Weāre in the double digits now! Todayās review is something fun. I discovered that some of Yugiohās cards are separated intoĀ āarchetypesā, groups of related cards. So I picked a group that sounded interesting, and what a group it is!
Say hello to the Fishborg Archer! This guy is just...an incredibly creative design. Obviously meant to emulate the silhouette of a centaur, the torso section is home to not one, but TWO beautiful seals! At least, I think the top one is a seal? It has ears...
The design is a little overly complicated for my tastes, but it has a great color scheme and crossbow hands.Ā Plus, the concept in itself is just a really neat idea. I wonder if the seals pilot it together. Are they just along for the ride?
Unlike its sibling, Fishborg Blaster is actually piloted by a fish. This one is a more humanoid design, and looks like something out of a silly mecha anime. The bright headlight eyes of theĀ āfaceā are really charming, and I like its odd, squat proportions. Is...is the water from the guns coming out of the fish tank? Isnāt that dangerous for the fish???
Fishborg Doctor is baffling. So now itās a person in a fish-shaped mech? It kind of loses some of the charm of these being piloted by aquatic animals, but I still love the design of this mech. Itās sleek, and the radial symmetry of the fins and limbs make it look really high-tech! I just wish they put a crab in it or something.
Cr....ab? What is that in Fishborg Launcherās hull? Itās terrifying, I donāt like it! Besides that, however, this design is absolutely toyetic. The orange and white, mantis-like blades, and COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY MISSILES make it a wonderful addition to the group, despite having a horrifying headcrab within its cockpit. It looks similar to Fishborg Blaster while still being unique.
Okay, this one isnāt even in a sea environment! The Fishborg Planter is meant to look like an octopus, but within it is...a jellyfish? The roots of the plants on its head?? Algae??? This is definitely the least readable of the designs, but I like how the gold part kind of looks like a frogās face. Personally, I think the design would be more coherent if it ditched the flowers on top and had, say, some coral within its tank.
Fishborg Group: 4/5
I want these as toys! Very fun and a unique concept, but could stand to be a little more readable, and maybe just a little more coherent as a group.
So, fun fact about me: I love frogs. Theyāre my favorite animal, I canāt get enough of them! So when I was alerted to the existence of a frog Digimon, of course I had to review it. And itās...something, all right.
What a weird, gross little guy! While Gekomon initially put me off, the more I look at him, the more I appreciate him. His odd pointed snaggle teeth and mismatched, walleyed gaze are just too charming. He even has cute little spirals in them! The holes in a tongue is not something Iāve seen before, though itās also kind of gross. However, Gekomonās real charm point comes from its wiki description:
āAn Amphibian Digimon that charms those around it with a pleasant voice that is hard to imagine by looking at its bizarre appearance. It is rumored to be born when a famous piece is written in music composition software, so it has become sort of a status symbol among the musicians of the world.ā
I really like the idea of such a strange, ugly creature being associated with beautiful music and upper-class musicians.
Oh, Iāve seen this guy around before! Maybe heās one of the more popular digimon? Otamamon is, as you probably expected, a tadpole. But rather unusually for a cartoon tadpole, heās in the middle of growing up! Look at those far-apart, glassy fish eyes. He has no idea whatās going on. I kind of love that his front legs are so huge and muscly? Itās just plain ridiculous. And then, of course, his back legs. His adorable back legs. Poor guy is growing just a little bit uneven! My biggest critique is that heās not green, like Gekomon. Even just a little gradient or patch of green would connect the two forms better.
Finally, we have ShogunGekomon, an even bigger frog! Oddly enough, though, he seems to still retain a bit of his tadpole formās tail. Now, let me say, I absolutely love this guy. He takes everything I find appealing about Gekomon and does it even better! He keeps the pointy teeth and adorable wall-eyes, and also becomes exponentially rounder. His outie bellybutton with the bandages reminds me of King Hippo...the wiki states thatĀ āits singing voice, which is several octaves below that of Gekomon's, imparts a feeling of a lordly air of superiority.ā A kingly frog indeed!
