Akiyoshi Hongo is credited as the creator of the original
virtual pets, but he is a mysterious figure whose exact role remains
unknown.Nothing is known about Akiyoshi Hongo as an individual. It is
speculated that Akiyoshi Hongo is a nom de plume used by Aki Maita, the creator
of the Tamagotchi virtual pet, and Takeichi Hongo, the Tamagotchi president for
Bandai when working on Digimon-related media.a
Conception and creation
Akiyoshi Hongo is credited as the creator of the original
virtual pets, but he is a mysterious figure whose exact role remains
unknown.Nothing is known about Akiyoshi Hongo as an individual. It is
speculated that Akiyoshi Hongo is a nom de plume used by Aki Maita, the creator
of the Tamagotchi virtual pet, and Takeichi Hongo, the Tamagotchi president for
Bandai when working on Digimon-related media.a
Eponymous creatures
The first Digimon anime introduces the Digimon life cycle: They age in a similar fashion to real organisms, but do not die under normal circumstances because they are made of reconfigurable data. Any Digimon that receives a fatal wound will dissolve into infinitesimal bits of data. The data then recomposes itself as a Digi-Egg, which will hatch when rubbed gently, and the Digimon goes through its life cycle again. Digimon who are reincarnated in this way will sometimes retain some or all their memories of their previous life. However, if a Digimon's data is completely destroyed, they will die.
Virtual pet toy
Digimon started out as a digital pet called "Digital
Monster", similar in style and concept to the Tamagotchi. It was planned
by Wiz and released by Bandai on June 26, 1997. The toy began as the simple
concept of a Tamagotchi mainly for boys. The V-Pet is similar to its
predecessors, with the exceptions of being much harder and being able to
connect to fight other Digimon v-pets. Every owner would start with a Baby
Digimon, train it, evolve it, take care of it, and then have battles with other
Digimon owners to see who was stronger. The Digimon pet had several evolution
capabilities and abilities too, so many owners had many different Digimon. In
December, the second generation of Digital Monster was released, followed by a
third edition in 1998.
Anime meta-series
On March 6, 1999, the franchise was given an anime as the
first of the Digimon movies aired in theaters in Japan. Originally, the Digimon
Adventure movie was supposed to be a short film, but after the storyboard was
finished, a request for Digimon becoming a children's television show was made.
On March 7, 1999, they began airing a television counterpart titled Digimon
Adventure.
Five more series would follow, most of them with their own
tie-in movies, and the series was dubbed for release in western markets in the
fall of the same year. The show spawned card games, with Hyper Colosseum in
Japan and later Digi-Battle in America, and more video games. The animated
series is easily the best-known segment of the Digimon universe and responsible
for the majority of its popularity.
"Digimon" are "Digital Monsters".
According to the stories, they are inhabitants of the "DigiWorld", a
manifestation of Earth's communication network. The stories tell of a group of
mostly pre-teens,the "Chosen Children" (DigiDestined in the English
version), who accompany special Digimon born to defend their world (and ours)
from various evil forces. To help them surmount the most difficult obstacles
found within both realms, the Digimon have the ability to evolve (Digivolve).In
this process, the Digimon change appearance and become much stronger, often
changing in personality as well. The group of children who come in contact with
the Digital World changes from series to series.
As of 2011, there have been six series— Digimon Adventure,
the follow-up sequel Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Tamers, Digimon Frontier,
Digimon Savers, and Digimon Xros Wars. The first two series take place in the
same fictional universe, but the third, fourth, fifth and sixth each occupy
their own unique world (in the case of Digimon Tamers, the Adventure universe
is referred to as a television and commercial enterprise, as well as the
appearance of one character hailing from the Adventure universe). In addition,
each series has spawned assorted feature films. Digimon still shows popularity,
as new card series, video games, and movies are still being produced and
released: new card series include Eternal Courage, Hybrid Warriors,
Generations, and Operation X; the video game, Digimon Rumble Arena 2; and the
previously unreleased movies Revenge of Diaboromon, Runaway Locomon, Battle of
Adventurers, and Island of Lost Digimon. In Japan, Digital Monster X-Evolution,
the eighth TV movie, was released, and on December 23, 2005 at Jump Festa 2006,
the fifth series, Digimon Savers was announced for Japan to begin airing after
a three-year hiatus of the show. A sixth television series, Digimon Xros Wars,
began airing in 2010,and a seventh television series, which started on October
2, 2011 as a direct sequel to Digimon Xros Wars.
Digimon was produced by Toei Animation and Bandai of Japan.
The series were broadcast in Japan by Fuji Television. The first four series
were called Digimon: Digital Monsters in international markets, while Savers
was released as Digimon Data Squad.
