Pokémon and Digimon have been competitors since their release. Both franchises launched their own anime and various video games. However, it quickly became clear that the pocket monsters would prevail over the digital monsters. There was, however, a time when Digimon briefly overtook Pokémon.
When was that? According to a statistic from Nielsen Ratings, Digimon was more popular than Pokémon for about a month. In May 2000, Digimon was the most-watched series among children aged 2 to 11 years. Although the statistic only applies to the USA, it was likely similar in the rest of the world.
However, the success lasted only for a month, after which Pokémon effortlessly surpassed its competitor. Still, this short period is already a huge success for Digimon as it managed to compete against the gigantic successful anime.
If you want to immerse yourself in nostalgia, the upcoming movie about Digimon might be something for you:
Pokémon is the largest anime franchise in the world
Why is Pokémon actually more popular? There are several reasons why Pokémon makes its competition look pale:
- Pokémon aired on television before the competition: The pocket monsters debuted in Japan in 1997, while Digimon only started in 1999.
- Pokémon had a strong partner in Nintendo right from the start. To this day, video games for the Pokémon franchise are regularly released.
- The anime has both an iconic main character and an iconic mascot. Ash and his Pikachu have been inseparable from the franchise for 25 years.
- The release of Pokémon GO has made the universe even more accessible.
According to a study, Pokémon is even the most successful anime company ever. In January 2021, the franchise was valued at 100 billion dollars, making it the most valuable media franchise. This easily outperformed competitors like Hello Kitty or Star Wars (via The Hill) and makes even anime giants like Dragon Ball look pale (via CBR).
By comparison: In 2019, Digimon was estimated to be worth about 6 billion dollars (via Gayming).
How is Digimon doing today? The Digimon franchise is still releasing new movies, series, and video games today. For instance, on May 2nd and 5th, the German dubbed version of Digimon Adventure 02 – The Beginning will be shown. Here, we encounter familiar characters from the second season.
Currently, the anime series includes 9 seasons. The most recent was Digimon Ghost Game, which aired from 2021 to 2023, the first Digimon series in the horror genre. The video game front is similarly diverse: there are now visual novels like Digimon Survive and role-playing games such as Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth.
In fact, there is even an MMORPG about Digimon: Old Digimon MMORPG Returns 10 Years After Shutdown – Is It Worth It?