Weirdly enough, despite being obviously great, it seems like ShogunGekomon has only been used in-series by bad guys? The trope of only bad guys using spooky or uglyĀ āmons is an issue Iāll get into at another time, but really, who thinks this guy is spooky or ugly? He has a mustache.
Gekomon Line: 5/5
Everything about them is uniquely charming.
Yokai Watch! That new-fangled monster catching game all the kids like these days. Its popularity exploded practically overnight! So I decided to do a little nosing around, and quickly found the most charming little mon I ever did see!
This is Dazzabel, and she is wonderful. How can you dislike a skeleton-ghost doing the rich woman laugh?? Her perfectly round eyes make her look cute, and the makeup on her skull instantly communicates that sheās a skeleton of high class. Her color scheme is vibrant without being too bright, and I like the little detail of her having no wrists under her gloves. Sheās just incredibly unique and distinctly charming!
Rattelle exchanges a little bit of that class for girlish charm, which I donāt mind at all! Her eyes are interesting and contrast nicely with her outfit, and seeing ringlets on a skeleton is just plain adorable. I like how she has a slight overbite, as well as the different pattern on the underside of her dress! Maybe itās meant to emulate a hoop skirt? If I have any complaints, itās that they swapped Dazzabelās stylish pinstripes for a more generic stripe pattern.
Like all fully-evolved yokai, Rattelle has a recolor in the form of Skelebella. While I donāt really see the point of every yokai having one of these, I donāt dislike Skelebella. Her yellow dress is cute, and the baby blue gives her a slightly more eerie look than her counterpart. However, it also makes her loose a little bit of the innocent sweetness Rattelle has.
Dazzabel Line: 5/5
The first of our reviews whose designs actually made me gasp. If I played Yokai Watch, Iād want them to be my main Yokai!
I donāt consider myself particularly knowledgeable about Digimon (thatās kind of the point of this blog), but I like to think I know a thing or two about monster catching games. You find a cute, weird thing, catch and befriend it, and then it fights for you. But the group of Digimon Iām about to show you shook me to my very core, and made me re-examine everything I know about mons.
Okay.
Thatās a person. Thatās just a fucking person. It doesnāt have wings or fangs or oddly-colored skin or anything. Dressing like a Gaia Online avatar does not qualify you as a digital monster!! Now I can admit, Sistermon Blanc has a cute outfit and an absolutely awesome hat, but I canāt imagine sending this little girl into battle against a giant mecha-dragon. She has a family, you monster.
HerĀ āawakenedā form at least looks a little more battle-worthy. Her outfit becomes even cuter, for one, and the angelic wings coming off her hat make her look like a White Mage. I especially like how her hat goes over her eyes and gives them odd pupils, really makes her look like a superhero. While still not a digital monster, exactly, sheād look right at home as a rival to Dark Magician Girl.
Sistermon Noir is one of Blancās two elder sisters, and is explicitly a nun. Despite that, however, sheās said to be both cheerful and violent, along with the fact she trades in her sisterās trident for fucking guns.
She doesnāt quite have Blancās charm, and her monochromatic colorscheme could use a lot more gray, since all the black washes away some of the finer details of the costume. However, I like her cat-bat-hat quite a bit. A weird thing is her guns are a T shape. I know less about guns than I do about digimon, but arenāt clips supposed to be on the bottom?
Her awakened form also looks fantastic. It gives me a real Bayonetta vibe, though Iām not sure the neckline was entirely necessary. Converting the hat into a cowl was awesome, and I love the silhouette of it! Kinda wish more designs combined the hood and cape like that.
Finally, Sistermon Ciel. Unlike most recolor Digimon, she changes things up a bit with slightly modified clothes, most importantly a frankly adorable mouse hat. Sheās said to be Noirās twin sister, and oddly enough this was the only official art I could find of her. Since she doesnāt have the same black and white theming as her siblings, it really seems like she was added as an afterthought. Still, you canāt go wrong with sky blue!
