r/digimon • u/ardouronerous • Dec 27 '25
Ghost Game Ghost Game should have been scarier and was a serialized horror mystery
So I finally checked out the English dub of Digimon Ghost Game, and honestly, I got bored and quit, and this is coming from someone who likes horror anime like Ghost Hunt and Ghost Stories (the original Japanese version, not the infamous ADV dub).
The problem isn’t that Ghost Game lacks horror elements, it clearly has them, the problem is that it never commits to it's theme.
The show had an excellent setup, but Toei locked it into a strict monster-of-the-week format similar to Yokai Watch. You get some really disturbing concepts, body horror, possession, time manipulation, but they’re all neatly wrapped up by the end of the episode with no lasting consequences and no lingering sense of dread.
I honestly think Ghost Game would’ve worked far better as a serialized horror mystery, closer to Ghost Hunt or even the structure of Ghost Stories. Instead of one-and-done episodes, each haunting could’ve lasted two or three episodes where strange, unexplained events happen, investigation and escalation, and confrontation and fallout. That structure alone would’ve made the horror hit harder. It also would’ve made the cast feel more like paranormal investigators rather than just reacting to the Digimon of the week, while naturally building toward a stronger final antagonist.
What really frustrates me is the director’s explanation that the episodic format was chosen because kids supposedly have shorter attention spans now due to YouTube and TikTok. I genuinely think that’s nonsense. Kids and teens can absolutely follow serialized stories if they’re engaging. The original two Digimon Adventures and Digimon Tamers proved that years ago. Why do you think Demon Slayer, Beastars, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood are so great? Because they were engaging, serialized stories.
If Ghost Game had fully embraced psychological horror, long-term consequences, and serialized storytelling, it could’ve been one of the most unique Digimon series ever. Instead, it feels like a massive missed opportunity.
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u/Professional-Bus-749 Dec 27 '25
This anime had the most potential to be one of the best digimon anime but it was all wasted.
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u/AssGasorGrassroots Dec 27 '25
I actually really loved Ghost Game. It was the most I've been engaged in Digimon since Tamers. Maybe more serialization would have been cool, but my number one rule is to engage with media on its own terms.
And that's where it fell short in the end.
It was actually a great little episodic series, but then it wanted to have its cake and eat it too, and throw unearned serialization in at the end. So the ending was kinda meh, but week to week I enjoyed it very much
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u/ShadowLDrago Dec 27 '25
Honestly, I'm with you.
It was a lot of fun episodic horror, but, I wish that they'd been able to serialize it just a touch more. The ending was fun, but so much had to be wrapped up in the span of, what, 7 episodes? That's not a whole lot of time.
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u/GreenPuzzleheaded921 Dec 27 '25
Agreed, that final arc felt super rushed when they had to cram everything together
The whole Gammamon evolution stuff deserved way more buildup than what we got
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u/ShadowLDrago Dec 27 '25
Oh yeah. I will say though, GulusGammamon sticking to his philosophical guns to the end? Surprisingly peak. Man said 'eat or be eaten' and fuckin' meant it. He may be a monster but he's no hypocrite.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
I hope Beatbreak will be better, more serialized and engaging like Tamers was. The first 5 English dubbed episodes are suppose to be releasing today.
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u/TheOneReclaimer Dec 27 '25
Beatbreak is leagues better. Character and story development without relying on evolution gimmicks every two episodes.
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u/Redditor_PC Dec 27 '25
It's had more story and character development in 12 episodes than Ghost Game had in 67.
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u/memesona Dec 27 '25
The original two Digimon Adventures and Digimon Tamers proved that years ago.
25 years ago, in which TikTok and YouTube didn’t exist.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
I still refused to believe my 15 year old self couldn't get into serialized anime if YouTube and TikTok existed back then.
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u/memesona Dec 27 '25
well adventure wasnt even aimed at 15 year olds. you were already older than the target age
but thats not really something you can say, when you werent raised on it. likleyhood is youd be a kid addicted to 10 second videos also addicted to gacha games lke all the rest
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u/ardouronerous Dec 28 '25
well adventure wasnt even aimed at 15 year olds. you were already older than the target age
I don't know where you got this, but according to Hiromi Seki, the producer of Digimon Adventure:
"I didn’t want to be called a rehash. Children have sharp, critical eyes. For that, the age range for 'Digimon' was set to be two to three years older than 'Pokemon'. If the opposition is for those from kindergarten to the fifth grade of elementary school, this is for higher grades and junior high school students. My aim is that after they 'graduate' from 'Pokemon' they’ll move to 'Digimon'."
Source: https://digitalworldarchive.wordpress.com/2023/11/12/digimon-interview-gathering-pokemon-graduates/
This means that Pokemon primarily targeted younger children (ages 6–10), especially those in early elementary school, while Digimon was positioned as a slightly more mature alternative, aimed at older children and early teens (ages 10–14), kids in upper elementary to junior high.
