Digimon's New Main Character Is Amazing, But...

Digimon Liberator Debug delivers one of the best Digimon and Tamer partnerships in years, but its not without its issues. Yuuki and Impmon deserve more than a text adventure.
Digimon Liberator Debug Review: Early Impressions Review
0:00 The Good
3:06 The Bad
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Writing, Narration & Editing: @CoreyOnline

[@thedigiknow]

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[@lucasaugusto1020]

Brazilian here, I actually love the debug more than the web comic. Love the characters, the dynamics beteween them. My main thing, with both projects is the lack of explanation of the rules for the TCG, sometimes I can get lost

[@kazemizu]

I think that might be the point. They left a rule book plugin as one of the options.

[@GiftOfKnowledge-np9vg]

One way I could see the characters earning growth when they already start with Mega level is for them to get X Antibody forms for their Digimon lines. I mean, all the main Digimon we’ve seen don’t have them (besides Royal Base and Omekamon) and X Antibody has become kind of a big thing in the card game. A full line probably would make any deck that gets it more competitive too, so you really would feel the growth. There are others ways to get new forms worth earning too; branching/alternative evos, level 7s, etc. But X Antibody feels like the one that could feel to have the biggest impact.

[@neronerotico]

They'll probably still unlock new evolutions through the series, either alternative Lv6s (Mega/Ultimate) or a Lv7 (Ultra/Super Ultimate).

[@thedigiknow]

Hope so!

[@skistorm739]

​@@thedigiknow the digimon evo to upstand illogical emotions explains lots of digimon instead of rarer bewteen speices in the past

[@animeguy1101]

Since I don’t understand fully how to play the card game I struggle to understand how the card battles are going but the characters in both comic and novel along with the story if it goes well makes up with it for me so far. Also I think I like Impmon’s new evo line more as a Shoutmon line, it fits so well for both rookies.

[@muhammedbadjie1960]

Impmon's new line is more akin to Guilmon's, Shout doesn't really have many dragonoid looking forms since like almost all of them are extremely human looking

[@pat1r1ck]

i tried the card game (the tutorial one) and see a bunch of videos of it. its interesting and i would play it if i have anyone to play it (i don't sadly)

[@Ewthulhu]

I don't think the novel can ever be as good as the manga (for me at least) but I still really enjoyed reading the chapters. It feels like a nice bonus story, with the manga being the main story.

[@IcefireC67]

I mean yugioh is going strong still after over 20 years. If yugioh can do it, digimon definitely can I just wished this was an anime and not anothwr web novel. I dont want to read another web novel. I want an anime that can get me hyped

[@Pierceson-up8fs]

Most anime tend to start off as web novels or comics. Anime tends to serve as advertisements for these products because that’s actually where most of the money is made. You’re example of Yugioh started out as a manga, and it highlights the effectiveness of this system The fact I’ve heard about this so much (far more than any of the non-nostalgia bait Digimon anime) is making me inclined to think this will get an anime if it keeps doing well

[@null-Oh-6666]

An anime is more expensive to make

[@IcefireC67]

@@null-Oh-6666 not really an excuse when theyve been making digimon anime for over 2 decades

[@null-Oh-6666]

@@IcefireC67 the difference is that in the last 2 decades there hasn't been a global recession like the one we are facing now, anime studios won't take such leaps of faith and would opt for more secure investment animes which has a greater audience. Digimon is niche

[@kitsunepop1077]

I'm actually a big fan of the departure from the standard digimon evolution story. I personally feel like in more recent media digivolution has become a little more shonen "big bad guy, gotta evolve" than necessarily a sign of personal growth in earlier series I'm hoping to see a little more teamwork, like both tamer and partner working together on strategies rather than just powering up the digimon. I feel like it gives opportunity for more nuanced stories, especially since it seems like with both our protagonists and their digimon have an opposite personality to each other I guess only time will tell, but I'm excited for both!

[@kaigraham6733]

Beezlemon is my favorite digimon…but I love his new form …

[@kazemizu]

Maybe there's a future slide evolution in the works??