However, her awakened form.....misses the mark a bit. A blue mouse cowl is just a lot less cool than a black cat one, and her cape isnāt even dramatically ragged! Iām sorry Ciel, youāre just not as neat as your sisters, and I feel like you already know that.
Sistermon Group: 3.5/5
They still arenāt monsters, but are neat enough designs in their own right. Their awakened forms are vastly more interesting than their regular ones.
I better get these TMNT reviews in while I can, because with the debut of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the series is suddenly a lot more enticing to me. So, before I watch the series and actually learn about the characters or some nonsense, of course I have to review at least one of them.
First up is his debut appearance in the original TMNT comics! While his design is pretty par for the course for theĀ ālizard personā archetype, his beady little eyes and stubby snout are charming. He honestly doesnāt look that much like a gator at all, more of a mini Godzilla, which detracts points.Whatās with that weird backwards toe? That said, I do like that one of his panels is absolutely terrifying:
Leatherhead gets a redesign in the original series, becoming more humanoid, and oh my god you guys. This guy is insanely charming. He still doesnāt look much like a gator, he just kinda looks like an anthro snake, but everything about him radiates charm. From his tiny hat, to his short-jorts and leggings, to the inexplicable crawfish jammed in his belt. Itās impossible to find a screenshot of him that doesnāt look incredibly silly, and I love it. Heās voiced by Jim Cummings, to boot!
While the Archie Comics Leatherhead doesnāt look too different from the show, besides being more crocodile than ever and inexplicably having eyebrows, his story is the interesting part. Apparently, he used to be a normal dude, and was turned into an alligator by a witch using actual magic. Why, I have no idea! Heās so dang upset to be an alligator, though, I canāt help but feel bad for him.
I also have to mention his design in another Archie comic, which is absolutely baffling:
What??? He goes straight fromĀ āalligatorā toĀ āHannah-Barbera dinosaurā. I donāt mind the design, itās charming, but thatās not an alligator, guys!!
Now thereās an alligator!! Idw stays true to the hallmarks of the reptile, with stubby little legs, plantigrade feet, and a beautifully rendered body texture. Heās finally the intimidating badass the original comics wanted him to be, I think!! I like the colorscheme of this outfit a lot, but for series purists, he also gets a costume more like his classic show one:
In the 2003 series, they for some reason decided to make him a massive crocodile. Perhaps they thought crocodiles were more iconic? Gator or not, his design is decidedly rough. Gone are the days of jorts and leather vests, this guy just has his cool bandages and a...cumberbund? It certainly doesnāt look like a martial arts band to me. And for some insane reason, they gave him the same type of hands and feet the turtles have, which make him look more like an odd monkey hybrid than a true crocodilian.
Next up is Leatherhead from the 2012 series, which is just.....eh. Itās fine, itās not bad, but thereās nothing really unique about it. Itās exactly what youād expect from a humanoid alligator. At least his proportions are kind of neat?
Leatherhead: 3/5
A neat idea, and decent execution, but many of its designs are lackluster and made by people who donāt know what alligators look like.
Iām using a new system of picking digimon at complete random, and still managed to get a dinosaur! This one is very red, and has a cool name, but can it live up to incredibly cute Gabumon?
Oh, look at this guy! He takes all the charming traits of the modern Agumon and expounds on them, with a bean-shaped lil body and dang head wings. Those are so useless, I love it. Its markings are complex without being too overwhelming, though I feel like more could be done with the simple rings on its limbs, and I the oddly stubby hands mixed with long claws is a look I love!
Digimonās wiki states thatĀ āthe mark drawn on its abdomen is called the "Digital Hazard", which is inscribed on those that have the potential to cause massive damage to computer data. However, as long as this ability is used peacefully, it can probably become a being that protects the Digital World.ā Probably? Iām not sure I like that wording.
