Digimon vs. Pokemon

[aleflamedyud]

Pokemon. Does Digimon have a God Pokemon? No? That's what I thought.

Yeah, it doesn't have a God mon. It has four.

[Mavas]

Pokemon. Does Digimon have a God Pokemon? No? That's what I thought.

Yeah, it doesn't have a God mon. It has four.

Oh shit.

[podbaydoor]

Yeah, when the first season of your anime ends with battling someone called "Apocalymon" for no less than the fate of the digital universe, you start to suspect you're dealing with some very powerful individuals.

[null1024]

Digimon, hands down, at least prior to Frontier [which I'll probably give a second chance eventually and try to see if I could like it]. Pokemon was good, at least for the first season or so.

Of course, if we were talking games...

[Nhoj Serob]

Digimon would definitely win. It had amazing depth of personality in characters, and, when qouted, you can probably tell who's being qouted, where as in Pokémon, personalities try to be there, but aren't supported by dialogue.

Digimon has an over all story arc as well as episodic adventures, which Pokemon only had in season two. My little bro' is hyper into Pokemon, and all the current episodes are pretty much the same, with un-warented "to be continues" tacked on to the ends of episodes being the only thing tying one eppisode to another.

Oh, and I loved the whole concept introduced in Digimon Tamers, where the original show and all the card games exist within a show, and are portrayed as such.

Oh and, as far as games go, can't commment on the card games, I only just found out about the Digimon the TCG (Yeah, yeah, I know, it took me long enough) but the Digimon games for DS are totaly the best ever. I love Digimon World, and it actually came out before Pokemon on the DS.

So yeah, I cast my vote for the Digimon.


*I stopped using the "é" symbol from here on, the alt codes are getting annoying.

[Ivora]

Are you kidding me?! I had the hat! I had the cards! I even had a little stuffed pikachu! ( Mind you not my favorite Pokemon.... Plusle and Minun are! )

Sooo yeah I think Pokemon is better then Digimon.

Digi wut? Exactly.

[ameretrifle]

First off, there's no reason in hell to choose.

Second, it depends on what the criteria are. Which did I always like more? Pokemon. Which had better video games? Probably Pokemon (though I am NOT an expert). Which had a better plot? Digimon. I mean, as much as I love the Pokemon characters, the plot of Digimon was deeper, more complex, and probably more engaging too. Which one had a game of forum-mafia based on it? That'd be Pokemon. (I was a Dratini, it was badass.) Which would win in a cage match on the moon? Well, it would depend on who exactly was in the cage match. Mew/Mewtwo? Ash's Pikachu of indeterminate but fearsome power? Versus whom?

Anyway, screw that, I like 'em both. And Monster Rancher too. I always wanted to know how the hell that show ended-- I apparently never saw past the first season-- but I've always found it unreasonably difficult to find out...

[Ivora]

OH MY GOD. You did not just say MONSTER RANCHER!!!

*Massive flashback*

It was an interesting show but sooo short!

[Nhoj Serob]

LOL Monster Rancher, I remember that show.

(Just realized, is Pkoemon the only "monster show" where the Monsters don't speak? I mean, I know they say their name's, but that doesn't really count as dialogue.)

((WTF why does L O L turn into ¡This cheese is burning me! when it's left together?))

[Mo0man]

((WTF why does L O L turn into ¡This cheese is burning me! when it's left together?))

It's cause a while back lol started lol ing and the lol went all lol

[Narius]

Pokemon would win for the sole reason that they have charizard.
Done.

[aleflamedyud]

Which would win in a cage match on the moon? Well, it would depend on who exactly was in the cage match. Mew/Mewtwo? Ash's Pikachu of indeterminate but fearsome power? Versus whom?

Let's try Mewtwo versus Alphamon. Alphamon wins. PWND, BITCH.

[Box Boy]

Yeah, when the first season of your anime ends with battling someone called "Apocalymon" for no less than the fate of the digital universe, you start to suspect you're dealing with some very powerful individuals.

And then they were fighting a monster capable of destroying the fucking planet by eating it, and they had a monster that took over the Internet, and a monster that was basically Satan (can't remember the name) and one of the other monsters rode a motorbike, could fly and fought by shooting things with a super powered handgun.

