, there are rumours of a zashiki-warashi at the resort.

I have a feeling this is one of those episodes that some will call boring, but is likely to lay the groundwork for future episodes. Personally, I thought it was a perfect follow up to last week.

Characters

Surprisingly, after my comment last week, we’ve actually gotten a bit more about what Kiyoshiro does when not going to class. Doesn’t quite explain the money, but I’m wondering if he’s working towards a doctorate since he’s going to conferences.

Gammamon’s innocent comment about sharing food with Bokomon was heart-breaking, but Hiro handled it really well. In fact, I was really impressed with Hiro throughout this episode. In the beginning of the series it felt as if Hiro was just helping people because it was more hassle to refuse, but the care and patience he showed Gammamon and Koemon made me really understand why Hakuto gave Gammamon to him. While Kiyoshiro and the others are rightly afraid given last week’s events, Hiro understands Gammamon well enough to direct his attention towards a good cause. Hiro has taken on the role of older brother because he genuinely wants the best for Gammamon.

Gammamon was also really cute in this episode, being the first to notice Koemon’s tears despite the mischief caused. While I was a little disappointed Koemon didn’t stick around, if only because he and Gammamon seemed to hit it off so well, I also like that the narrative didn’t give Gammamon an easy way out. Sometimes the people we care about walk separate paths, but in this case there’s still a chance those paths may cross again.

Plot

Bokomon is a big part of the episode despite never making an appearance and the ending is bittersweet. Gammamon may not fully understand that Bokomon was killed, but I think he realises he’s unlikely to see Bokomon again.

Of course, the other major part of this episode was the reappearance of BlackTailmon with a message from Hakuto. We don’t know how old his message is, but it seems fairly recent, meaning Hiro’s dad is still likely wandering the Digital World. Given BlackTailmon’s delivery, does that mean Hakuto has allies helping him? He doesn’t seem the type of person to be completely self-sufficient, but maybe that’s because of his general care-free attitude. Although we don’t really learn much new information, it’s good to know he’s (probably) still surviving.

Worldbuilding

The Ghost Gang (do we have a name for them yet) are finally asking questions about BlackTailmon and if it wasn’t clear before that they are able to freely move between worlds, this episode confirms it. They are also in contact with Hakuto.

We get somewhat of an explanation of the Digital Fields, with Hiro activating a desert-theme. Should be useful if the Zassoumon make another appearance in the future! Ruli and Jellymon ask for one of the other sims, which ties in nicely to the V-Bracelet’s second generation release.

Another thing of note that happened in the episode is Koemon’s materialisation. It does make me wonder if it was a result of his own acceptance of the situation and newfound purpose, or whether he materialised due to the bond he formed with Hiro and the others. I’m sure this’ll get answered in the future as the main cast befriend more digimon.

ps: I love Ruli and Jellymon's friendship! It's nice to see the digimon getting along with someone who isn't their partner.

[dovahkiin796]

Gammamon’s Forms

We start off with Gammamon’s Rookie level. That being a cute white dinosaur with little wings that grant him the ability of flight. Like his appearance suggests Gammamon has the personality of a small toddler, close to being a baby at that. Which heavily implies our little white bean is a newborn Digimon. Give or take a few months at best. So, because of that everything excites him, and the Real World is full of excitement. He has already taken a liking to Human food, chocolate being his most favorite. Though he calls it Champion.

But don’t underestimate his small size. Gammamon has proven he can go up against other Champion level Digimon. Albeit it’s only stalling and pushing them back but that’s still a feat in of itself. His catchphrase is, “I’ll make you go kaboom!”, or “You’re making me go kaboom!”

Gammamon has a deep connection with Hiro, his older brother. Hiro in return does treat the Digimon like a little brother. But doesn’t talk down to him or try to overly protect him since he knows Gammamon can defend himself along with his friends. Speaking of friends, Gammamon really likes Ruli and their relationship is almost that of a big sister and little brother. This makes sense since Ruli was the second Human he has ever met. Gammamon doesn’t interact with Kiyoshiro all that much, but he likes him though.