Gigimon is actually the one picked with my new method of Digimon-choosing, but I thought itād be best to start with the...mainer...form? This little guy looks much more like Guilmon than many of the other little guys look like their bigger forms, which is great. The wings arenāt any bigger, yet it still manages to at least float with them. Maybe the wings arenāt propelling it, and its little round tummy is just full of gases. The minimal markings look nice (though I wish Guilmon kept the black tailtip), and the eyelashes and craggy mouth are unique and lovable.
Jyarimon is an even babier baby, and has an adorable little cat mouth. The eyes are cute enough, I guess, but they also look a little dead to me. Speaking of dead, the wiki says most of these guysĀ ā are captured or die before they grow upā
DDD:
Growlmon, sad to say, looks a little more doofy than cool. The markings get more complex, along with the strange addition of glowing....runes?...on some of its stripes. I donāt actually mind most of these markings, but the runeād out ones are a little much. The mullet and oddly concerned look it, combined with its potbelly, make it look more like an aging member of an 80s rockband than a badass dragon. The paw beans are good though.
Thereās also BlackGrowlmon, which is Growlmon cosplaying as Shadow the Hedgehog.
Now thatās more like it! Wargrowlmon adds some mechanics into the mix, looking more even and intentional than the cybernetics given to Metalgreymon. This feels less like an attempt to Robocop a dying monster and more like a deadly upgrade. I love the design of the arms, and the helmet makes me think of a valkyrie. My biggest complaint about the design is the fact the runes are still there, and the odd metal appendage coming out of the back of the torso. Whatās that supposed to be?Ā
From here on, Wargrowlmon has two evolutions, which Iāll cover one at a time.
Megidramon is the more logical progression from Wargrowlmon, but it honestly feels like a step down to me. I like the serpentine body and the red and gold hip armor, but between the shark mouth, ribcage-like armor, ornate armblades and photoshop-fire, it feels like itās trying a little too hard to be cool? Iām sure there are legions of 12 year old boys who think this is the most bitchinā digimon around, but itās all a little much for me.
Gallantmon, on the other hand, I am very much into. Interestingly, he can evolve from Wargrowlmon, or you can skip that shit entirely and just slam Guilmon into another Digimon. I didnāt know this series had fusion, thatās both cool and a little horrifying.
I love knights, and this guy is no exception. His proportions are great, his colorscheme is good, and his shield and lance are awesome. Despite, again, looking nothing like his predecessor, I just like this guy a whole lot!Ā
Finally, we have Gallantmon Crimson Mode, who falls into the same trap as Megidramon. Too busy, too ornate, and trades most of its cool silver with boring old red. Cāmon Gallantmon, I was rooting for you!
Guilmon Line: 3/5
Several strong Digimon weighed down by overcomplicated designs that are all over the place.
I love magical girl animes. As a child, I found Sailor Moon in the corner of my local Blockbuster, and watched the six episodes within with a sense of amazement. However, for someone who l loves the genre, I havenāt seen many of the classics, including CLAMPās Cardcaptor Sakura, whose little friend is the subject of review today. Mascots are basically monsters, right?
This little guy is one of the first magical girl mascots the genre had to offer, and one of the most appealing. His design is so simple, but lovable! Far-spaced, tiny eyes are always cute, and itās a nice change of pace from many big-eyed mascots you see in many anime. His stubby limbs remind me of a teddy bear, or maybe a mouse, though his long tail also makes me think of a Popple (first Blockbuster, now Popples. This review is making me feel old.) His wings are perfectly stylized, and overall makes for an extremely huggable friend! I just want to hold him!
Of course, he doesnāt evolve, so this is going to be one of my shorter reviews-
Holy shit. Talk about a glow-up! This is Cerberusā true form, and man does it look awesome! I appreciate how his simple fringed wings turn into more realistic ones, and his armor isnāt too complicated nor too simple. He looks every bit a wise mentor, which is what the magical girl mascot archetype is all about! However, he still retains the cute, comedic chibi form, which gives us the flipside of the archetype: cute, marketable mascots to buy toys of.
