The History of DIGIMON: Digital Monsters: Definitely NOT a Pokémon Rip Off!

[@HarrisonTheGrey]

Man, there was nothing quite like the time Digimon Season 1 was on Fox Kids and I was 13. That Dark Masters Saga had me hooked.

[@andrewmackemzie4565]

Totally was.

[@sethlabroad4065]

At least they speak normally too.

[@dwainsimmons3447]

@@sethlabroad4065 the dub speaker normally.

[@Koreacasian]

Amen

[@CD-Gaming]

I bet you had it better than here in the UK, they debuted Episode 42, "Enter the Dark Masters", then cycled back to Episode 1 right after first time round, though, I still say, to this day, they actually skipped that initial intro bit with all 4 of them together before the kids encounter them one at a time, leaving us to encounter them along with them, though, I can see why ITV would edit it that way, but it is still weird... (ITV also aired Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, then 5D's, we had a pretty solid here all things considered!)

[@ricey23]

The aurora borealis - at this time of the year, at this time of day, at this part of the planet - localised entirely at this summer camp Tai: Yeah. May we see it? Matt: No.

[@SaotomeLuna]

Came down here to make this same joke lol

[@inkchariot6147]

Taichi's mom: Taichi! The house is on fire! Taichi: No, mother! That's just *Mega Flame!*

[@Mstupp2184]

😂

[@Murrlin27]

Dangit!

[@stevenvaleriojr1177]

I was going to make this same joke! Not now though. I don't like the idea of Dan seeing two Simpsons references in one day.

[@nicoleseraphita7613]

It's worth noting that over the years that digimon has kind of aged with its audience. Especially the games, Last Order and the Cyber Sleuth Dueology, are a little more mature then you'd expect for a franchise about internet monsters.

[@dwainsimmons3447]

Its dub also aged with its audience.

[@AdamBladeTaylor]

Yeah, the Cyber Sleuth games got DARK. I was surprised.

[@sonic23233]

I know the anime and the games get dark

[@Sierra0331]

Internet monsters? I’m guessing the game was set in the land called twitter then?

[@camil3545]

I think it is more "carving it's own niche" trying to compete against Pokémon for the young kid and family friendly demographic wasn't a fight they could win, makes more sense to shift to a teen/young adult demo instead.

[@treyleaves]

When we getting that ‘ Monster Rancher’ deep dive though 👀

[@Gemini_Godhand]

Somebody had to say it so we remember it!

[@3MenAndALetsPlay]

I second this.

[@PirateJohnson]

I want there to be more RoboPon content.

[@Puffzilla777]

Ayyoooo

[@gullyfoyle2615]

You beat me to it. I loved that show

[@redwardthird]

[Tamag]o = Egg Tomod[achi] = Friends Egg Friends Because it's a digital friend in an egg.

[@WMxSmith]

That’s what I always thought.

[@arishiakoneko]

That's a cool way to translate it, but it's actually... Tamag(o) = egg (u)otchi = watch I don't know why Americans pronounce it "TamaGAHtchi" when it's actually always been "TamaGOHtchi"

[@DJosAmmel]

Decades later I still can't get the Digimon theme song out of my head.

[@xnflg3074]

di-gi-mon digital monsters, digimon are the CHAMPYUNZ

[@Koreacasian]

I want it playing at my funeral lol 😂

[@Ryujishida]

At least you only have the one Digimon theme stuck there. I have pretty much all the English and Japanese themes stuck in my head. I think I might be a bit too obsessed when it comes to Digimon. 😅

[@daviddalrymple2284]

@@Ryujishida Hey Digimon, hey Digimon! Monster friends to the boys and girls.

[@Ryujishida]

@@daviddalrymple2284Well, I'm going to be singing that all day now.

[@TooStupidGamerz]

We're fans of Digimon here. It's sad to see that people still see it as a rip off when both franchises were being developed at the same time. The anime was better story-wise, and the games are... unfortunately a mixed bag, but there ARE some absolute GEMS to be found. The card game is fantastic and easy to get into though. We're excited to see what Bandai has in store of us Digidestined in the future!

[@sethlabroad4065]

The tech for Digimon was in development yrs before pokemon...I'm waiting for the Moster Rancher episode...the game design shit on both Pokémon and Digimon...and I love Digimon. The other 2 just didn't have the level of monster customization or combat control.

[@sboinkthelegday3892]

The thing is Digimon IS a multmedia, primarily TV franchise, like Kamen Rider and Pretty Cure with toys, so the games would be merchandise several layers down the line. While Pokemon IS the video game, developed straight for Game Boy to bypass that original inspiration of a merchanidse toy.