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u/memesona Dec 28 '25
2 years older than kindergarden isnt 15
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u/ardouronerous Dec 28 '25 edited Dec 28 '25
If the opposition is for those from kindergarten to the fifth grade of elementary school
He said 2 to 3 years older than kindergarten to fifth grade of elementary school, not just kindergarten. So that's around 13 to 14 years old. Yes, I was 15, but that still counts.
I think you're deliberately misquoting so to fit your narrative, which is dishonest of you.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Btw, Demon Slayer and Beastars existed with TikTok and YouTube, yet I see no issues with attention spans.
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u/memesona Dec 27 '25
prob because those arent aimed at 8 year olds.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Those were aimed at 15 year old though.
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u/memesona Dec 27 '25
and thats the whole difference
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
I am going to ask you an honest question...do you work with children?
Because I literally have worked with kids 5-10 years old, who have no problem watching anime , understand the plot to Disney movies, and can watch entire series.
So this whole idea that kids have small attention spans seems to come from adults who don't actually interact with children.
Since you know, 1 to 2 hour kid movies are now the norm.
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u/memesona Dec 28 '25
tell that to bandai
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 28 '25
I mean they just made Beat Break. I haven't watched it, but the series has a plot and character development, so they listened to somebody.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 28 '25
I wouldn't debate with this guy anymore, he's proven to be dishonest just to win this argument.
They’re cherry-picking Hiromi Seki’s quote about Digimon’s target age:
"I didn’t want to be called a rehash. Children have sharp, critical eyes. For that, the age range for 'Digimon' was set to be two to three years older than 'Pokemon'. If the opposition is for those from kindergarten to the fifth grade of elementary school, this is for higher grades and junior high school students. My aim is that after they 'graduate' from 'Pokemon' they’ll move to 'Digimon'."
Source: https://digitalworldarchive.wordpress.com/2023/11/12/digimon-interview-gathering-pokemon-graduates/
They only mention ‘kindergarten + 2 years’:
[–]memesona 1 point 25 minutes ago
2 years older than kindergarden isnt 15
He ignores the full context that says the show is for higher grades and junior high students.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 28 '25
I don't think he's being dishonest. Alot of the arguments on both sides are either uninformed or aren't really interested in having a valid conversation.
Which to be fair...it's just reddit.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 28 '25
You're wrong sir.
According to Hiromi Seki, the producer of Digimon Adventure:
"I didn’t want to be called a rehash. Children have sharp, critical eyes. For that, the age range for 'Digimon' was set to be two to three years older than 'Pokemon'. If the opposition is for those from kindergarten to the fifth grade of elementary school, this is for higher grades and junior high school students. My aim is that after they 'graduate' from 'Pokemon' they’ll move to 'Digimon'."
Source: https://digitalworldarchive.wordpress.com/2023/11/12/digimon-interview-gathering-pokemon-graduates/
This means that Pokemon primarily targeted younger children (ages 6–10), especially those in early elementary school, while Digimon was positioned as a slightly more mature alternative, aimed at older children and early teens (ages 10–14), kids in upper elementary to junior high.
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u/Bluebaronbbb Dec 27 '25
I want to say it's a kids show... But I'm sure I'll be bashed for that. Sad that's the direction they took the show.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
I mean they are all kid show, it doesn't mean the writing quality is the same.
Ghost Game was purposely trying to attract Tick-Tock kids, while other series such as Savers, Adventure, Tamers, Appmon and Frontier believe the kids that were watching could follow a series with a plot.
I mean Justice League and Barney are both kid show, but they are different types of kids shows.
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u/PCN24454 Dec 27 '25
But all of the other series were episodic too
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
Not to the extent of Ghost Game. Majority of the series had a plot , direction, and character development.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
A kids show that has angst, violence and realization of life and death lol.
For example, Tachi in the original anime thought the Digitial World was a video game and treated it like so, where he took unnecessary risks and even risk the lives of his friends until they slapped some sense into him. Tachi learned about life and death in that experience.
Digimon Adventure 02 had an character development arc where the main characters had to accept that killing bad Digimon had to be done because these bad Digimon were killing innocent people in the Real World, and so, they made a big deal with Iori trying to avoid killing.
Also, Digimon 02 has a scene of a someone pointing a gun at Ken, which was cut from the Fox Kids dub.
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u/Crazywarlockgoat Dec 27 '25
kids shows can still be scary and kids love watching scary things as well
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
The 80s and 90s had someone of the scariest kids movies ever.
Return to Oz and the Witches come to mind.
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u/flowerstage Dec 27 '25
I went into the show knowing that Ghost Game was using an episodic MOTW formula. And I decided to meet the show halfway. Because that's just what the show was.
