Digimon Fusion

So I saw all of Digimon Fusion. Despite almost everyone hating it, I had a gut feeling I'd enjoy it more than Frontier and Data Squad.

Two warnings before I proceed with my review:

1.) Please don't give me a hard time if you dislike Fusion. I respect you disliking it, please show me the same respect.

2.) If you haven't seen Fusion yet, it's really hard to find on DVD (except MAYBE this one site that might have the official box sets), so if you want to be able to rewatch them forever in the event they disappear from anywhere else you might be able to find them, you might not want to start. (I found them by pure luck at a store 30 minutes from where I live, only once I had them preserved did I start) Besides, you'd probably not enjoy it anyway.

So... here's my review.

It's exactly what I was looking for. Not perfect, but in my top three favorites for sure. (Other two being Adventure 01 and Tamers) I love it being all set in the digital world like Frontier (except part of the first episode and the last episodes of each season). It pretty much takes all the good parts of Tamers and Frontier and puts them in one. Or most of them, anyway.

Shoutmon was fun to have around, and Cutemon, and the other Fusion Fighter Digimon hanging around like Ballistamon, Pickmonz, etc. I kinda like Beastmon too. And of course Dorulumon, having an interest in tails due to Dragonball Z I love his tail attacks.

I also love the fights to the death present in Adventure 01 and Tamers, and while other Digimon series had this too, a lot of them here are final. (Well, the Zone commanders in Season 1 are revived and purified, but the Three Generals, the Dark Generals (except Olegmon, who reforms and is revived alongside the true Apollomon), AxeKnightmon, and Lord Bagra are killed off for real. Most of them felt pretty compelling in their own way. I'd say Blastmon's my favorite of the original generals (though I do like Tactimon's voice and Laylamon's whole "element of darkness" thing), and my top three favorite Dark Generals are Splashmon, NeoMyotismon, and Gravimon. (Olegmon would be next I think, but that's going by before his redemption, he almost fits into a different category afterwards as he's the only redeemable one, not counting Apollomon as Whispered is the true Dark General, and speaking of Apollomon, I'm glad he eventually got to be free of his dark half and gets revived at the end)

I also love the cameos of Digimon from previous generations (even though they're all separate continuities). Beelzemon, Lillymon, Lilamon, Stingmon, Whamon, armies of Devimon, LadyDevimon, and Etemon, a Puppetmon who, though initially betraying the heroes, joins forces with them, a Lucemon who works for Laylamon but still takes all but his larval forms before his presumably final death, Unimon and Pegasusmon, etc.

Primary three things people disliked about Fusion, which I'll address - not giving you a hard time for it, but just saying how I felt about it.

I didn't mind the fusion system replacing digivolution - I can appreciate the show for what it is and not expect the same digivolution system from the other series except Frontier, as long as there's good fight scenes.

As for the censorship? Not being a fan of NSFW (as the pony fandom calls it), that just makes it better for me. Making Mervamon less suggestive? Makes her easier for me to look at (and I have nothing against Bare Your Midriff, which they kept, I find it to be cute and nothing else). Editing a swimsuit onto Angie in the hot spring scene? I praise them for it. One of the few things I hated about Inuyasha was characters going into the water nude and apparently having never heard of swimsuits (even though nothing explicit was shown), I'm glad they averted that with her.

Though they don't seem to be as fussy with male characters, given one moment with Jijimon in the Sand Zone I wish they had censored, it wasn't even important to the plot like the scene with Master Roshi in DBZ so they could've easily cut it like they did with MetalEtemon.

Classic anime style, when it aired in 2013-2015? I prefer it over the modern day anime style. High on my list of favorite animes, aside from Adventure 01, Tamers, and Fusion, are Dragonball Z/Kai, Sailor Moon, Sailor Moon Crystal (which is fairly recent but follows classic anime style and being just as disliked as Fusion), Inuyasha, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, even Death Note, though its style is a little different than the others. (Soul Eater is a LITTLE bit in the in-between point but when it gets down to it it was enjoyable)

Who's in charge of the official Digimon DVD box sets, and can I contact them and ask them to release a full DVD box set of Fusion? (Excluding Season 3 of course as it was never dubbed)

I remember once I contacted FUNimation and asked them to release a box set of the first 53 episodes of original DBZ, and they did shortly after, saying "HFIL has frozen over and your wish has been granted". I would've contacted Hasbro for the last two seasons of their greatest show but they cut off outside communication due to fans being ungrateful and hostile.