[@Ryujishida]

​@@sboinkthelegday3892Correct, but I wouldn't say Digimon is primarily TV. It's mainly the Tamagotchi toys. It's just mainly known for the TV series in the west as the tamagotchi toys are nowhere near as popular as in Japan.

[@madnessarcade7447]

Pokémon’s story has grown in story and scale

[@Ryujishida]

@@madnessarcade7447 It has. But its depth is still not quite at Digimon's level, from my understanding. Then again, it doesn't need to be. They both have different goals when it comes to telling a story.

[@yourfreakingrayofsunshine]

back in 1998, I was 19, and I had a knock off brand Tomagatchi, called a NanoPet. Until I backed over it with my car, proving me not responsible enough to own a virtual pet...

[@Thekiddmarley]

I was 3 in 98 but I remember nanopets 😭

[@jacobreynolds9372]

Digimon fans wont forget about Digimon, its why it lives.

[@N3RFTHIS]

Does it? Franchise in kinda on life support to be honest.

[@jacobreynolds9372]

@@N3RFTHIS Steady stream of anime, video games, toys and merch plus an active card game with tournament support. You sure about that?

[@paulheap1982]

​@@jacobreynolds9372yes. Because its true.

[@paulheap1982]

​@@jacobreynolds9372he's right.

[@chuckfreeman2632]

💯

[@jonathanward8967]

I was always more into Digimon than Pokémon. Was always bummed that Angemon never had more screen time. And that season where the kids BECAME the Digimon fighters with those statues was probably the best of them all

[@Stratelier]

I remember watching almost all the episodes of Digimon (Adventure 1 & 2, Tamers, and Frontier). I couldn't name a favorite, but of the four, Frontier (with the Sentai-style transformations into Digimon heroes) was definitely the black sheep (aka. least favorite).

[@bobjoemac1]

Loved season 1/2 then fell off on season 3 with the cards but went back years later and loved season 3... but could not enjoy season 4 surprised but glad to hear people enjoyed season 4.

[@JamesTDG]

As I got older and studied up more on animation, I understood why angemon wasn't there more often from a writing and animation standpoint, his design is really intricate and would be a pain to constantly animate, plus he's powerful, like so powerful that it would make most BBEGs easy to take out, like bootleg elvismon

[@SSJ491]

That came from Digimon Frontier (season 4).

[@eqx7168]

MagnaAngemon wiping out Piedmon was THEEEE SHIT

[@tipulsar85]

In the argument between the two, I enjoy both. Pokemon is somethign I remeber for the first two gens and the card game, but it was Digimon that helped me find anime beyond Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon as an animation style. The characters actually evolved and grew up in Digimon, while Ash in Pokemon kept on mashing the "forget the lesson" button.

[@dwainsimmons3447]

All three of them were animated by Toei.

[@SSJ491]

Dragon Ball = created by Toei Animation, and the Dragon Ball creator, the late Akira Toriyama (R.I.P 1955-2024) Sailor Moon = created by Toei Animation, and the Sailor Moon creator, Naoko Takeuchi Digimon = created by Toei Animation, and Akiyoshi Hongo

[@dakotacarmel4640]

Digimon, Pokemon, Monster Rancher, flint time detective, Fighting Foodons, OG shamon King, and Medabots. The 2000 was the time to be alive to see these beautiful animes for kids.

[@snazzydrew]

Flint the Time Detective was amazing.

[@HaHaHaHolowence]

*Shaman King... Shamon is a beautiful girl who doesn't think she is.

[@gundambassexe31]

Plus beyblade, Bdaman , duel masters and several others

[@DocLantern85]

I miss the set-up to the episode before the opening credits. You guys did them so well.

[@AdamaSanguine]

When Patamon first evolved into Angemon.. it was probably the most stoked I had been for a character arch since Goku going SSJ during the Frieza Saga or Gohan's SSJ2 at the Cell Games. "HAND OF FATE!" Edit Fixed spelling

[@AdamaSanguine]

*digivolved

[@hissignaturestudios6869]

​@@AdamaSanguine Technically both are correct. In Japan they say evolve instead of digivolve. They changed it in the dub, likely to help set it apart from pokemon.

[@BigSteve1997]

"The movie got bad reviews because it was a portmanteau of three movies" line really got me I wasn't expecting that

[@RippahRooJizah]

Me... I was waiting for it.

[@BigSteve1997]

@@RippahRooJizah ok, and

[@RippahRooJizah]

@@BigSteve1997 And a partridge in a pear tree? Don't worry about it.

