Digimon Frontier is the first Digimon show that I didn’t really watch back in the day. I caught one episode where JP was wrongly accused of being an awful person and Zoe has her climatic battle against her water rival from the villain side. Needless to say, it turned me off from the show and I did not give it another shot for years. Eventually, it was time to give it a new shot and it was a lot better than I remembered. It was just bad luck that I happened to catch one of the worst episodes of the show.
There are 5 main characters for this series and they each of the power of one of the 10 Legendary Warriors! Their abilities should not be underestimated and Takuya is the best main character that we’ve gotten in a while. He’s far superior to Mikey and Takato, but he is definitely not as good as Tai. He’s very close to Davis, but not quite a match for him either. I’ll go into the characters more as the review goes on, but now it’s time to talk about the plot!
Takuya is minding his own business and is extremely bored when his phone lets him know that it’s time for a game. Takuya likes games and he wants to end the boredom, so he quickly gets on a train and goes down 30+ floors in a huge building in Shibuya and then jumps on a train. It’s a pretty messy scene down there as one kid is shoved into the train. Takuya and 3 other kids meet up in the train, but the mysterious kid in the blue attire picked a different train and he vanishes. The 4 kids quickly realize that they are actually Legendary Warriors and they find Digimon spirits and become Digimon! Nobody can hope to stop them now!
Bokomon and Neemon arrive to tell the kids that there are 10 Legendary Warriors and that the other 5 are evil. The kid in blue by the name of Koji arrives and it’s now 5 on 5. Finally, the odds are actually fair for the heroes!….right? Well, there are three cosmic beings who are also around and two of them are good while one is evil. Let’s just say that this tips the balance…in the villain’s favor! Cherubimon leads the evil warriors and now Takuya must find strength within himself to end this once and for all!
That arc takes up almost the entire series, but we’ve still got time for one more arc. Lucemon is now awakened and he sends the Royal Knights to gather data from the Digital World. He can’t actually break free and destroy the world until he has every area from the Digital World. The two Knights head off to do this, but Takuya decides that it’s the end of the road for them. He’s going to show them what true power is! Thus, the ultimate battle for Digital Supremacy begins and marks the climax of the series.
Takuya is the main character of the show and as I’ve mentioned earlier; he’s a great character. He does have some moments where the pressure becomes too much for him and he ends up giving up. I’ll admit that it happens a little more than I’d like and he definitely needs to upgrade his strength of character. He seemed to be all set, but then he cracked in the final minutes of the series. Not a great way to end! Takuya transforms into Agunimon and from there his forms continue to get stronger and stronger. His strongest form where it’s just him (No fusion) is Emperor Greymon. (It’s a fusion with other spirits, but he’s still the only human) Emperor Greymon is definitely a powerful fighter and the form is useful for all forms of combat.
I actually like all of Takuya’s digi forms and he’s the only character where I can say that. That in itself is a feat and a pretty good one. He’s very powerful and easily the strongest of the Legendary Warriors. He’s a natural leader like Tai. He’s definitely the right guy for the job and it’s usually Takuya who needs to come up with the (good) plans to take down the villains.
Koji is the big rival of the series and while Takuya utilizes the immense power of fire, he uses the powers of light! Koji’s main digiform is Lobomon and he uses a Lightsaber to attack his foes. He’s a pretty solid character. He doesn’t start out so well since he seems to avoid the others for no real reason. He wants to be a hero deep down…but he’s not exactly a team player.
The fact that he got the element of light will probably hint to you that this will change. Soon, he learns that teamwork is completely for the win and it’s actually a good tactic to use in battle. He gets a pretty big subplot towards the end because his long lost brother appears and Takuya also needs some backup since his other friends won’t be able to help. Koji’s digi forms aren’t that cool looking, but they have their moments. They’re definitely powerful…and that’s what counts!
Zoe is another one of the Legendary Warriors and while her digi form is not quite as powerful as the others, she is still able to pack a punch when she needs too! Her normal digi form actually cannot really fight and her only good attacks are a spinning kick and her tornado abilities. To make up for this, she has a better fighter in Zephyrmon. She still has Hurricanes, but now she’s a very good hand to hand fighter. It’s tough for Zoe because JP and the others tend to be pretty annoying when she’s around. Takuya manages to keep his cool for the most part, but it must be tough to deal with those guys.
Zoe is the only member of the group without a tragic backstory aside from Takuya, but she did have some real life drama of her own before the Digital World. There’s not much to say about her in terms of development because for better or worse, she stayed pretty much the same for the entire series. She wasn’t bad and is definitely a step up from the final two members.
