Today's two digimon are not immediately related to one another, or at least weren't originally created to be, but this won't be the last time we review two Digimon at once based purely on their pure and beautiful anime friendship. These two little troublemakers appeared in Digimon Adventure for only one episode as minor underlings of Myotismon, but that single episode was a roller coaster of emotion as the two monsters demonstrated extremely little in the way of actual "evil" and effectively befriend two of the same kids they were originally sent to hunt down and murder. They had a lot of fun and then nothing bad happened and we don't have anything else to discuss about this innocent and cheerful episode.

So let's review Gotsumon first. He's a child level resembling a little humanoid made of rock, and that's kind of all there is to him, but you have to love rock monsters. Nothing is especially "spooky" about them as far as monsters go in general, yet a great many series seem to lump them in with Halloweeny ghosts, ghouls and goblins nonetheless, and I really like that. I like thinking of rock creatures as eerie, haunting bogeys more than just the cool, tough bruisers they are in some series.

It's important to mention that the earliest known adult form for Gotsumon was Icemon, and Icemon could eventually evolve into Meteormon, but all three digimon have exactly the same design. Gotsumon very deliberately evolves into a series of its own palette-swaps, changing nothing but its material components!

RATING:

Then, we've got Pumpkinmon, a puppet type Perfect level digimon with a lovely stitched-up rag doll body, a Jack O' Lantern head and an embedded axe for good measure, the Halloweenest digimon there could ever conceivably be. Is it odd for a perfect level to be best friends with a child level? Is that the digimon equivalent of a first grader and a middle aged man running around together? I guess not in digimon logic, since we've even seen villages with "elderly" versions of child stage species. I have no idea how it works.

Pumpkinmon, or just Pumpmon, is admittedly not the most original design out there as a digimon or even as a pumpkin creature. I have seen a LOT of pumpkin creatures in my day, possibly more than any other human being alive, and after a while there isn't all that much you can do to set them apart. Pumpkinmon is, however, still a digimon and pumpkin creature devoid of flaw. There is nothing I would add or change, no "improvement" I can conceive of. It's another of those cases where I wish we didn't even have an additional evolutionary stage, because this absolutely deserves to be a final form.

Not to say there isn't a fairly decent selection of creatures Pumpkinmon can evolve from and evolve into. You KNOW it can morph out of a Bakemon, that goes without saying. Other options include Devimon, Garurumon, Meramon, Wizardmon and Dokugumon, while further evolutions include Boltmon, the upcoming Puppetmon, and the much, much later to come Parasimon (as a very, very peculiar fusion evolution we'll get to talking about when we review that one). It may be lacking in any other haunted vegetables, but they made sure Pumpkinmon's family tree would be a veritable Digital Monster Mash.

RATING:

What's perhaps even better than that, however, is that there's an Adult stage digimon properly linking these two pals directly together. GOLEMON is the most official evolution of Gotsumon to not be the same exact creature in a different color, and you know they couldn't resist letting Pumpkinmon evolve from it on at least a few occasions.

Golemon is also just really REALLY damn awesome to look at. Look at it RIGHT NOW! Really get up in there! Check out that face! Don't you love how many Digimon sport just one eerie eye on one side of a helmeted or masked face? I gotta do that more in my art. If they're going to abandon some of their own design conventions like they have, then somebody else has just gotta step in and pick them up. Not to mention, how many "golem" or rock-man type monsters have you ever seen with jagged, predatory teeth? This is an unmistakably spooktacular rock beast, and it may not make all that much sense for it to evolve into a pumpkinhead, but I definitely like that it can evolve into a pumpkinhead who can then evolve into a Frankenstoid.

RATING:

Oh yeah, and there's a song! A song commemorating the two most immortal, unkillable, alive digimon ever in the history of all possible digimon!


We're Gotsumon and Pumpmon
We really, really like having fun
Let's go, go! Let's head for Shibuya
Let's hurry, go! While eating chocolate
Let's frolic, go! We'll jump on the subway
Let's make noise, go! A carnival is better than a battle

Our blood is boiling, our flesh is dancing
We're second class, but overflowing with power
We'll regret it if we don't do it
It looks like Halloween all year round
We definitely want to have fun here in Shibuya

My goal is to be a star, humming a tune
I'm always concentrating on having fun
I'm elusive, I appear without an appointment
I'll get you with my cool shirt from 109
Even if they say "No matter what you wear, it looks weird with your pumpkinhead"
I don't care, I'm fine, I'm happy
I'll say a toast with my juice and restore my prestige
That's the rule of a Shibuya Digimon

We're Gotsumon and Pumpmon
We really, really like having fun
Let's go, go! We're waiting in Shibuya
Let's hurry, go! While eating ice cream
Let's frolic, go! Riding a taxi
Let's make noise, go! A carnival is better than a battle

Hey, are you tired already?
It's the end of the century, we can't take a break
We'll show off our special attacks and turn the tables
But really we'd rather hit on girls than fight
We'll have fun here in Shibuya all we want

My goal is to be the leading man, but for now I'm just a bit part
It's my chance to stand out, as long as I arrive I'll try anything
By chance I'm suddenly a regular
I'll get a girlfriend in front of Hachi Park
Even if she says, "Well, I really can't stand tough guys"
It doesn't bother me, I'm fine, I'm happy
I'll have another helping of takoyaki and everything's all right
That's the rule of a Shibuya Digimon

Takeru and Patamon are welcome
Yamato and Gabumon are welcome
We welcome any invitation to have fun
If we get sleepy we'll just have a piece of mint gum

We're Gotsumon and Pumpmon
We really, really like having fun
Let's go, go! Let's head for Shibuya
Let's hurry, go! While eating chocolate
Let's frolic, go! We'll jump on the subway
Let's make noise, go! A carnival is better than a battle
Let's go, go! We're waiting in Shibuya
Let's hurry, go! While eating ice cream
Let's frolic, go! Riding a taxi
Let's make noise, go! A carnival is better than a battle"