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bookofholsety
so, this week marks the 20th anniversary of the animu side of digimon: wednesday was 20 years since the release of the pilot film for adventure, while thursday was 20 years since the debut of adventure proper. and of course, the franchise as a whole turns 22 in june. digimon, chiefly in its animu form, has been a massive presence throughout my entire life, so i thought it might be nice to give the anniversaries a nod with a look at just why that is. this is a list of 22 installments of the digimon animu (both television and films) which, to me, exemplify what makes digimon so special and why i hold it in such high regard: why, to me, digimon at its best is more than just a children's animu meant to sell toys. (i mean, it absolutely is that too, but at its best it goes far above and beyond that particular call of duty, you know what i mean?) think of it as 22 reasons why you, too, abstract concept of a reader who definitely exists, should sit the hell down and give it a watch sometime
fair warning: this is going to get very pretentious and rambly. as soon as i started writing this, i rapidly realised that i'm not very good at this sort of thing
A few quick ground rules as to what the hell is going on here:
Even if it doesn't quite work out, i did try to be expansive in scope. It's very, very difficult for a list like this to not be dominated by Adventure and Tamers, for very good reasons. But at the same time, they're not the only Digimon runs i like by any means, and the others generally have their share of moments which have really made an impression on me over the years. Naturally, the list is still heavily weighted toward those two - they're that good - but i'd like to think i've still got a decent mix here. The only series not represented here is Xros Wars Hunters, because... well, fuck Xros Wars Hunters.
Think of this as a loose "best" or "favourites" list, but there's not really a hard and fast rule about why i see each that way. i like to think of my selections as prime examples of why one should watch Digimon at all, more than anything: episodes that encapsulate just what it is that the franchise can do like no other when it's firing on all cylinders. Here you'll find episodes that prominently feature its trademark emotional and psychological nous, episodes that are examples of damned fine storytelling, episodes that are just really fun pieces of shonen action, and the rare episode that's all of the above. Basically, it's equal parts me being a pretentious fuck and me being a childish nerd.
It's just a list, not a ranking. There isn't any particular order to any of this; not only did i have a lot of difficulty choosing between them, but i figure it's nice to take a break from the internet's obsession with worth being decided solely by numerical scores and rankings. The only real exception to this is that the last entry is a very strong candidate for my personal #1, but i'm still not even sure about that.
Unless otherwise stated, this list only takes the Japanese versions of each episode into account. At best, the dub rankings shouldn't change much, but English dubs of Digimon (bar Savers) are the exact opposite of an "at best" situation.
Naturally, this is just one dude's opinion. There's no shortage of common fan favourites here, but i also don't doubt that there are a few here that wouldn't be high on others' lists. I certainly don't claim to speak for every Digimon fan ever.
There are plenty of episodes that i hold in high regard, as well as other bits and pieces, that didn't make the cut here. Hey, i had to draw the line somewhere, lest this list turn into, well, a list of every episode in the Vamdemon arc of Adventure or something. One thing that i really wish i could have worked into this is my appreciation for Frontier's approach to its setting and worldbuilding, and how it - more than any other Digimon run - makes the Digital World feel like an actual, honest-to-fuck tangible world and society. Unfortunately, it's more of a general overall thing and i just couldn't think of any specific episodes encapsulating it that would fit on this list. Oh, well; i've rambled at length about that facet of it before, so just go read that if you give the slightest damn, i guess.
Anyway. The list. Yup.
Digimon Adventure #44: "Jureimon of the Lost Forest"
First aired on 13 February 2000
Screenplay: Satoru Nishizono
Director: Hiroki Shibata
Personally, i've always counted Yamato's late-game Adventure arc my favourite part of the series, and considered it a superb example of the deft character work that was Adventure's great strength. This, of course, is the episode that kicks it into high gear: his doubts and worries about his place and whether he's actually needed, especially by Takeru, have been festering away for a fair while now, but with the sight of Takeru saving himself from Pinocchimon, he just... cracks. In a way, we've all known - or even been - a Yamato at some point in our lives: having no clue how to handle emotions or cope with feelings of inadequacy, retreating from everyone else without a word because we aren't able to handle the situation with anything resembling grace, and then letting a gigantic talking tree convince us that the only way out is to just kick the shit out of people for no better reason than that we're angry. Granted, for most people the talking tree in question is just the internet, but still. This one hits close to home, and it's only the beginning of Yamato's downward spiral.