In conclusion Gammamon is cute bundle that you just want hug. However be careful as he likes to bite things.

BetelGammamon is Gammamon’s true Champion level form and the first one he digivolves into when dealing with the uniformed Mummymon. BetelGammamon is my favorite of his two other digiforms. Its humanoid shape is practical in most situations and gives him great agility. I love how his blue bandana turns into a long, flowing scarf. Also he’s red. That’s my favorite color.

KausGammamon is Gammamon’s first slide-digivolution. It keeps the overall basics of BetelGammamon. Though KausGammamon is taller and leaner and has thighs for days! LOL. This form is obviously meant for flight due to his jet turbine-like thighs, webbed hands, and gliders that appear at the sides of both of his arms and torso. I like the blue color and the white accents help him not get lost in the sea of dark settings this form has mainly been seen in. However, his scarf still being blue on his mostly blue body was a bad choice. It tends to get lost on him. But this is my third favorite of his Champion forms.

WezenGammamon is my least favorite form. I get Gammamon needed a tank form. But it doesn’t work for me. Not a fan of the green nor his feet. Just ugh, the feet.

And finally we get to the last of the Champion forms. GulusGammamon. In this form Gammamon becomes wicked and sadistic. Gleefully killing those he finds beneath him and seems to enjoy causing chaos because he can. He tries to get Hiro to call out one of his attacks after learning Sealsdramon was killing just to mass a body count. But Hiro falls to his knees in pain when the attack name was streaming in his head. GulusGammamon finds him weak because he didn’t go through with it and brutally kills Sealsdramon himself. It’s safe to say GulusGammamon will be a huge threat to the Ghost Hunters since he willingly attacked them when they tried to stop him from leaving the AR-like field. His motto is, “Eat or be eaten.” 

GulusGammamon is my second favorite Champion form. True his design borrows heavily from BetelGammamon but that’s fine with me and you can’t blame the designers. Gammamon has FOUR Champion forms, trying to come up with something unique for each form would be hard.

[digitalworldss]

ep 29 was so good…kiyoshiro development and some VERY epic moments pardon my spoilers, but i will tag them, thetismon having such an extremely different personality is extremely amusing…she’s so nice and polite….i love it i love her

also as an edit thetismon talks differently too!! it’s really cute!! she talks in a more polite manor

[tenebraevesper]

Digimon Ghost Game Analyzer, Episode 05: Divine Anger

So, after introducing Hiro, Gammamon, Ruli and Angoramon, it is finally time to properly introduce Kiyoshiro and Jellymon. Rest assured, they more than earned their place in the team.

The story starts with an electrical current destroying the power lines and I wonder whether Sinduramon is once again eating the electricity? It turns out that that’s not the case, as the ground breaks and we’re met by a bunch of white snakes.

Well, Sinduramon was controlling an owl, so maybe Sandiramon? After all, he is a giant white snake. In any case, I’m fairly certain that the ophidiophobes among you are going to have nightmares after this episode.

The scene changes to a warning screen and we find ourselves in Kiyoshiro’s room, who is currently dealing with some kind of poltergeist activity. This ‘poltergeist’ does the usual stuff, like throwing Kiyoshiro’s stuff around while he’s hiding under the bed covers.

Well, I was right about Kiyoshiro fearing that he was cursed. Fortunately, we know that this is his future partner, Jellymon, messing with him, and not some malicious Digimon, but he doesn’t know that. Having him also established as someone who acts arrogant, but is scared of the paranormal makes you wonder how he is going to overcome his fears.

Hiro and Hologram Ghost!Gammamon spot him trying to get a drink from the vending machine, failing and talking about how he’s cursed. Honestly, I love just how nonchalant Hiro and Gammamon are, while Kiyoshiro is at his wits end. It makes you feel sorry for him, but at the same time, you just can’t wait for the reveal. It doesn’t get better when the door ‘mysteriously’ opens just when Kiyoshiro is about to enter his room.

Carefully observing his room, he suddenly finds the floating Digivice -V-.

