Michael Sefranek

I watched both Digimon and Pokemon growing up. To correlate the two shows is a mistake, and a mildly unfortunate consequence of the time of their release,the fact that they share the name "mon", and the theme of small companion monsters who battle. The similarities are not unremarkable, but end there. Unfortunately due to this misunderstanding, discussing the superiority of one show over the other is inevitable. Pokemon episodes follow the formula of attempting to develop a single story in an entire episode, with small or no investment in long term development. Occasionally there are 2 part episodes of greater import. The characters never change: Ash, Brock, Misty Jesse James etc appear exactly the same throughout.. The benefit of this formula allows you to watch any Pokemon episode and not really care what order they occur in, and if you miss a few episodes you can continue similar to the depth of a comic strip. Thus Pokemon can convey a story that instantly capture simple child like minds that have shorter attention spans, and less understanding of complex standing narratives. Digimon in contrast is a much more sophisticated narrative planned from start to finish. Digimon iterates on its storytelling by increasing investments in mystery, plot, and character, where pokemon will repeat a relatively same formula with the largest changes being which pokemon are in current use, and which characters come/go. Every episode of Digimon presents a challenge, and focuses on usually developing a single or set of characters, in which they rise to the occasion, and as a response, they and their digimon evolve, both as characters, and into stronger monsters. Unlike Pokemon, where the evolution is a permanent, Digimon's evolution is a temporary direct representation of the heart and soul, will and strength of the character that owns the Digimon. In remarkable sense, the stages of Digimon evolution are similar to the way Goku turns Super Saiyan in Dragon Ball Z. As a result, evolution is an effective dramatic, emotional event, which always occurs at the point of highest drama. Often this evolution accompanies by an emotional internal struggle the Digimon's human companion, and as a result the audience sees each character grow and change as individuals. Characters often talk about serious feelings, argue, and then make up. Characters experience depression, fear, and their friends or digimon help bring them out. This differs heavily from a theme in pokemon where evil and struggle is focused externally from the group, rather than being represented as an equal occurring as external to the group, within the group, and within the self. This isn't to say that the themes of evil within the group and within the self are not discussed at all within Pokemon, but they aren't represented as often this way, and are more a facsimile than how it plays out in Digimon. In summary, you should not compare the two shows, they are totally different in concept and aimed at levels of audience sophistication. But if the must be compared, Digimon is the better narrative hands down. Anyone who insists otherwise is either in blind denial, or simply cannot tell the difference between a better or worse narrative. My kids don't ask about Pokemon anymore, despite having seen episodes. But when we watch Digimon, they literally scream their heads off when the Digomon start to evolve. 15/10, for at least the first 1-3 seasons, which was my era that I will stick to. After that I can't really claim to know anything about it.