[@TWLSpark]

Character growth will probably be shown in two ways, similar to how Yu-Gi-Oh did starting with 5D's - they will obtain brand new cards that outperform the ones they use in the beginning, or at least have different applications that make them better than them on specific situations. These could be brand new evolutions, or just the same name with other effects! Additionally, while this hasn't been brought up in the manga yet, the Tamer cards are customizable and you can earn brand new effects by doing certain tasks, like beating quests or challenges. These will definitely serve as the series' power scaling, as well as their development checkpoints in the future. Of course, it would've been cool to just show off the evolutions one by one, filling the remaining levels with standard cards for the time being, but that would just make choreographing the games harder. The difference in medium matters, and very much so unfortunately.

[@streeker007]

This is a crazy idea that could work for the whole evolution idea. Granted I didn't read the story so bear with me. >_< Yuki is an experienced digimon tamer and hacker who was originally using the Beelzemon line when a mysterious new digimon appears or an accident occurs that damages Impmon either locking him out of his original line or damages it so he can't use it anymore. Yuki, being the extreme type would try something crazy like pump her Impmon with Guilmon data to create a brand new line. Because the line is incomplete, she has to get back her original strength slowly while stopping the evil forces of chaos or something.

[@aptheweirdone]

As someone who has read all of debug and chapter 3 part 1, I like both series. Debug was the prologue for novel. We got an introduction to the two main leads. I liked how novel is more character focus for the time being rather than geared towards the card game though a part of me wished debug chapter 2 was animated. I do think the novel should be released every two months and maybe that will change next year. You are right about the author being new which is a surprise. Personally, I liked the cards showing up in the novel. It is a good product placement. They feature amazing art and give details about upcoming cards in the future. I loved Fanbeemon's new mega's art.

[@weebmeister-harry]

Definitely gonna check out Liberator

[@masterdarklink1]

The fact that they bring up that Yuuki used to make Impmon go into Belezemon makes me think that, in the future we're gonna see more new megas and ultimates for Impmon that will appear at dramatic moments, similar to how Yugi had Dark Magician as his ace but would routinely pull out a new powerful ace now and then, like Black Luster Soilder or Magician of Black Chaos etc.

[@gregsanders61]

I personally don't think this is the angle they will take, but I desperately hope it is. I would love to see some new boss cards every major arc.

[@michaelliggett1622]

Digimon liberator debug has a solid translation and I do enjoy it

[@ikaika1]

I know this is a bit late, but good video as always! Also, I like Heavymetaldramon's design

[@thedigiknow]

Glad you like it!

[@jehmarxx2]

It is my first time reading a web comic and learning about the card game beyond Tamers so I really dig Liberator.

[@dracone4370]

Something that could be fun to see from Liberator, since it has two different stories going on at the moment (maybe an anime with a different set of protagonists is also in the works that we haven't heard about yet), is some chapters where the characters of one story meet and interact with characters of the other story. I like reading the web novel, I just wish it would update at around the same frequency as the comic, that way it would feel more like the two stories are progressing in tandem with each other, and then that eventual crossover I mentioned wanting to see, would feel more in line with everything. The Digimon card game, ironically, does not have some digital platform or hub to play the game digitally; both against AI and other real-world players, for when you really can't find anyone to physically play the game. Something I think would be a missed opportunity for the Digimon Liberator property would be if they didn't give us an actual VR Digimon Liberator game where we could meet, interact, and battle the comic and web novel characters. And if they make a classic Computer/Game Console version of the Digimon Card Game to go along with the actual VR Liberator game that is hopefully coming soon, with both having you share the same account info, then you could have a whole bunch of fun with your digital card library and play with all the decks you're building in the game itself. And they could tie this all in more, your linked account would gather information on your player data, which would, in turn, generate personalized Tamer cards, like what we see in the Digimon Liberator stories, that are there to help improve, augment, or supplement your play style, much like how the personalized Tamer cards work in the Liberator stories. The VR game could go further with you choosing a Rookie level Digimon as your travel companion who will point out points of interest during exploration of the VR world's digital space and play the part of a game assistant during matches with, cheering you on when the opportunity arises, and advising you on plays and alerting you to changes in the game state during matches that you might not be aware of. But seeing as most of that would take a lot of time and money; at most, they would probably opt for the cheapest digital hub with minimal support for new players and returning players that need a refresher course.

