This article contains spoilers for Digimon Ghost Game through Episode 47 "Memory of Eternity", streaming now on Crunchyroll.

Throughout Digimon Ghost Game, the lines between Digimon and humans have continued to blur. Episode 47, "Memory of Eternity", focused on Shadramon's desperate struggle to retain his memories when he died. Nanomon took advantage of Shadramon's fears and used him as an experiment to see if fusing a Digimon's memories with a human could allow the Digimon to reform and live on with their memories intact. The experiment failed, and Shadramon ultimately died and became a digitama once more.

However, fusion between humans and Digimon has been possible before in the Digimon franchise. In Digimon Frontier, instead of having Digimon partners, the main protagonists instead fused with the spirits of ancient Digimon heroes to fight to save the Digital world. Comparing the fusions in Digimon Frontier to Nanomon's experiments in Digimon Ghost Game shows that consent and a shared purpose contributed to Digimon Frontier's fusion success, and the absence of these key factors led to Nanomon's failure.

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In Digimon Frontier, the DigiDestined Chose Fusion with Ancient Digimon

Digimon Frontier's DigiDestined and their Evolutions.

Digimon Frontier began with multiple people receiving strange messages on their cell phones directing them toward a mysterious train that took them to the Digital world. Once there, Takuya Kanbara, Koji Minamoto, Izumi Orimoto, Junpei Shibayama and Tomoki Himi learned that there were ancient Digimon spirits that other Digimon seemed intent on destroying. To protect these spirits and themselves, the DigiDestined chose to fuse with these spirits, enabling them to battle whatever dangers the Digital World threw their way.

It is important to note that the Digidestined were not informed of the full scope of these spirits' pasts nor the full expectations for them as they took on the role of Digidestined. Still, in most cases, the children actively chose to fuse into these new forms. Also, these fusions were only temporary. Once the danger had passed, each child could transform back into their human form. Therefore, the relationship between the DigiDestined and these Ancient spirits was more mutually beneficial. The spirits gave the children the ability to fight and protect themselves, and in turn, the DigiDestined helped these spirits protect the Digital world and make sure that the spirits' ancient enemies could not wreak havoc once more.

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Nanomon implants Shadramon's memory seed into Tamotsu in Digimon Ghost Game

In contrast to Digimon Frontier's fusions between Digimon and humans, Nanomon's experiments lacked any form of consent from his subjects on Digimon Ghost Game. When he first came across Shadramon's dying form, Nanomon did ask Shadramon if he could preserve Shadramon's memories. While Shadramon agreed, Nanomon never explained how he would try to preserve those memories. So, while Shadramon technically gave his consent in a moment of desperation, Shadramon was not informed of what Nanomon's experiments would actually entail.

Once Nanomon created a memory seed using Shadramon's dying data, Nanomon implanted that seed in the sleeping body of Tamotsu, Kiyoshiro Higashimitarai's friend and fellow researcher. Tamotsu was not even aware of the existence of Digimon or the Digital world at the time. When random parts of Shadramon began appearing on Tamotsu's body, he was understandably horrified and upset. Nanomon's actions proved that Nanomon did not care about Tamotsu at all. Furthermore, Nanomon viewed all humans as merely possible energy conductors for his experiments.

However, Nanomon also showed little care for other Digimon, either. While Shadramon wanted the chance to keep his memories, he never agreed to fusion with a human, either. The process also was horrifying for him, too. However, Shadramon did take out his horror on Tamotsu, threatening Tamotsu when Tamotsu wanted to ask for help. Shadramon's desperation does not excuse the fact that he also used Tamotsu and also took control of their shared body without Tamotsu's consent. Overall, Nanomon's experiment lacked consent on all levels, making his work a stark contrast to Digimon Frontier's focus on mutually beneficial fusions.

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Tamotsu and Shadramon's Fusion Was Deadly

Tamotsu and Shadramon's horrific fusion on Digimon Ghost Game

Nanomon acted without any true care for either Shadramon or Tamotsu, and the results of his experimentation were horrifying. As Shadramon's form grew stronger, he and Tamotsu became a literal chimera of human and Digimon parts, and neither was likely to truly survive the fusion. Still, Nanomon wanted to continue his experiment to gather data from Shadramon and Tamotsu's deaths so that he could ultimately achieve eternal life for himself. Thus, unlike the mutually beneficial goals of Digimon Frontier's fusions, Nanomon was working only for himself and did not care who was hurt in the process. Nanomon took control of his chimeric creation to prevent the team from interfering. TeslaJellymon and Kiyoshiro's quick thinking helped separate Nanomon from Tamotsu and Shadramon, cutting off Nanomon's influence on them.

Jellymon in Thetismon form was able to separate Shadramon from Tamotsu, but she could not save them both. While Tamotsu was able to heal back to normal, Shadramon disintegrated. Shadramon's worst fear came true; he lost his memories of his past life even though he ultimately was reborn into a digitama. Although Shadramon was introduced to the series while dying and his end seemed inevitable, his death still holds emotional weight since the episode emphasized his fear and desperation throughout. Nanomon's experiments were even worse in part because they gave Shadramon false hope for survival instead of helping Shadramon make peace with his rebirth into a new life.

Thus, Nanomon's experiments failed in part because he did not gain explicit consent, and Tamotsu and Shadramon lacked any connection or shared purpose. However, his efforts may have been doomed to failure regardless. Unlike Digimon Frontier, where the spirits of ancient Digimon lived on, in the Digital world of Digimon Ghost Game, the series has emphasized over and over again that once Digimon revert back to digitamas, they effectively die and instead go on to live a completely new life separate from their old one. Thus, Digimon's lives carry more weight overall throughout the series, making Ghost Game's emotional core even stronger.