I guess that’s an effective way of telling someone that they’re fated to become a Tamer. Kiyoshiro could simply walk over to it, examine it and put it on, then materialize Jellymon. Unfortunately for him, Jellymon thinks that she needs to convey her message in a different manner, and we see blood-like droplets dripping from the ceiling. Kiyoshiro looks up and...

Wow... Just, wow...

While I know that Digimon hasn’t shied away from showing blood, this looks more like Jellymon had murdered and drained an entire human of their blood just to write her message. No wonder Kiyoshiro freaks out. Still, he puts the Digivice -V- on, revealing Jellymon.

Honestly, I think she’s adorable (even if she is a bit forceful), but Kiyoshiro doesn’t share the same thoughts, screaming his head off. Poor guy. He questions her whether she’s a Hologram Ghost, only for Jellymon to put in the DIM card she took from Hiro, allowing Kiyoshiro to fully materialize her.

If you guys still think that Jellymon would be just the cute, but slightly mischievous one of the group, supporting Kiyoshiro in his times of need, you are in for a big disappointment. 

Not only does she show attitude, telling Kiyoshiro that it’s rude to call her a Hologram Ghost, but also insists on being called Jellymon-sama, showing that she’s the boss of this duo. Kiyoshiro complies because, let’s be real, he has no other choice here.

Fortunately for Kiyoshiro, Hiro and Gammamon arrive, having already figured out that there is another Digimon in the building. Kiyoshiro seeks help from Hiro, but is restrained by Jellymon, and then his computer sounds off an alarm. Rather than helping Kiyoshiro, Hiro just questions him about it. I just love that Hiro has that ‘I’ve seen it all’ attitude and is completely nonchalant about Jellymon. Either he regards her as a non-threat or he thinks Kiyoshiro would be able to handle her.

In any case, we learn that Kiyoshiro had created virtual talismans in order to ward off the curse, that is, Jellymon, since the regular ones didn’t work. Creating virtual talismans is actually an interesting idea, especially in a setting like Digimon (and it reminds me of Joe’s chants in Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure: (2020) against the Bakemon and Mephismon respectively)...

...but hacking every account and e-mail in not only his dorm but the entire city to set this up?! Kiyoshiro went from Koushiro-levels of programmer and went straight into Katsura Rei hacker territory.

Yeah, I legit made the same expression as Hiro when I heard that. It’s so crazy, but yet really awesome to see someone like Kiyoshiro being able to do that. Not only that, but it also shows just how desperate Kiyoshiro is; being willing to do anything to ward of the curse.

It also makes me love his character even more.

However, it appears that something isn’t right with the program. Jellymon (JELLYMON-SAMA! *winces*)... Well, Jellymon-sama mentions that something is coming, giving us an ominous feeling about what’s to come.

Suddenly, electronics start to malfunction and the ground is breaking apart, with white snakes coming out. We see Ruli studying, only for Angoramon to knock on the window, drawing her attention. I have to say, I love they gave Angoramon the ability to fly by using his ears.

Hiro informs Ruli about the recent events, with Angoramon sensing that something is coming. Honestly, I really like that we have Jellymon and Angoramon warning their Tamers about sensing another Digimon’s presence, as it reminds me a lot of Digimon Tamers. Ruki and Renamon had even explained how Digimon attract each other due to their desire to battle, which is why they can sense each other’s presence.

Meanwhile, Hiro has explained to Kiyoshiro that Gammamon is a Digimon and we also learn that the blood on the ceiling is just ketchup. Kiyoshiro is not happy about this, yelling at Jellymon for messing with him, and I have to say, I absolutely love the expressions the characters make in this scene (Gammamon and Kiyoshiro especially). You know what’s going on even without reading the subtitles.

Jellymon (-SAMA!)... *winces* Jellymon-sama reveals her full body, freaking Kiyoshiro once again out, and we learn that Kiyoshiro is a prodigy who was sent to the United States to study. However, she isn’t really impressed by his accomplishment, saying how he isn’t special.

Uh, okay?