[@daltonwilliams1723]

One thing I always appreciated about digimon was that the monsters were actually intelligent. In later series, they have their own civilizations and communities. It makes for great world building and lets the digimon actually feel like real characters rather than just cute creatures

[@HaHaHaHolowence]

Funny, because Metagross has the calculation capacity of super computers and Slowking for example is as smart/smarter than human scientists but the Pokemon franchise doesn't depict this very well (at least in the games).

[@95mcqueen5]

​@@HaHaHaHolowenceif Pokemon actually followed the pokedex entries the creatures would have enslaved or extinguished the human race 😂

[@ScooterinAB]

I love how every boys toy is just "X, but they fight." "Somehow, Saban returned." Lol. That's a pretty good way to put it.

[@drag0nmancer]

What, no love for Digimon Adventure Tri series or the movie Last Evolution Kizuna? Which are a season 4 (came out in the mid 2010's) and capstone movie (came out in 2020) for the original cast of the main series. Not to mention the new Digimon movie that came out last year following the cast of Digimon Adventure 02 (which takes place after Kizuna). There was also a reboot of the original anime that came out in 2020 as well. And the new Digimon TCG (which has been around for about 3 years now) is incredibly popular too. They just had the US national championship last week

[@Randomark3087]

I still have all my Digimon minifigures. Medabots too!

[@3MenAndALetsPlay]

Yeah lets get a medabot video!

[@YeseniaMaga]

I’m 33 and I watch DIgimon with my 4 kids and they love it. They sing the song and put it on before bed. We make some awesome memories watching DIgimon adventure 1 and 2. I grew up watching it but my wife didn’t so she watches it with the kids and thinks it’s great as well.

[@GTXDash]

I preferred Digimon because I just couldn't get behind the idea of catching wild creatures and then forcing them to fight others like them. Also, I just can't stand that in the show the pokemon communicate by saying their name over and over again and that the humans actually understand them.

[@zoren1900]

True lol

[@dirtygirl2808]

Gotta enslaved them all 😅

[@brianstiles1701]

When I was in the Army in the mid-90s I worked in a stockade (jail), and the only electronic device we had a loophole to bring into the jail with us was Tamagotchis. Everyone had them. Mine was an R2-D2 knockoff.

[@gundambassexe31]

I have lots of the Digimon games, world next order , cyber sleuth Double pack on switch and survive on switch. Godspeed my Digimon fam

[@Koreacasian]

🙏

[@DoomedPaladin]

Digimon was always more fulfilling for me. I got into it with the cartoons, then the games/handhelds. Training up your monsters as _partners_ (especially after combining _with them_ in the cartoons) appealed so much more that the cockfighting of Pokemon. The Digimon Movie was one of the first (along with Summer Wars) to adopt the whole "chunky-animation-equals-speed" thing that is SO common now, and I feel pleased having recognized the oncoming trend when I first saw it. One last thing, there was a little program you could get waaay back in the day called a TamaGothi. It was a PC desktop pet that starts as a bat, and after a regular dose of drugs, beatings, and sleep deprivation transformed into one of 12-ish Goth subtypes. If it still exists, I always enjoyed that one too.

[@melissamurray8307]

Same here, I rather have one friend then an army of monsters who would spend most of their time locked in a PC.

[@genthba]

I was all in to Digimon. Had the devices, the cards, the toys, and loved the PS1 game. Thanks for this throwback!

[@ToyRobot09]

I love the digi-evolution music theme. It always sounded so regal.

[@Koreacasian]

Yesss

[@adrian_veidt]

Digimon had a better story than Pokemon. The stakes are far higher. Characters grew with their partner. Yes, the digimon and their human friend are partners, equals to each other. Not a trainer training a captured animal. Also, I'm sick of this bullsh*t narrative that Pokemon invented the catching monsters mechanic on a game. Satoshi Tajiri straight up copied it from Dragon quest 5 and admitted doing it.

[@AdamBladeTaylor]

Yeah, Digimon was more of a companionship thing, and the stakes were vastly higher. Pokemon is just collect, battle, ignore... Pokemon are largely just tools. Digimon are partners, and they actually DIE, not just get beat up and then chug a potion.

[@troylandzerep8045]

agree so much

[@Ryujishida]

I used to always say Digimon had the better show, but Pokemon tended to have the better games. That doesn't hold quite as true these days, but it's still not far off, I'd argue.