Digimon Tamers #12: "Ruki and Renamon: Their Bond in Crisis"
First aired on 17 June 2001
Screenplay: Genki Yoshimura
Director: Hiroki Shibata
Even among Tamers' stellar main cast, Ruki inevitably stood out as the highlight of the early days: the clash between her obsession with being the best at the "game" and her insecurities about genuine emotional engagement with others - and how, to be frank, Renamon's views of the partnership really fostered that at first - were virtually unheard of in Digimon up to that point, and since then she's been often imitated but never duplicated (hello, Kiriha). For me it was a tossup between this, the sixth and the tenth episode: all three are very important steps in her arc, and the sixth in particular made a compelling argument with that stylish flashback to when she first became a tamer. This one wins out because i love its approach of having the two actively drive the wedge between themselves further with their biases and misconceptions. It's also got no shortage of other great moments, including Yamaki introducing himself to Takato and Jian, Impmon being Impmon (featuring the first glimpse into his past with Ai and Makoto), and that absolutely precious sequence where Juri meets Guilmon for the first time: all moving the pieces into place for shit to hit the fan with Shaggai over the next two episodes.
Digimon Xros Wars #31: "To a New World! The Fire-Fury General's Dragon Land"
First aired on 3 April 2011
Screenplay: Riku Sanjou
Director: Hiroyuki Kakudou
There's a sense of slick, stylish, blood-pumping fun about Xros Wars that no other Digimon run - not even Savers, the one where the human protagonist literally punches everything - can quite match. Honestly, you could pick any number of its episodes to cite as a prime example of this in action, but my heart will always go straight for this one. The first episode of the Death Generals arc, naturally, spends a lot of time setting up what's changed in the time since Taiki and Shoutmon left for the real world and establishing what's to come, as well as debuting Dracomon as an adorable foil to Kiriha, but what puts this episode here is its climax: after spending a good chunk of the episode hiding and running away, Shoutmon evolves and delivers an incredibly satisfying singlehanded smackdown to an entire army in what, for my money, is one of the truly great Digimon fight scenes, fuelled by one of the late Koji Wada's more unsung bangers.
Digimon Adventure #20: "Perfect Evolution! MetalGreymon"
First aired on 25 July 1999
Screenplay: Satoru Nishizono
Director: Keiji Hayakawa
As far as i'm concerned, this is the episode that turned Digimon Adventure, children's cartoon, into Digimon Adventure, beloved icon of animu. It's the perfect culmination of Taichi's post-SkullGreymon arc, and a lovely test of five episodes' worth of anxieties, doubts and hesitation - with the feeling that though he's come a hell of a long way, there's still so much further for him to go. The Japanese novelisations indicate that the animu version of the arc is a pale shadow of what it was initially planned to be, and it still manages to be bloody fantastic. Plus, frankly, the first time that Agumon becomes MetalGreymon still gives me chills.
Appmon #36: "Election Results! The Hands of Evil Approach Eri!"
First aired on 10 June 2017
Screenplay: Tatsuto Eguchi
Director: Takayuki Murakami
To be perfectly honest, Eri's idol shtick came dangerously close to ruining all of Appmon for me. i take a rather dim view of works that insist on perpetuating a glowing positive stereotype of Japan's insidious, revolting idol mill; it was bad enough when Fire Emblem did it in the alleged crossover, but somehow it felt even more debasing when Digimon did it. It doesn't help that frankly, the episodes about Eri busting her gut to win fame or whatever as an idol were by and large dreadful, and her persona throughout was supremely annoying.
