Over two decades ago, Pokemon and Digimon battled it out in the anime space to capture the imagination of ‘90s kids everywhere. Following two separate groups of heroes as they venture into dangerous and exciting new worlds filled with monsters, both friendly and antagonistic, Pokémon and Digimon are as similar as they are different, with fans around the world still debating which anime is better. For me, Tai, Agumon, and the adventures of the rest of the DigiDestined win out over Ash and Pikachu’s Pokémon journey, and for good reason.
Premiering in 1997, Pokémon the Series told the tale of Ash Ketchum and his Pikachu as they set out to become Pokémon Champions. Befriending fellow trainers Brock and Misty, the team dealt with the always scheming Team Rocket while doing their best to “catch ‘em all.”
Arriving two years later, Digimon Adventure took this monster partner approach and brought it to a whole new level. Allowing its creatures to Digivolve temporarily rather than permanently, à la Pokémon’s evolutions, the DigiDestined always had their work cut out for them, with Digimon edging out Pokémon as the better show because of it.
Digimon Tells a More Interesting and Nuanced Story Than Pokémon That Has Real Weight
Digimon Adventure Premiered in 1999
Unlike the fairly slow-moving and repetitive storytelling and character development seen in Pokémon’s anime — Ash finally became a Pokémon Champion only recently — Digimon has always found ways to extend the stories of the original DigiDestined and make them feel like they’re real people dealing with real issues. With at least six years passing from Digimon Adventure to Digimon Adventure 02 and up to Digimon Adventure tri., Tai and his fellow DigiDestined have grown exponentially as characters, with heavy subjects like divorce, death, isolation, and redemption forcing them to conquer their demons, something helped along thanks to Digimon’s more serialized nature.
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Far less episodic than Pokémon’s anime, where meaningful developments would sometimes take years to become noticeable, a single season or even a single episode of Digimon did more legwork in a shorter amount of time, all while balancing a much larger cast consisting of eight DigiDestined and eight partner Digimon. Still able to give each their time to shine, Digimon’s anime was constantly upping the stakes narratively as well, with the incursion of the digital world into the real one being an epic tale worth telling, effectively making this show all the more impressive, impactful, and memorable compared to Pokémon’s.
Furthermore, I always liked Digimon more than Pokémon mainly because its lore is way more interesting to explore, with its world-building feeling rich and thought out rather than simply being a new location with new monsters pushed along by the infinite grind of becoming the “very best.” Featuring digital monsters who can fully articulate themselves rather than solely repeat their name and attack, Digimon gave fans even more layered characters to pour over in this way, with unique elements like the show’s iconic Digivice tech, various Digivolving techniques, and more, giving Pokémon’s Pokédex and Pokeballs a run for their iconography.
Pokémon May Be More Popular Overall, But Digimon Had The Better Anime in the ’90s
Pokémon the Series Premiered in 1997
Then there’s Pokémon and Digimon’s iconic theme songs. To give credit where credit’s due, “Pokémon Theme” is an instantly recognizable tune that sticks in your head the second you hear it — something I can attest to as I had the Pokémon: 2. B. A. Master CD on repeat when I was a kid — to say nothing about the equally as addictive “PokeRap.” But for me, once I heard that digital squelching of Digimon’s opening titles accompanied by Tai twisting and spinning into frame, goosebumps ensued, making this a song I still queue up on my Spotify playlist to this day.
Though Ash’s adventures as Pokémon’s protagonist are finally over, Pokémon as a brand is bigger than ever, with a new anime series titled Pokémon Horizons, featuring Liko and Roy as the show’s next generation of trainers, still awaiting its second season. Meanwhile, Digimon received an anime reboot in 2020, recapturing the spirit of the show I fell in love with, making it a worthy addition to Digimon’s legacy. Pokémon may have been more popular when all things are said and done, but for me, Digimon’s anime efforts and the adventures of the DigiDestined will trump catching ’em all any day.
Digimon
The Digimon franchise, created in 1997, encompasses digital pets, anime, manga, films, video games, and a trading card game, all centering on creatures called Digimon who inhabit a parallel “Digital World.” The series typically follows young humans and their Digimon partners battling threats and evolving through various forms.
- Created by
- Akiyoshi Hongo , Kenji Watanabe
- First Episode Air Date
- March 7, 1999
- Cast
- Toshiko Fujita , Yuto Kazama , Yuko Mizutani , Umi Tenjin , Ai Maeda , Masami Kikuchi , Hiroko Konishi , Kae Araki , Chika Sakamoto , Mayumi Yamaguchi , Miwa Matsumoto
- Character(s)
- Tai Kamiya , Matt Ishida , Sora Takenouchi , Izzy Izumi , Mimi Tachikawa , T.K. Takaishi , Joe Kido , Kari Kamiya , Davis Motomiya , Ken Ichijouji
- Video Game(s)
- Digimon World , Digimon All-Star Rumble , Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth: Complete Edition , Digimon World: Next Order , Digimon Survive
Summary
The Digimon franchise, created in 1997, encompasses digital pets, anime, manga, films, video games, and a trading card game, all centering on creatures called Digimon who inhabit a parallel “Digital World.” The series typically follows young humans and their Digimon partners battling threats and evolving through various forms.
Pokemon
- Created by
- Satoshi Taijiri , Ken Sugimori , Junichi Masuda
- Latest Film
- Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle
- First Episode Air Date
- April 1, 1997
Summary
Spanning over twenty-five years, Pokemon, known as Pocket Monsters in Japan, is the multimedia franchise created jointly by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures. Conceptualized by Satoshi Tajiri in association with Ken Sugimori and Junichi Masuda, Pokemon is set in fictional worlds where people live together with tamable creatures known as Pokemon. Humans who catch, raise, and battle the creatures are known as Pokemon Trainers. They head out on extensive journeys across their continents to raise their Pokemon with the ultimate goal of competing in tournaments to become the champion. Pokemon spans several massive properties, from a long-running animated series to a successful trading card game, to the medium that started it all, video games. In addition, Pokemon began the “two-game” trend where two versions of a game would release and include different Pokemon/features between the versions, encouraging players to meet up with others and trade so they could “catch ’em all.”