Kiyoshiro protests, but Jellymon quickly shuts him up. She then notes how he got a master’s degree at 13, which is actually quite impressive. I mean, not even Ken got that far and he was infected with a Dark Seed that enhanced his intellect and athletic abilities. The only ones who could match him in this area are Thoma H. Norstein and Unryuji Knight, one who got a Nobel Prize and the other became the CEO of a company. But then he returned to Japan... something even Hiro questions.

So, what is the reason for this decision?

Yep, Kiyoshiro is an otaku. *laughs gleefully* I absolutely love this reveal, as it gives Kiyoshiro so much depth, but Jellymon calls it stupid.

Jellymon, I like you, but don’t make fun of other people’s hobbies. She then asks what anime influenced him to wear bandages. Well, I could think of a couple, but for now, the only one that comes to my mind is Angels of Death (Satsuriko no Tenshi), with its main character Zack. Although I doubt Kiyoshiro wanted to emulate a scythe-wielding serial killer.

I’m fairly certain that Kiyoshiro and Impmon X-Antibody would make good friends. Anyways, finally Kiyoshiro asks Jellymon why she’s haunting him and Jellymon goes full tsundere.

I... I feel a little worried for Kiyoshiro there and whether he’d be able to handle Jellymon. When Hiro questions why she likes scaring Kiyoshiro, she answers how she's doing it for fun. Meanwhile, Kiyoshiro begs Hiro to just take the Digivice -V-, not wanting to deal with Jellymon- pardon, Jellymon-sama anymore. Hiro notes how he can’t do that, but he’ll show him the Digivice’s functions. 

Overall, I just love how the focus is on Kiyoshiro and Jellymon, with Hiro just going along with whatever happens and Gammamon just doing something adorable in the background.

So, while the Tamers are busy with Jellymon’s appearance, the mysterious Digimon is getting closer and closer to the city, causing more and more electronics to malfunction, including the dorm Kiyoshiro and Hiro are in.

The main issue appears to be with Kanto’s digital money system. The shutdown of the digital transaction caused panic all over the place. Jellymon suddenly stars giggling and we know that either she thinks it’s funny or she has a hand in it. Then, the alarms on Kiyoshiro’s computer go off and we’re treated with a scene of Angoramon spotting something in the distance.

I love that Ruli gave Angoramon her smartphone, as she probably wouldn’t be able to reach everyone in time, so at least Hiro and Kiyoshiro could communicate with Angoramon. So, who is the culprit today?

It turns out to be Majiramon, whom we haven’t seen since Digimon Tamers. He is one of the Deva, also known as the Twelve Heavenly Generals, and serves the Four Holy Dragons, specifically Quinglongmon. However, if it realizes that something will benefit itself, it will want to poke its head in no matter what the thing is. It has a habit of putting a price on everything, and expressing various matters by their cost in money. (Majiramon, Wikimon)

This... is not good. It gets worse when the snakes appear all around the city. Hiro and Kiyoshiro meanwhile learn that an unauthorized program is the probable cause for this mess, the codename being YENOM (or rather, MONEY spelled backwards).

It turns out that the hacking program was Jellymon’s doing (I’ll repeat myself once again - this kind of stuff happens when you have a hacker with a Digimon partner; or the Digimon knows how to hack stuff by itself). Things get only worse when Angoramon warns the Tamers of Majiramon.

Uh, Gammamon, Hiro, you shouldn’t be impressed by how giant Majiramon is (although Gammamon’s expression is adorable!). Also, if you really want to see how big a Digimon can get, I recommend you Digimon Savers and Digimon Adventure: (2020). They made WarGreymon (who was huge) look like an ant next to Millenniumon.

So, Majiramon. As I had said earlier, we haven’t seen him since Digimon Tamers, where his most important role was... to ferry Makuramon around the Digital World in search for Culumon. Then, he ends up battling against Cyberdramon, Leomon, Growmon and Galgomon. The battle is ended quickly when Ryo uses the King Device card to make Cyberdramon grow and take down Majiramon. So much for a dignified death.