Cerberus: 5/5
Both cute and fearsome, this guy has something for everyone!
What, you didnāt think this was going to be all Digimon, right? Thereās a bunch of things I know nothing about! And a big one of those is Yu-Gi-Oh. Card games have never really been my thing, simply because collecting enough to be able to play a game is hard and I was bad at remembering rules as a kid. So letās see what the weird world of serious card games has to offer.
Now thereās a card I can understand! Pot of Greed is one of the more famous cards from the series, and for good reason: It was one of the earliest ones, judging by that 1st edition on the bottom of the card, and easy to figure out the rules for. However, the most distinctive thing about it is its design. Look at that face. That little shit is so smug about you drawing two cards. Its eerily human face drives it straight into the uncanny valley, but its odd, swollen eyeballs and overly-large, bared teeth give it this mocking, sinister vibe. It looks straight out of Majoraās Mask, I love it.
While yugioh doesnāt haveĀ āevolutionsā in the strict sense, it does have cards that relate to each other. As far as I can tell, Pot of Greed has quite a few.
The first is Spirit of Pot of Greed, which expounds on the original cardās design. The pot now has tiny red pupils, gazing directly up at you. It looks like it knows you did something terrible. And the little spirit popping out of the pot? Horrifying! It takes everything I gushed about the pot and does it more, with its hideously wide smile stuck in a wrinkled face. The ears and horns projecting out of the fire give it a devilish tone, but I would kind of prefer it if it was just a ball of fire? The pointed ears and fiery hair just make it look like Jack Frost from the Santa Clause, and oh god now I canāt unsee it.
The Pot of Avarice is a sort of sibling to the Pot of Greed, and it has a similar look suited for one of those 90s gross-out series, like Garbage Pail Kids or Madballs. However, it doesnāt carry the universal appeal of Pot of Greed- whereas olā Greedy looks sinister, Pot of Avarice is downright buffoonish, making it a lot less spooky. The design is also pretty busy, with all the markings as well as the gem teeth, Plus, the design of the face seems kind of....unfortunate, to me? Like it could be an offensive stereotype, though I dunno if itās anything in particular. Plus, the HitlerĀ āstash. I much prefer its counterpart, the Jar of Avarice, which addresses a few of my complaints and overall looks a little nicer.
Jar of Greed goes a little more back to basics, with a more smug design than Avarice. While I still prefer Pot of Greed, I enjoy the detailing on this one; the golden moulding around the face looks nice, and makes it look like its sneering at you. The gem eyes are a nice touch.
There are many Pots similar to the Pot of Greed in the series, judging by the dozen or so ones that popped (or should I say potted up) while getting images for this review. Theyāre all interesting in their own right, but this review is specifically for Pot of Greed-related monsters, which brings us to our final card in this review:
Our next review is Gabumon, a little guy who Iāve been told is also one of the main Digimon. Iām unsure where he stands in comparison to Agumon in terms of important-ness, whether heās a partner of a second protagonist or of another series protag altogether, but he definitely takes some twists and turns Agumonās line lacks. Letās get into it, shall we?
Look at this little guy! He is instantly more charming and recognizable than Agumon, with his pleasingly-colored striped pelt. He seems like some kind of dinosaur under it, but the pelt gives him teeny little ears as well as a fricking unicorn horn. Plus, his eyelashes are adorable. The only thing I donāt like here is his weird chest symbol, which seems incongruous with the rest of the design. A quick glance at the wiki shows it has an ā extremely timid and shy personalityā, which just amplifies the cute factor.
Next up is its baby form, Tsunomon, which is....something. I think most baby forms are just little blobs, so I wonāt knock it for being one, but the horn is odd. It seems like it would just fall over from the weight of it. However, it redeems itself with its precious little face, with a cat-eye outline to the eyes I really like. Kinda looks like a Waddle Dee.
BlackGabumon is Gabumon, but black. No points for originality, but I will admit I like this colorscheme slightly more. Not much else to say about it.