JP….JP…JJJJJJJPPPPPPPP! Everyone is constantly yelling that throughout the series. They keep on yelling for good reason since JP is easily the least professional of the Legendary Warriors. He constantly tries to bribe people with Chocolate Bars. He once tried to give a kid his chocolate bar if he would let JP share his umbrella. The kid was far too cool for that and he quickly dashed off.
JP’s emotional backstory isn’t very emotional. He was decently popular at school and he got along with everyone. The problem was that….there were no problems. The problem that JP imagined was that they weren’t really his friends. On that stormy day, they all left without offering him their umbrellas! I wouldn’t have offered him mine if I had been there. Sure, it was raining…but just grin and bear it. He forgot the umbrella so it’s not any of the kids’ fault. Plus, they were all friends and would have probably given him an umbrella, but none of them heard him in time. He just should have moved quicker.
I’m afraid that the worst part about JP is the fact that he’s very infatuated with Zoe. It’s one of those tiresome subplots that continues for the whole show. Zoe continues to tell JP to his face that she’s not interested, but he never stops. He also starts out as a pretty unlikable guy to the max! (Well, he was already unlikable, but in the beginning…he’s even more unlikable!) At one point, he refuses to help a village full of Digimon and suggests that they leave the Digimon to die. After all…it’s not his problem! He also tries to ditch the main characters a few times and until he gets his Digi Spirit, he’s pretty whiny about the whole thing.
JJJJJJJPPPPPPP is the thunder warrior and his normal form is actually pretty tough. He’s easily the third strongest of the group in that mode, but he suffers the same fate as Tommy and Zoe. After the first two forms, none of them get any more. Takuya and Koji get to have a few extra forms and it tips the scale of power pretty drastically. JP was definitely the worst hero and I won’t be a fan anytime soon, but his name still cracks me up and that’s the important thing.
Tommy is the final member of the 5 Heroic Legendary Warriors! He’s the weakest and he has the ice warrior. He definitely seems to be the youngest and his trials mostly revolve around that fact. The rest of the heroes always feel like they have to protect him and in a way…they’re right. He’s not suited for combat and he nearly gets beat up by some bullies in the final few episodes. He gives each episode his all, but he’s just not my kind of character. It helps that he has a really bad transformation sequence. It doesn’t even try to be epic. There’s not as much to say about him because….he’s just not an interesting character. It happens….right!?
Mercurymon is one of the 5 evil Legendary Warriors and he is one of the most powerful members. For most of the series, he messes around with the other members and likes to taunt the heroes. He even takes down a Mega level Digimon with a single blow. He doesn’t just beat the Mega, the one hit deleted him! Mercurymon is truly a force to be reckoned with and I guess you can see why Takuya had to give it his all. Mercurymon is an easy character to root for so I’ll give him that. His voice has a unique twist to it and he knows just how to make everyone take action. He gets two big power ups and the first one gets a lot of hype and “feats” while the other one is actually pretty tough and one of the stronger Digimon in the season. Besides Duskmon, Mercurymon is easily the best from the evil Legendary Warriors.
Grumblemon is the first of the big 5 to really get a lot of screen time and he is certainly impressive. He ends up wiping the floor with the 5 Heroes and it’s a testament to his strength. That being said, I believe that the victory used a lot of plot hax and I just didn’t buy it. His forms aren’t really that impressive to me and I can’t really say that I missed him. He just wasn’t a likable villain.
Duskmon is another one of the legendary warriors and he is the warrior of darkness. He is the secret weapon for the dark side, but he doesn’t get along with the other members. He rarely talks and his true motivations can definitely be put into question. He gets a very big role and he’s easily one of the best characters in the series. Some of his plots may drag on at times, but it’s nice to have another fight. He has a big battle where he goes up against the ultimate tag team of Takuya and Koji! His powers may even rival those of Cherubimon’s! His character reminds me of Beelzemon or Black War Greymon and that is a good thing!
Arbormon has a pretty neat voice, but that’s his only really redeeming quality. He did provide us with a solid Hamburger episode, but I still don’t like him as a character. He just doesn’t seem that powerful and he gets a very small role. I dare say that he gets the smallest role from the 5 evil warriors. It can just be more than a little hard to take him seriously at times. Still, he wasn’t a bad character. His voice would tilt him more into the good side, but it’s only by a small margin.