However, it appears that Digimon Ghost Game is doing Majiramon justice, as he is accompanied by his own group of Digimon, that being Coatlmon, Bitmon and Goatmon. Interestingly, these are all Armor-level Digimon; with Bitmon digivolving from Plotmon via the Digimental of Friendship, Coatlmon digivolving from Wormmon via the Digimental of Light and Goatmon digivolving from Plotmon via the Digimental of Hope. Light, Hope and Friendship - is there a meaning behind choosing those Digimon specifically? Or was it just because they wanted to show off some Armor Digimon?

Who knows. I’ll leave you to decide.

Oh, and Gammamon found the snakes.

I’m serious, the snakes infested the dorm and everyone is panicking. While Hiro, Kiyoshiro and Jellymon stay away from them (wise choice), Gammamon just runs around playing with them (what?).

Well, at least someone’s having fun.

Angoramon informs them about the situation, that the snakes are Majiramon’s doing and that he’s heading towards them. While Gammamon throws the snakes out of their room, Angoramon gets introduced to Jellymon. He tells them how Majiramon’s duty is wealth and how he’s here to properly preserve the flow of money, and anyone who disrupts it won’t be forgiven.

Honestly, I just love the direction they had taken for Majiramon here. He feels less like a Deva and more like some deity that observes wealth. Also, his punishment involves smashing the culprit with his tail and then attacking him with Bǎo Shǐ (lit. Treasure Arrow), that being 108 arrows raining down on them. Why 108? Well, it’s an important number in Buddhism, which is also from where the Deva originated.

Kiyoshiro is completely terrified of this fate.

Jellymon then confirms that she was indeed the one who used the talisman program to hack into the money system, showing her mischievous side and noting how everything in the human world is interesting. Apparently, the money game and the greed that came with it was what made it especially interesting to her, reminding me of something Thoma said back in Digimon Savers - Digimon are influenced by human emotions, and we saw what kind of chaos they caused there.

We also learn that Jellymon is quite competitive, wanting to be the best in any field that interests her, and even calling it a game. She notes that once she learns the rules, all she has to do is play the game better than everyone else. Kiyoshiro even agrees with her (much to Hiro’s surprise). So, what’s the plan?

Well, that’s not a bad idea. Hell, Kiyoshiro agrees again, but Hiro reminds him how they can’t do that and that they could just delete the talismans to avoid the divine punishment (which is a rather simple solution). However, what’s more important here is Hiro reminding Kiyoshiro that he’s the dorm leader and therefore holds responsibility.

Although, may I remind you that this one was actually Jellymon’s fault, since she was the one who infiltrated the money system? Still, Kiyoshiro was the one who hacked everyone’s devices (which is a huge breach of privacy) so he needs to own up to this mistake by deleting all the talismans.

It is quite a powerful moment and...

I swear, Hiro is such a mood here. Also, Ruli and Angoramon have arrived!

The Tamer team is finally assembled, with Hiro forming the plan - distract Majiramon long enough for Kiyoshiro and Jellymon to delete all the talismans. Let’s just hope that Majiramon won’t decide to fight them as even with BetelGammamon, they still won’t be able to match an Ultimate.

So, Hiro quickly transports them to the AR Field (yes, I’m calling it AR Field until we get a proper name for this place) and Kiyoshiro (predictably) freaks out (Gammamon, on the other hand, is enjoying himself).

Even though he isn’t in the middle of a battle, Kiyoshiro is still under a lot of pressure, with Jellymon not helping my teasing him how 108 arrows are gonna pierce him and how there won’t be anything left of him. She taunts him with how painful it is going to be, but Kiyoshiro persists.

Despite being completely freaked out, Kiyoshiro wants to work his way out of the problem rather than running away from it. Seriously, I absolutely love this exchange!

‘‘Just run away then!’‘

‘‘I can’t do that! I’m the dorm leader!’‘

It shows that, despite being scared for his life, Kiyoshiro will take responsibility for his actions and won’t run away. More importantly, he manages to stand up to Jellymon, who is left speechless. He even begs her for help.

