Seven kids attending a summer camp in Japan are transported to an alternate world linked to ours by the Information Superhighway. That's why it is called Digiworld. The kids make friends with strange creatures called Digimon who become stranger as they "digivolve". During the course of the story, the kids learn that they and the Digimon are the only hope of saving both Earth and Digiworld from total destruction. A group of young teens is unexpectedly sent to the mysterious Digital World and paired up with their own powerful, morphing monster called the Digimon. Together the entire group set out on an adventure to fight evil and save the world. I grew up with the English dub of Digimon, and I loved it more than any other TV show. I had heard that it was just a ripoff of Pokemon, but I found that they only had similarities in name. There are three major areas that Digimon excels in that Pokemon never really caught on to: Plot, character development, and competent villains.<br/><br/>The plot is surprisingly good, even though the English dub makes it look a little ridiculous. The fact that the protagonists actually have something to fight for (as opposed to just wanting to become the "Pokemon master") is a major plus. I've re-watched episodes of Digimon, and one thing that I found myself amazed at was the heavy influence of computer programming in certain episodes. If you look at what Izzy types on his laptop, it's actually computer code which probably would compile. It might not do much, but it would compile. I'm a hard core reader of science fiction such as 2001, Prey, and Foundation, and I think the Digital World deserves recognition as an interesting science fiction universe.<br/><br/>Characters–another thing that Pokemon failed at, and Digimon focuses on. One thing that will probably attract parents to Digimon is that the story is largely character driven. It gives the story a great deal of depth, which is one of the qualities of Digimon that I still admire at age 14. Which brings me to another good thing about Digimon, it's actually quite accessible for older people who have open minds.<br/><br/>To be blunt, I would like to see Team Rocket fall apart before any of the Digimon villains. The best thing about them was that they were almost always more capable of winning than the Digidestined's digimon. There was a legitimate challenge that they faced, and unlike Pokemon there would be dire consequences in the event of failure.<br/><br/>Now, the dub of Digimon did have several huge flaws, which is why I did not give it a higher rating. Although focusing on characters is important, it doesn't help if you have lousy actors. My advice to English speakers: watch the original Japanese version with subtitles so you can't tell what is good voice acting and what isn't. The original was better than the dub in other regards as well: maturity being a big one. While Digimon is inherently more mature than Pokemon, the dub is noticeably censored. If you are older than 11, I would suggest finding fansubs. Another thing about the dub: TOO MANY PUNS! The jokes were sometimes so ridiculous in their awfulness that you couldn't help but laughing AT them. And, too many words that start with digi-. Digimon, digivice, digidestined, digiegg, digiyou-get-the-idea. And one last thing: terrible theme song.<br/><br/>But, flaws aside, Digimon is a fine cartoon for kids, and one that adults won't bang their heads over as much as Pokemon. If your kids ever show an interest in Pokemon, make sure that they see this as an alternative. But seriously, watch it subbed if you're old enough. Okay, I won't put "Digi-" before each word but I'll tell you how great this TV series is. When I watch the first episode of Digimon on TV, I was completely amazed at how awesome it is. Seven kids(Tai, Matt, Sora, Izzy, Mimi, Joe, and TK) are transported into the Digital World, home of many unique creatures simply known as Digimon(Short for Digital Monsters). Now, Tai and the others team up with their new Digimon partners to defeat an evil Digimon called Diaboramon. Every Digimon battle blows me away and all the characters are greatly designed. If this TV series didn't blow you away when you were a kid, I don't know what else is. Digimon is a Digi-Masterpiece(Okay, I lied about not putting "Digi-" before each word)!
Gethnen replied
370 weeks ago