Digimon Web begins Digimon Journal- Ongoing Series of Information Reports, Follow Up to Digimon Profile

[MarcFBR]

Digimon Profile ended about half a year ago or so with Agumon Hakase and Terriermon Joshu traveling off into the Digital World to learn more.

They aren't back yet, but a new series begins with Digimon Journal.


These new articles are to show off the charm and history of Digimon. It begins today, and will show up on every 2nd and 4th Wednesday.



The first 3 have gone up with the header of 'Digimon Highlights', which each feature 3 Digimon.

Each Digimon gets:
Various art displayed at a decent resolution (not amazing, but decent), including some art never before seen clean or at good resolutions before.
A text profile, giving information on appearances and the character.
A list of Main Appearances
Showing off a card from the Card Game featuring them.
A link to their reference book entry.
At the end of the Journal, each Digimon gets a high resolution zoom in of some of their art, framed for use as an avatar whether square or circle.



The translations for these at a glance are decent, not quite as choppy as some of Digimon Profile was, although there are mixes of terminology.
For our coverage of these, we'll paste in text information as is, with some cleanup, along with the various art.

Digimon Journal 1- Digimon Highlights: Alphamon Dorugoramon, and Gammamon

​

Alphamon

Alphamon appeared as a Holy Knight Digimon affiliated with the Royal Knights, an organization created to protect the order of the Digital World. This fabled Digimon rarely makes an appearance, existing instead as a deterrent to Holy Knight Digimon.

Alphamon first appeared in the animated movie Digital Monster X-Evolution, released in Japan in 2005. It also plays a role in the game Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, and is often depicted as an impressive key figure in a variety of media.

In the aforementioned X-Evolution, as well as the Digimon Chronicle manga booklets that came packaged with Digimon Pendulum X, the main character Dorumon Evolved time and time again to oppose Yggdrasill, the computer in charge of the Digital World. In the final battle against Death-X-mon, it faced this sinister foe wielding the Ultimate Ouryuken, the weaponized form of the Digimon known as Ouryumon.

On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Holy Sword Gradalpha.

Main Appearances
Digimon Chronicle
Digital Monster X-Evolution
Digimon Pendulum X 1.0
Digimon Pendulum X 3.0
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth
Digimon Adventure tri.

​

Dorugoramon

The protagonist Kota Doumoto’s partner Digimon Dorumon first Evolved into this Ultimate form in the Digimon Chronicle manga booklets bundled with Digimon Pendulum X.

Said to have bested the famous Royal Knight Omegamon in combat, this alone suggested just how powerful Dorugoramon had become. Even so, Dorugoramon would lose to Omegamon when it chose X-Evolution to obtain an X-Antibody form.

On the verge of death, Dorugoramon’s body split into the Child level Dorumon and Death-X (death data personified). Dorumon would then go on to reach Alphamon level.

As for the Death-X... It transformed into Death-X-mon, a vile computer virus that consumed the DigiCores of others, and threatened the very integrity of the Digital World.

As such, Dorugoramon is not only the Ultimate Evolution of the story’s protagonist, but also the catalyst that gave birth to its final boss, making this a complicated digital entity indeed.

This Digimon boasts a fair share of popularity due to its edgy appearance, and its status as one of the few to best the strongest character of the Digimon series, Omegamon.

So, too, were this pair known for their appearances on starter pack packages for the OG card game, “Dorugoramon Terror Deck” and “Omegamon Purge Deck”.

Main Appearances
Digimon Chronicle
Digimon Pendulum X 1.0

Gammamon

It appeared in the TV anime Digimon Ghost Game as the partner Digimon of protagonist Hiro Amanokawa. Gammamon appears much more childish than previous Digimon leads, and one can imagine that a fair share of viewers must have been amused by its innocent yet mischievous behavior.

This special creature boasts a complex Evolution tree at Child level, a rare feat for leading anime Digimon. Digimon developing with their partners is but a part of the charm of Digimon tales, and the gradual growth of Gammamon’s spirit is no exception, depicted in striking fashion on the small screen.

Main Appearances
Digimon Ghost Game
DimCard-V1 Gammamon



And the avatars for them...

And as mentioned, since it's day 1, they put up more than 1...

Digimon Journal 2- Digimon Highlights: Beelzebumon, BelleStarmon, and Clockmon

Beelzebumon

An Ultimate Digimon counting itself among the most powerful Demon Lord Digimon, the Seven Great Demon Lords. Beelzebumon first appeared in the third season of the TV anime series, Digimon Tamers. Impmon gained the power to Evolve after making a contract with Zhuqiaomon.