Honestly, I just love their dynamic. Jellymon then agrees to help deleting the talismans.

Seriously, these two... X3

As for Hiro, Gammamon, Ruli and Angoramon, they’re going against a Kaiju.

Sheesh, Majiramon is intimidating in Digimon Ghost Game... Keep it up! *thumbs up*

Searching for the culprit, Majiramon roars, revealing the locations of the talismans and, as Kiyoshiro mentioned earlier, he created thousands of them, including one on Hiro’s smartphone.

They have a lot of work to do...

Meanwhile, Kiyoshiro and Jellymon are trying to delete everything as fast as possible, but it doesn’t look well for them.

Just do it step by step. If you can stand up to Jellymon, then you can get this vaccine done in time.

Meanwhile, Hiro, Gammamon, Ruli and Angoramon are dealing with the Armor Digimon, with Gammamon digivolving to BetelGammamon while First Riders is playing in the background. Now that’s how you start a fight!

Kiyoshiro is still freaking out, with Jellymon arguing that he should’ve ran away, but Kiyoshiro cries how it’s too late to run away, so Jellymon tells him to stop yapping and continue his work.

Back at the battle, BetelGammamon has been wrapped up by Coatlmon and the music stops when Bitmon is about to slice Hiro’s throat. What, you don’t believe me?

One wrong move and he’s done for. As for Ruli and Angoramon, Goatmon immobilized them. It is clear the Armor Digimon are not here to fight and just want to allow Majiramon to finish his job.

The Tamers are completely overwhelmed here.

Kiyoshiro and Jellymon are injured, with Jellymon trying to wake Kiyoshiro up. This is a really tense situation, as only one more virtual talisman was left and they need to delete it before Majiramon deletes them. The fact that the Armor Digimon completely ignore Hiro and co. in favour of Kiyoshiro and Jellymon doesn’t help either. Majiramon prepares the attack and then...

First Riders is back on, as Kiyoshiro laughs, telling him how it’s not over yet. Standing up, he introduces himself once again.

He won’t allow to be taken down so easily. Hell, even Jellymon is awed by his resolve to fight back.

Kiyoshiro is a complete badass, resolute in his decision to overcome the challenge despite his fears and he has my respect for that. As Majiramon attacks him, Kiyoshiro smiles.

Seriously, I knew there would be more to him than we initially saw. He unlocks Jellymon’s attack, directing her to fight back.

*fangirls in the background* I absolutely love everything about this moment! X3

Fortunately, Bibi Thunder manages to destroy the last virtual talisman.

While there wasn’t much of a fight, I really love the creative solutions this episode took and how it was more of a ‘standing your ground and fixing your mistake’ answer rather than ‘beat up the big monster’ solution.

It is also great to see Kiyoshiro’s confident self. He apologizes for creating the virtual talismans (uh, Jellymon, how about you too apologizing?). Fortunately, Majiramon leaves them, as everything has been set back to normal. It’s a really great moment.

Oh, and somebody should tell Kiyoshiro the effects of the AR Field. X3

Rest assured, all is well and the group relaxes a little. Seriously, you earned it. After some philosophical words (or maybe it’s a haiku?) from Angoramon we get...

Has Jellymon actually developed a crush on Kiyoshiro?!

Man, this episode was wild and I love it to pieces! Jellymon is adorable, yet so bossy and Kiyoshiro is just the type of character you want to root for! Seriously, Digimon Ghost Game’s cast of characters is amazing! I really want to see more of them!

See ya!

[bossarmadimon]

Episode 17 thoughts

Hiro in fanboy mode is cute. It’s so unusual to see him excited like that.

Kiyoshiro should really know better than talk about hologram ghost at this point.

Gammamon HOPPING UP THE STAIRS bby you’re gonna kill me

Ooooh we get to see BetelGammamon in a noncombat situatoin for more than thirty seconds!

I get that they don’t want to put people in danger, but calling for help would seem appropriate at this point.

Kiyoshiro, why the CRAP did you design removable bulkhead walls in a geothemal power plant???

Ruri, that is NOT how you make a quinzee.

