It's the 13th Anniversary of Digimon Xros Wars

[MarcFBR]

It's the 13th anniversary of Digimon Xros Wars! (It's already the 6th in Japan)

Digimon Xros Wars premiered on July 6th, 2010 in Japan, and was later brought to the US as Digimon Fusion.


(Various text has been used in articles in the past.)


Xros Wars wasn't the first time Digimon returned in a larger way after the original anime run ended, but it has a lot of firsts for the franchise.

It goes with a visual style more akin to the earlier anime content, but changed quite a bit. The first half of it's initial story doesn't even include evolution as a concept, instead going with DigiXros, a stylistic change from the earlier fusions and jogresses (with a rather high number of new forms owing to the unique elements of DigiXros.)

The story itself feels like it draws from material like Adventure and V-Tamer quite a bit, while placing a few unique spins on the overall character setup, one of which is, the Digimon tend to feel like they have quite a bit of personality.

The show itself is also unique in that it's probably the 'one' time that we we have actual evidence of potentially larger behind the scenes changes, the tiny bits of imagery scene in a Toei studio tour video showing some wildly different character charts, plus the late request to extend the show for another production season, giving us the sequel Hunters.


And of course, one of the high points of Xros Wars was the music. Xros had among the widest and some of the best range of songs in the franchise. Franchise mainstays like Wada Kouji did a wide range of songs, plus Tanimoto Takayoshi (who returned to sing multiple new songs for Adventure:)also returned to the franchise. On top of that, new to Digimon was music from Twill, Sonar Pocket, and of course, Psychic Lover.


But the unique elements of Xros also included a manga that was actually based on the anime, the first time the franchise did that (even if the manga diverged wildly.) It was the first time the show was produced in HD digitally, it was the first time we got any sort of simulcast, or even an official subtitled version with proper video and subtitles (an earlier attempt with a few other seasons were borderline unwatchable.)

More weirder is that it's the only season, at this time, that ended it's run without a home video release in Japan that was actually at retail, owing to an exclusivity deal with rental stores. Although with only a few seasons not on Blu-ray at this point, fans can still hope Xros Wars will get it's chance, especially since it's the earliest Digimon series that would actually benefit heavily from such a release.


Xros Wars, despite not necessarily being among the most popular series' in the franchise, has an odd place in that it appeared recently enough to still feel modern, and it's animation was the first time Digimon was dragged into the modern era, making it age far less than prior shows visually. On top of that, certain bits of how the show feels honestly feels like it's carried on to things like Appmon and Adventure:, making Xros Wars sort of feel like a bit of a handoff from the earlier years, where we can still see what feels like a lot of inspiration towards where the franchise is now (no doubt helped by 2 major cast members from Xros Wars being among the main Adventure: cast, with returning actors in Ghost Game in guest slots) To say nothing of lots of bits of Xros Wars appearing in Adventure: as references, including notable Digimon, etc.


It was an interesting series of Digimon, and fans are still quite happy when Digimon from that era appear. And in the last few years there has been a more direct effort to include Xros Wars more in the franchise at large, beginning with giving the Digimon who never had it, formal levels, which means we've seen them appearing in the franchise more and more in V-pets, more appearances in the anime, the card game (with a lot of Xros Wars content in the past year), recent plushies, and more which looks to continue on.


A bit of a fun time for Xros Wars fans to share their thoughts on a unique, and perhaps stranger, Digimon show.



Digimon Xros Wars (and Hunters) are still on Crunchyroll subtitled in HD.




A couple years ago Digimon Web put up Xros Wars social art to celebrate, as a mini animation.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1279981002488602624

We will see if anything shows up later to celebrate.

 

[Yamato-san]

I often times feel like Digimon truly made its comeback (still going strong) with Re:Digitize. However, looking at the actual dates, there apparently wasn't that much of a gap between that (July 2012) and the end of Young Hunters (March 2012). So I guess Xros Wars truly was the franchise's modern comeback, yet whenever I think back to it, it feels more like some acid trip before Digimon really got back down to business.