[@madnessarcade7447]

No one said they did They did have their own unique take on it tho that’s one of a kind

[@madnessarcade7447]

@@AdamBladeTaylorthe message of the series is literally friendship so no they aren’t tools u clearly ignored the messages

[@Amber_xo_133]

Digimon or Pokémon? Digimon: Like Pokémon: Comment

[@absolutefoot4594]

Finally talking about Digimon! Today is a good day

[@nishidohellhillsruler6731]

Imagine being 12 and your Gatomon evolves into an Angewomon, your voice intanstly chances as you declare: "Mother! I've achieved... PUBERTY!" 😃

[@Markimark151]

I was in late middle school and high school when I was such a huge fan of Digimon! Because the anime was darker than Pokémon, and I watched it throughout its run on Fox Kids.

[@melissamurray8307]

As someone who is a bit older and in high school at that time, I was the same way.

[@Markimark151]

@@melissamurray8307 I started out with Pokémon as a kid, but as I got through middle school, I was more into Digimon for its characters going to high school, it was relatable!

[@melissamurray8307]

Digimon deserves way more love.

[@GrimLocke161]

I loved the original show up through Frontier, and recently got the Digimon X2 VPet versions C&D, and now hopefully Bandai will translated the X2 E&F VPets after my noble sacrifice. 😌

[@venkelos6996]

I'm old enough to remember a time pre-Mons, and when Pokémon first came out, here in the States. I gave it, and Digimon, each a fair shake, and I did like Pokémon more, which is still true, but I still liked Digimon, enough, and never really saw it as "discount Pocket Monsters". Then again, kid me, who loved Transformers, also liked Gobots, Rock Lords, and orher such toys, never seeing them as inferior; just another fun option. I'm pretty sure I do still have a couple of the Digimon movies floating about, and on a shelf in my basement, where I keep a number of my favorite novels, and Star Wars figs, I still have various other set up action figures, and three of them are Magnamon, Omnimon, and Imperial Draymon, so guess Digimon does still have at least some little bit for me, even all these years later.

[@sethlabroad4065]

Rock lords are now being redesigned for transformers legacy series 3 toys. Gobots had more interesting character personalities than transformers...Bugbite was redesigned with a bumblebee makeover starting with siege since gobots are established in canon as alternative transformers universe.

[@RandomBlackGamer]

Man I'd love to see you do a video on WMAC Masters. That show feels like a shortlived fever dream but I remember loving it as a kid.

[@petehobson1054]

I don't know if this show ever came to the UK but I had not heard about it so had a quick look....... wowser! It's like old school early UFC meets Running Man via Power Rangers..... but its for kids and hosted by Bruce Lee's daughter!

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

It can’t be a fever dream if whole dozens of us remember! …it’s more of a _folie à deux_

[@RandomBlackGamer]

@@petehobson1054 I know right? Something worth pointing out was that most of the martial artist played Mortal Kombat characters from the games and 1st movie. The guy who played Star Warrior went on to be the model for Lui Kang in the first 2 Mortal Kombat games. The guy called Red Dragon would go on to play Scorpion in the 1st MK movie. Those are a couple of cool examples.

[@davidromeroblaya7920]

As I read somewhere about if Digimon series is a rip-off of Pokemon: "Digimon is Pokemon but with a good script".

[@jaysteelsun]

I have been the biggest Digimon fan and I really appreciate you guys giving it a look

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

I’ve always preferred Digimon to Pokémon. It always had that classic jrpg story arc, where the characters would start off rescuing a kittykat from a tree and ultimately end up fighting God. Meanwhile, Ash Ketchum spends 25 years earning mediocre standings in a socially acceptable cockfighting league.

[@CD-Gaming]

You could also throw Yu-Gi-Oh! into that onfusing mix, which I imagine to be why they couldn't get anything from "Capsule" and "Monsters" as Yu-Gi-Oh! had "Capsule Monster Chess", a game at which Mokuba Kaiba was a Games Master, the same way his older brother, Seto, was a Games Master at Duel Monsters, though, back then, it was still called "Magic & Monsters"! I got a Cyber Pet that same Christmas, as well, I didn't play Pokémon until the day I went to see Pokémon the Movie 2000, when I bought myself a purple GameBoy Colour and a copy of Pokémon Blue Version, blue being my favourite colour (I wanted a blue GameBoy Colour, purple was the closest they had...) and that was also my Nintenything, previously growing up with Sega! I've gone off Pokémon in recent years, though, I can't stand the current English dub, as a Brit, I'm not a fan of the Galar Region or Gen. VIII in general, and I'm struggling to get into Violet, but I have been playing a ton of Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, I'm trying to get all 500 Medals on PS4, I'm doing well, so well, I'm even now pushing for Platinum before moving on to Hacker's Memory proper (jus three more Silvers to go: all 500 Medals, Master Rank and 30 Colosseum Battles! It's on New Game+!)! And, of course, you can probably guess my favourite series, though, now I know the full reason Frontier passed me by, though, I already knew of it through Rumble Arena, plus my mate complained about the size of the Piyomon in Data Squad, so that's how I knew about that series! We did get some Fusion, but I watched the first episodes of Adventure and Adventure 02 when they first aired here in the UK and I did also see some Tamers, though, the odd episode number count kind of worked against them as they'd get to Episode 50, then cycle back to Episode 1 right afer...