Gotta love how literally no one in this episode remembers that Digimon can easily phase through walls.

And now Jellymon is stealing Gammamon’s catchphrase.

So.... they are literally unable to act if the partner can’t call attacks?

Oh hey, great time to be concerned about assigning blame.

Jellymon, you are NOT helping your case right now.

Well, this is new...

Wait WHAT

"Captain?!”

BABIES

Would have been interesting to see a global warming connection tbh

Also a clearer explanation what his beef with the plant even was to begin with.

So the  really intriguing part is that in this series, Digimon can match to other humans if they want to. huh. How much you bet this never comes up again when it would be useful?

[redwyverndht]

Episode 30: (SPOILERS) ft. the key to Ghost Game

TL;DR: I get that people want plot and villains and big fights, but if you look beneath the surface of the episodic shenanigans, there's clearly a goal for each episode, and I really hope it can be more appreciated instead of the usual "where's gulus?" "where's the plot?" "where are the villains?" But there's more than that!

^ me chewing over whatever the fuck my brain is overanalyzing this week

General thoughts

I hate bETSUMON I HATE BETSUMON I HATE BETSUM-

Somehow, without giving them a bulge, they made Betsumon very, VERY hateable!!!!!! Hate them!!!!! That might've had to do with the fact that Gammamon is babey and must be protected at all costs

Can I also just say that Meicoomon's existential ennui felt like a slight dig at tri.? Just me? lol (sorry tri fans)

Is it just me or this ep's theme felt very… ominous?

The first thing Gammamon said ever:

"I am Gammamon"

And we're now reaffirming that Gammamon is Gammamon but... are they??? Gulus is THERE, it really recontextualizes the phrase. It feels like that's the ethos of Gammamon's arc... Maybe this IS why they dumped all the budget and promo on this one. (Also, we all love Gammamon :D)

It also felt like the all-star ep we had with Morphomon a while ago: very, very high quality animation, they went above and beyond for this week's animation! I particularly loved Gammamon's expressions, they really went above and beyone to make them cute (and heartwrenching! :( )

I loved it! Awesome ep :D

also monster disco is the best ED so far don't judge me-

I have lots of thougts today!

A structure: The Partner Ethos

Since we got Canoweissmon, we've got the thesis of each character very firmly stated. There haven't really been many "character focus" episodes like we're used to -they're more "relationship centric", kinda like 02. But this episode, THIS EPISODE, along with Tethysmon's evolution and last week's, the charaacter focused episodes are mounting onto each other...

Did you want crests? Well, I'll do you one better: characterization! Every partner has a specific "ethos": a phrase that (imo) describes their motivations and points of view.

Gammamon: "I am Gammmamon, Hiro's brother" Angoramon: "I will protect and get closer to Ruli" Jellymon: "I don't know how to expresss my affection to Kiyoshiro"

Out of all of them, Jellymon is the one I can't exactly pin-point BUT GUESS WHAT? Next ep seems to be Kiyoshiro-centric! And I hope we're getting that thesis from them!

The Reptile in the Room

We're all waiting for Gulus, aren't we? In my opinion, this episode cemented my theory that Gulus is gonna try and take Gammamon out of the equation, whatever that might be. (AAAAAHHH-) They haven't appeared yet because, as Gulus stated, it isn't time yet. It's kinda meta tbh, because it both isn't time in-universe (why), but it's also not time yet narratively speaking…

There's also the case for Lamortmon, too! What are they gonna do???? How tf are they gonna deal with a murderous Angoramon if when they dealt with them in the beginning they only survived because of Zubamon ex machina!!!12!"1!1 (i'm losing it help-)

I get that people want plot and villains and big fights, but if you look beneath the surface of the episodic shenanigans, there's clearly a goal for each episode, and I really hope it can be more appreciated instead of the usual "where's gulus?" "where's the plot?" "where are the villains?" I also want them!!! But (I think) they're cementing strong bases for each digimon and partner, and even though it looks like nothing is happening, each episode contributes something in characterization and/or background lore details.