But then came this episode, which to me almost singlehandedly justified that entire shitshow. Hell, perhaps that's what made it so effective: while it was just one of many Leviathan reveals that dropped in quick succession around this time, and while they'd clearly telegraphed the role of Leviathan behind the whole enterprise pretty early on, there was such a genuine, chilling air of menace to how they executed this particular reveal, a stark contrast to the two-and-a-half episodes' worth of saccharine idol fluff that had built up to this moment. To be honest, this is easily the weakest episode on this list, but i felt it was worth including it for, if nothing else, the sheer impact it had on me this way when i first watched it.
Digimon Adventure: Children's War Game
Opened in cinemas on 4 March 2000
Screenplay: Reiko Yoshida
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Really, what's left to say about this film that a million better-spoken people haven't already said? It's hardly a stretch to call it, the film that launched a thousand Omegamon derivatives, the single most prominent and popular installment of Digimon. Pretty much every Digimon fan in existence has the damn thing committed to memory by now.
Digimon Savers #38: "Burst Mode: The Power that Exceeds Ultimate"
First aired on 7 January 2007
Screenplay: Akatsuki Yamatoya
Director: Kimitoshi Chioka
Akihiro Kurata - a man who put far too much time, effort, planning and firepower into indulging his fear and paranoia - is the single biggest piece of shit that any Digimon run has ever seen. No disrespect to any of the franchise's other antagonists, but he's very much a personal favourite, just for how rapidly and things start spiralling out of control for both DATS and the entire two worlds once he shows up. Every episode up to this point is an exercise in him topping himself and pushing the envelope further and further, to the point that even when he's a shrieking shell of his former self sticking out of Satan's chest, you still want to see the bastard get punched in the face. That, of course, is exactly what happens in this episode - twice, even - courtesy of an incredibly slick and stylish fight scene.
Digimon Tamers #35: "My Name is Dukemon! The True Ultimate Evolution"
First aired on 2 December 2001
Screenplay: Chiaki J. Konaka
Director: Hiroyuki Kakudou
Now that i think about it, there's a recurring theme to this list: i seem to love bleak installments where the shit hits the wall and our heroes have no choice but to try and hold out against impossible odds and absolutely awful beatdowns. This episode is the starkest of that kind for the franchise, and for me is a standout even amidst this stretch of three episodes which all constitute Tamers' most defining moments. The situation seems absolutely hopeless from every angle: there can be no winners in the fight between Beelzebumon and Megidramon, all of the tamers are helpless in the face of Beelzebumon and the worlds threatening to literally fall apart, and Takato is forced to come to terms with what his anger at Leomon's death has done to Guilmon. It's a brutal, uncompromising trip into what makes Takato tick, but it emerges out the other end ultimately hopeful, leading into the famous showdown between Dukemon and Beelzebumon.
Digimon Adventure 02 #23: "When the Digivice is Tainted by Darkness"
First aired on 10 September 2000
Screenplay: Genki Yoshimura
Director: Hiroki Shibata
Ken's arc in 02 was the absolute highlight of a series plagued with some of the franchise's weakest narratives, with the defeat of his Kaiser persona setting the series on course to deliver some of its best episodes. This, the first one, sees him come to terms with what he's done and his desire to make amends with Wormmon, presenting a chilling introspection on what brought him to the point of becoming the Kaiser in the first place. The unsettling atmosphere of the whole presentation, juxtaposed with his parents' unconditional love and worry for their seemingly ill son, is just an absolute treat.
Appmon #19: "The Net Ocean in Crisis! The "Time" has Come, Ultimate AppFusion!"