Beelzebumon would end up killing Leomon, partner Digimon to series heroine Juri Katou. This would cause protagonist Takato Matsuki to fly into a rage. This fiend would act as the catalyst for Guilmon’s Dark Evolution into Megidramon, but the villain would come to see the error of his ways after a defeat at the hands of Dukemon.

Having de-Evolved back to Impmon, it would Evolve into Beelzebumon once again of its own volition, and choose to join the cause of Takato and friends. One might say this road to redemption from villain to ally was the impetus for Beelzebumon’s skyrocketing popularity.

It would get a redesign in Digimon Xros Wars, the TV anime broadcast in Japan in 2010.

Not only that, but it would end up on the package art for the LCD game Digimon Accel Ultimate Genome Hell Blue.

Main Appearances
Digimon Tamers
Digimon Accel Ultimate Genome Hell Blue
Digimon World Data Squad
Digimon World Dawn/Digimon World Dusk
Digimon Pendulum Ver. 20th Beelzebumon Color

BelleStarmon

One of the Digimon collectively referred to as The Three Musketeers, alongside MagnaKidmon and Gundramon. BelleStarmon’s origin and history are both unique, as it started as a Beelzebumon variant posted to designer Kenji Watanabe’s Twitter before its official adoption into Digimon canon.

Its first actual product appearance was in the Digimon Collectible Card Game: Digimon 15th Anniversary Box. This character’s popularity has taken firm root despite a lack of in-universe appearances in anime or games.

The Digimon Card Game that launched in 2020 featured BelleStarmon’s first appearance in a secret slot of the sixth booster pack, Double Diamond. Its card acts as a powerful linchpin for purple decks using Option cards. Keep an eye on this character, who you can expect to see making waves outside of the card game moving forward.

Incidentally, BelleStarmon is actually on bad terms with its precursor Beelzebumon.

Main Appearances
Digimon Collectible Card Game
Digimon Card Game

​

​

Clockmon

An Adult Digimon ruling over time and space. The incredible power Clockmon brings to bear at Adult level, as well as the idiosyncrasies of such power, leads to this Digimon’s frequent use in stories.

It first appeared in the PlayStation title Digimon World as the game’s clock icon, then again in Digimon Pendulum 5 Metal Empire as a trainable character. It also makes memorable appearances in TV anime on occasion, watching over the sealed Megadramon in Digimon Tamers, and summoning the other-dimensional heroes in Digimon Fusion: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time.

Clockmon even shows up in the very first episode of Digimon Ghost Game! Known as the “Sewn-Lip Man,” it causes a series of bizarre incidents by stealing time from people. It ends up defeated by protagonist Hiro Amanokawa, after which it tries (and fails) to take its revenge on the hero.

Clockmon faced deletion after being attacked with its own technique, but was saved by Hiro and turned over a new leaf. It then ended up joining Hiro and friends in their efforts to resolve a variety of incidents.

Main Appearances
Digimon Pendulum 5 Metal Empire
Digimon Tamers
Digimon Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time
Digimon Ghost Game



And the avatars for them...

And for day 1, we get one more batch...

Digimon Journal 3- Digimon Highlights: WarGreymon, Shoutmon x4, & Ginryumon

WarGreymon

A Greymon-type Dragon Man Digimon, and the first Ultimate-level of the Greymon family to appear. In the TV anime Digimon Adventure, protagonist Taichi Yagami’s partner Digimon Agumon was able to Warp Evolve into this form. Since then, WarGreymon has maintained its status as the beloved face of all Ultimate Digimon.

As their name implies, the giant Dramon Killer claw weapons on its arms deal massive damage to Dramon-species Digimon. Fans of the aforementioned Digimon Adventure fondly remember the thrilling scenes of WarGreymon defeating MetalSeadramon and Mugendramon, two members of the evil Ultimate Digimon group known as the Dark Masters.

It was designed with gimmicks in mind for the Super Evolution Series toy line themed around Super Evolution transformations. Even Volcano Ota, Bandai’s Digimon lead at the time, got involved in the design process.

Main Appearances
Digimon Adventure series
Digimon Pendulum 5.0/5.5 Metal Empire
Digimon Pendulum ZERO Virus Busters
Digital Monster Ver. 20th
Digimon Pendulum Ver. 20th
Digimon Pendulum Z

Shoutmon x4

This Digimon first appeared in Digimon Xros Wars, the TV anime broadcast in Japan in 2010. The trio of Shoutmon, Ballistamon and Dorulumon first DigiXros into Shoutmon x3, before subsequently DigiXrosing with Starmon and Pickmon to reach this form. This elite Digimon supported the Xros Heart, an army led by protagonist Taiku Kudou, during the early days of the group.

