Digimon: Ghost Game Episode 1, the first episode of the latest entry to Toei Animation’s Digimon Anime Franchise aired this Sunday.

This anime takes place in an entirely new universe with no connections to the previous seasons, a fresh start for both old fans and newcomers to jump on. Here’s what we thought and what it means for the new series going forward.

The Introduction

The intro FACTION by Wienners is a catchy bop that gets you pumped for the show. It has a fun haunted house vibe which fits the series perfectly. We get a few looks at the new evolutions which look pretty cool and make me excited for when they appear in the actual show.

The Premise

In a world where AR or ‘holograms’ have become a part of everyday life rumors spark about a sinister “sewn-lip man” that “steals your time” of his victims meanwhile, a young middle schooler named Hiro finds a Digivice, which is obviously based on the Digimon Vital Bracelets, that was being worked on by his father, it grants him the Digimon Gammamon. Together they have to stop the sewn-lip man, aka Clockmon, and other ‘ghosts’ that terrorize their city.

A Digimon Horror

The first thing that stuck out to me about Ghost Game is its mix of Digimon with Japanese urban horror. Here the monsters take the form of ‘ghosts’ that have become recent local legends around town. It’s a unique take on Digimon that we haven’t really seen before. A sort of children’s horror show in a similar vein to say Courage The Cowardly Dog or Goosebumps.

It allows them to bring in some horror elements to the series. For an anime aimed at a younger audience, some of the imagery can be pretty disturbing. I never imagined Clockmon of all Digimon could come off as creepy but they really take advantage of his scarecrow-like upper body. It’s pretty alarming watching him suck the youth out of kids and hearing them scream in agony as they become old and decrepit.

The Main Characters of Digimon Ghost Game

I like our three main leads who have been well-established. Ruri is an energetic investigator that wants to find out about the hologram Ghosts. We don’t see a lot of her in this episode but we see enough to get an idea of who she is and what her goals are.

Kiyoshiro is flamboyant but gets scared easily, he also seems to genuinely care for the other kids in his dorm. His larger-than-life personality likely means he’ll become my favorite character in the series.

Hiro mostly acts as a straight man to everyone else’s antics. There’s an aura of mystery around him though as he wants to find out where his father went and why he was researching Digimon. I think he’s likely stuck in the Digital world which makes me hope that they may go find him.

Overall, I think all three are in a good place and I look forward to seeing how they develop in the coming episodes.

Gammamon

The show-stealer however is Gammamon. Gammamon is a good boy, within minutes his innocent sweetness hooked me. Proclaiming himself to be Hiro’s little brother, he has a wide-eyed curiosity towards Hiro but he’s also fiercely protective which comes out in the fight with Clockmon. He also likes to bite things, it’s adorable. He reminds me a lot of Guilemon from Digimon Tamers, loyal yet with a monstrous side that, if the battle is any indication, will come out in his evolutions.

The Digimon’s expressions are great with both Gammamon and Clockmon showing a wide range of emotions that show a lot of their personalities. The action scene while short is also fast-paced and well-choreographed which allows both mons to show off their abilities.

Final Thoughts on Digimon Ghost Game Episode 1

I really enjoyed Digimon Ghost Game Episode 1. The characters seem likable and I love the child-friendly horror of the Digimon in Ghosts Games’ premise.

It’s also what I feel Digimon has needed for a while; a fresh start. After years of Adventure sequels and reboots it’s nice to see a back-to-basics Digimon show about kids and their partner Digimon, battling bad Digimon and going on an adventure with no attachments to the previous series, and also no weird evolutions gimmicks like Xros Wars or not even being called Digimon like Appmon (to clarify I do like Appmon but I still don’t see why they couldn’t just be Digimon in the series).

It’s a good start and I look forward to episode 2, next week. If the sneak peek is any indication, we’re getting a spooky, night in the museum episode with Mummymon.