First aired on 11 February 2017
Screenplay: Tatsuto Eguchi
Director: Koji Ogawa
While it's a strange thing to focus on, one narrative device of Appmon's that i really appreciate is the inclusion of a strict timer for how long the buddy appmon can be in their ultimate-grade forms, at least until later in the series, as just one of several ways it tried to break away from the power-creepy excesses of modern mainline Digimon. Perhaps half the reason the timer stands out to me so much is thanks to its debut episode poising it front and centre as a race against the clock to overcome apocalyptic odds: Globemon only has 60 seconds to overcome a brutal Leviathan infection that's swept the entire globe and even possessed Dokamon and Musimon, and that 60 seconds is all that he needs.
Digimon Adventure #36: "Break Through the Barrier! Zudomon Spark!"
First aired on 14 November 1999
Screenplay: Atsushi Maekawa
Director: Tetsuji Nakamura
Honestly, you could put almost any episode from the Vamdemon-in-Tokyo arc on a list like this - that, for my money, was Adventure at its absolute best. The truly iconic one is, of course, Wizarmon's death and the confrontation between Angewomon and Vamdemon, and while that's undoubtedly one of the greats, i've always had a softer spot for its immediate predecessor. With so much personally at stake for each of them them - watching their families be taken captive, watching Lilimon taking a loud shriek to the face, the stress of everyone tearing themselves apart and sacrificing themselves for her sake eating at Hikari - the Chosen are split up all over the place and are each roughly as foggy about what the hell is going on as the literal fog of Vamdemon's plan. It's a joy to watch them all figure out what to do about it in their own way, despite very much lacking the full picture, setting the stage for them to all get together and face Vamdemon next episode.
And as an added bonus, it's basically the only time that they let Hikari show anything resembling agency that makes a difference toward anything. So, y'know, that's nice.
Digimon Savers #13: "Masaru's New Power: Evolve! RizeGreymon!"
First aired on 2 July 2006
Screenplay: Ryouta Yamaguchi
Director: Noriyo Sasaki
Despite having maybe four or five episodes total to its name, Chika and Piyomon's arc is one of the most endearing points in Savers. It's only natural given Chika's age, but there's an innocence to their bond that's a refreshing contrast to the more mature, duty-oriented DATS cast... so watching the perceived necessity of arbitrary ideologies, both on the part of Masaru/DATS and Mercurymon, threaten to tear them apart is just devastating, and it only gets worse from there, culminating in a brutal showdown where Masaru is forced to confront, in the face of his family being threatened, the limits to what he can do. This episode, in my view at least, also has the rare distinction of its climax arguably being better in the English dub than in the original; Quinton Flynn, Brian Beacock and the replacement soundtrack made it hit like an absolute truck.
Digimon Frontier #28: "Takuya's Fusion Evolution: Ardhamon's Explosive Technique!"
First aired on 20 October 2002
Screenplay: Akatsuki Yamatoya
Director: Kimitoshi Chioka
Imagine your god of choice. Now, imagine your god of choice being given a total palette-swap rebranding by some arrogant dipshit and then being used as a puppet by said dipshit to lay an absolutely unholy smackdown on your sorry ass. That's pretty much this episode in a nutshell. Point is, the Sephirothmon/Duskmon arc of Frontier has always stood out to me as the series' finest hour (well, hours plural), with Sephirothmon - in addition to still being a damned fine antagonist - being an effective and downright fun setpiece for episodes that poke and prod at the Chosen's insecurities. This showdown between Takuya and Mercuremon/Sephirothmon is just an absolute treat in every way: a thoroughly uphill battle that turns a power he was once trying to rescue against him, set upon an evocative, ever-changing backdrop, and - for good measure - the choral score from the climax of Children's War Game resurfacing for, of all things, a very long sequence of Takuya getting the absolute goddamn ever-loving shit kicked out of him.