Digimon wins in my books.

[LE4dGOLEM]

Which would win in a cage match on the moon? Well, it would depend on who exactly was in the cage match. Mew/Mewtwo? Ash's Pikachu of indeterminate but fearsome power? Versus whom?

Let's try Mewtwo versus Alphamon. Alphamon wins. PWND, BITCH.

Let's try Alphamon versus the Emperor. Emperor wins. PWND, BITCH.
Fandom willywaving wars are silly.

[Box Boy]

Also, Digimon was more mature in my opinion. Not by much, but the fact that it actually had the main characters nearly dying, finding out they were adopted, going through depression, having a relationship that wasn't slapstick, turning evil and nearly killing their tamer AND had more guns and slavery in one episode than pokemon has had in it's entire run.
Oh wait, that is a LOT more mature than pokemon.

(Yes I'm also including one episode of pokemon where ash was threatened with a gun and team rockets crossdressing)

[aleflamedyud]

Yeah, when the first season of your anime ends with battling someone called "Apocalymon" for no less than the fate of the digital universe, you start to suspect you're dealing with some very powerful individuals.

And then they were fighting a monster capable of destroying the fucking planet by eating it, and they had a monster that took over the Internet, and a monster that was basically Satan (can't remember the name) and one of the other monsters rode a motorbike, could fly and fought by shooting things with a super powered handgun.

Digimon wins in my books.

Admittedly, he was only in Tamers. Digimon Tamers was basically "what if we did Serial Experiments Lain and Evangelion with mons?", literally written by the guy who did those other two shows.

If you got Joss Whedon to write a season of Pokemon, I think it would come out pretty damn great.

Still, for all its downsides Digimon 02 was the only show in which programming skills and ambition are sufficient to make you an Evil Overlord with your own pretentious uniform and floating fortress.

[LE4dGOLEM]

If you got Joss Whedon to write a season of Pokemon, I think it would come out pretty damn great.

...fund it!

[Internetmeme]

Could someone explain a small part of Digimon to me:
So, wasn't the show a group of kids going into computers and fighting monsters, or did the adults know? I vaguely remember watching this show when I was little, but I could never remember when it came on.

Also, this is why Pokemon wins:

Spoiler:

[Nhoj Serob]

If you got Joss Whedon to write a season of Pokemon, I think it would come out pretty damn great.

Than again, if you got Joss Whedon to write a season of just about anything, it would turn out pretty gorram good.
Even though I just watched Digimon: The Movie (which was pretty pathetic, at least the American version, have yet to see the Japanese with English subs) I still say that Seasons 1-3 beat out PokeMon


(by the way, I just watched toy story and guess who helped with the screen play: Joss Whedon)

[Ivora]

LMAO! That comic is soo true! Why hasn't it happened yet I will never understand.

[Internetmeme]

Pokemon's show kinda jumped the shark after the series that was set in Ruby/Sapphire's continent. Before then it was actually a nice show, but that might be because I've grown out of it.

[The Liger]

I watched both, and had crazes/obsessions with both, thus though my views are still affected (heavily) by nostalgia, it doesn't sway the decision.

In terms of television series, in retrospect one can clearly see that Digimon was stronger. Pokemon very quickly (from pretty much the second episode) fell into a formula of: Arrive at new place -> Set up situation/meet new character+pokemon -> Start on task -> Team Rocket arrives to mess things up -> Team Rocket blasted off due to teamwork/generic virtue (love, hope, faith, trust etc.) -> Solution found -> Heroes move on. This caused the filler episodes to be pretty awful, and even story-advancing ones were quite bad.