Xros Wars, despite not necessarily being among the most popular series' in the franchise, has an odd place in that it appeared recently enough to still feel modern, and it's animation was the first time Digimon was dragged into the modern era, making it age far less than prior shows visually. On top of that, certain bits of how the show feels honestly feels like it's carried on to things like Appmon and Adventure:, making Xros Wars sort of feel like a bit of a handoff from the earlier years, where we can still see what feels like a lot of inspiration towards where the franchise is now (no doubt helped by 2 major cast members from Xros Wars being among the main Adventure: cast, with returning actors in Ghost Game in guest slots) To say nothing of lots of bits of Xros Wars appearing in Adventure: as references, including notable Digimon, etc.


It was an interesting series of Digimon, and fans are still quite happy when Digimon from that era appear. And in the last few years there has been a more direct effort to include Xros Wars more in the franchise at large, beginning with giving the Digimon who never had it, formal levels, which means we've seen them appearing in the franchise more and more in V-pets, more appearances in the anime, the card game (with a lot of Xros Wars content in the past year), recent plushies, and more which looks to continue on.

As I said some time ago, Xros Wars largely felt like an excuse to have an official Pokemon Digimon Fusion Generator. Nevertheless, I respect that these creature designs came into existence (as crazy and experimental as they were), and am glad that they managed to be reformatted to fit in with the rest franchise rather than being left behind to rot in their own quarantined section of it. Now if only they could do the same thing with Appmon.

 

[Unknown Neo]

Xros Wars was something. The first season was something with just some odd stuff while the 2nd part had more fun parts with some Mons, while Young Hunters? Part of it was needed, part wasn't but it did have some real interesting things in it. Sure was an oddteresting series.

 

[Mattman324]

Missed this for a few days, which is a shame, Xros Wars is an incredibly great series. Well, two seasons of Xros Wars were great, at least.

 

[Chimera-gui]

I have developed a soft spot for Xros Wars because that was around the time I got back into Digimon after taking a break from it following Frontier. While I won't deny the Data Squad was the better series between it and Xros Wars, XW has become a fascinating series to reexamine in hindsight thanks to the October 2020 update.

 

[Roberto zampari]

Happy birthday, Digimon Xros Wars.
You were the most underrated Digimon season with the weirdest, but enjoyable moments.

Missed this for a few days, which is a shame, Xros Wars is an incredibly great series. Well, two seasons of Xros Wars were great, at least.

What about Hunters? Yeah, Xros Wars was ruined because of Tagiru, Gumdramon and how the leaders from previous Digimon seasons were introducted.

 

[Chimera-gui]

I’ve actually come to find Hunters better than that people give it credit for, it’s still a flawed series but I wouldn’t personally call it terrible.

 

[Mattman324]

Yeah, Xros Wars was ruined because of Tagiru, Gumdramon and how the leaders from previous Digimon seasons were introducted.

Tagiru and Gumdramon aren't entirely my problem with Xros Hunters, although I find Tagiru to be somewhat annoying as a protagonist, not on his own, but because he's suddenly stepped into a series that he doesn't really fit as the main character of, a show that had previously taken a character with a similar temperment out of the spotlight because he didn't fit the tone as well for that matter. But they're fine enough on their own, if they had been developed better they might have even been good characters.

The leaders of previous Digimon seasons being introduced in possibly the single worst way possible is in fact one of my issues with that season though yes. Especially the dichotomy between how the show was advertised and hyped up involving the crossover, and how it, uh, actually went. It's rather telling that the one scene they're actually notably present for and not just basically cameoing is one of the better scenes in the show.

But Hunters has a lot of other issues that make me not like it as a season of Xros Wars, and it doesn't work at all as a standalone because about a third of the episodes reference events from Xros Wars or other things.

 

[Roberto zampari]

The leaders of previous Digimon seasons being introduced in possibly the single worst way possible is in fact one of my issues with that season though yes. Especially the dichotomy between how the show was advertised and hyped up involving the crossover, and how it, uh, actually went. It's rather telling that the one scene they're actually notably present for and not just basically cameoing is one of the better scenes in the show.

But Hunters has a lot of other issues that make me not like it as a season of Xros Wars, and it doesn't work at all as a standalone because about a third of the episodes reference events from Xros Wars or other things.

Digimon Xros Wars Hunters tried nostalgia and failed miserably...

