Constantly referred to as a Pokemon rip-off because it came out later and both have mon in their names, Digimon manages to create its own identity with its setting and how the monsters have more dimensions compared to Pokemon.
Digimon differentiate themselves by having more than 4 evolution lines and have a lot of split evolution paths based on the condition they evolve. However, in this show the later only happened once. Another thing is that being digital monsters, their evolution don't always reflect the design of the creature they originally were and each evolution being more advanced sometimes even mechanical.
Despite being a low budget show and having a simple story, Digimon Adventure was pretty enjoyable. It has a good cast of characters and a good Digimon selection. Like Tamers they address some character issues but not on the same level. The group dynamic is good but not as good as Tamers because of the larger character cast.
Villains in Adventure are also the most mediocre since they are pretty one dimensional like Dragon Ball villains with Devimon being the blandest. Tho there is one exception being Puppetmon who is surprisingly deep and thoughtfully written.
The main appeal of Digimon Adventure is the use of its protagonists meaning the kids and Digimon. It can appear as impossible considering there are 7 children and 7 unique Digimon increasing the size of protagonists to at least 14.
Over the course of the series each child’s strength and weaknesses gets explored.
Taichi or Tai is considered the leader of the group and tries his best to make progress in the group even coming up with strategies to handle certain bad guys. However, not every plan is well thought out and backfires which lead to disagreements in the group, fights or even damaging his own decisions. Most often he speaks his mind without taking others feelings into consideration.
His partner Agumon is usually always in favor of him and one of the strongest members in the group. Also in terms of evolution designs he is very appealing as in his Child form (or Rookie State) he appears like a small dinosaur who turns into a bigger one in his Adult form (Champion state). But what makes him real appealing are his later states where he becomes a Cyborg Dinosaur or a humanoid dragon with a shield and huge weapons meant to kill Digimon with dramon in their name.
Yamato or Matt is the older brother of Takeru aka. TK and can be considered second in command. He is the one who questions Tai the most often which lead them often into fights. While he isn’t much of a strategist, he always considers the the feelings of others. The biggest weakness is that he lacks self-esteem especially when he gets the feeling he isn’t needed especially by his brother.
His partner Gabumon encourages him most often and the closest friend. Even when he knows what Matt does is wrong, he is willing to help him since he can’t abandon him the most. He and Agumon are the strongest Digimon in the group who always get the next evolution the earliest. Turning form a lizard wearing fur to a fire breathing dog and into a werewolf like form. His final form is a mechanized version of his Adult State.
Sora is considered the mother in the group who tries to keep everyone together but often feels like on of the weakest members in terms of usefulness. Especially when the bar for accomplishing a goal is too high, she loses confidence in herself.
Her partner Biyomon is a birdlike creature who really loves being with her. She often plays the motherly role for her helping her with her mental problems and regain confidence. Sometimes to see things from a different perspective. Being a birdlike creature, her evolutions reflect that.
Koushirou or Izzy is the nerd of the group and lacks the ability to socialize himself with others leading to awkward situations. However, he is the most useful member as he is skilled with tech and can uncover the secrets of the digital world they are trapped in. Why his desire to know everything can be a strength, it also is his biggest weakness.
His digimon Tentomon is a bug digimon and can be considered more an assistant to him helping him out but also warning him when things get dire since Izzy can be too focused on what he is working on. His evolutions are also bug based.
Mimi is very selfish and self centered and often complains about everything. Her strength is her sincerity which is sadly also a weakness when hurting others feelings. Over the course of the story she becomes more understanding of the digimon filling her desire to protect them.
Her partner Palmon, a plant digimon, has to comfort her often but there are often situations where she helps Mimi to understand that what she is doing is wrong. Her Adult form is a cactus with boxing glows and her final state is a fairy coming from the flower that grown from the cactus.
Jou or Joey is the oldest member of the group. While he lacks commanding skills and can’t get the respect of others, he is the one that can be relied on the most. Even when he is scared or doesn’t want to feel any pain, he is willing to risk his own life to protect the ones younger than him showing. Meaning despite being coward, he is the most reliable.
His partner Gomamon is a seal-like creature with a goofy personality. Often they have a comedy routine together and helps Joe to not take things too serious. He is often helpful when traveling over water with his friends that are fishes or his first evolution Ikkakumon, a giant walrus. His final form is a mixture of a walrus, turtle and some other animals with a huge hammer.
Takeru is the youngest member at the start and Yamato’s younger brother. He is the least experience and the show has him go through the arc of growing up and becoming more self reliant.
Patamon, his partner, which is a flying hamster-like creature often plays the role of someone who looks after him, but struggles through the lack of power and experience. However, he has the most potential in the group and his evolution are the most helpful against evil Digimon. When going by Digimon lore which honestly don’t play a role in the story, his final evolution is equivalent of that of an archangel of the Digmon World.
The show shines in developing these wildly different kids since each of them have unique character issues not mentioned in this review. In a later story arc, the relationships with their families get explored where they will also get introduced to another member to the group.
Issues like divorced families, adoption and living up to family expectation get explored in the story which by today’s standards sound an impossible task by the sheer size of characters.
As a show where monsters fight each other, Digimon fights at the start aren’t that impressive. However, just seeing the different forms and the emotional struggles needed to archive the forms are usually worth it where the lack of good choreography can be looked past. There is a reason why many evolution, especially when they first appear, will stay with you. As the show progresses, the fights and budget improve. There will be a lot of recycled animation and the evolution to Child and Adult states seem rather lame.
But when the show goes to Perfect forms (Ultimate states) or Ultimate forms (Mega states), the transformation sequences jump in quality.
There is the use of CGI for certain evolution which normally would be a turnoff, but since Digimon are digital creatures, the evolution scenes are tolerable and give the show a unique identity as many later Digimon series will use that concept for their transformation scenes.
While Digimon is a kids show, it can be off putting or flat out scare the viewer as it goes on since the enemies can be deviant and scary. The first major antagonist is the literal devil. Later there is a toy monkey. But after that there is a vampire who kills people on screen and turns into a devil too. One of the final antagonists is literally an evil clown.
While the show does have reincarnation for the Digimon, that doesn’t apply to those who die outside it or the human.
Digimon has mostly bland villains, simple story, primitive fights and lackluster animation, however, the protagonists are the heart and soul of the series. Their issues and their strength as well as their interactions with their families, friends and each other is what allowed Digimon go gain its massive following.