Ranamon is the final member of the Legendary Warriors and she isn’t much of a fighter either. She has a decent array of attacks, but she doesn’t really make the most of them. She has several fan clubs, but they all see the error of their ways at one point or another. She’s likely the worst of the 10 Legendary Warriors and that is unfortunate. Then again…someone had to be last! (Grumblemon got lucky this time!) She’s essentially Zoe’s rival, but since Water has never been that good against Wind….she may be doomed.
Lucemon is essentially the final boss of the series and his power is considerable. We start to enter DBZ world as he is able to unleash massive fist barrages and continue to devastate all who oppose him. Unfortunately, I do not like Lucemon as much as I did in the DS/PS2 games. There, he was a force to be reckoned with while also having a cool design/personality. In this show, I just didn’t like him. It was due to his voice and lack of a cool design. They just didn’t scream “Final Boss” the way that the previous games did. Still, his power should be respected and he’s definitely a tough opponent. His toughest form actually isn’t his final form, but that’s how the ball bounces sometimes.
Dynasmon is The coolest villain in the show. He’s completely awesome in every meaning of the word. His speed and power are so great that he was able to slaughter two ultimate level opponents with no effort. That’s basically unheard of and he took it all in stride. His episodes tended to be some of the best ones. He may not have appeared for a lot of episodes, but he was very good in the ones that he did appear in. His Final Smash involves an energy dragon, but his best abilities are his Repulsor Blasts. He can absorb energy attacks and also fire some pretty powerful ones. He’s definitely a well rounded fighter!
Crusadermon is Dynasmon’s partner and she’s also extremely powerful. She really wants to conquer the Human World and is ready to fulfill that goal. First, she helps Dynasmon to make short work of the main characters. She may not be quite as powerful as he is, but she’s excellent in close combat fights and her super punch was shown to deal critical damage. Whenever she uses that attack, her opponent’s armor/weapons are usually destroyed instantly. She is definitely not an opponent to be underestimated and she’s pretty awesome. It’s a shame that these two Digimon could not appear for a few more episodes, but these battles with them will definitely be remembered!
Skull Satamon was an interesting character to check out since he was such a cool character in Digimon Adventure 02. Not only did he clobber the whole cast in that show, but he did it without any effort. Now that’s what I call power right!? In this show, he was still impressive…but not quite as cool. I don’t really care for his personality and I preferred the silent but deadly appearance that he used to have. He talks a lot here and he can back it up to an extent, but not enough. Power wise, he’s still at a pretty high Ultimate tier level since a pair of Skull Satamon were taking on Koji and Takuya so I can settle for that. He’s definitely one of my favorite Digimon of all time, even if he wasn’t my favorite character in this show.
Ice Devimon is an interesting villain since he got a lot of hype when he appeared. After the climax of Arc 1, he announced that Cherubimon was a weakling compared to him. Naturally, this got the heroes very upset since nobody should dismiss their villains like that! (Similar to that Ichigo vs Yammy scene!) Unfortunately, Ice Devimon made short work out of Koji and Takuya….so the friends would need to come and help! He may not have been the strongest opponent in the end, but he was easily superior to the fighters at first and he nearly ended everything. He could have destroyed them all if he had not been holding back and he was definitely one of the cooler villains of the series.
Cherubimon is the first big villain of the series and he is pretty tough. His abilities are considerable and he is able to take on two ultimates at once. Not a bad showing of power eh!? He’s not the most likable villain out there, but at least he’s pretty smart and isn’t the type of villain who will allow himself to be betrayed. He’s a nice way to start the ball rolling and get the true villains to show themselves. Cherubimon was definitely a solid antagonist.
Karatenmon fought with Koji at one point and he definitely came out of nowhere! I’m sure that fans were shell shocked at the big appearance and I definitely couldn’t blame them. One second things are going smoothly for the heroes and the next…Karatenmon is completely destroying Koji. He seems to have a bit of a Pre-cog ability and he can predict your moves before you make them. Add to this his mastery of hand to hand combat and super speed….and you’ve got a very impressive villain. He was pretty awesome and I instantly became a fan. You just can’t not like that guy!
Ice Leomon is a very minor character, but he has to be mentioned since he keeps up the long standing Digimon tradition that a Leomon must die in each season. So far, that remains true in all seasons except for Data Squad because I have not seen that one yet, but I’m confident that it will happen. That being said, it was fun to see Ice Leomon try to take down Agunimon!
Seraphimon is one of the three legendary knights and his abilities should not be underestimated. Unfortunately, he only appears for a few scenes. In his first scene, he is destroyed without mercy by a single blow. Luckily we get a flashback to witness his true power, but then he is effortlessly defeated in a single shot. Well…..it’s tough being so tough right? He was definitely not impressive in this show and was easily one of the weaker characters. He’s not worthy of the Mega title!