[@Timidogbumpstudio]

I love this idea of 3 evolution mons

[@pieboygames]

I feel the ACE cards will be their milestone get.

[@dresete2]

i known that another main character had to unlocke the new evos, but is no finish with pteromon. Maybe he can a new alternative evos (remember that pteromon have two main evos. The new pteromon line and parrotmon line). Maybe he can unlock a new level 7 evo in the final of liberator series.

[@n0ir945]

Your right!!!

[@matthewlynn6108]

Seekers walked so Liberator could run. Maybe next we’ll get a Digimon… anime? 🤔 🤣😂

[@idman2]

Personally I kind of felt the reverse when it came understanding the card game compared to the novel and the comic. In the Novel I was able to understand what was happening and I liked that they were giving me an example of the win state that Yuki wanted to be in and how she failed the last time and why the HeaveyMetaldramon deck gave her the edge. While in the Manga I was lost a bit with the plays Shoto and the NPC were doing and trying to follow along what was happening with the art. I think both are good and excited to see what will happen next in it, if I had to pick which Protag I like more out of the two I would say I like Yuki and Impmon's dynamic more than Shoto and Pteromon's.

[@jordanstephens4178]

I love the web comic alot..has me excited for each new chapter...wish we had a new anime and game coming out soon though. They need to release a dub of ghost game like yesterday

[@minicle426]

I won't lie. I like the new Impmon evos more than Beelzebumon. We don't get enough beast like final stages in the franchise. And this feels like a nice throwback to how western pop culture influenced the older designs. I also like it when the girl character gets a more demonic partner. It's akin to how I wish Hikari had got Picodevimon instead.

[@CRIMSON13th]

Punkmon bangs

[@ramoncastro4737]

I still need to read the digimon liberator debug series. Haha

[@dragonjaj]

You miss that there may be more evolution shown like see impmon may also be shown with other forms

[@davidebuiese8035]

To Impmon, to make him become the opposite of Guilmon, I would have given him a biodigivolution into a knight Digimon for the Mega level.. with all the existing ones.. Mordredmon doesn't exist, he was also a knight like Galad or Gallant.. furthermore it would be the contradiction: the girl hides in the black knight In some versions Dynasmon is his mega form

[@InktheImpassive]

I thought the new Impmon evolution line parallels with Shoutmon instead of Growlmon, though Shoutmon only gets one evolution...

[@Rordrik]

It worries me that already there were two chapters back to back that were so similar and formulaic already. I really hope the next release breaks away from it. Though I do love the interactions of the tamers and partners here. Getting to spend enough time with them we already start to get a good picture of who each Digimon and human is.

[@johanstenfelt1206]

Hm, I see, very interesting, i hope it gets to make up for the Bad. …i wonder if we’ll ever get a full on Anime Adaptation for any of the other Material.

[@waterdominic134]

When he was talking about the card game and saying it’s boring to read I was thinking has he watched people play the card game. it’s boring to me probably because I watched a lot of yugioh. This should be an anime more people would probably now it’s existence

[@snehashismajumdar8157]

I think I enjoyed the WebNovel more since while the webcomic is not necessarily bad, it’s not something which I would have read or continue if I was not into Digimon. The card battles scenes are not that engaging to watch and unless properly played will be difficult to understand. The WebNovel though was simple and easy to enjoy.

[@tortamons]

As someone who's a pretty hardcore fan of the cardgame, I like the web novel a lot more so far honestly!! The manga feels like it skips over a lot of key steps in the gameplay (like how boards get set up, various plays, etc) that makes it hard to totally follow the flow of the game without breaking immersion. So the more play-by-play nature of the web novels matches feels a lot better to me

[@alfasilverblade]

The web manga is interesting, its just 1 long page, you dont need to change pages, just need to scroll. I like that.

[@aaa1e2r3]

I agree with you about the criticism regarding Mega so early. What I think they are planning to do, in order to tie it into the card game, is introduce branching evolutions into different forms as a marker for those character beats, rather than the champion/ultimate/mega stage being locked behind the character moment, like how they did the x antibody forms in the 2020 anime.

[@AtelierGod]

I get the feeling these online only series are there to put something in between bigger projects. They have lower budgets but they keep the fans entertained without making massive holes of nothing in between.

