Digimon: Digital Monsters

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.

5 years ago, I'm watching a commercial break during the original Pokemon. All of a sudden, I see an interesting commercial: a new anime show named "Digimon." "Hmmm.." I think to myself. "Probably some half-baked rip-off of Pokemon. Oh well. I guess I might as well watch it anyway." To my surprise and utter delight, what I watched a week later was by no means some Pokemon clone as I had anticipated. I had found myself wrapped up in an original masterpiece that had me immediately hooked. That first season of Digimon had me engaged from the opening segment of the first episode to the last scene of the final episode in a complex web of character building, good and evil and an occasional hinted romance. Though the next 3 installments were also great, they have not surpassed the glory of season 1. Though the series is indefinitely canceled, you can still catch re-runs on Jetix or through tapes. But I must warn you: You WILL Be hooked.

Animation Score (10/10) Overall Score (10/10) Recommended

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 ^ ^.

I watched a couple of episodes of Digimon near its beginning and dismissed as derivative rubbish. Then, a few months later and rather bored, I turned it on again. I couldn't believe it. This supposed kids' cartoon had one of the most dramatic, engaging, even shocking story arcs I've seen. This programme deals with love and loyalty, life and death, fear and self-doubt. The 'Digi-destined' children fight with their parents, who have trouble understanding the sacrifices their children have to make. One child finds out he's adopted. Characters sacrifice their lives to save others. The children get scared, and doubt their own ability to save the world as they are destined to do. If this had slightly better animation, and was billed as adult animé, no-one would question it once. So much more than just a kids' show.

I'll admit, when I first saw the commercials for "Digimon" a year ago, I automatically thought it was some sort of "Pokemon" spinoff. Sure, the two share some common ground - spunky kids hooking up with cute little monsters that evolve into big, less-cute monsters - but the similarities end there.

I won't insult anyone's intelligence, most of all my own, by trying to compare the two series point by point - I'm not at all familiar with "Pokemon", though I get the feeling that if you've seen one episode of this series, you've seen 'em all. But "Digimon" simply seems to be a more thoughtful and engaging series than its predecessor: the character designs are inventive, mixing nature with technology; the colour palette is varied, contrasting the brightly-hued Digimon and human kids with comparatively subdued backgrounds; the digital world into which the children stumble is a place full of mystery and wonder, evoking an atmosphere reminiscent of CS Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia".

The characters themselves are well-rounded and fully realised, not the cookie-cutter stereotypes one would initially take them for. Not one of the children who leaves the digital world is the same person they were upon arriving there; throughout the numerous cataclysmic battles and far-reaching story arcs, the characters undergo intense changes, becoming stronger, braver, and more mature as they call upon the powers that lie within them. The relationships - among the children themselves and between each child and his digital counterpart - are by turns humorous, intriguing, and heartfelt.

Of course the show is not without its flaws - the animation is occasionally lacklustre; seeing the same transformation scenes over and over again can grow tiresome; and several episodes suffer from poor writing. But, in my opinion, these problems are outweighed by the tightly-woven plotline and spot-on characterisations.

Say what you will about "Digimon", but it truly is in a class by itself.