On the other hand, while Digimon of course had to have a similar formula (Situation -> Problem -> Solution (usually through digivolution) -> Move on) it seemed to be handled far more maturely - this was especially the case during the Myotismon (and Dark Masters) saga, where the formula was actually quite unpredictable, and secondary characters were brought in who actually lasted (I too remember being saddened by Wizardmon's death, but then again I bawwwed like a baby when Butterfree said byebye). I think that was quite significant actually - the much larger cast in Digimon meant that a wider spectrum of personalities could be shown in the characters, and the episodes could focus occasionally focus on one character, allowing for a wider variety. The main characters were also definitely deeper in Digimon; they all had far more interesting flaws (aloofness, selfishness, self-absorbed to name a few, compared with Pokemon's headstrong and...err...that's about it) and fuller histories (as someone said, an one of the characters was adopted).

In terms of video games, it's tricky. To be honest, I can't really say that any Digimon game stands up to the might of Pokemon gameboy games (RBY especially, but for all I know the later versions were more popular still). However, I have a Digimon World Playstation game that is truly tremendous just compared to games in general, and I would definitely say that it beats out on Pokemon, but perhaps it was the simplicity, repetitiveness and, yes, nostalgia that causes Pokemon to win here.

As for general franchise - as said above, Pokemon just swamped Digimon as far as I know. It seems to me that Digimon, especially nowadays, has/had more of a cult following, whereas Pokemon was more mainstream, though I'm sure most Digimon fans started with Pokemon as well. This is probably because of the increased complexity and maturity of the television programme, but perhaps also because Digimon definitely lost out in gaming terms. The double-whammy of the popular television programme and phenomenally successful video games, combined with all the additional merchandise means that Pokemon has got to win over Digimon.

[aleflamedyud]

You can say all that, but Tamers had Computer Cthulhu eating Tokyo.

And Frontier, though it mostly copied Adventure, managed to improve on the ending by having the Chosen Children fight motherfucking Lucifer. And rather than going on about his endless pain and the arising desire to end the universe, he instead yacks about how everything will be wonderful and peaceful under his tyrannical rule.

[Dobblesworth]

I certainly admire the Digimon anime more than I do Pokemon. Deeper storylines, actual plot progression each episode, and more variety than "peeps find new Pokemon, Team Rocket try to steal it and Pikachu, the peeps win and move on, the end". Albeit a very basic good vs. evil setup, the 'Crest' morality, Skullgreymon and whatnot from the first two series, was far superior to Pkmn's offerings.

In terms of the video games, well, I played Pokemon until 3rd generation and a smattering of the console games, and thoroughly enjoyed their offerings. Digimon World (think that was the name) I played on the PSX was pretty abysmal. It had this inbuilt timer where your 'mon would cop it after about 5 days of game-time. Any time you wanted to take your 'mon stat-training, have him 'relieve himself', get healing or fight opponents, you'd lose several hours of the game's clock. I could never get any progression until I was forced to respawn at the starter zone with a fresh baby Digimon and start levelling him again.

[Internetmeme]

It seems to me that every one of the pokemon games after Gameboy Color are just remakes of the others. Is Pearl/Diamond the same thing?

[Red Chili]

It seems to me that every one of the pokemon games after Gameboy Color are just remakes of the others. Is Pearl/Diamond the same thing?

Versions are pretty much the same game. The games themselves are not remakes.

[fjafjan]

Digimon was a blatant rip off, but I have to admit, from what I have seen of Pokemon and digimon, digimon had a far more compelling story and characters. But still, blatant ripoff.

I mean it's really rather simple, Pokemon was a good game for the gameboy, I enjoyed the hell out of it, so they tried making an anime and like most TV shows or movies based on games it sucked. Digimon was made as an Anime and they tried to make games out of it and they sucked balls, as per usual.

[aleflamedyud]

Ah, fjanfjan, once again you're totally wrong. In Japan, Digimon came first. Remember the Tamagotchi craze? Digimon were those for boys. The first manga/anime of it came shortly after, before the Pokemon video games came out.

Also, Digimon only involved one 'mon per human. There was no "collect them all" Chinpoko-BS.

[Nhoj Serob]

^Thank you. You beat me to it. I was just about to cry out: "Ah yes, but only in America did Pokemon come first!" Same thing with the tamogatchis, which by the way, I've got a nice emu of the originals, but I can't locate the site I got it from.

