So I recently rewatched the entire Digimon Adventure again, and almost shed tears of nostalgia... almost. Oh Digimon, what can I say? You're my childhood, you're the reason why I'm glued to the TV when I was younger and you're the sole reason why I get turned off by Pokemon.
Everywhere I go, Pokemon lovers would shed hate on my beloved series, calling it a shitty ripoff and all. Ok, bitch please, I never once even compared the two together and calling the other better. Personal preferences exist for a reason right? I understand why Digimon is so underrated but it was all I had access to in China and it did reach me before Pokemon did.
But since we're here, fine, let me tell you the reasons why I will never get into the Pokemon franchise.
First things first, it isn't a ripoff of Pokemon, it was originally designed as Tamagotchi for the manly men and not a video game. The concept is almost completely different to that of Pokemon's, while one is about multiple creatures you capture/tame to keep as pets/slaves, the other is a lifelong friend who chooses you on its own will and you are expected to take care of it. One is a creature, the other is a hologram of sorts created from data.
Secondly, this is where I delve into the anime and talk about just how amazing it is. Before American dubbing ruined the show, it made me smile, laugh and cry (I still vividly remember wailing for 2 days when Wizardmon died). This point is mainly about the respective theme songs of the two. Apparently damn Americans changed the opening to some digi-champion crap, let me reiterate the original songs: Butter-fly and Brave Heart. Click HERE to look at their translations. The evolving theme, Brave Heart, is my current ringtone.
Additionally, the anime holds many values that can inspire children watching the show. The meaning of the children's crests: Courage, Friendship, Honesty, Knowledge, Love, Purity, Hope and Light are unraveled as the children experience gradual character developments and bond with eachother/their Digimons. Many episodes really get to you such as the one where Sora finally finds out that her mum's constant nagging actually meant that she cares for her and the episode where Yamato realises that it doesn't matter who's more capable because friends don't compete but work together to conquer obstacles. I never cried during Pokemon but back then I'd cry many times during Digimon episodes.
Finally, Digimons are so much more cuter in my opinion of course. Patamon is like GAAAAAHHH SO CUTE and their digivolutions are so hot (Angewomon, Wizardmon... just to name a few, and Yamato had always been my childhood cartoon crush ahahaa). Note that this point is actually pretty shallow, that's why I left it till the end. So let me also add in a few miscellaneous snippets... Things like how Digimon can talk, gain power with will and inner strength to evolve and grow stronger overtime... many more things that made me really dig this show.
As I said, I have absolutely nothing against Pokemon except for a selected few fundamentalist fans out there. I think, to conclude, that the two shows should co-exist in peace as they really are about different things and target different kinds of people. So don't hate yeah? Let us all get along, I want to bake a cake out of sunshine and rainbows... etc etc.