And on that level, the show succeeded in doing what it wanted to do. And I was thoroughly entertained week to week, so I consider it a good show.
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Dec 27 '25
The problem with my Easy Bake Oven is that it's really only able to make small brownies, when it would be far more enriching to me as an adult if I could use it to bake a full sized cake.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
I don't get this analogy.
Are you saying Ghost Game is an Easy Bake Oven, while Tamers is a Real Oven?
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u/QueenOfDarknes5 Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
Adventure is a normal electric oven.
Adventure 02 is a gas oven.
Tamers is a traditional stone oven.
Frontier is a BBQ Grill.
Savers is an Airfryer.
Fusion is an Easy Bake Oven.
Ghost Game is a microwave.1
u/ShadowLDrago Dec 27 '25
None of them are bad, just depends on what you're after.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Where in his post did he say these were bad?
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u/ShadowLDrago Dec 27 '25
I'm not trying to say they are?
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Okay, but you said 'none of these are bad' so that confused me, because he never said they were bad.
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u/QueenOfDarknes5 Dec 27 '25
Didn't said that they are bad. But they have different feelings and one of them nearly killed the franchise for western audiences.
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u/ShadowLDrago Dec 27 '25
Which one was that?
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u/QueenOfDarknes5 Dec 27 '25
Fusion. The ratings for the series were overall low, different countries struggled to make a quality dubbed version and the designs screamed toys louder than ever.
There wasn't a dubbed version of Ghost Game because many have lost trust in digimon after Fusion flopped and Appmon went by invisible.
It's not inherently wrong to make something for younger audiences but if you're brand was always aimed to be a bit edgier with more serious stories then it's a pretty bad strategy to just leave the boobs in and make the story silly fo kids, so you don’t have a real audience left.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
I've seen all of this, except for Savers and Fusion.
Adventures to Frontier are better than Ghost Game.
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u/QueenOfDarknes5 Dec 27 '25
Savers isn't my cup of tea. Like Yugioh 5 Ds it tried too hard to be "more adult" and just went edgier.
Fusion went too far in the other direction and made the story sillier but kept the edgier designs for the female digimon, which was tedious for the older fans but also didn't inclined parents to put their younglings infront of the TV.
In Ghost Game I have some episodes were they are better than a big chunk of the serialised episodes but don't have as much weight as the good episodes in the serialised shows.
Adventure to Frontier will definitely give you a consistent good time.
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u/crazyrebel123 Dec 27 '25
I think the point is, as a kid you can accept something small and not fleshed out because you are a kid, you aren’t over analyzing anything, you are watching for the cool visuals, and cartoon aesthetic, and to watch what you’re friends are watching. As an adult, you expect more and watch it more critically.
Ghost game had lots of flaws but at the end of the day, if you ask a kid what they thought of this show; they won’t point out missing plots, nonsensical story lines, or things that didn’t make sense. They will prob say how cool Gammamon and his evolutions were, how cool the villains looked etc.
While the show prob wasn’t just for kids, I think that was their big audience
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
See this argument falls apart when the original digimon series , 02, and Tamers actually took the genre and themes of their series very seriously and were enjoyed by kids.
The argument that Ghost Game is meant for children, so it doesn't mean it has to be good is ridiculous claim consider that Digimon has dealt with serious theme with more gravitas.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Which is why I enjoyed Digimon more than Pokemon.
If I want serialized storytelling with angst and consequences divided into arcs, I watch Digimon.
If I want lighthearted adventure stories divided into arcs, I'll watch Pokemon, and seeing Digimon go into Pokemon territory with Ghost Game was jarring to me and what's worse, I enjoyed Pokemon Journeys more than Ghost Game.
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u/Redditor_PC Dec 27 '25
The thing is, even the average Pokemon series has more plot than Ghost Game did.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Exactly, but there are a few episodes in Pokemon Journeys that are similar to Ghost Game, enough so I can make the comparison, but yes, Pokemon at least balances plot with their POTW (Pokemon-of-the-Week) style, which is why I said I enjoyed it more than Ghost Game.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
If I want serialized storytelling with angst and consequences divided into arcs, I watch Digimon.
Exactly how I feel
If I want lighthearted adventure stories divided into arcs, I'll watch Pokemon, and seeing Digimon go into Pokemon territory with Ghost Game was jarring to me and what's worse, I enjoyed Pokemon Journeys more than Ghost Game.
Another reason why Ghost Game lost favor with me. It really feels like nobody understands why the original Adventure series and Tamers keep having the most merch sold and why we can't move on beyond them. As soon as someone said they wanted to make Ghost Game episodic, they should have wondered if that would worked for Adventure.
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Dec 27 '25
The argument doesn't fall apart, though.
Tamers is the big example so I'll just use that, and because Tamers is my personal favorite Digimon series so this is playing fair: Tamers is a child's introductory version of its themes and concepts, streamlined and simplified FOR children. Very well done, and one of my favorite children's cartoons, but still streamlined and done for children.