This is Garurumon, who....sure does exist. Iām not really sure how it goes from the saurian Gabumon to a straight-up wolf, but it retains the pelt markings of Gabumon to give it a somewhat logical progression. However, it completely throws out all the things that make Gabumon so great. The unicorn horn, the color blocking of the design, and even its stubby little tail was replaced byĀ something a little more Tigger-y than wolf-y. The one saving grace is that its wings and ridge-like fur remind me of theĀ Glaucus atlanticus, a particularly popular and unusual nudibranch.
Overall, however, it doesnāt have the rest of the lineās appeal.
I feel similar about WereGarurumon, though at least this one has some cool pirate-inspired clothing, which incidentally improves the nudibranch resemblance. WereGarurumon is rockinā some killer nails and eyelashes, at least, even if itās just entirely a furry at this point. Does that make it Gabumonās fursona...?
Similar to BlackGabumon, ShadowWereGabumon is just a recolor. Once again, I prefer its colorscheme, as well as its hilariously long name.
Also once again, this line is too big to review all at once! Weāll get to the rest of the Gabulutions another time, but for now letās review what weāve got:
Gabumon Line: 4/5
While its third and fourth forms disappointed me slightly, nothing can take away from the pure joy Gabumon and Tsunomon brought me.
Greetings, everyone! Iām Ness, and I absolutely love monsters. The strange, the sweet, the scary- theyāre great! And since the 80s, weāve started branching out from the usual horror monsters and aliens into some truly unique stuff. Naturally, I wanna give my opinions on a lot of it. But I thought it would be fun for me to dive into things Iāve never or barely seen, and give my thoughts on those designs. So, first up, one of the most iconic Digimon, Agumon!
Of the monster-catching genre, Iāll admit Pokemon was always my darling. I never really gave Digimon much of a look into for one reason or another. This little guy, Agumon, is as far as I can tell sort of the mascot for the series. Unlike Pikachu, itās this little wrinkly t-rex thing. I will say, as far as an icon for the series goes, this guy is a little....generic? Heās just kind of a t-rex, which is charming, but thereās no real grab that some of the strangerĀ āmons out there have. His main attribute appears to be his pug-like wrinkliness, which I love, but itās sadly been downplayed in more recent years.
However, his face is a lot cuter and more cuddly in recent art, which I really like. Why does he have pecs, though?
This little puffball is Koromon, Agumonās pre-evolution. Baby form? This little guy is adorable! While I wish he had more in common with Agumon, the little pointy teeth are charming, the big eyes scream magical girl anime, and overall he reminds me a lot of the killer rabbit from Monty Python. Look at that grin!
Woah, look at this guy! Greymonās apparently one of many evolved forms Agumon can take, and I instantly like him more than his younger form. The wrinkliness is back, and he has a bitchinā helmet that looks straight out of He-Man. The blue stripes add to his colorscheme nicely, though I do have the complaint that heās not actually grey. His helm is more a brownish color than anything.
Holy shit, okay, this is the kind of wild stuff Digimon is famous for. This is apparently theĀ āVaccineā form of MetalGreymon, which also has an accompanyingĀ āVirusā form. Version exclusives, perhaps? While his organic bits seem the same as Greymon, this dino has gone straight Robotcop on us in the best way possible. The chunky cybernetic bits add interest to the otherwise organic form, and he also gets feathers, or maybe hair, and....wings? A cape? This looks like something a middle schooler would draw in the best way, and heās actually grey!
Okay, I actually didnāt know Digimon turned into this many. I donāt know if this many forms is unique to Agumon or a series standard, but thereās way too many to review all at once, and it honestly wouldnāt be fair to lump them all together under one rating. So Iām going to give these guys all one rating together, and subsequent Agulution reviews will be taken in the context of both how Agumon-esque they are, and how generally bitchinā they are.
Agumon Line: 3.5/5
While it starts off as nothing particularly unique, it takes a hard turn into completely ridiculous at the very end, bumping it an extra half point.