Digimon Ghost Game

Episode 4

I am so happy that Digimon Ghost Game did not pass up the chance to do a Halloween-themed episode. Given the fact that the overall premise and tone of the series focuses more on the occult and supernatural, it would've been a massive lost opportunity if they didn't. Moreover, this episode really knocked it out of the park, creating one of the most frightening episodes of the series thus far by featuring a Digimon who, up until this point for longtime fans, was more often than not portrayed as cute rather than scary. The season is actually doing a relatively good job showing that there are other ways to take out the Digimon than just with brute force, and that some of them aren't inherently evil, just a little lonely. Some adapt, while others latch onto whatever they can to forge a connection, making things lean more heavily into luck. Similar to the Mummymon episode, all it takes is a little bit of misinformation to lead them down a dangerous path, but they don't see it that way because they have no means of communicating with people outside of terrifying them. I cannot believe such an intense episode ended on a surprisingly wholesome note without it feeling forced or unearned, but I really need to hand it to the show's writing and directing because wow. The overall animation quality might seem cheap and flat at times, but if I was watching this as a kid, I don't think I'd ever be able to look at a pumpkin the same way again.

There was so much violent imagery in this episode, from the warped smiles on Pumpkinmon's face, to the camera holding on bodies being dragged into other rooms, to a pumpkin carver literally coming within an inch from the eyes of children. Props to the sound design – between the glitching effects and the impact of knives hitting the pumpkins, there were some moments that genuinely made me shift in my seat a little bit. To top it all off, we also get a little bit of additional context and lore surrounding the Digimon, as Hiro and Ruli are caught a bit up to speed briefly on what exactly Digimon are. I am glad that my assumption was right that the two would work relatively well together right out the gate; the two are already on a first name basis and demonstrating that they have a lot to learn from each other. Despite having so much packed in a simple episode, it didn't feel overbearing as it accomplished everything it wanted to do. My only regret is that I didn't actually watch this episode on Halloween, but that is not the fault of probably one of the best episodes of the show so far!

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Digimon Ghost Game is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.