Shoutmon x4 boasts a plethora of signature and special moves, with six total recorded in the Digimon Reference Book(as opposed to the two to four normally mastered by Digimon).

This form has many variations: the Knight Mode, Shoutmon x4K is a DigiXros with Knightmon and multiple PawnChessmon; the Divine Horse Modem Shoutmon x4B is a DigiXros with Beelzebumon; and the Weapons Fighter Mode, Shoutmon x4S is a DigiXros with Spadamon.

At present, Shoutmon x4 is registered to the Field Guide at Adult level, but its Shoutmon x4K and Shoutmon x4B forms raises that level to Perfect.

Main Appearances
Digimon Xros Wars
Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars
Digimon Xros Wars Digimon Mini Shoutmon Red
Digimon Collectible Card Game

​

Ginryumon

An Adult Digimon with the X-Antibody who first appeared in Digimon Pendulum X 2.0. In the Digimon Chronicle manga booklets bundled with these virtual pets, protagonist Yuji Musha’s partner Digimon Ryudamon Evolved into this form.

Ryudamon even makes an appearance in the more recent TV anime Digimon Ghost Game! Having Evolved into Gyukimon, it had to rely on Hiro and friends to return to its original form.

It then succeeded in Evolving into Ginryumon, and we hope viewers are looking forward to seeing what it does next!

Main Appearances
Digimon Chronicle
Digimon Pendulum X 2.0
Digimon Ghost Game
DIM Card -V3- Espimon & Ryudamon



And the avatars for them...

It's nice to get the slightly more detailed profiles that aren't 1:1 to the reference book, being a bit more based on the character themselves and how they are used.

Getting a good number of art clean and better resolution for the first time is definitely a huge plus.

It's nice to see the overall breadth of the franchise being looked at as these are put together, with a wide range of characters being chosen just for day 1.

It will also be interesting to see what pops up outside of 'Digimon Highlights' and profiles...


Bit sad Agumon Hakase and Terriermon Joshu aren't back though...


Plenty more to come for these...


The final Digimon Profile, the predecessor to Journal, can be found here. It includes an index of all Profiles.

 

[BlankShell]

This is really cool! I like the deep dive, although you gotta wonder how much steam they have, especially if they’re picking slightly more out there profiles like Bellestarmon. Getting all the cool art variations is amazing.

 

[Kyaromonfan96]

So that makes 9!

 

[Chimera-gui]

At present, Shoutmon X4 is registered to the Field Guide at Adult level, but its Shoutmon X4K and Shoutmon X4B forms raise that level to Perfect.

Nice little acknowledgement of that quirk in the Levels though I'm surprised X4S wasn't added as another Level V since one of the main draws of the Profile reports were what they added to the Encyclopedia.

 

[Muur]

Doesn't seem that different to Digimon Profile to me, but I'm sure some people will learn some new stuff.

This says Ginryumon was in Chronicle but looking it up and that doesn't actually seem to be the case.

Main cool thing we get from this is the new/old art.

 

[Yamato-san]

There were a couple errrors in your re-translation (which aren't present in either the original Japanese or the official English versions).

On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Ouryuken.

Seiken Gradalpha.

One of the Digimon collectively referred to as The Three Musketeers, alongside MagnaKidmon and Gundramon. BelleStarmon’s origin and history are both unique, as it started as a BelleStarmon variant posted to designer Kenji Watanabe’s Twitter before its official adoption into Digimon canon.

A Beelzebumon variant.

Also, there's this one, which is present on the official English text (though with "Mega" in place of "Ultimate").

A Greymon-type Dragon Man Digimon, and the first Ultimate-level Digimon to appear.

This is factually incorrect, since even within the Adventure anime, VenomVamdemon shows up first. The Japanese text (グレイモン系で初めての究極体として登場した竜人型デジモン。) makes it more apparent that it's the first Ultimate of the Greymon species.

Anyway, my thoughts:
-I do find it a shame that, despite so many art variations used, some of them don't give a decent enough focus on the face (though especially with Dorugoramon). But the inclusion a select piece of card game art does alleviate this quite a bit.