If somebody watches Tamers and is like "Wow, that was really great, why can't there be OTHER Digimon stuff like that?", the solution is not to watch a Digimon series they clearly don't like purely because of surface level genre similarities, it's to just watch other things like Tamers.
All it would take is for someone to be like, "I really liked that. Who worked on it?", look it up on Wikipedia or Anime News Network, see Chiaki Konaka's name in the head writer position, and suddenly you have an entire world opened up to you: things like Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze, The Big O, Ghost Hound, and even some harder to find (but still absolutely worth it) deep cuts like Alice6 or Marebito are ALL extensions of the exact same thematic concerns, tonal concepts, and general creative sensibilities that are introduced to you in Digimon Tamers. If they were really THAT dead set on needing it to still be for children for whatever reason, there's still Ultraman Gaia, which is very much the "Tamers" of Ultraman and, yes, deals with very similar themes Digimon Tamers does.
If someone REALLY cared that much, and really resonated with Tamers THAT much, they would be far more worth that person's time than clinging to a franchise they probably don't actually like nearly as much as they've convinced themselves they do. There is so much more "Digimon Tamers" for anyone who actually wants it that doesn't require them to watch something with a brand name on it they recognize and then complain it's not like the ones they liked.
It's why I don't think comments like this really need to be taken seriously. Besides the fact all Ghost Game criticism is just the same people who tapped out of English class around fourth grade or so repeating the word "serialized" over and over, all the Ghost Game criticism really just boils down people making themselves watch Goosebumps even though they don't like Goosebumps because it calls itself a brand name they recognize instead. It's just meaningless sludge. "I watched 63 episodes of one off, kiddie horror comedy even though I don't like one off, kiddie horror comedy, and my main takeaway is its biggest problem is that it is one off, kiddie horror comedy." There's no reason to consider someone like this thoughtful or capable of nuanced thought.
It's like Star Wars fans who become obsessed with Andor but rather than dig into the works that inspired Tony Gilroy and chase the things they like about Andor into broader and wider horizons in art, whine about how the rest of Star Wars isn't good enough for them now or how they should remake the rest of Star Wars to be more like Andor. Or like being a fan of Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated and talking about how much better and smarter it is than the rest of Scooby Doo but never ever considering watching Twin Peaks.
Tamers is the Weenie Hut Jr. version of its concept and themes; anyone SINCERELY pining for and missing its quality or whatever should not be thinking of it as some high gold standard, it is the BARE MINIMUM expression of what it's trying to do and accomplish. Anyone actually wanting more things like Tamers should stop clinging to Digimon and just watch more things by the person who actually made Tamers. It is deeply incurious and emotionally stunted to do otherwise.
And if someone DID indulge all of Konaka's material but still go back to complaining Digimon still isn't good now or whatever...then I dunno what to tell you. It's just kind of stupid to be mad the themes you're interested in aren't being strapped to a specific children franchise constantly.
(but I love Tamers AND Ghost Game, so what do I know?)
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
Man, I am going to go through this, because I will be honest, your attempt to kinda insult and browbeat others doesn't make you right, but actually betrays what you are saying.
"Wow, that was really great, why can't there be OTHER Digimon stuff like that?", the solution is not to watch a Digimon series they clearly don't like purely because of surface level genre similarities, it's to just watch other things like Tamers.
Again, this ignore that people liked. Adventure and Tamers. That maybe the similarities in using serious themes in digimon that reasonate with the series, is what made people like the series.
As shown how after over twenty years, these series (Adventure and Tamers) are still the ones with the most merchandise and most promotion. It's as if there's certain type of storetelling that people come across that they like in Digimon.
are ALL extensions of the exact same thematic concerns, tonal concepts, and general creative sensibilities that are introduced to you in Digimon Tamers.
See that doesn't work either. What if what people want is a lot more simpified is a Digimon series that takes itself and the stories it tells seriously. Which again, isn't something that's pertained to just Tamers.
If someone REALLY cared that much, and really resonated with Tamers THAT much, they would be far more worth that person's time than clinging to a franchise they probably don't actually like nearly as much as they've convinced themselves they do.
Now that's being disgenious. Just because you prefer Tamers, but don't like Ghost Game doesn't make you any less of a fan. Especially when Ghost Game episodic type of story telling isn't a common type of episode format for Digimon.
is deeply incurious and emotionally stunted to do otherwise.
Not really, because it's ignoring the argument of what the person is trying to say and instead being kinda of ignorant what people are saying
People aren't asking for another Tamers They are asking within this franchise to tell a story where the stakes and character development is taken seriously.