Digimon Adventure (Series One)
The first Digimon television series, which began airing on
March 7, 1999 in Japan on Fuji TV and Kids Station and on August 14, 1999 in
the United States on Fox Kids dubbed by Saban Entertainment for the North
American English version. Its premise is a group of seven kids who, while at
summer camp, travel to the Digital World, inhabited by creatures known as
Digimon, where they become the DigiDestined and are forced to save both the
Digital and Real World from evil. Each Kid was given a Digivice which selected
them to be transported to the DigiWorld and was destined to be paired up with a
Digimon Partner, such as Tai being paired up with Agumon and Matt with Gabumon.
The children are helped by a mysterious man/digimon named Gennai, who helps
them via hologram. The Digivices help their Digimon allies to Digivolve into
stronger creatures in times of peril. The Digimon usually reached higher forms
when their human partners are placed in dangerous situations, such as fighting
the evil forces of Devimon, Etemon and Myotismon in their Champion forms.
Later, each character discovered a crest that each belonged to a person; Tai
the Crest of Courage, Matt the Crest of Friendship, Sora the Crest of Love,
Izzy the Crest of Knowledge, Mimi the Crest of Sincerity, Joe the Crest of
Reliability, T.K. the Crest of Hope, and later Kari the Crest of Light which
allowed their digimon the digivolve into their Ultimate form. The group
consisted of seven original characters: Taichi "Tai" Kamiya, Yamato
"Matt" Ishida, Sora Takenouchi, Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi, Mimi
Tachikawa, Joe Kido, and Takeru "T.K." Takaishi. Later on in the
series, an eighth character was introduced: Hikari "Kari" Kamiya (who
is Taichi's youngera
sister).Digimon Adventure 02 (Series Two)
Digimon Tamers (Series Three)
The third Digimon series, which began airing on April 1,
2001, is set largely in a "real world" where the Adventure and
Adventure 02 series are television shows, and where Digimon game merchandise
(based on actual items) become key to provide power boosts to real Digimon
which appeared in that world. The plot revolves around three Tamers, Takato
Matsuki, Rika Nonaka, and Henry Wong. It began with Takato making his very own
Digimon by sliding a mysterious blue card on his card reader, which then became
a D-Power. Guilmon taken form from Takato’s sketchings of a new Digimon. (Tamers’
only human connection to the Adventure series is Ryo Akiyama, a character
featured in some of the Digimon video games and who made an appearance in some
occasions of the Adventure story-line.) Some of the changes in this series
include the way the Digimon digivolve, and the way their "Digivices"
work. In this series, the Tamers can slide cards through their
"Digivices", which give their digimon certain advantages, such as in
a card game. This act is called "Digi-modify" (Card Slash in the
Japanese version). The same process was often used to Digivolve the Digimon,
but as usual feelings play a big part in the digivolving process. Unlike most
Digimon series where the tone is set mostly in a way to appeal to young
children, Tamers took a darker tone in nature.
Digimon Frontier (Series Four)
The fourth Digimon series, which began airing on April 7,
2002, radically departs from the previous three by focusing on a new and very
different kind of evolution, Spirit Digivolution, in which the human characters
use their D-Tectors (this series' Digivice) to transform themselves into
special Digimon called Legendary Warriors. After receiving unusual phone
messages, the five main characters go to a subway station and take a train to
the Digital World. They end up fighting Cherubimon and his group of Legendary
Warrior servants, hoping to foil his effort to dominate the Digital World.
Later on, they face an even greater challenge as they try to stop the Royal
Knights—Dynasmon and Crusadermon—from destroying the Digital World and using
its data to revive the original ruler of the Digital World: the tyrannical
Lucemon. In general, Frontier has a much lighter tone than that of Tamers,
reverting back to the style of Adventure and Adventure 02.
Digimon Savers / Data Squad (Series Five)
Digimon Xros Wars (Series Six)
On August 17, 2011, Shueisha's V-Jump magazine announced a sequel set one year later, a third arc of Xros Wars subtitled The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time, which aired from October 2, 2011 to March 25, 2012, following on from the previous arc. It focuses on a new protagonist, Tagiru Akashi and his partner Gumdramon who embark on a new journey with an older Taiki, his Shoutmon, an older Yū and his Damemon, along with other new comrades as they deal with a hidden dimension that lies between the Human World and the Digital World called DigiQuartz.
Movies
There have been nine Digimon movies released in Japan. The
first seven were directly connected to their respective anime series; Digital
Monster X-Evolution originated from the Digimon Chronicle merchandise line. All
movies except X-Evolution and Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode have been
released and distributed internationally. Digimon: The Movie, released in the
U.S. and Canada territory by Fox Kids through 20th Century Fox on October 6,
2000, consists of the union of the first three Japanese movies.
