At the time I loved both more or less equally, though I think I may have leaned slightly more towards Digimon. Thinking back I find this weird because while I was an avid follower of the show and collected Pokémon cards and stickers (who didn't) and was obsessed with Pokemon Red, I didn't really consume that much Digimon madness. The card game made little sense to me and I never owned a Digimon video game, so why is it that I'm so drawn to this silly little show about kids and their guardian monsters? I think that last sentence may just be the answer, while Pokémon was something I understood from my experience with the games, Digimon seemed more enticing and special because every child had their own unique Digimon during their adventures in the digital world.
You're not here for simple musings about the past though, so let's spice this up a bit a pit the two shows against each other in a poorly thought out "which is best" analysis!
Round 1 - Human Characters
Pokémon
As you all probably know, the core protagonists of Pokémon are Ash, Brock and Misty, and to a certain extent their Pokémon (especially Pikachu). This presents us with three differing but supportive character types; Ash, the vessel for the audience, representing every kids dream to go on a Pokémon adventure, Misty, "the girl of the group", who while being kinda squealy and at first (especially around bugs) shows herself to be a more then capable trainer, and Brock, "the wise one", he's often on hand to provide support and advice but is also a strong trainer. These three work well together and are thoroughly entertaining to watch, however there is no escaping how useless Ash can actually be; I'm finding it hard to remember which gym badge was the first he legitimately won, most of the time he is given a badge even if he didn't defeat a gym leader and other times his victories rely solely on the help of others. Out of the main three Brock seems to be the most likeable, and next the Team Rocket was one of the characters who really made the show.
Digimon
Each of the DigiDestined has their own role in the show based upon their abilities and personalities, their individual traits of friendship, trust, loyalty or honesty become increasingly important as the series progresses and form an important part of the finale. Each character receives plenty of time to be developed and they all feel purposeful and important, whereas you could substitute Ash for pretty much anybody and probably have the same if not more interesting story. The bonds between the characters also seem more real, especially the slight power struggle and occasional fighting between Tai and Matt, as well as Matt's compassion and protectiveness for his brother T.K.
Round winner: Digimon
Not only are the DigiDestined more relatable, the seem like slightly more realistic portrayals of people (probably because these kids are actually from Earth).
Round 2 - Storylines
Pokémon
Let's not be coy shall we, the storyline to Pokémon is a bit crap. Ash sets out to become Pokémon champion and "catch 'em all", something which doesn't really work out. Ash gathers badges and battles other trainers to develop and become good enough to enter the Pokémon League, not bad really but the story diverges off on many tangents laden with filler, something which while still interesting does seem to get in the way of the ultimate goal more than a badly thought out Rocket scheme.
Digimon
Digimon on the other hand follow six (and later seven) children who are taken to the digital world, each character is given opportunity to be explored and properly fleshed out while still remaining close to the overall story. Digimon also seems to find ways to keep itself fresh as it progresses with the introduction of further Digivolutions and threats as the series continues, making sure the characters are never too comfortable with their situation.
Round winner: Digimon
As fun as Pokémon is, when it comes to story Digimon works better.
Round 3 - The Monsters
Pokémon
The adorable little creatures, and the awe inspiring beasts of Pokémon are truly amazing and even out of the original 150 (151) everyone has their favourites. Every Pokemon has a type, be it grass, water, fire, bug, ghost, flying etc... and this does lead to some interesting match ups and team possibilities. Pokémon also plays on the creatures being just wild animals, therefore things which can be collected and trained, rather than having a singular companion, and the level of personality each creature possess is truly impressive.
Digimon
Let's not get ahead of ourselves and go proclaiming a winner already though. Digimon has a vast array of Monsters each with their own personalities and abilities, such as the main guardians including Agumon, Tentamon and Biyomon, the good and noble like Leomon, and the slightly un-nerving comic relief of Pumpkinmon and Gotsumon, and the downright evil Devimon, Myotismon, and Apocalymon. On the other hand Digimon are all named with the suffix -mon, which can make it slightly trickier to remember which are which (the closest Pokémon seems comes to with this problem is Dugtrio and Dodrio).
Round winner: Digimon
The Digimon seem to have that extra spark of characterisation which in part comes from the voice acting, this helps make these creatures seem that bit more interesting than the chirping, squeaking Pokémon.