I know, all of you hated Fusion, but I really think I'd like it. From what clips I saw, lots of fights to the death, spectacularly disintegrating, and if I'm right, all the villain deaths from Episode 30 onwards are final.

I know people complained about censorship in the dub but as long as none of the major death scenes are censored to make it look like they survived, and of course I definitely don't complain about suggestive content being censored.

I have an idea of how digivolution works too and can kinda imagine this is a factor to people disliking it as well due to being very different from Adventure, Tamers, and Data Squad (since from what I heard it's mainly other Digimon fusing with Shoutmon, with him dominant), but I'm fine with that as long as we get some awesome fight scenes.

This could be the next Adventure 01/Tamers for me - IF I can make sure it's preserved forever! (Even if I can find the full series somewhere there's no guarantee it'll stay anywhere and I'd probably want to rewatch it down the road)

Specify who kills who, with what attack, and if they get revived.

If I understand right, all Digimon who die from Episodes 1-29 are revived, and the evil ones purified. Then all the villain deaths from 30 onward, final, unless reformed, as all "fallen allies" are revived in the final episode. (Correct me if I'm wrong on any counts)

Well... for the dub at least, which is what I'm going by, so just first two seasons, English dub.

I started making that list but not only might I have missed something, but at least one episode I can't view, nor can I find any of it except the first 13 episodes on DVD.

If no one here either remembers or wrote it down, I guess it doesn't matter a whole lot coz Fusion itself is dead and wasn't that popular anyway, though I get the impression I'd have really enjoyed it.

Is there a way we can get the full series released on DVD?

I know the reception has generally been very negative. However, reception to Sailor Moon Crystal and Inuyasha has also been negative and I loved them.

A bit of insight for what I like in an animated show (please don't judge):

First, I love fights to the death ending with the deaths of villains. Doesn't have to be all (like Ogremon, Zhuqiaomon, Beelzemon, etc.). Which Adventure 01 and Tamers were full of (Adventure 01 especially being high on the main villains, all nine (counting the movie, with Diaboromon), and Tamers having a high count in general (mostly Wild Ones and 11 of the 12 Devas, though only one of the three main villains died, but the greatest of them. Before you argue, I'm going by the dub where the D-Reaper is stated to "disappear forever" and the Digimon needed to return to the digital world to avoid the same fate)

This is a large part of what made both Sailor Moon Crystal and Inuyasha enjoyable for me as well.

Second, due to Dragonball Z I also like when characters do things with their tails, though the lack of this wouldn't be enough to put me off from Fusion. High amounts of it of course will help it be enjoyable. (Hell, MetalSeadramon and Renamon even kill Scorpiomon and Harpymon, respectively, with their tails)

Third, comedy, which is often present in Digimon (I remember hearing dubs added it in to make it seem less dark for younger viewers). Though my idea of comedy is non-suggestive types.

Fourth, that said, I am not a fan of suggestive content. (Nor explicit but I doubt that is in anything Digimon) Adventure 01 I remember not being squeaky clean and there was a slight reference in Tamers, though baseless. But I can look the other way if there's not a whole lot of it. But did I interpret correctly that the dub of Fusion censored such content? (I always go by the dubs)

Lastly, I don't like it to be too slow-paced. I know Adventure 01, Tamers, and, to an extent, Data Squad started a little slow but picked up.

So, Digimon Fusion. What I know is that Season 3 didn't get dubbed, but Season 2 ends with closure regarding Bagramon/Lord Bagra, main villain, who is permanently destroyed at the end (yes I know he's reincarnated in Season 3, but aside from lack of dub, Kid Buu is still considered "dead" after being reincarnated into Uub). For talk of censorship, I peeked at the end and saw he gets stabbed and disintegrates.

I have enjoyed Frontier and Data Squad to some extent. Though most of the evil Digimon deaths aren't permanent, revived as Digieggs purified and/or losing their memory. (Unlike Adventure 01 where only good Digimon are reborn, and Tamers where all deaths final) Of course Lucemon and Kurata are another story and they're enough. But from the sound of things, do evil Digimon (besides Bagramon) stay dead?

Now, taking all that into account: Would I enjoy Fusion?

Another thing though - even if I do really enjoy Fusion, only the first 13 episodes got a DVD release. I can still watch it somewhere, but I never trust anything to stay anywhere. If I really like something I'll always want it on DVD to know I'll have it forever. But for Fusion, if I really do like it, eventually it will be gone and unwatchable one day and I can never return to it. So you can understand my dilemma here.