[@Giffsen]

Been a fan since it first aired here back in July 2000, and it's crazy how despite Bandai doesn't give a single crap about the franchise (and instead investing in NFTs for their other IPs, like Gundam), the fans kept it alive, even after being so out of the mainstream media in the West. There's a level of depth and worldbuilding in the franchise (which sometimes the anime series touch here and there), that it's simply insane. Divided between Mangas, Novels, web comics and so on, different Digital Worlds with different origins and connections to our world (for example in some canons, Digimon base their form and shape on the content we throw in the internet, while in others they're the inspiration for millennia-old mythos and god figures), make it a very diverse way to get into the big picture, so there's always something out there for everyone. After I got older I managed to finally buy a vpet (since these never managed to reach my country, even now) and lots of mini figures too. Not to mention every year Bandai makes a Digimon-con, focusing on everything about it, which keeps us, fans in the West, with hopes to see more and more of those digital monsters here.

[@chrislongbeard]

The only time I've heard Portmanteau in 10 minutes was Jeopardy, when they had a category called Portmanteau Words. Which I think was more than once.

[@Shorai_3]

I wasn't a very dedicated Digimon fan as I have been with Pokemon, but "Butter-Fly" is one of my favorite songs. RIP Koji Wada.

[@FTChomp9980]

Di Di Di Digimon! Digimon! Digimon Digital Monsters! Something Garlic Champions! Overall I love Digimon the designs r cool to! I played Digimon on the DS and Cyber Sleuth to.

[@beatrixwickson8477]

Something Garlic Champions is a great lyric. Digimon are the champions seems pretty banal by comparison. Garlic always makes things better.

[@Lana_Del_SugarRay]

I remember the promos for Digimon leading up to the premiere on Fox Kids. They were touting their "new cartoon straight from Japan!" Storywise/ character development, Digimon holds up better on a rewatch compared to Pokemon

[@Popstalgia]

Probably my favorite IP of all time! The irony is modern day Pokémon is now taking a lot of elements used from Digimon. Mega evolution, Bio merge etc.

[@Dimensioneer88]

Having seen all 5 of the first Digimon series, Digimon has one leg up over Pokemon. The characters in Digimon actually grow up in real time while Ash on Pokemon is perpetually 10 years and constantly learning the same lessons over and over again. Also, Digimon Frontier was kinda like a mix of Digimon and Power Rangers where the kids turn INTO monster warriors.

[@Waifu4Life]

Pokémon had the better games, until recently while Digimon had the better anime... until recently. I love the current Digimon games a lot more than the current Pokémon games but I hate the constant reboot and sequels to Digimon Adventures. Regarding the new Pokémon anime, haven't watched it, but I heard it was a nice change of pace than the previous one for which I got sick after the first 2 seasons.

[@lagia5]

Butterfly the Japanese intro to digimon adventure is still probably my most favored anime theme song to this day

[@mightyfilm]

Personally, I didn't care much for either of them at the time, but I DID really like Team Rocket from Pokemon. Even though they're basically knockoffs of the villains from the Time Bokan series. So to answer your question, this is a Yo-Kai Watch household.

[@RED_XLR]

Digimon is better. Pokemon might've had a head start, but their complacency is finally starting to show cracks. If you, as a Pokemon fan, wanted a Pokemon MMO, Digimon has you covered. If you wanted a pokemon fighting game (before the fighting game was released), Digimon has you covered (they had 2 for the GBA; there's more now and they're good). Do you want a good anime story? Digimon has you covered. You want more mature stories? Digimon has you covered. You want a tamagotchi because you didn't get to try it as a youngling? Digimon has you covered. Those are just small facts that Digimon has gathered over the years, and they continue to make and improve those things. Digimon might not be as consistent, but they tried new things. That's why so many of the Digimon games never had a clear-cut mainline genre. They tried new things, they have given us what Pokemon took 20+ years to start doing some of, and more! And this is just a personal opinion, but Digimon has cooler monster designs that appeal to a wider audience except softies, tbh, but even then, Digimon has cute designs too, just not as many as Pokemon. Anyway, it's safe to say that Digimon has truly evolved over the years, and it's only getting better, while Pokemon has stagnated in its fame and glory.