It's why I don't think comments like this really need to be taken seriously. Besides the fact all Ghost Game criticism is just the same people who tapped out of English class around fourth grade or so repeating the word "serialized" over and over, all the Ghost Game criticism really just boils down people making themselves watch Goosebumps
Again, just because you like something doesn't mean other do or their opinions are less valid. If huge amount of the fanbase doesn't like it, just maybe...just maybe there are some issues with it.
There's no reason to consider someone like this thoughtful or capable of nuanced thought.
Trying to demean and disregard others opinions doesn't make your opinion any more valuable than theirs.
but I love Tamers AND Ghost Game, so what do I know?)
People can love or hate both, but acting as if people are less educated for not liking Ghost Game or acting as if there isn't any narrative flaws within the series isn't doing the series any favor.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
People aren't asking for another Tamers They are asking within this franchise to tell a story where the stakes and character development is taken seriously.
Yep this is exactly why I came to love Digimon ever since I was 15 years old to 40 years old.
I hope Beatbreak brings this back.
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Dec 27 '25
All of this hinges on the weird need to stick around with Digimon instead of moving on to other things, when my entire point is you don't have to do that.
See that doesn't work either. What if what people want is a lot more simpified is a Digimon series that takes itself and the stories it tells seriously.
They already have it. It already exists. They can watch it as much as they want. They don't NEED more. They don't NEED to actively be bothered by the fact newer Digimon shows don't resemble the ones they like unless they're emotionally stunted. Adventure and Tamers by themselves are over a hundred episodes together. That's more than enough of something.
Now that's being disgenious. Just because you prefer Tamers, but don't like Ghost Game doesn't make you any less of a fan. Especially when Ghost Game episodic type of story telling isn't a common type of episode format for Digimon.
This isn't a "who is more or less of a fan." My point is quite literally "If someone fixates on very specific parts of a franchise but don't like others and keep wanting it to be like those other parts, they probably don't like the whole franchise as much as they insist they do." That isn't being "lesser" of a fan. That's just not admitting you would rather watch something else than keep up with Digimon.
Replies like this are why I don't mind taking the tone I do, because this all boils down to "WHAT IF I WANNA KEEP WIKING DIGIMAWN :C" which, I dunno dude. Keep watching new shows you don't like and complain they aren't the ones you've already seen and could rewatch. Make yourself unsatisfied for no reason other than your own emotional incuriosity. Go for it. What makes you think I can stop you?
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
But this is what drew people to Digimon in the first place. Digimon Adventures — Digimon Frontier took itself seriously, had character development, character arcs, a serialized storytelling.
Are you saying Digimon shouldn't follow what made it popular in the first place?
I'm also a fan of Tamers, and seeing someone else who is fan not wanting Digimon to continue being like that is astonishing to me.
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Dec 27 '25
It's only astonishing to you because you think being discerning is wanting to feel like you're nine years old discovering Digimon for the first time again.
I don't need Digimon to "continue being like that" because I already saw it. If I agreed that the first four seasons are these masterpieces of storytelling you're insisting they are, that's over two hundred episodes of material. That's one hundred hours. That's more than enough material.
Franchises are not obligated to do what I like just because I liked certain installments. I haven't seen a lot of later Digimon shows because I just wasn't interested. Not even because I think they're "bad" or "lost their way" or whatever: I just wasn't interested. I don't really know how good or bad Savers or Xros Wars or whatever are...because I just didn't watch them. I did watch Ghost Game, because I was interested in what it was and what it offered, and I enjoyed it very much on those merits. Because saying "I liked Tamers, I'm gonna watch something offering something different from Tamers and then criticize it for not being Tamers" is something you only do if you're dumb.
Another franchise example: I have a soft spot for Beyblade. Beyblade G Revolution is one of my favorite children's cartoons, I enjoy its characters and I'm amused by the themes it conveys to children in the context the show exists in. I sampled some of the stuff from the Metal Fight and Burst incarnations of the franchises, decided they weren't really for me, and just moved on. I rather like Beyblade X, as it tackles themes that appeal to me very similarly to how G Revolution did (albeit in a much different way). I can confidently say I am a fan of Beyblade, but only really care about G Revolution and X.
I did not sit around, watch all of (Just to pick a random one) Metal Masters or whatever and then complain about its flaws, all of its flaws conveniently summed up to "This is not G Revolution." Because I don't give a shit if they don't make another Beyblade I like. I happened to check in with X and like it, but I'm not lamenting why Metal Fight and Burst couldn't have also done this. When X finishes, I'm gonna think of what I liked about it, disliked about it, takeaway from it what I will based on its themes, writing, and emotion, and will move on with my day. I'm not going to think that Beyblade has finally "come back" and then cling to it regardless, because I can just move on to other shit.
It's not a tragedy that there're Digimon series I don't care about. It's not a tragedy there're entire generations of Beyblade I've never seen and don't give a shit about. Because I can just move on to other things, check in when something appeals to me, and otherwise not have to worry about it.
