Digimon: Digital Monsters

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 ^ ^.

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.

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!) ;-)

Digimon: Digital Monsters is an English translated version of Digimon: Adventure, it's your typical imported Japanese anime from the late 90's about monsters and children. Critics have criticized it as being a pseudo version of Pokemon, Digimon however is far from being a rip-off it shares common aspects with more popular Pokemon such as children befriending the monsters, the monster evolve, the monsters battle etc. Unlike the lighthearted Pokemon however, Digimon is more of a classic tale of good and evil it's plot is completely different from that of Pokemon. I have seen other anime that follow what I call the Pokemon formula, Digimon is not one of them.

The Pokemon formula: A character aims to be great at something, goes on a quest, wins things, monsters come out of stuff to battle (cards, toys, balls, etc), usually involves some kind of monster tournament. Beyblade, Yu-Gi-Oh, Bakugan, and others follow this formula more than Digimon. If anything Digimon has more in common with science fiction anime's or Saturday morning American cartoons about action and adventure, than it does with the other monster anime.

The characters are not your typical one dimensional anime characters, all of the characters seem to have very distinctive personality's with interesting back stories that keep the viewer interested. Even some of the villains and Digimon themselves. The anime is a lighthearted tale of good and evil, with some mature themes mixed in such as losing your parents and death, the anime also teaches kids about teamwork, friendship, and the importance of working together. The anime has great plots and sub plots that are not to complex for children to follow, but are very well written and interesting.

The English version of Digimon is filled with cheesy puns and comedy to keep kids laughing, and a score composed of cheesy 90's early 00's pop rock to catch their ear. The English version also has some of the more intense scenes removed from the original Japanese version making it more appropriate for kids, without parents having to worry about Digimon being a bad influence on children or to dodge controversial Japanese anime stereotypes. For the older audience who may enjoy anime, the original Japanese version of Digimon Adventure, features a much more serious script (the dialog at times is usually completely different), a beautifully composed score made up of orchestra, electric synths, J- Rock and J-Pop, and features much more as a lot was cut out of the English dub to make it more suitable for western children and western audiences.

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