[@RippahRooJizah]

The cracks in Pokemon's complacency has arguably been showing since, it seems, X and Y. That said, Pokemon *is* more market friendly, and merch is largely what allows Pokemon to thrive. I've seen people say that Digimon constantly reboots because they don't know what Digimon is, and I think these people miss the point: Digimon is a concept to be worked into different settings and ideas, not a "world" like Pokemon is. Whether or not they hit their mark varies but that's what Digimon is for. If you are a hardcore Pokemon fan what you want is little to no changes. Also I would say Digimon does have 2 mainline, clear cut genres, being RPGs and taming games, mostly the former. It's just that a mix of other games, a lot of said games not coming outside Japan, and that Digimon isn't getting 1-3 games every year like Pokemon generally does has people confused over what is "mainline" when it comes to Digimon games. When I see people say "DIgimon better anime Pokemon better games", I sometimes ask (but almost never get an answer) what Digimon games are they referring to.

[@HH_Julius]

Don't forget to mention the remake series that came out before Digimon Ghost game. They updated the first season of the show for current times and it was pretty good. Another great episode again, SG crew!

[@AdamYJ]

It was prettt good. It was a little heavy on Tai, though.

[@songsan807]

Back in the 2000s my kids would get the pokemon video games and cards. I never got into pokemon but did like watching the Digimon cartoons and got some Digimon toys when the local Factory2U closed down.

[@asunachan9999]

Butterfly, one of the BEST Anime songs .. EVER! 🦋💗

[@WolfKing1987]

Longtime fan of both Pokémon and Digimon, and if I had to choose between them, I choose Digimon all day every day. They have always had better stories and way better characters. The only thing Pokémon has gone for it are its awesome video games.

[@archer3600]

Wow Pokemon aired for me at 6:30am on fox43. Nice to be represented

[@sethlabroad4065]

You forgot to mention Digimon Adventure Tri which was a continuation of the original 2 seasons and came out before Ghost Game, found dubbed on both KZbin and Netflix.

[@Malokid96]

One of the many great things about Digimon was that I felt like I grew up with the characters of seasons one and two. Their partners were intelligent and had feelings which brought awesome stories and dynamics. I recently got into the card game two years ago and it’s going fantastic I love it and join as many events as I can. Digimon is truly a gem. I hope one day digimon takes a more serious tone.

[@melissamurray8307]

Same here. There is something satisfying seeing the characters grow up with us.

[@JoeNayDoh]

Didn't have a Digimon or a Tamagotchi. But I did have a Star Wars Rancor Giga Pet which we were able to keep alive for about a year until the battery became so drained you could barely see the screen anymore.

[@AndrewHoangOfficialChannel]

The story, character development as they grow up, and ending seeing them as adults is far better than anything Pokemon had

[@neverstopmovingforwardfitn7277]

The first 10 episodes of Digimon are still more memorable 20 plus years later than the first 10 pokemon episodes. The best decision the digimon team made was to tell a story not just promote toys. I learnt a lot from each of the characters even now Digimon Adventure still holds up very well in terms of story. The biggest knock on Digimon has always been where to take it after the first one. Digimon Tamers was great but because there was no unified front on how digimon would evolve they kept experimenting and some ideas were not so great. I feel that why digimon has gone but to using the original characters so much.

[@melissamurray8307]

Tamers has a great cast(even though I think characters like Kazu, Kenta and Susie could use more screen time,) I never connected with them like I do with the OG 8,( although TK and Kari could be more developed as well.)

[@YoungAbel15]

While I enjoyed watching the original 90's run of Pokemon, I preferred Digimon's story over Pokemon's. It included mature themes such as when Sora feels anxious about saving the world and is shown inside the cave or when Mat and Tai fought because Matt didn't like Tai's leadership. By the time the third season came out, I was already older and I lost interest but the first two seasons had great plots.

[@dwainsimmons3447]

And its dub didn’t talked down to kids back then.

[@AdamYJ]

Digimon, like a lot of '80s family films, seemed to realize kids go through stuff too. They had Matt and TK still adapting in the aftermath of their parents' divorce, Izzy processing the recent information that he was adopted and Joe coping with family expectations.

[@magnusprime962]

The third season actually wound up being the most mature of them all. It even tackled some really adult concepts.

[@melissamurray8307]

@@magnusprime962I know I won’t be forgetting “Scary Jeri,” when she was possessed by the D-Reaper any time soon.

