Pokémon has been the biggest anime franchise for 27 years, but there was a time when Digimon reigned supreme

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Pokémon and Digimon have been competitors since their release. Both franchises launched their own anime and various video games. But it quickly became clear that the pocket monsters were winning out over the digital monsters. However, there was a time when Digimon briefly overtook Pokémon.

When was that? According to statistics from Nielsen Ratings, Digimon was more popular than Pokémon for around a month. In May 2000, Digimon was the most watched series among children between 2 and 11 years old. Although the statistics only apply to the USA, it was probably similar in the rest of the world.

However, the success only lasted for a month, after which Pokémon easily overtook its competitor. But this short period of time is already a huge success for Digimon, as it was able to compete against the gigantic hit anime.

If you want to sink into nostalgia, the upcoming Digimon movie could be something for you:

Digimon Adventure 02 – The Beginning: German anime trailer for the movie

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Pokémon is the largest anime franchise in the world

Why is Pokémon actually more popular? There are several reasons why Pokémon leaves its competition looking old:

  • Pokémon was on television before the competition: The pocket monsters started in Japan in 1997, Digimon only in 1999.
  • Pokémon had a strong partner behind it in Nintendo. Video games based on the Pokémon franchise are still released regularly to this day.
  • The anime has both an iconic main character and an iconic mascot. Ash and his Pikachu were an integral part of the franchise for 25 years.
  • The release of Pokémon GO has made the universe even more accessible.

    • According to a study, Pokémon is actually the most successful anime company ever. In January 2021, the franchise was number 1 among the most valuable media franchises with a value of $100 billion. This means it easily outpaces competitors like Hello Kitty or Star Wars (via The Hill) and even makes anime giants like Dragon Ball look old (via CBR).

    For comparison: In 2019, Digimon was valued at around $6 billion (via Gayming).

    How is Digimon doing today? The Digimon franchise continues to release new films, series and video games today. For example, the German dubbed version of Digimon Adventure 02 – The Beginning can be seen on May 2nd and 5th. Here we meet well-known characters from the second season.

    The anime series now has 9 seasons. Most recently, Digimon Ghost Game was released from 2021 to 2023, the first Digimon series in the horror genre. On the video game front, things are similarly diverse: There are now visual novels like Digimon Survive and role-playing games like Digimon Story: Cyber ​​Sleuth.

    In fact, there is even an MMORPG for Digimon: Old Digimon MMORPG returns 10 years after shutdown – is it worth it?

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