Round 4 - Battles
Pokémon
Pokémon battles are pretty sweet aren't they. The power and skill involved can be amazing, even if the show does seem to create it's own idea of how battles work. This however helps to make the battles not only more intense and enjoyable to watch, but makes them seem much more real. (I mean really, could you imagine the show going with actual turn based combat, that would be weird) That being said there are some strange battle moments in the show, such as Meowth using buckets of water against Brock's Onix in order to win - a bit silly, and very sly but this is Team Rocket.
Digimon
Digimon battles on the other hand can seem a bit more subdued. The DigiDestined appear to have much less of an influence over how their partners fair in combat, granted without the humans higher stages of Digivolution would not be possible; something which was especially important in the defeat of Devimon, though even that battle was rather dull and over quite quickly thanks to Deus Ex Machina - Angemon. That being said, when the Digimon team up against the big baddies such as Myotismon or Apocalymon, the ensuing cartoon chaos can be quite beautiful. The main joy of Digimon battles is that they feel more like actual brawls, in part due to the lack of any type effectiveness match ups but this can become tiring to watch after a while.
Round winner: Pokémon
As if there was ever any doubt, Pokémon battles are in a league of their own. Pokémon battles are usually pretty epic events, and probably the reason most kids watch the show. This is where Pokémon thrives, the entire franchise is built around pitting monsters of different types against each other and using knowledge and skill to best opponents, at times victory in Digimon seems more down to luck.
Round 5 - Evolution
Pokémon
Part of the fun of watching Ash fail to "Catch 'em all", was waiting for a Pokémon to evolve. Caterpie, to Metapod, to Butterfree was a sweet story arc, and watching Ash contend with his disobedient Charizard is always fun. Evolution is a staple of Pokémon, it can come as a bit of a surprise and helps to keep the show fresh.
Digimon
Digivolution is pretty amazing and can occur multiple times in quick succession or dual Digivolutions resulting in extremely powerful monsters, this incliudes Digimon like WarGreymon and. The down side Digivolution though is that it takes up power and Digimon revert back to their basic form after battle, or even during if the battle has been particularly intense. While this does allow the show the stay quite level, only busting out the big guns when it's needed, it would have been nice to see Digimon Digivolve and stay like that for a while.
Round winner: Pokémon
It's a hard decision. If offered the choice between Gyarados and Angemon, I'd probably go with Gyarados. Both characters start off crap but these evolved forms are amazing, it's just that Gyarados is a bloody dragon and will stay that way.
Round 6 - The Villains
Pokémon
Team Rocket, Jessie, James and Meowth, the unstoppable, idiotic trio. Now don't get me wrong, Giovanni is a fairly mean and ruthless guy but even he isn't trying to destroy the world and kill innocent children. Team Rocket are fun, but that's about it on the bad scale, especially with a lot of their schemes being crazy and comical. As the series progresses and we learn more about Jessie and James they begin to seem more and more relatable, or at least even more likeable, as we delve into their childhoods (and James bottle cap collection).
They do get around in a Meowth shaped hot air balloon and a Magikarp sub which is points to epicness but but doesn't really reflect much villiany, and even though the Rocket trio have use actual guns before that was only in the Japanese version so I'm not counting it.
Digimon
Devimon on the other hand is much more of a threat. This evil Digimon will stop at nothing to remove the DigiDestined even going so far as to corrupt many good Digimon to be used for his own nefarious means, like killing the kids. However even greater threats in the form of Myotismon and then Apocalymon and the four Dark Masters are later discovered, which act as the main antagonising forces for the series, something which goes far darker than the often comical Team Rocket.
Round winner: Digimon
The baddies just seem more bad in Digimon.
Round 7 - Theme Song
Pokémon
Digimon
"Digimon, Digital Monsters. Digimon are the champions!" Really catchy, and perhaps a bit of a cocky did at Pokémon. It does have a pretty damn good video, however it also seems a little bit repetitive; still fantastic though.
Definitely the better of the two, mention Pokémon to someone and it likely isn't long before this brilliant little tune is being hummed, whistled or sang without a care.
Winner: Digimon
Digimon comes out on top. I do realise that I will be slightly biased in my opinion (because it's my opinion), but I do love both of these shows a great deal, it just seems that upon reflection Digimon is a better adventure.
What do you think, was I wrong in some of my opinions? Which would you choose - Gyarados or Angemon? Let the hate flow...
Thank you for reading this far, and I'll see you in the future humans.
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