[@aaleven4728]

2:21 I think it's supposed to be Megidramon not Megadramon lol. But anyway, I honestly preferred the first .debug chapter to the manga for a few reasons: it was imo easier to imagine the situation while in the comics it's kinda just there and it creates a nice atmosphere, the fact that reading the manga on the site is awful seriously the UI sucks for the manga in particular but I gotta admit I do share the critique that on the webnovel it's kinda hard to see what is going on related to the card game. I genuinely had no idea what was going on the second chapter with the bee guy because it pushed more into the card game than the first. And yeah the fact that we are already finished with the evo lines on the first chapters does make me wonder what is going to be next, the comic and web novel characters meeting seems either guaranteed to happen or not happen at all and I guess you could make Impmon evolve into beelzemon / 2010 for a moment but that wouldn't add anything

[@jjlore5634]

Similar to how yuki used to play beelzemon maybe the growth will show by having alt evolutions and decks.

[@DarkeLourd]

New cards depicting the same Digimon with new abilities can still be a good way to show character development and growth, especially if they borrow a little from Yugioh and have the new cards magically appear or transform from other cards as the plot demands. As a card game player I was a bit annoyed by how the classic evolution-tied-to-plot-development formula hampered the Ghost Game Digimon in the card game, where it was literally over a year between the first Gammamon/Jellymon/Angoramon and the first Siriusmon/Amphimon/Diarbbitmon that made the decks technically playable, and to make matters worse the latter set was delayed enough that they were already power crept. By contrast, Zephagamon and Cendrillmon decks are competitively viable in Japan right now and we'll reach that point in September as part of the push to unify the TCG.

[@aruraven]

I echo your sentiment with Debug. Liberator's protagonist feels like more of the same to me. I hope if they ever make a manga or anime, for it to be about Debug. And, yeah, I was a little disappointed with the choice of showing full digievolution lines ahead from the get go. They feel unearned. I'm truly curious as to how they plan in showing character growth when THIS has been the staple way of visualizing it in digimon.

[@gwinnondavis9284]

Am interesting theory that's been going around is that since two pre-existing Digimon have gotten brand new lines some for some of the other Digimon that's going to appear. Also, the whole thing of how the card games in the Novel start in the middle of things could be because trying to describe every move, through wording alone, would get tiresome after a bit.

[@mitch_universe4058]

I’m just sitting here waiting for the re-dubbed Digimon movies

[@thedigiknow]

Same

[@dracowolf2081]

Bro just get ready for the jogress Impon will have for his final evolution.

[@lilbladeknight]

it's a purple guilmon

[@nicholase82]

Honestly I haven't seen any videos about the second chapter of the web novel

[@bretbeebe4061]

the big stick coming out of the Wargrowlmon knock-off's chest really ruins its aesthetic

[@dramonmaster222]

I must admit the manga seems more interesting to me me. However, I think DeBug has an appeal as well.

[@abdur673]

Are we going to see takato in this new digimon series

[@MatthewLoh-ru1mw]

No, this is a different Digimon universe althogether

[@adamjyuken3449]

So is this like an alternative universe? Or…

[@kazemizu]

I think the biggest issue with seekers is that it wasn't a story about digimon. It was a story that had digimin in it.

[@SharkWitchMeruna]

I like it. I forget, when was the last time we had a female protag (not including games)?

[@thedigiknow]

Can’t really think of one besides games! But I could be forgetting. Strong female gamers & digidestined throughout the anime but never as the lead / main

[@namenlosNamenlos]

👍🏿😎👍🏿

[@renansm6691]

So like Rina and VV?

[@thedigiknow]

Yah!

[@kintsuki99]

You know it makes sense that they already have the digivolutions since they are veterans in the game and not someone starting their journey.

[@cornblaque2310]

The new impmon digivolution line is literally just a copy of guilmon

[@truthspreader1996]

That is very disappointing, very!

[@null-Oh-6666]

But his tamer is such a r34 waifu 🤤🤤🤤🤤🤤

[@truthspreader1996]

@@null-Oh-6666 Easy now..........

[@matthewrowlett1564]

So... personality wise, Yuki is Essentially a female version of Marcus from Data Squad?

[@snehashismajumdar8157]

Don’t really think so. She is more those who enjoy anime, manga, video games and other pop culture stuff. She is a dancer, not a fighter.