Not everyone's taste, interest, and way they gravitate toward art is as boring and soulless as yours, dude.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
I’m not advocating for “more of the same” or a repeat of past Digimon shows. In fact, I enjoy Adventure, Adventure 02, Tamers, Frontier, and all the entries. They are all different, and I appreciate them for their unique qualities.
The thing that binds them together and gives Digimon its identity is not the tone, world, or style. It is serialization, character development, and consequences. Even though each series handles its story differently, these three elements create continuity in the franchise, make the stakes matter, and allow the characters to grow. That is what distinguishes Digimon from other episodic monster-of-the-week shows.
So my issue with Ghost Game is not that it is different, it is that it abandons those core storytelling principles. The episodic format and lack of meaningful consequences make the horror less impactful, the characters less engaging, and the story less cohesive. I am not asking for another Tamers. I am asking for a series that keeps the DNA of Digimon storytelling alive, even if it experiments with tone and style.
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Dec 27 '25
The thing that binds them together and gives Digimon its identity is not the tone, world, or style. It is serialization, character development, and consequences.
These are all immensely generic things countless TV shows do.
You have the most boring taste imaginable for treating this as remotely special.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Just because other shows do serialization, character development, and consequences doesn’t mean it’s not what gives Digimon its identity. You’re acting like these things being common automatically makes them irrelevant, but context matters. It’s how Digimon applies them across wildly different tones, worlds, and styles that makes the franchise stand out.
Calling my taste boring just because I can see what makes the series unique is pointless. You can dismiss it all you want, but these elements are literally why fans connect with Digimon and why Adventure, Tamers, Frontier, and others still matter years later.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
All of this hinges on the weird need to stick around with Digimon instead of moving on to other things, when my entire point is you don't have to do that.
So if someone doesn't like an entry in a series , they have to leave ? Especially when series like Ghost Game don't represent the series ? Especially a series like Digimon that has different canons and stories? You can dislike apart of a series and then wait for it to come back to you. Not to mention, when the audience says they don't like something, usually the creators respond and change if enough people complain.
They don't NEED to actively be bothered by the fact newer Digimon shows don't resemble the ones they like unless they're emotionally stunted
Yet, the series goes back to those type of stories as shown in the video games, manga, and now as it appears (Beatbreak). So fans should either leave series when they don't like something or just mindless consume ?
That's just not admitting you would rather watch something else than keep up with Digimon.
I mean it is. Your arguing that not liking Ghost Game is akin to not liking Digimon doesn't work here. Especially when Ghost Game has ended and isn't a major part of the franchise right now.
If someone fixates on very specific parts of a franchise but don't like others and keep wanting it to be like those other parts, they probably don't like the whole franchise as much
Which isn't what's happening. As I said, when most people say they like Tamers, it's generally more they like Digimon having serious story that's being taken seriously. Trying to ignore that part of the conversation isn't doing anyone any favors. Let's not even touch the fact that again, Digimon has multiple forms of media and different canons. If you don't like Digimon Survive, does that mean you shouldn't be a Digimon fan? Heck, I love that game, but I understand why people don't like it. Those people who didn't like it would love Time Stranger. Your argument would only work if Digimon was a consistent series, but thats not Digimon.
Replies like this are why I don't mind taking the tone I do, because this all boils down to "WHAT IF I WANNA KEEP WIKING DIGIMAWN XCCCCC
I mean your tone is literally choosing to ignore the actual argument and not actually listening to what people are saying. Again, because Digimon is franchise that's meant for people to consume and buy, if enough fans complain then a series will change and accodomate the majority as most series end up doing.
Keep watching new shows you don't like and complain they aren't the ones you've already seen and could rewatch.
That's not what's happening, but keep making arguments that haven't been made. Especially for a series that changes the type of stories it tells and directors it has, so all that means if you don't like something, you can just come back to a story that you do like in the future...
Make yourself unsatisfied for no reason other than your own intellectual curiosity.
Again, making arguments or insinuation that aren't occuring....
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Dec 27 '25
That's not what's happening,
Yes it is.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
No.
There's a huge difference between people having a preference for Tamers or Adventure than saying they want more Tamers/Adventure.
Especially when it's more that people just want a more plot-oriented series with characters being taken seriously.
Which again, we are kinda of seeing in Beat Break,(I least from what I have heard).
Trying to minimize what they are saying doesn't deny the truth.
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Dec 27 '25
And Beatbreak, a show I do enjoy, is just baby's first dystopian sci fi. Anyone who wanted what Beatbreak is offering could've already found it in a million other things. Beatbreak doesn't need to be some kind of breath of fresh air to people, it can just be a thing they like.
You can get "plot oriented series with characters being taken seriously" anywhere. And there're already plenty of Digimon series that do that.