Digimon Tamers #21: "Juri's Partner!? My Leomon"
First aired on 26 August 2001
Screenplay: Yoshio Urasawa
Director: Hiroyuki Kakudou
When people talk about Tamers, it's always about how dark and edgy it is compared to other Digimon runs. Personally, i see things a little differently: yes, it pushes the envelope with more serious themes than any other Digimon run aside from Savers, but as far as i'm concerned there's one part of Tamers that isn't talked about enough. For all the darkness, there is a truly sweet, genuine sense of hope and fun (best reflected by Culumon easily being the single most saccharine character in Digimon history; even Xros Wars explicitly creating Cutemon to be cute and nothing else didn't come close). Other episodes listed here demonstrate the razor-sharp mind of Tamers, but to me, this one is emblematic of the fluffy heart of Tamers - and the fact that they so often go hand-in-hand. It's sweet and goofy fun, but it's also one of the first full-blown glimpses into what really makes Juri tick; and despite being irrevocably tied to Leomon's extremely well-known fate and everything that subsequently does to Juri, i can't help but smile watching it unfold.
Digimon Xros Wars #54: "Seize the Glorious DigiXros! Our Future!"
First aired on 25 September 2011
Screenplay: Riku Sanjou
Director: Tetsuya Endou
If there's one thing that Digimon is generally very good at, it's staging a damned fine finale; almost all of them are iconic to fans in their own way, and the only ones which wouldn't, in one way or another, be likely to show up on a list like this are those of 02 (mostly courtesy of animosity toward its epilogue, though i'm personally not that bothered) and Xros Wars Hunters (by virtue of being twenty-five minutes of absolutely nothing, much like the rest of Xros Wars Hunters). Personally, though, in this field stacked with heavy hitters, i feel like i have to give it to the ending of Xros Wars proper. Here, the series died very much as it lived: a no-holds barred medley of emotional climaxes (Taiki's desperation to save Shoutmon from death! Yuu redeeming himself, getting a digivice and leading the charge!), fanservicey* fun (All those goofy digixrosses! Beelzebumon and Deckerdramon live! All those forgotten digimon in Xros Heart and Blue Flare are actually doing something!), and Xros Wars's greatest strength: stylish monster fights on a massive scale. When the last five minutes come and turn the tide hard in Taiki and company's favour, there's an overwhelming feeling that they've fucking earned it.
* The good kind, not the boob kind. That said, there was admittedly no avoiding the boob kind either, since Mervamon was there.
Digimon Adventure #21: "Koromon's Great Clash in Tokyo!"
First aired on 1 August 1999
Screenplay: Reiko Yoshida
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
Is it really a list of stellar Digimon installments without this one? A heartfelt and charming, yet thoroughly unsettling, character piece in which weeks of homesickness hit Taichi hard, tearing him between his friends in the Digital World and the prospect of a normal life with Hikari. For good measure, it's by far the most beautiful televised Digimon episode; with its fluid, soft animation style and moody shadows, for a moment you forget about the shoestring budget that the rest of Adventure (and all subsequent TV animu) was animated on.
Digimon Tamers #1: "The Birth of Guilmon! The Digimon That I Created"
First aired on 1 April 2001
Screenplay: Chiaki J. Konaka
Director: Yukio Kaizawa
Naturally, your average first episode of a new Digimon series is fairly generic and formulaic: boys meet girls, boys and girls meet digital monsters, boys and girls and digital monsters meet a rampaging minion of something, boys and girls and digital monsters meet their story's basic premise. Tamers is the one and only exception to this, and no other Digimon run's debut has ever articulated not only its premise, but its tone and themes, even half as well. The sense of mystery and wonder, the hard sci-fi edge, the innocent, childish heart, the incisive character studies - it's all here right off the bat, as a naive, nerdy child's imagination suddenly becomes all too real to an extent that he could never have imagined.