-While I prefer to call the old card game by the name "Hyper Colosseum", it is interesting to see it being called the "OG card game" (or 旧カード "former card game" in Japanese) to differentiate it from the current card game (simply titled "Digimon Card Game" in all regions). Incidentally, the acknowledgement of the old card game seems pretty funny on the English side of things, given what a total mess its localization was (but these write-ups are also referring to Japan-only products like X-Evolution, Digimon Chronicles, and several V-pets, so yeah).

-Despite including artwork of the Clockmon from Boy Hunters, the blurb seemed to barely give that appearance a mention while having way more to say about its recent Ghost Game appearances (also, this is my first time noticing that, aside from the obvious lack of the puppet body, the Boy Hunters Clockmon also has different-colored clock hands). Incidentally, I just checked Clockmon's profile, and that variant artwork doesn't show up on it (despite the Reference Book adding variant art to profiles not too long ago).

-Chimera-gui already brought it up, but I too am amused at the way that description of ShoutmonX4's level was written, as if acknowledging that Xros Wars levels are subject to change. And yeah, the mention of ShoutmonXS, which currently doesn't have a profile, was odd. Whenever it does get a profile, I wonder if this journal entry will be edited to include the link.

-I was hoping ShoutmonX4's entry would make more mention of the fact that literally the only difference between it and X3 is whether or not it holds the Star Sword. Ah well, maybe if ShoutmonX3 gets its own entry at some point. BTW, it points out how ShoutmonX4 has 6 attacks, but three of them are just re-used from X3 (ShoutmonX2, on the other hand, actually does have 6 attacks that are unique to it).

 

[Chimera-gui]

Chimera-gui already brought it up, but I too am amused at the way that description of ShoutmonX4's level was written, as if acknowledging that Xros Wars levels are subject to change.

Not so much that XW Levels in general are themselves subject to change but more that Shoutmon X4 specifically only needs to fuse with exactly one DigiXros Unit to Digivolve to Level V explaining why Shoutmon X5 is also Level V and lending credence to my theory that the number of Digimon Shoutmon Fuses with to form the main mechas has an effect on their Levels.

 

[CloneWarrior]

There were a couple errrors in your re-translation (which aren't present in either the original Japanese or the official English versions).

On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Ouryuken.

Seiken Gradalpha.

This is actually an error on the official English translation, which says "On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Blade of the Dragon King."

Which is weird, since the text right above it calls the sword the Ouryuken without translating it.

Also, the card they used doesn't have it wielding any sword.

 

[Hydranoid413]

“Divine Horse Modem” isn’t a phrase I was expecting (although at least horse is relevant cause X4B’s a centaur)

 

[CloneWarrior]

“Divine Horse Modem” isn’t a phrase I was expecting (although at least horse is relevant cause X4B’s a centaur)

It's a typo. It should say "Divine Horse Mode."

 

[Yamato-san]

There were a couple errrors in your re-translation (which aren't present in either the original Japanese or the official English versions).

On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Ouryuken.

Seiken Gradalpha.

This is actually an error on the official English translation, which says "On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Blade of the Dragon King."

Which is weird, since the text right above it calls the sword the Ouryuken without translating it.

Also, the card they used doesn't have it wielding any sword.

Nah. If you look around, "Blade of the Dragon King" seems to be the localization that they're going with for Seiken Gradalpha, while they keep Ouryuken as is (which is pretty awkward when Ouryuken can translate to "King Dragon Sword", which isn't too far off from "Blade of the Dragon King").

 

[BeelzebumonBlastMode]

Nice to see a reference to shoutmon x4s. Hopefully it will be added to the reference book soon

 

[Amandil7]

I like that we're getting higher resolution official artwork than what we're used to, which is rare for Digimon. The tidbits are nice too!

 

[Noni]

It seems while the focus of the Digimon Reports was to introduce old and new fans to a streamlined and centralized collection of the Digimon settings, as per the Reference Book (or Field Guide, as they seem to have settled in). The Digimon Journal series will be more of a focus on the characters themselves and their appearance and popularity in other digimon media.

So both serve a similar purpose, which is to present Digimon to the general public, but this one seems more focused on the real-life presence and impact of these characters, while the Digimon Report articles were more of an in-universe 101 to the franchise.

It might seem basic to some of us, but we have to remember a lot of Digimon media was never properly localized or even properly marketed. And that in comparison to other popular franchises in the west, let's say for example Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh! that Digimon spent many years having all this information relegated to fan wikias and general discussions online, which can be quite confusing for the casual observer.

I am very pleased that the translation of these to english seems much better than the Reports, but they really need to step up their game on that so that a lot of mistakes and inconsistencies are reduced.