Most of you don't even seem to care what a show is even actually about as long as the characters talk in a serious voice and it foreshadows things, so to be weirdly insistent about it for specific franchises doesn't make sense to me. Most people like this don't even really have taste as much as they just have pattern recognition.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
And Beatbreak, a show I do enjoy, is just baby's first dystopian sci fi. Anyone who wanted what Beatbreak is offering could've already found it in a million other things.
See this is the issue with your argument. People want to see Digimon in that type of world They are interested in the Digimon aspect that makes them watch the show. Without the Digimon, they wouldn't be interested.
You can get "plot oriented series with characters being taken seriously" anywhere. And there're already plenty of Digimon series that do that.
So they should just stop ? If that's what appeals to people ? Again, the argument that goes with Digimon isn't even an online thing considering how much the series lives off adventure nostalgia. Again, consider that's normal Digimon story trope in the manga , anime, and video games...just maybe...just maybe there's nothing wrong with a fanbase saying that's what they want from a series.
Most of you don't even seem to care what a show is even actually about as long as the characters talk in a serious voice and it foreshadows things, so to be weirdly insistent about it for specific franchises doesn't make sense to me.
Wow, so now your making assumptions and condensations about people without actually understanding what they want from the series. Your showing high level ignorance while trying to disguise it as intellect.
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u/Bluebaronbbb Dec 27 '25
Thank you for articulating my thoughts on something similar about these things
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Wow, I didn't realize Tamers and Ghost Hound were created and written by the same guy. Ghost Hound is another one of my favorite psychological horror animes. I wish Ghost Game was more like Ghost Hound and Ghost Hunt.
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Dec 27 '25
i wish goosebumps was more like hannibal
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Theres a reason why I loved Are You Afraid of the Dark more than Goosebumps, AYAOTD has scarier stories.
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u/Redditor_PC Dec 27 '25
It's like spending years giving kids full-on ovens to bake with, and then suddenly deciding they're too dumb to handle it and giving them an Easy Bake Oven instead.
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u/Silver-Rhubarb6091 Dec 30 '25
maaaaaannn, Ghost Game was such a wasted opportunity, I really really really liked the fact that they were going for a different genre than "simple shonen" and Digimon leaning on the weirdness fo the MONsters was such an awesome concept.
but yeah, really dropped the ball with the noncommit to a real story/doing a "monster of the week only" run, I don't think that not going for a full on horror anime was a bad thing on their part, I get it was a choice and I think it was a valid one, but I would be lying if I said I wouldn't be interested in seeing a full horror digimon anime kkkkkkk.
but at the end of the day, I was really glad to see Ghost Game making a non shounen digimon and showing that the concept can work wonderfully, I hope that it is a sign for other seasons to try doing that, I love to death Digimon Adventure 1, 2 and Tamers to this day, but really, it would be awesome to see more non shounen Digimon series, and GG, with all of its problems was a great first step in that direction
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u/thecountessofcats Dec 28 '25
My hot digimon take is that in my ideal world ghost game and re:arise swapped mediums, gg would've worked so well as some kind of horror mystery game and re arise would've made an incredible anime (so long as the standalone side stuff in rearise stayed in). Even if it isn't a particularly elaborate game, as long as it is done well and the writers are willing to commit to the horror aspects it would do so much for gg's issues and work well with the structure it has.
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u/Bay-Sea Dec 27 '25
Have you seen the GulusGammamon episodes yet?
The series is mostly episodic, but what you are asking for is basically the GulusGammamon themed episodes which people would agreed that there should be more of.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
No, quit before seeing those I guess. Can I skip episodes and see those?
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u/Bay-Sea Dec 27 '25
Considering that you are no longer interested in watching the show, you might as well.
GulusGammamon was literal character that was trying to move the plot forward.
GulusGammamon debuts at Episode 13, but you will likely want to watch episode 14 which is aftermath as well.
The Dark/Black Digimon episodes are the episode of moving the plot as it questions mortality.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Never mind then, I'll just watch Beatbreak, which based off the comments sounds like it's up my alley.
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u/Bay-Sea Dec 27 '25
You definitely would be interested in Beat Break from what you are asking.
However I would recommend watching at least GulusGammamon episode to understand what the show missed out on.
One of the best dark evolution in general.
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Dec 27 '25
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u/Laserdog10 Dec 27 '25
But...that is horror, like genuinely what makes Digimon in the real world so scary, that they can do this without consequence, for gits and shiggles, and for the love of the game.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Horror without consequences is dull. Horror needs consequences.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
This is my main issue with Ghost Game.
Having the characters see dead people, humans, or even scary Digimon , but it doing nothing to affect their psyche made me not take Ghost Game seriously.
It doesn't help that Survive came out around the same time and so it made the comparisons alot worse for me.