EDIT I've found the V-Pet site: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=429921 the link's a little ways down the page.
and if you can't stand the upgraded graphics: http://gmc.yoyogames.com/index.php?showtopic=405127

As far as no "collect them all" theme in Digimon I might as well mention this: Digimon World DS. pretty much a pkemon-esque game, but once more meant for a slightly older crowd. It featured a "multiple digimon" scheme, but it came out before pokemon for the DS, so at least no one can say it's a copy of Diamond/Pearl. Other than the completly non-canon game, yeah pretty much one digimon per person. (except for the Digimon Movie, but that's an exception to the rule.)

[podbaydoor]

Of course Pokémon had the wider cultural impact - but the question of "Digimon vs. Pokémon" never asked us to be objective or analyze things such as facts or trends. I never played Digimon games, so my point of reference was the franchises' respective animes. Hence, Digimon wins.

[Box Boy]

I think it's safe to assume most people on here agree with me that pokémon stopped being anywhere near coherent after the orange islands? Up until then it at least had a story, now each episode is self contained and wouldn't be missed if it was removed from (what's left of) the canon.
I also like to believe Digimon ended after season two, three is passable as an alternate universe but the other seasons are just abominations.

[ameretrifle]

I'd agree with that, yeah. In fact, that's almost a perfect description of when I stopped watching both shows. I never did watch season 3 of Digimon... maybe I should sometime.

I would also like to reiterate my statement that the notion of fandom monogamy is silly and y'all should be a little more broadminded. ;D We don't really have to fight, do we? There is clearly room in all our hearts for both. ^^

[podbaydoor]

I watched up to the first episode of Digimon Season 3 and lost interest. The characters in Season 2 were nowhere near as interesting and were largely fokking annoying. So this was a long-winded way of saying, yes, Season 1 is where it's at.

Pokémon was sort of coherent up until Ash collected Ash and Misty. After Cerulean City it...didn't so much as go to pot as completely lost any interesting elements it might've had left.

[fjafjan]

Ah, fjafjan, once again you're totally wrong. In Japan, Digimon came first. Remember the Tamagotchi craze? Digimon were those for boys. The first manga/anime of it came shortly after, before the Pokemon video games came out.

Also, Digimon only involved one 'mon per human. There was no "collect them all" Chinpoko-BS.

I was aware of this, but would not call a Tamagochi a game, rather a toy. You can hardly claim the story, characters or fighting part were somehow inspired by fucking tamagochis? Pokemon on the other hand also had child protagonists, set on a journey and with their pets fighting for them.

[Box Boy]

You can hardly claim the story, characters or fighting part were somehow inspired by fucking tamagochis? Pokemon on the other hand also had child protagonists, set on a journey and with their pets fighting for them.

Unless you take the two's core concepts and disregard the details, the two shows are pretty unlike each other.

[fjafjan]

You can hardly claim the story, characters or fighting part were somehow inspired by fucking tamagochis? Pokemon on the other hand also had child protagonists, set on a journey and with their pets fighting for them.

Unless you take the two's core concepts and disregard the details, the two shows are pretty unlike each other.

I agree they are dissimilar in execution. Basically this is because Pokemon had to more or less stick to the narrative of the games, except it's not a story that is very compelling, and after that was over they were stuck with shitty writers that were good enough to rehash a poor game story. (I really did enjoy the first pokemon games, but the story had little to do with that).
Digimon on the other hand had to be good enough to be able to compete with the popular Pokemon phenomenon. Thus that anime is better. But of course after the Anime was successful they tried to make real games from it and trying to make a game out of a kids show usually never works out.

Digimon is pretty much a ripoff from Pokemon, but they actually make it work. (anime wise).
IMO atleast, and all such jazz.

[Internetmeme]

Pokemon is not a compelling story? Really?
Not according to this guy.

[Box Boy]

Pokemon is not a compelling story? Really?
Not according to this guy.

H.O.L.Y.F.U.C.K.
That is really awesome, thanks imeme!

[Naurgul]

The Ash-in-coma theory reminds me the roller-coaster-crashed-they're-in-hell theory for the D&D animated series.

[Box Boy]

There was a D&D t.v show?

EDIT: After google it appears there was, wow, I wish I'd watched it.