Anyway, excited for more!

 

[Muur]

There were a couple errrors in your re-translation (which aren't present in either the original Japanese or the official English versions).

On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Ouryuken.

Seiken Gradalpha.

This is actually an error on the official English translation, which says "On its card, Alphamon is depicted wielding the Blade of the Dragon King."

Which is weird, since the text right above it calls the sword the Ouryuken without translating it.

Also, the card they used doesn't have it wielding any sword.

Nah. If you look around, "Blade of the Dragon King" seems to be the localization that they're going with for Seiken Gradalpha, while they keep Ouryuken as is (which is pretty awkward when Ouryuken can translate to "King Dragon Sword", which isn't too far off from "Blade of the Dragon King").

Cyber Slueth, Next Order, and Links used BOTDK for Ouryuken.

Hacker's Memory switched the name to the Seiken (so Seiken as BOTDK) but they prob didn't realise the attack was changed in HM and as such CS used BOTDK (Ouryuken) and retained the name for his new attack (Seiken) despite the different animation. So prob by accident

 

[Sparrow Hawk]

Digimon Journal? Huh too bad it seems like we already knew about those digimons. Nothing new. But I wish Bellestarmon's history could be more explained in details. Not just... "Unique" and that's it unlike GaiOumon that gave some good details for his history.

 

[Yamato-san]

Alphamon

Alphamon appeared as a Holy Knight Digimon affiliated with the Royal Knights, an organization created to protect the order of the Digital World. This fabled Digimon rarely makes an appearance, existing instead as a deterrent to Holy Knight Digimon.

You know, this got me thinking: why didn't Alphamon stick to Dorumon's Data-typing? I mean, speaking type-wise, it would be the best counter to most Holy Knights and a lot of the Royal Knights as a group (having an advantage or an even match-up to a good majority of them). As a Vaccine, it only has an edge over Dukemon and LordKnightmon...... that's literally it, all while it has a disadvantage to roughly half the group. Of course, types are hardly everything, but if its entire purpose is to be a mediator among the Royal Knights, it doesn't seem the most optimized for the task, especially compared to Dorugoramon.

 

[zoosmell]

Alphamon

Alphamon appeared as a Holy Knight Digimon affiliated with the Royal Knights, an organization created to protect the order of the Digital World. This fabled Digimon rarely makes an appearance, existing instead as a deterrent to Holy Knight Digimon.

You know, this got me thinking: why didn't Alphamon stick to Dorumon's Data-typing? I mean, speaking type-wise, it would be the best counter to most Holy Knights and a lot of the Royal Knights as a group (having an advantage or an even match-up to a good majority of them). As a Vaccine, it only has an edge over Dukemon and LordKnightmon...... that's literally it, all while it has a disadvantage to roughly half the group. Of course, types are hardly everything, but if its entire purpose is to be a mediator among the Royal Knights, it doesn't seem the most optimized for the task, especially compared to Dorugoramon.

I think it's just that Alphamon was meant to go more with Grademon/Raptordramon (on top of being a parallel to Omegamon), and so shared their attribute, while Dorugoramon was the normal Data dragon endpoint for Dorumon.

Plus, at the time of his debut, there were only like, 5, 6 other Royal Knights? 2 Vaccines, 2 Virus, 1 Free and 1 Data. I don't think it would have made any difference in their considerations at the time.

 

[Mattman324]

This form has many variations: the Knight Mode, Shoutmon x4K is a DigiXros with Knightmon and multiple PawnChessmon; the Divine Horse Modem Shoutmon x4B is a DigiXros with Beelzebumon; and the Weapons Fighter Mode, Shoutmon x4S is a DigiXros with Spadamon.

At present, Shoutmon x4 is registered to the Field Guide at Adult level, but its Shoutmon x4K and Shoutmon x4B forms raises that level to Perfect.

And Shoutmon X4S isn't in the Reference Book, even though you brought it and its evolutions up in this and specifically called out the guide, and the thing you're replacing frequently put shit in the Reference Book...

I mean, I expect we're probably never getting X5S in there, but come on, you had that thing in Xros Wars to advertise the game twice!

 

[Noni]

Yeah, the fact this new segment seems to be all about advertising their multimedia products and not using it to update the reference book, it does feel a bit like a missed opportunity.

edit: in fact you can see every single one of those is available in some form of media they have right now. All of them are from recently released card game products or Ghost Game, and every list has at least one notable digimon to protagonize some previous series or videogame. So I have a feeling the journal entries will be very marketing oriented in that sense.