[@ashleylightheart126]

I'm sorry Queen's Gambit is based off a novel!?

[@thedigiknow]

Yep! Well, Queen's Gambit. A novel from 1983!

[@TheYashakami]

Webcomics and mangas are not the same thing. Webcomics are significantly more accessible and you are downplaying the availability of the series by calling it a manga.

[@christianmathew398]

@TheYashakami-Sir this is a Wend'ys

[@mrex666productions7]

Also note that this and seekers are completely free so it should be treated more like a fanfic than something more serious. You need to pay for Digimon Survive and moreso if you want to watch Tri. or 02 the Beginning.

[@aliastheabnormal]

Pteromon lost his mega card. Read the latest chapter.

[@liquidarchitecture6109]

As a not native English speaker, I find it hard to read lots of text, so unfortunately I don't think I'll read the novel, the manga is great, I they turn both stories to anime or a game.

[@purkle200]

She sounds way better than Shoto, who I find pathetic at the moment. (hopefully, he'll get better)

[@AngelPerez-tu1nk]

I find myself agreeing. It's kinda like with Ghost Game, the characters are perfect as far as I'm concerned, or better put, awesome to follow. You're right on the evolution front. And I am more of a visual guy so I definitely understand what you mean.

[@truthspreader1996]

*Impmon digivolution line is disappointing* I know they were going for a nod at main charactersness but it just comes off as lazy and unimaginative. He's just a carbon copy of Guilmon's digivolution route (And I'm not too fond of the names either...) Again, how disappointing.

[@CreativeSteve69]

As a Digimon fan since it's premiere as a kid. I am not very much of a reader these days much anymore due to timing etc. So hearing about new generations of Digimon coming out lately as Graphic digital noels, kindof makes me a bit sad as a American anime lover. I so wish we still got translated dub anime of these upcoming Series instead of a graphic novel,. I would rather much get immersed into Digimon again via Anime format over reading these days personally to get hyped on Digimon again. That is just my personal take on it.

[@AustinAngelus723]

The fact that we're still in text adventures post Ghost Game is pretty telling that the Digimon IP is slowly closing in towards rock bottom. If we aren't simply getting more animated shows after the mess we got after Ghost game along with a follow up show being Great Mission to promote the same product that's seemingly died out not long ago, its only a matter of time before the franchise as a whole is going to die out eventually.

[@desdar100]

Things were wayyy worse after Xros wars which literally almost ended the series. The card game is killing it and we're getting new Digimon biweekly too

[@aptheweirdone]

I disagree in fact Toei has stated Digimon is there in big three along side Dragon Ball and One Piece. My guess is they are waiting for teams schedule to clear up so they can great a Digimon anime on par with Dragon Quest Adventure of Dai reboot. Digimon franchise as whole in my opinion is in a second golden age.

[@minicle426]

​​​​​@@aptheweirdone It's certainly doing a whole lot better than the mess they made out of Sailor Moon with that (mindnumbingly bad) reboot. The movies were an embarrassing flop in Japan.

[@dresete2]

The problem that i see is the rights of anime. Bandai WANTS do a TCG anime but the problem is Toei only wants do a Adventure films. The digimon media have a lot of problem with the licenses, if is was more focused, i sure that we can have a anime

[@MatthewLoh-ru1mw]

​@@minicle426which ones? Digimon or Sailor moon reboot?

[@Spamkromite]

I lost interest into the manga after a few chapters, and the pace of the light novel is... I'm not reading it more. My suspension of disbelief and the way these authors are scripting everything is all over the place. The anime at least had a story-board to follow, but these ones are like the authors are just winging it as they go and then gets approved instantly. I'm of those that are thinking that they both are made with AI and they are working over that template hence the cumbersome way it's going and the weird fanservice evo lines, but that's just me and how I blame Bamco for tossing Digimon to the bottom of their priorities as a franchise as the lowest earning one. In other words, Digimon is just on AI life-support and we're going to keep coping with our own fan online TCG and fanfics until Bamco surprises us or unplugs the franchise forever. By the way the online TCG fangame is very complete, I'd recommend it. I'd post links but you know how KZbin behaves with that. Name is DCGO.