Digimon Beatbreak is the newest iteration of the Digimon anime franchise. This iteration is set in 2050, where humans use Sapotamas, a white egg-shaped AI digital assistant, for everything imaginable. Sapotamas are powered by the user’s e-Pulse, the manifestation of a person’s mental and emotional energies. On the surface, they’re a tool that helps people stay healthy and on top of their responsibilities. However, when a Sapotama malfunctions, a Digimon is born. This is where the problems begin. In this world, Digimon feed on e-Pulses. If a Digimon takes too much of a person’s e-Pulse, that person will fall into a comatose state known as Cold Heart. The government is doing what it can to keep this information hidden from the masses with the help of Digimon Bounty Hunters known as Cleaners.
Our protagonist, Tomoro Tenma is a stubborn guy with a passion for drumming. On the surface, he’s a pretty average guy, but his erratic e-Pulse has always been a source of trouble. Despite this, Tomoro keeps walking to the beat of his own drum. When the Digimon Gekkomon is born out of his Sapotama, he’s thrown into the whirlwind world of the Cleaners. Now the duo and their new teammates in the Cleaner team ‘Glowing Dawn’, Tomoro starts a journey he never thought he’d be on.
Early Thoughts
Digimon has always been a coming-of-age series that combines action-adventure with heartfelt stories of grief, friendship, and overcoming impossible odds. Digimon Beatbreak follows this as well. It’s only 6 episodes in, but it is following the long-established formula. The Tomoro from the most recent episode is already a slightly more mature version than the Tomoro we met in the pilot. He’s had people challenge his worldview and overcome obstacles he didn’t believe he could.
Normally, these shows go for about 50 episodes. I’m excited to see how Tomoro continues to mature throughout the series alongside his new friends.
The one nitpick I have about this series is that it’s forcing the family theme. Past seasons have undertones of family, but it’s always been subtle. Every season has a different cast, but every cast forms a familial bond throughout the series. However, they never outright say this.
Throughout one of the episodes, one of the members of Glowing Dawn, Reina keeps screaming at Tomoro that they are like a family. This makes no sense to me because only a few days have passed in the show. While Tomoro is resistant to her remarks, it’s likely due to Tomoro’s stubborn, lone wolf attitude and not because of her over-familiarity with him. Reina’s insistence is most likely to make Tomoro feel welcomed and to encourage him to trust him. Unfortunately, it does the opposite and comes off as disingenuous. I hope that they disregard this ham-fisted attempt to force the family theme and let it happen organically, like in past seasons.
Gekkomon and Tomoro
In past shows, the human was a little apprehensive of their partner Digimon, but they usually warmed up to them concernedly quickly. Tomoro’s a prickly sort. He’s very resistant to his partner Digimon, Gekkomon, and refers to him as a lizard instead of his name. Despite this, Gekkomon hangs around and trusts Tomoro, even after he puts Gekkomon in a horrifying situation. I enjoyed the tension between them as it’s not something I’ve seen in the Digimon shows I’ve watched. This plot point didn’t run too long or too short. It was nice to see a reasonable reaction to finding a Digimon and adjusting to world-shattering information at the same time.
Digimon Beatbreak is now streaming on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