[@eddymangual8161]

I’ve always loved digimon. The art style and designs were always so interesting and unique.

[@LucasTigy2]

i feel it's also important to mention that the digital monster version 20th as well as the DMX were released in america and still available on amazon. i figured it's worth mentioning since it's relevant to the american release

[@kazecloud2916]

I've always been more of a pokemon fan, but I enjoyed having a separate series like Digimon. I remember watching the movie with my little brother in theaters and I remember an anon on 4chan talking about how that movie resulted in his parents divorcing because of the Angela Anaconda short before the movie. He started crying because they thought they were in the wrong movie and the parents started arguing with each other resulting in them leaving the theater and separating that night. I also used to have the Jurassic Park tamagatchi growing up and I had worked at DQ at the time they were doing the Digimon plushies.

[@darthgoku90]

Well I was a fan of both Pokemon and Digimon back in the day. Digimon Adventure definitely had the superior story structure than Pokemon, being less repetitive and more mature (even though the English dub was toned down), so take that any naysayers accusing it of just being a Pokemon ripoff! That whole anime boom of the late 90s sure was an awesome time to be a kid, thanks to Pokemon, Digimon and DBZ.

[@axeldrake6483]

It's worth noting that the US saw the release of several Digimon games on the DS. Digimon World DS, and Digimon World Dusk & Digimon World Dawn. Also, we got Digimon World: Cyber Sleuth in 2015. So the "wait" between World 4 and Next Order wasn't as dry as you claim.

[@MT-or3kz]

It's so annoying when people think Digimon and Monster Rancher were Pokemon copies, because the games are actually really different. The anime are similar on the surface (and definitely were marketed off the back of Pokemon), but Digimon and Monster Rancher were much more serious and dealt with darker themes. Digimon was beating Pokemon in the ratings in the US for a bit.

[@NebLleb]

Funny thing: Digimon is still DOIN' FINE! Just last year, not only was the Adventure: reboot series localised and bought to a wider western audience on platforms like the Microsoft store and a new Adventure 02 movie was released domestically in Japan, but Discotek Media announced a brand new release of the first three Digimon short films redubbed in a more faithful form. If you haven't seen these movies yet, you definitely should. Digimon Adventure is one of the best anime OVAs I've ever seen and I'm hoping that the new release makes its way to the UK.

[@ryansullivan5854]

The first Digimon cartoon was vastly superior to the Pokemon show.

[@Bunny-ch2ul]

The Digimon cartoon is vastly, vastly better than Pokémon. As an adult, the original Pokemon episodes border on unwatchable because they're just so incredibly formulaic, and the plot is just so incredibly thin. There is also absolutely zero character development. Digimon has real story arcs, there's more than two minutes to plot in each episode, the characters do grow over time. Pokémon are definitely cuter and more fun, but as far as the shows go, Digimon is head and shoulders above Pokémon.

[@Santoryu90]

I like both franchises, but it’s annoying that there are some people to this day that still act like Digimon is rip off.

[@XDeminox]

Digimon always made me think of a mashup between Pokemon, dot//hack and power rangers

[@aaronmckenziepowell07]

Because capsule monster been used in the ultra series

[@nicholasmorgan7609]

Digimon was always closer to Megami Tensei than pokemon

[@Sylvieboy72]

This icon i have of Sylveon will automatically make out that Pokemon is my favorite franchise, (and it is) HOWEVER, Digimon is a franchise i also love just as much if not just about equally! I just wish people didn't fight over which one is better and just appreciate both for what they are!😊❤

[@jasonmoreno3013]

This is my first time watching the channel and feeling old. First few lines stating “over 30 years of story” made me realize I was so excited seeing the previews on Fox Kids for this awesome new show.

[@parkerpshebnisky1051]

I preferred Digimon over Pokémon cause it wasn’t afraid to be dark and mature!

[@wstine79]

The funniest part of the Digimon movie was the Angela Anaconda short where she and her friends go see the movie but Nannette and the teacher try to ruin it.

[@jaysteelsun]

Cease

[@maxpops8427]

Apparently it caused a divorce

[@JD-iu6rv]

A kid’s parents got divorced because of that short. Look it up

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

People who think it caused a divorce... but those people don't seem to know that's it's a green text story from 4chan, which are bullshit.

[@i.m.evilhomer5084]

Due to legal reasons, the Angela short is being cut from the Blu-ray release by Discotek media for better or for worse. On the plus side, Discotek is releasing uncut versions of the movies with brand new dubs with the surviving cast.

