While talking about the success of Pokémon (and possible flame wars in comments), I
think it's time to address the Donphan in the room...
Created by Akiyoshi Hongo, Digimon began
life in June 1997 as a breed of virtual pets that can battle each other. They
proved so successful that a second generation was released in December. Their
first forms were cute baby things, because you had to raise them into adults.
However, because of the small 16x16 pixel screens the designers had to make
them quickly recognizable, so the first generation of Digimon were mostly in
the form of dinosaurs. Later on designer (not the swimmer or the actor) Kenji Watanabe (who was
influenced by American comics) introduced more edgy designs, adding an element
of coolness, creating the main factor that separates Digimon from the cute-and-cuddly franchise
that is Pokémon. In 1999 it became an anime. By the time Digimon entered America later that year Pokémon was in its height of popularity, so (not surprisingly) people were comparing the two franchises. In fact, when it was
introduced to America (and Europe) the ads tapped into that. I remember the ad introducing it to CITV back in 2000 (when it was a few hours
in the afternoon on ITV). It started
"First came Pokémon...." You get the idea.
Since then Pokémon and Digimon have been eyeing each other online
and in convention halls ever since. The web is littered with many blogs and
videos explaining the virtues of either and vilifying the opposite. I looked at
a few of these and came to this conclusion....
This is a
debate I don't want to be a part in.
The debate whether Pokémon or Digimon is "better" than the other
is an exercise in futility, and the time and effort that has been used could
have been used for something more constructive. Both franchises have
enjoyed great lasting success (Digimon is still on TV, in case your
wondering). And they did it on their own terms (as listed in the reasons why
one is "better" than the other). We should stop comparing them, like yin and yang, and
just enjoy them as different branches in the same tree of imaginary life. It's
like comparing Ewoks with Care Bears.
Also, to be honest with you, I think the
kind of people who do start up such debates are the sort of people whose use of
the term "plagiarism" is as loose as Scraggy's "trousers."
And been a creative person I would not like to be friends with such people.
On that note, I'm
going to end any mention of Digimon in this special here.
(I can imagine an alternative me in a
parallel universe doing a Digimon 20th anniversary special, but you
won't be seeing it now (if your reading this in 2016), due to the year
difference between their introduction.)
The Other Lesser-Known Donphan in the Room
While, on the subject of Pokémon "knock-offs,"
there was another one that is worth mentioning. I didn't know it existed until TheJWittz made a video about it last year.
Looking at it, you'll realise that this video game really is a genuine Pokémon rip-off. In fact, I feel that everyone who had wasted their breath
complaining against Digimon should have used their time and effort
complaining about this instead....
Robopon -
TheJWittz (2015)
Enough said.
Now. Where were
we?
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