Digimon: Digital Monsters

I was just reading the comment that totally ragged on Digimon, saying that Pokemon was better.... I'm laughing hysterically right now. Alright, ya, I guess a lot of people like Pokemon, me NOT being one of them, but I'm not here to complain about that show; I'm here to say how great Digimon is!

To me, Digimon began, and ended with the first season.... The others after just weren't the same. Digimon: Digital Monsters was my very first Anime, and I totally fell in love with the main characters(Matt!!), their digimon (Gabumon and all his forms!!), and the bad guys(Myotismon!!!) It was one of the most realistic shows I'd watched (excluding the monsters and other world parts) because the kids had problems like normal kids do.

Even though I've grown up a lot since the first season ended, I still can find nothing bad to say about it. I have no regrets about spending a few years halfways obsessed with it, and I'm looking on the internet to buy all the episodes. I think it's a must see for everyone, and I do NOT think Pokemon will ever measure up to the standards Digimon has set within the minds and hearts of kids and teens everywhere (dumb, i know, but i felt like saying that, lol) So, yeah, watch this show if you ever have the chance!!

It's really funny because a lot of people think that Digimon is a rip off of Pokémon which is totally wrong and as they say "ignorance is bliss". Just because of the word "Digimon" especially the 'mon' bit, people think that it is immediately a Pokémon rip-off. I happened to have had been one of those people. I refused to watch Digimon when it started because it sounded like a rip off of Pokémon and there was a cactus with boxing gloves on! %( I mean come on, a cactus with boxing gloves thats as stupid as an electric rodent. Anyway I gave it a chance when there was a gap after Pokémon finished (and my nephew loved Digimon so I reluctantly gave it a chance). I ended up loving Digimon as it was alarmingly more adult than Pokémon and they had what many people craved... continuity.

The Comparisions Digimon follows the story of eight children with their respective Digimon, each with distinctive personalities and traits, working together in heroic situations (many viewers form emotional attachment to the character - I love Gabumon and my girlfriend loves Gatomon) whereas Pokémon centres around three kids who catch and train Pokémon (no matter what I still love Onix & Vulpix). Digimon can speak English whereas Pokémon can only say their name (excluding Meowth & Slowking - also Lapras can mind link with humans as can Lugia & Mewtwo) And finally Digimon follows a storyline where the heroes battle evil continuously, learn about themselves and each other. We also learn about their families, hopes, fears and watch them fight for what is right while Pokémon goes along the same line as Digimon but to a lesser extent and rarely does Pokémon follow up stories from previous episodes.

So all in all, why can't a person still love Pokémon but also watch Digimon. You may be pleasantly surprised at how different Pokémon and Digimon really are. After all I watch them both (their on rival channels but Pokémon is on half an hour before Digimon... but Digimon is opposite Dragonball Z (what a dilemma!) ;-)

Don't get me wrong, this stuff is still quite cheesey, but I found it to be more entertaining than Pokemon. Here are the reasons why:

1. Not only did I find Digimon to be much more humorous than Pokemon, but overall it seemed more colorful in nature.

2. The soundtrack contained fun rock songs that fit well with the movie.

3. Which brings me to the point that Digimon is aimed at a slightly older audience than Pokemon, which is probably why I enjoyed it more.

4. I found there to be more character development. Each character's personality grew apparent and the fact that they were all in a closely knit group called the Digi-Destined helped the character development greatly.

5. The action seemed a bit more violent at times and the concept of Digivolving was great. Really helped peak the interest and intensity.

That's about it. It's still goofy stuff, but pretty fun nonetheless.