It makes me wonder how the previous Digimon leaders came from and how they returned to their respective worlds.
Everyone will think that all Digimon Seasons are connected each other.
Also, what issues you're talking about?

 

[TMS]

It was explained in the series that characters from former series were pulled from their own universes by the Old Clockmaker using the spacetime manipulation powers he had as Bagramon.

 

[Cardcaptor Takato]

Xros Wars isn't one of my top favorite Digimon shows but I admire it for taking such a radically different approach to the show while a lot of newer entries can feel like they play the Digimon formula too safe. I thought the combining Digimon gimmick was neat and I enjoyed the focus on more tactical based battles and the characters were a lot of fun and I liked Taiki as a lead. The animation and music were also good and I loved the villains in Xros Wars. I also liked it had more of a shonen anime vibe to me. Like not that other Digimon seasons aren't shonen too but the way each new world they visited had like their mini-arc that could last several episodes felt very shonen along with Taiki's never give up attitude.

 

[Chimera-gui]

Tagiru and Gumdramon aren't entirely my problem with Xros Hunters, although I find Tagiru to be somewhat annoying as a protagonist, not on his own, but because he's suddenly stepped into a series that he doesn't really fit as the main character of, a show that had previously taken a character with a similar temperment out of the spotlight because he didn't fit the tone as well for that matter. But they're fine enough on their own, if they had been developed better they might have even been good characters.

I’ve come to like Tagiru as a character but I will freely concede that Taiki was a better fit as the goggle head of Xros Wars even though I personally see Shoutmon as being the actual protagonist due to Xros Wars' story structure making the Digimon more capable of standing as their own characters.

And yeah, definitely seconding Takato's statement above.

 

[Unknown Neo]

Does anyone see Tagiru as very much a Davis type? Maybe mostly him in the Eng Dub? That's what I remember about him. Being the Davis in the series.

 

[Mon-Ohma]

For me the most ‘toyetic’ entry in the franchise, that at times felt more like a stealth super robot show. One which starts out with a lot of promise, but unfortunately goes steadily downhill from there.
In addition to having possibly one of the most lacklustre team-ups I’ve ever seen to serve as a finale.

In hindsight, it might have perhaps worked better if they had simply removed the human element altogether, as it’s pretty superficial. Particularly since the only one I had any real investment in gets shafted hard, in both the Anime and Manga. Otherwise the only real saving grace is the soundtrack.

 

[Bartz]

In hindsight, it might have perhaps worked better if they had simply removed the human element altogether, as it’s pretty superficial. Particularly since the only one I had any real investment in gets shafted hard, in both the Anime and Manga. Otherwise the only real saving grace is the soundtrack.

It does say a lot that one of the most praised aspects of XW is the protagonist Digimon over the human characters, with the only weak links being Greymon and Mailbirdramon (though Kiriha's not that much better). Shoutmon in particular is the heart of the series more than Taiki, so he could've easily been the central character with another Digimon helping his growth.

 

[Yamato-san]

Speaking of Greymon and Mailbirdramon, despite not being the base in the DigiXroses, I always got a sense that Mail was more Kiriha's main than Greymon. Granted, probably just because Mail's easily the more talkative of the two (though I recall he was also used quite prominently up until MetalGreymon made its onscreen debut), but still kinda funny to think about when the promotional material quite heavily points more to Greymon (which is sorta to be expected when it's a friggin' GREYMON..... or rather a new variant of it...... so of course they were gonna market the ever living fuck out of it).

 

[Mattman324]

Granted, probably just because Mail's easily the more talkative of the two (though I recall he was also used quite prominently up until MetalGreymon made its onscreen debut)

He also stops existing as a character after Metalgreymon's debut outside of one episode in the Disk Zone that pushes Greymon a lot more.

 

[xm0c]

Yeah, Kiriha isn't really like Nene, who indisputably has two partners in Sparrowmon and Mervamon. MailBirdramon exists just to fuse with Greymon, who already barely feels like a character. It's kinda sad that, in the season that gives a lot of development to the Digimon themselves, the Blue Flare Digimon were kind of left in the dust.

I did hear they were more distinct characters in the manga at least.