Digimon Adventure (pilot movie)
Opened in cinemas on 6 March 1999
Screenplay: Reiko Yoshida
Director: Mamoru Hosoda
It took a little while for the television incarnation of Adventure to hit its stride, but nonetheless the animu form of the franchise really came out swinging on day one, thanks to the pilot movie. No Digimon production since has evoked quite the same mysterious, kaiju film-esque feel that this one did: the feeling that our characters have come into contact with something truly alien and uncontrollable, whose very presence has a hell of an impact on the world as they know it despite not even intending to be in it, and that they've barely scratched the surface of what's out there. It doesn't really reflect the nature of the main series with any particular substance, as far as i'm concerned, but as a standalone slice of life it's absolutely charming. The use of Bolero as a leitmotif for how Taichi and Hikari are suddenly forced to confront a world larger than they can imagine, spiralling outward from the tiny perspective of children just as the song spirals outward in intensity*, was absolutely inspired; later parts of Adventure brought it back, but most of the time it felt like it was just there for the sake of being there.
* i recall reading a piece analysing the movie, discussing its tone and how Bolero contributes to it, years ago, but unfortunately i haven't been able to find it ever since.
Digimon Xros Wars #13: "Taiki, Warrior of the Goddess!"
First aired on 19 October 2010
Screenplay: Mutsumu Itou
Director: Masahiro Hosoda
Two things truly set Xros Wars apart from other Digimon runs: its sheer style (see above), and how for the most part, it was the humans' turn to be the satellite characters who provide the backdrop for the digimon's own dramas. Perhaps the best example of this was Ba'almon/Beelzebumon: the star of a lovely little story of loss, hope, vengeance, desperation, redemption and sacrifice, told piecemeal across his sporadic, show-stealing appearances. This episode - in which he and Taiki are forced to get to know each other and overcome weeks of enmity and suspicion - was his first turning point, and as far as i'm concerned, his strongest outing.
Digimon Adventure #48: "Orders to Bomb! Mugendramon"
First aired on 13 February 2000
Screenplay: Satoru Nishizono
Director: Hiroki Shibata
It's a sad truth that they've always done so little work with developing Hikari or even letting her do much of anything, to the point that for my money, the best episode about her is actually about Taichi. This one starts unassumingly enough - the giant monster fighting adventure takes a backseat to a stealth mission to retrieve medicine for Hikari's illness - but soon turns into a study of Taichi's desperation and guilt over one of the most shameful chapters of his past, one which haunts him all the more now that he's literally taking his sister into life-or-death battle against said giant monsters. This is also one of Koshiro's finest turns as Taichi's go-to partner-in-crime, as the vital help he renders in locating the medicine is also exactly what keeps leading Mugendramon's forces to them, only realising it when it's too late.
Digimon Tamers #48: "The Power to Protect Juri: Beelzebumon's Fist!"
First aired on 10 March 2002
Screenplay: Atsushi Maekawa
Director: Kimitoshi Chioka
It might not be the finale of Tamers, but it absolutely feels like its climax. Everything that's been building and/or festering since they entered the Digital World comes to a head, as the battle with the D-Reaper gets even more personal, Impmon resolves to atone for his part in causing all of this, and even Hirokazu, Kenta and Xiaochun get to do something. There's three more episodes to go, and they're good and all, but as far as i'm concerned they mostly boil down to resolving what came in this one. In particular, i adore its haunting ending, where the only thing left standing between them and ending the entire nightmare was something that Beelzebumon himself, in his hellbent determination to atone, completely failed to take into account: Juri's (absolutely justified) fear of him, and the sight of him using Leomon's signature technique igniting her grief and confusion all over again.
Digimon Adventure Tri #3: "Confession"
Opened in cinemas on 24 September 2016
Screenplay: Yuuko Kakihara, Mitsutaka Hirota, Takaaki Suzuki
Director: Keitaro Motonaga
Something tells me that this one showing up here isn't a surprise to anyone who's heard me say anything at any point in the past three years - and quite frankly, my feelings about it have only grown stronger ever since. i've had a review of sorts of it sitting around for years, so while it's a little rough and dated, i really don't need to repeat myself, now, do i? If there is such a thing as the perfect Digimon installment - the ultimate encapsulation of all the reasons why i adore Digimon's animu incarnation so damn much - this is it, and it's a crying shame that the rest of Tri couldn't match its heights.