Right to start off with the usual, "Digimon ain't no Pokemon" rant. I saw the first episodes of Pokemon and thought it was an interesting idea but that was all, there is not plot minus the "Ash wants to be PokeMaster!" which I don't think they are going to resolve anytime soon. Decent enough for kids but not something you would call brilliant. Digimon sucked me in from the first episode; its plot is pretty clear from the off and has to be resolved- seven kids get sucked into another world and meet Digimon but really all they want to do is go home so thats what they try and do. I grant you the dub especially can be annoying- there are lines where you think, "they did not just say that, was that meant to be funny?" but some of it is a big laugh. For example when Tai tries to draw a map of the Island and its terrible, then they get attacked and Agumon accidentally sets it on fire and apoligises to which Tai replies, "thats OK, at least it didn't land into the hands of the enemy!". Still corny but quite funny. Also the digivolving sequences get annoying after the first few times until they get to the point of ridiculousness where it literally spends 5 minutes of the episode showing all the Digimon digivolving. Really annoying but we can bypass. If you look beneath all the corny jokes and pointless digivolving there is something really special there. The characters are really quite realistic. Tai makes mistakes but admits it and tries to fix them. Izzy is obsessed with his computer due to knowing secretly that he is adopted and its the only way he can deal with it. Even the comedic Joe has issues with his parents wanting him to be a Doctor when he doesn't really want to be one. Thats what is good about the show, the digidestined shine beyond most cartoon characters. The plot line is pretty good, especially the Myotismon arc but its pretty much, "defeat bad guy,". Season 2 has a better plot line in my opinion but the digidestined are handled really badly. Davis and Yolei appear to have no issues whatsoever, Cody's only become important near the end, Kari and T.K are just there and Ken remains the only one who comes up to par with the Season 1 cast. Season 3 is great; if you really couldn't stand the jokes in the last 2 then this one will be more your style. The digidestined are up to par again but the Digimon are as well (where before only Gatomon had any interesting development)it's a class season, but does get a bit slow at times where Season 1 is always pretty well paced. Season 4 is best left alone, I didn't enjoy it and wouldn't recommend it. So yes- don't judge Digimon off its name because you are missing out if you do. It might be childish and corny at times but at other times it matures way beyond the maturity of other children programs and into the realm of wondering who it was really aimed at. In my opinion its something I would show my children, it teaches great lessons about friendship and is colourful and fun for them- plus I don't think I'd get bored watching it if they were ^ ^.

Digimon Adventure and Zero Two are some of the coolest animes that i've seen. And to be sure, I've seen alot. From Evangelion to DBZ, I've seen anime in just about every spectrum of human thought; however, digimon remains in my top 3. There are many reasons for this and I'd like to give some now without bashing pokemon or other animes that people like to compare Digimon to.

First, Character Development and Interactions is basically what half of digimon is all about. In the first season, half the problems the kids get into are because of their own mistakes and problems; however, they always stand together when needed. At first the kids are amazed with the new world they find known as the Digital World. They go through many battles and defeat Devimon. At this point they realize that not everything in this world is so great and the loss of Angemon weakens everyone's spirits. They then have to go and fight on Server(i love the continent names haha) and it is there they defeat Etemon after a long struggle. After Tai leaves everyone goes their separate ways and its here we first see how the characters really are when they are alone. Matt who was thought of as this lone shark of sorts shows that he really is a team player when he helps Joe out for that long period of time. The second part of this idea is that there are approximately 16 different people in the first season to get to know. This is because of the 8 Digidestined children and their digimon. They have different ideas about everything so everyone that watches this show can find some character they relate to.

Then, there are the incredible action sequences throughout the season. There are always new enemies after old enemies have been dealt with; showing that it is the duty of everyone to stop evil...even if it can't be destroyed completely. There were many memorable battles that i'll rewind to and watch these days 3 years down the road from the first time i saw it. I mean the first time u see Angemon, to the whole Myotismon arc, to the first time we see Mega Digimon go at it....this series is jam-packed with great battles.

The great thing about Digimon is that it deals with all the problems that youth go through in their teen years without being overly-gushing with emotion. Like we see the great happiness that arrises when the children finally defeat Myotismon; however, just a couple of minutes later they are up against the Dark Masters with no hope of winning. This causes utter distress in the kids and their group breaks down. We see Matt and Sora deal with Depression and Mimi with Greed. We see TK grow up in episode 52 and with his revolution evolution Magnaangemon is born. Everyone is shown to have their own fears and strengths and this true diversity just makes this show great.

Basically Zero Two just expands upon the first season with new characters while keeping our heroes as mentors to the new basically. It is a great season, full of action and emotion.

Together these two seasons were utterly amazing, spanning 104 episodes and spawning 4 movies and numerous video games...both Japanese and American. Also the card game is ever successful, so it is no wonder why so many people like this great series. From "And so it begins" to "A million points of Light" Digimon is truly an action-packed ride.