[@sirdaveysockrocker]

I still have my original Gargomon figure I got at Toys R Us. I didnt even know what Digimon was yet, I just saw a rabbit in jeans with Machine gun arms and knew I had to have it, so I asked my mom like I knew what it was. 😂

[@ComradeGSRM13]

Pokémon: fell into a rut until I got tired of watching. Digimon: got better & introduced new concepts each season.

[@inkchariot6147]

Digimon has been stomping Pokemon for years when it comes to quality.

[@JoshuaPAMployee]

My Mom has admitted that she much prefers Digimon and seeing as I'm a Computer Scientist...you know Mom is right. I still have my Digimon V-pet and with the COLOR ones released I use those CONSTANTLY! Pendulum Colors come out in a month or less and I'M HYPED!

[@MatildatheMoonwolf]

Everytime someone comes to me and try to tell me Digimon’s monster designs are Pokémon rip offs, I kindly tell them ‘no’ by showing them monster designs from Palworld. Now THOSE are monster designs that could not exist if Pokemon didn’t exist.

[@wstine79]

Another great video from Dan Larson-mon.

[@Raz3-x9c]

Bandai, make this!

[@bernadmanny]

The first Digimon anime was way better than it had any right to be, it truly set a standard for what young children's entertainment could be. I wish Pokemon was allowed to have a go at a more narrative driven version, even if only to burn brightly before the corporation cut it short.

[@Masonicon]

I think what make whoever enters digimon from digimon seasons 3-onwards difficult to like first 2 seasons of Digimon was: willingness to have any superpowered beings that aren't digimon themselves(mostly from having living creatures made from computer data that aren't digimon, occassionaly from giving humans superpowers)

[@RippahRooJizah]

I mean, you gotta start somewhere, even the Anime is not the earliest example of digimon/human (as in a character and not someone who owns a V-pet) relations in the franchise

[@Masonicon]

​​@@RippahRooJizahDigimon Frontier aren't first and only Digimon season that give kids Superpowers

[@RippahRooJizah]

@@Masonicon I know.

[@BlueMagnus83]

There were several other Digimon video games that weren't mentioned between main title Digimon World games. Such as Digimon Rumble Arena. There were also a hand full of games including Digimon World games for the Nintendo portables. Specifically the DS as I remember. Digimon World Dawn/Dusk and Digimon World Champion.

[@ultlifeform]

Technically, these are all spin-offs though. The Digimon World games for DS actually had their names changed to Digimon World during localisation, but they were really the start of a new series called Digimon Story. So if you consider the core game franchise to be "Digimon World," then we did go from DW4 to DW: Next Order.

[@pepperpeterpiperpickled9805]

The digimon theme was bangin'

[@mattwolf7698]

9:05 It also had Angela Anaconda in it which resulted in a divorce.

[@PettyPrinzeJr]

Good timing with Palworld becoming extremely popular and being called a Pokemon rip off

[@chadwickjdillon]

I certainly had both a Tamagotchi and a Digimon. super fun toys. I was a cutting edge 10 year old in 1996 lol. Gotta say looking back, trying to raise a devimon or something better than a greymon was tough but rewarding.

[@TheLazyShell]

Love me some Pokémon AND Digimon. Never cared much for the "rip-off" debates as a kid. I just thought that both were rad. In fact, I got into BOTH franchises the exact same way: a chance encounter with their respective anime shows through mindless channel flipping. Oh, Bulbasaur's Mysterious Garden and The Gateway to Home, how different my life and childhood might've been if I hadn't chanced upon you.

[@Thekiddmarley]

My tamagotchi v4.5 is still alive after 17 years and I didn’t realize it until I put a new battery in it….

[@geardog24]

Digimon will always be superior to Pokemon, mostly because it focused on actual characters and story telling rather just being a giant toy commercial.

[@dwainsimmons3447]

And it also helps that the dub wasn’t as heavily edited as other dubs back then.

[@vustvaleo8068]

well Pokemon is about sportsmanship while Digimon is about a war between good and evil with high stakes as in characters can die along the way, also people unaware that Digimon falls under the Isekai genre as in the humans being transported to another world that is the Digital World.

[@WiseUp89]

You ought to do a video on METABOTS

[@Trekkie46]

When I was a kid, my neighbors were having a fight that resulted in an iron splintering a car windshield. I saw it start, but was more interested in Magnamgemon kicking Piedmon's a$$. Cause, ya know, priorities.

[@nanagyambibi7426]

I still remember my reaction to the first mega evolution. I lost my mind.

[@jinpei05]

Hey, I like the retooled cold intro.

[@mathieuleader8601]

I really like the suprise element of a Digimons evolution