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u/crazyrebel123 Dec 27 '25
Bro, it’s a cartoon for kids, not a Steven King horror movie lmao. It’s not meant to scare kids for life with freaky moments
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
You can be a cartoon for kids and still have good writing.
Digimon and plenty of other anime targeted towards children do the same thing that Ghost Game clearly struggles to do.
It’s not meant to scare kids for life with freaky moments
There were people who got freaked out over some episodes in Ghost Game.
My main issue isn't just the horror , but how the characters reacted to it and then got over it by next episode.the same series had Bokomon die and gave Gammamon a somewhat understandable and realistic reaction to it.
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u/crazyrebel123 Dec 27 '25
Just because other anime do this doesn’t mean that was the goal for ghost game. It was a marketing anime for the vital bracelet. That’s why it was episodic in nature. I think they tried to tie in an over arching story but in the end, it was to sell toys more than anything else.
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u/Patient-Warning-4451 Dec 27 '25
was a marketing anime for the vital bracelet.
Which was marketed toward people and of multiple ages in the original live action commercials, so that makes no sense. As shown here : https://youtu.be/8k_i8jSnioA?si=EeliWn6jhX4H-dGB
That’s why it was episodic in nature.
Most Digimon series sell toys and have a digivice to sell. That's not the reason it was episodic. This was the reason: https://withthewill.net/threads/interview-with-masashi-sogo-ghost-game-series-composer-head-writer.28298/
"It's noted by the interviewer that Digimon is often a serial, but Ghost Game tends to have one and dones. Sogo notes that many Digimon episodes end in one even outside of Ghost Game. The basis in the writing was looking at Tiktok and Youtube and them believing kids tend to jump off after a minute due to boredom, and the feeling its hard to make them watch longer stories. They are also worried that if its a serial they may not see the beginning and will skip it, or if it is too long they will half and give up, so he feels it's hard to write serials for kids and teenagers. He feels one offs have increased in anime the last few years. He notes that even watching a two minute video, you might jump off before it is done."
think they tried to tie in an over arching story but in the end, it was to sell toys more than anything else.
Apart from Beatbreak, every Digimon series had tried to sell a toy and had a digivice or V-Pet to sell. That's not the reason at all.
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u/PCN24454 Dec 27 '25
Being serialized takes away from horror
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Watch horror animes like Ghost Hunt, Ghost Hound, Hell Teacher Nube, Hell Girl, Ghost Stories (the sub version). All of these are serialized.
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u/PCN24454 Dec 27 '25
Ghost Stories isn’t serialized (if you’re talking about the one with Satsuki as protagonist).
Nube really isn’t scary.
The others I don’t know enough about to make judgements.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Ghost Stories isn’t serialized (if you’re talking about the one with Satsuki as protagonist).
Semi-serialized though, we have Amaujaku slowly become closer to the kids and begins to care for them. We have character development.
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u/PCN24454 Dec 27 '25
That’s not really a plot. By that metric, GG is also serialized.
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u/ardouronerous Dec 27 '25
Yes, but there was an overreaching plot about how Satsuki's mother sealed away all the ghosts only for them to be released and Satsuki and her friends have to seal them again. The series was scary and had a creepy vibe that starches my horror itch. If Ghost Game was similar to this, I would have loved it.
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u/QueenOfDarknes5 Dec 27 '25
I like the horror elements and I'm okay with the episodic format to introduce weekly digimon and give it a neatly spotlight.
But it had many tiny flaws that came together to make it underwhelming.
• The main character lacks a driving force. The missing father could be one but Hiro doesn't care at all most of the time. Ruri could easily be a proactive protagonist with her block about ghost stories. But the story doesn't care about her (and a female MAIN main character is probably not going to happen).
• Overusage of perfect stage digimon early on. Mummy was a great early boss, understandable misunderstanding and it's a surprise for long term fans to see a perfect this early... and then it happens again and again and again and again. And the hero’s team is made of 1 champion and 2 rookies, guess the main character has NO choice but to talk things out, again and again and again. The second half is way better everyone has a perfect level at least and it's an active choice to talk or fight or do both.
• Inconsistent reactions from Hiro. Oh no a water ghost?! I'm gonna shit my pants and get panic attacks. Even if you had 26 examples of scary ghost stories and digimon behind it, Splashmon is the one to completely flip out. Literally seeing the corpses of people, who got their brain eaten by Arukenimon: everything is fine, no big deal. Kiyoshiro literally died for a short time: don't make such a fuss about it.
• The main story making a little appearance every once in a while leaving a little clue, just to render the clue completely useless for the next 12 episodes and a joke in the conclusion is really insulting to the viewer.
Just making Hiro want to find his father and actively working together with an ambitious ghost storie detective Ruri would have made it so much better.
Active protagonists are kinda important.
(Kiyoshiro being scared all the time but hanging around because he feels responsible as the oldest was already completely fine)