Orphanimon is another one of the Three Big, Cosmic Digimon who tries to make things right. Her methods can be extreme and she risked the lives of many people “for the greater good”. She’s definitely no hero, but we didn’t expect her to be right? One scene that I definitely did not like was where she pretended to be sympathetic with Cherubimon and then stole his spirits. That was a pretty low blow and not exactly going to change how he sees humanity. In the end, Cherubimon was the only member of the big three who was actually pretty cool.
Bokomon is one of the main characters because he serves as a guide for the heroes. He gets a long subplot where he tries to father an egg and must deal with the drama and epicness that comes with being a parent. That being said, the subplot wasn’t very interesting and I didn’t care for the character. He was constantly pulling Neemon’s pants so that he could let it slam on the poor guy. Also, he had a moment where he seemed proud that his village was destroyed. I can’t even…..his mustache is cool though.
Neemon is Bokomon’s partner and Bokomon is always picking on him. Neemon likes to act like he’s not very smart and he’s pretty successful at this. His voice is pretty fitting and he’s just an epic character to be around. He doesn’t know the meaning of fear and he’s always ready to give it his all and aid the heroes. He just tells it like it is and he actually lets his pants slam on himself once in his big hero moment. He was a hero to the end and one of the more emotional characters. It would be nice to see him again in the future.
The Animation is pretty solid and while it doesn’t hold up quite as well as Digimon Tamers, it’s still really good. It still has that retro feeling to it and the fight scenes are good. That’s probably the most impressive part because the battles are easily some of the best in the series. The Digimon in this series are very powerful and this is definitely the strongest series for Digimon so far. The fights between the Royal Knights and the Legendary Warriors is pretty great and so is Lucemon’s fight against Takuya and pals. I also liked Koji’s fight against Karatenmon. The fights were consistently good and that was definitely a plus for the series.
I’m afraid that the biggest negative of the show would be the soundtrack. Unlike all of the other Digimon shows, this one just lacked a really cool/hardcore array of themes. They went for more of a tribal/mystical angle instead of the usual fast paced rock music. Big mistake if you ask me and I don’t think that it was worth it in the long run. It’s not that the music is downright terrible, but it’s just not very interesting and it’s wayyyyyy too slow. Not exactly battle music if you know what I mean.
One other negative can be the way that the main characters act around Zoe at times. Pretty much all of them tend to blush when in contact with her. (Or in JP’s case, whenever she’s around) Do all of the main characters need to have a crush on her? Takuya stays strong for the most part and he continues to show that they’re all just friends (Or rivals) to him. So, that plot can get a bit tiresome at times, but it’s not played too extremely. There is more “romance” than in previous Digimon seasons, but it’s still an extremely minor subplot at best. (Except for JP once again)
The series also has a decent amount of plot hax. I don’t mention it in every review, but to a degree…all anime have some plot hax in them. Still, in this show it was a little too strong for me to ignore it. At one point, the 10 Legendary Warriors fire blasts at the Royal Knights and it actually causes them to retreat. The blast actually should not have even affected them since the heroes were all in their champion forms. Before, the ultimate fusion forms that surpassed the fusion evolutions were completely crushed and couldn’t deal any damage. The power inaccuracy was just too much to bear. Their are other parts that can be iffy like the 5 Warriors having trouble with Grumblemon or Seraphimon being so easily defeated. Still, that was the main one that stood out to me and will likely stand out to you as well.
Overall, this is a very good season of Digimon! It’s a lot better than I could have hoped and the battle scenes are the best yet! The soundtrack may be weak, but the animation is still pretty good. If you can get around the fact that JP can get annoying pretty quickly and that everyone seems to have a crush on Zoe from time to time, the series is really all positive. The series quickly gets at its best once it enters the final arc with Lucemon. The very first episode has the heroes fight with Dynasmon and Crusadermon and it’s like a callback to the DigiDestined’s first fight against the Dark Masters in season 1. I highly recommend checking this series out and you won’t regret it. Takuya and Koji make for solid heroes and how can you resist the great battles and epic villains!? All anime fans can get a kick out of it! Even if you’re not a fan of the monsters, you should check out the first episode so that you can try and suspend your disbelief for a secret B-40th floor under one of the biggest buildings in Shibuya without any of the humans suspecting a thing! (Yes, in this show, you can go from the human world to the digital one by taking a train at Shibuya. Anyone can go as long as you remember to go to the elevator and head to the secret basement!)
Overall 8/10
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