It's not perfect, for sure, there are lots of times where I would've loved acknowledging past episodes (digitamamon, ajataramon, and this ep I wish they explained some stuff i assumed like how betsumon's powers work and what happened to meicoomon, the conclusion was kinda brief for a problem of this caliber), and there doesn't seem to be an active path. But some of these things feel intentional, rather than bad writing. Like they're not the main point. In retrospect, Ghost Game seems very calculated and thought out, but who knows what will happen next? Only time will tell, because Toei sure won't!

[shidoukanae]

ep. 8 based sketches but it’s mostly Kiyoshiro again OTL

[yomigaere]

stupid Ota Tribe rock band AU

Quick disclaimer: this was thrown together with fairly limited knowledge of the characters, and my ideas could change as soon as the next anime episode airs (to say nothing of how the eventual mobage might portray them). I just wanted to have a bit of fun. ^^;

Fucho is the lead singer, both because duh he's the leader and because he looks kind of like an edgy J-rocker (especially with his mask off) to begin with. His lyrics are mainly glorified rants about how much he hates preestablished harmony and how he wants to wreak chaos and make things go boom and splat.

Kiyoshiro does any rap segments Ota Tribe's music might have. I mostly think this because his seiyuu is also Dice from HypMic.

Kai adds a lot of screamo and goes the hardest with instrument-playing (I picture him on electric guitar). He also likes to do that X pose he does in ep 8.

Enoki adds idol-like singing in an attempt to inject even a little bit of cuteness into Ota's music. It makes for some odd-sounding songs, especially combined with Kai's screamo, but it makes for good chaos so it's all fine by Fucho.

Roku mostly concentrates on instrument-playing (I picture him on the drums) while wishing the others didn't make such a goddamn racket. He might, on rare occasions, have exactly one short line in some of Ota's songs.

[citrus-cactus]

Ghost Game Episode 5

Some actual thoughts on this week’s ep under the cut!

OK, well, DESPITE making three separate posts about it, this episode was kind of a mixed bag for me. The horror elements were left almost entirely to Jellymon, there were too many/not very memorable MotDs, and the primary impact on the human world about the “flow of money” being interrupted was… almost straight out of Appmon? You’d think that would be a positive for me, but instead I just found it… odd. Possibly because the overall tone of the episode was so different compared to the previous four; more silly than serious (not that more humor is even a bad thing, the first four episodes are DARK for a kid's show). I'm confused about what this show wants to be after this episode; does it want to be both? But I will say if you liked this episode, here is yet another reason you should DEFINITELY watch Appmon 😊

I do appreciate the fact that, on paper, Kiyoshiro is still basically the lovechild of Rei Katsura and Knight Unryuuji (hacker + child prodigy who graduated from college in America), but with dorkiness dialed up to 11. The end result seems to be that he, along with Jellymon, is capable of creating some very large problems, in addition to being able to solve them. Not entirely sure what to make of the different sides of his personality quite yet, but IMO he still seems like the most ridiculous, Rumiko Takahashi-esque character a Digimon series has ever given us—which (again, on paper) is right up my alley. Based on this episode I think the show might still be exploring its options and trying to find itself, but I’m optimistic that Kiyoshiro and Jellymon will be fun to watch going forward, maybe helping balance out all the horror with humor, hopefully without creating too much tonal dissonance/mood whiplash. If Kiyoshiro ends up having a tragic backstory or something I will have a really hard time reconciling that with the first impressions of him we’ve received from these first few episodes, so here’s hoping also that his character doesn’t go someplace too grimdark or serious XD

My biggest reservation right now is that Jellymon is… a bit much, honestly. I am looking forward to seeing their partnership evolve away from this “scaring him into compliance” phase if it's going to be very prominent.

A few more notes:

Tangential to the episode itself, but I really like Crunchyroll’s description here. “Hiro and the gang are on the case!” Lol XD

Angoramon continues to be best boy.

MORE ORYXMON PLEASE!! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH ORYXMON!!!

I paused for a second and accidentally ended up on this shot of Ruli, and just had to share.

Cute!!!