- Digimon Adventure (Part one of Digimon: The Movie)
- Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (Part two of Digimon: The Movie)
- Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown / Supreme Evolution! The Golden Digimentals (Part three of Digimon: The Movie)
- Digimon Adventure 02: Diablomon Strikes Back (Revenge of Diaboromon)
- Digimon Tamers: The Adventurers' Battle (Battle of Adventurers)
- Digimon Tamers: Runaway Digimon Express (Runaway Locomon)
- Digimon Frontier: Revival of the Ancient Digimon (Island of Lost Digimon)
- Digital Monster X-Evolution
- Digimon Savers - The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!!
Versions outside Japan
In the United States, the series premiered in August 1999 on
the Fox Television Network. It was dubbed by Saban Entertainment (later
Sensation Animation), and was initially broadcasted through Fox Network's Fox
Kids and Fox Family. The first four series were collectively retitled Digimon:
Digital Monsters. Some scenes from the original version were omitted from the
Saban dub, or were modified, in order to comply with Fox's Standards and
practices which considered several scenes to be inappropriate for the target
age group. Often dialogue was changed, and the show became less
"Serious" in tone compared to the Japanese version, instead featuring
more jokes and added dialogue, along with a completely different musical score
(usually orchestral music) and completely different sound effects, due to
licensing issues. Another noticeable change in the dub is using different voice
actors for different forms of a certain Digimon, whereas in Japan, the voice
actor merely changes the tone of his/her voice, sometimes being altered for
effect.
After Disney acquired Saban during the third series, the
first three series moved to the cable network ABC Family, while the fourth
(Frontier) premiered on UPN. This was due to a deal between Disney and UPN
which concluded with Digimon Frontier. Frontier was syndicated on ABC Family
shortly after that. Digimon continues to run in syndication on the new channel
after Toon Disney, Disney XD. Digimon Data Squad had started to air on Disney
XD. Digimon is no longer on Disney XD's website nor Bandai's, leaving an
unknown future of Digimon in America. Toei Animation has however released an
official subtitled version of Xros Wars: The Young Hunters Who Lept Through
Time.
In Canada, the Saban version was broadcast on YTV. In the
U.S. insular area of Puerto Rico, the show was redubbed in Spanish, and in
Quebec (where Digimon Adventure aired on TQS, and Digimon 02 on TÉLÉTOON), the
show was redubbed in French. A French version of Digimon Tamers was aired in
France, but not in North America.
After the overwhelming popularity of Pokémon in India and
Pakistan, Cartoon Network started to air Digimon in 2004. Later, all 3 series
aired (except Xros Wars) The 3rd Series was ended in 2009 .
In the United Kingdom, Digimon aired on Fox Kids
cable/satellite channel and on ITV. However, Digimon Frontier (the fourth
series) has not been shown in the UK but the picture in the promo, and the
show, including series 1, 2 and 3, has not been seen on UK television since
late 2005, when Jetix took it off the air. However Digimon Data Squad has
recently begun airing in the UK on Kix. It also aired in countries such as
Ireland, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and
others.
The Latin American, Brazilian, Spanish, German and Italian
versions of Digimon are completely uncensored and uncut from the original
Japanese edition. In Latin America, the first four series were aired on Fox
Kids and later on Jetix, which also aired the fifth series, Digimon Data Squad.
This show also aired in the Philippines in the middle of
2000 on ABS-CBN. It would air Friday nights at 7:30PM. ABS-CBN hired Filipino
voice actors to dub the show in English. This dubbing is mostly true to the
original. Though they used the original Japanese show as the medium for the
dub, some of the voices seem to sound like the U.S. version (e.g., Taichi
having an adolescent's voice instead of a kid's) or completely original to the
dubbing crew (e.g., Gabumon's deep, grumbly voice). The entire first series of
Digimon Adventure was dubbed in English (in order to compete with the 4Kids
version of Pokémon which aired on the rival network GMA 7 on the same day and
time), along with Digimon Adventure 02. The second series aired on a new
Saturday morning block at 10 A.M. two weeks after the first series finale. This
series was dubbed in both English and Tagalog, so that it would be compatible
with the other shows in the block. Cartoon Network Philippines began airing
Digimon Tamers around 2003, then Digimon Frontier late in 2004. This time, the
show, along with some of the other anime that aired with it, was dubbed by
Singaporean voice actors. Tamers and Frontier were dubbed in Filipino when both
series aired on ABS-CBN on its weekday morning line-up of animated shows
(Tamers first followed by Frontier after a few months). Digimon Savers began
airing in the country on September 8, 2008 and has currently ended. However, in
January 2008, Hero started to broadcast the Digimon series with Digimon
Adventure. The series which is currently shown on Hero is Digimon Savers
(January 2011)
Manga
Digimon first appeared in narrative form in the one-shot
manga “C'mon Digimon”, released in the summer of 1997. C'mon Digimon spawned
the popular Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 manga, written by Hiroshi Izawa, which
began serialization on November 21, 1998.
Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01
Digimon Chronicle
Digimon Next
Digimon Xros Wars
Yuen Wong Yu manhua
A Chinese manhua was written and drawn by Yuen Wong Yu (余 遠鍠 Yu Yuen-wong), who based its
storyline on the television series. This adaptation covers Digimon Adventure in
five volumes, Digimon Adventure 02 in two, Digimon Tamers in four, and Digimon
Frontier in three. The original stories are heavily abridged, though on rare
occasions events play out differently than the anime.
The Cantonese language version was published by Rightman
Publishing Ltd. in Hong Kong.
Two English versions were also released. The first one was
published by Chuang Yi in Singapore. The second one, which was written by
Lianne Sentar, was released by TOKYOPOP in North America.
The three volumes for Digimon Frontier have been released by
Chuang Yi in English. These have not been released by TOKYOPOP in North America
or Europe. However, the Chuang Yi releases of Digimon Frontier were distributed
by Madman Entertainment in Australia.
D-Cyber
Dark Horse
Panini
The European publishing company, Panini, approached Digimon
in different ways in different countries. While Germany created their own
adaptations of episodes, the United Kingdom (UK) reprinted the Dark Horse
titles, then translated some of the German adaptations of Adventure 02
episodes. Eventually the UK comics were given their own original stories, which
appeared in both the UK's official Digimon Magazine and the official UK Fox
Kids companion magazine, Wickid. These original stories only roughly followed
the continuity of Adventure 02. When the comic switched to the Tamers series
the storylines adhered to continuity more strictly; sometimes it would expand
on subject matter not covered by the original Japanese anime (such as Mitsuo
Yamaki's past) or the English adaptations of the television shows and movies
(such as Ryo's story or the movies that remained undubbed until 2005). In a
money saving venture, the original stories were later removed from Digimon
Magazine, which returned to printing translated German adaptations of Tamers
episodes. Eventually, both magazines were cancelled.
Video games
This battle in Digimon World 3 shows the player's WarGreymon
battling the enemy Machinedramon. Battling is an integral concept of the
Digimon video game series and media franchise.
|
The Digimon series has a large number of video games which
usually have their own independent storylines with a few sometimes tying into
the stories of the anime series or manga series. The games consists of a number
of genres including life simulation, adventure, video card game, strategy and
racing games, though they are mainly action role-playing games. The games
released in North America are: Digimon World, Digimon World 2, Digimon World 3,
Digimon World 4, Digimon Digital Card Battle, Digimon Rumble Arena, Digimon Rumble
Arena 2, Digimon Battle Spirit, Digimon Battle Spirit 2, Digimon Racing,
Digimon World DS, Digimon World Data Squad, Digimon World Dawn and Dusk,
Digimon World Championship, and Digimon Masters.
In late 2009, Bandai created a webpage in Japanese showing a
new game to be released in 2010 called Digimon Story: Lost Evolution, which
uses the same engine as their predecessors Digimon World DS and Digimon World
Dawn and Dusk and was released on July 1, 2010. In February 2010, a website for
the online multiplayer game, Digimon Battle, was launched, showing it to be
based primarily in the world of the Tamers saga and its characters.
In 2011, Bandai posted a countdown on a teaser site. Once
the countdown was finished, it revealed a reboot of the Digimon World series
titled Digimon World Re: Digitize.[citation needed]
On September 22, 2011, online game publisher Joymax
announced the release of an MMORPG game called Digimon Masters, which was
developed by the Korean publisher DIGITALIC. The game is currently under OBT
(Open Beta Test) with the final release scheduled for October.
Card game
The Digimon Collectible Card Game is a collectible card game based on Digimon, first introduced in Japan in 1997 and published by Bandai. The card game is also put into games. Digital Card Battle is one of them and it's also featured in Digimon World 3.Notable contributors
- Akiyoshi Hongo: Creator of the original Digimon concept.
- Hiroyuki Kakudō: Director of Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02.
- Yukio Kaizawa: Director of Digimon Tamers and Digimon Frontier.
- Naozumi Itō: Director of Digimon Savers.
- Tetsuya Endo: Director of Digimon Xros Wars.
- Jeff Nimoy: U.S. Director of Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, and Digimon Data Squad (Savers).
- Mary Elizabeth McGlynn: U.S. Director/Writer/Editor of Digimon Tamers and Digimon Frontier.
- Chiaki J. Konaka: Head writer of Digimon Tamers.
- Riku Sanjo: Head writer of Digimon Xros Wars.
- Hiroshi Izawa: Author of the Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 manga.
- Tenya Yabuno: Illustrator of the Digimon Adventure V-Tamer 01 manga.
- Yuen Wong Wu: Writer and illustrator for the Digimon manhua series.
- Takanori Arisawa: Composer of the Japanese versions of Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Tamers and Digimon Frontier.
- Keiichi Oku: Composer of Digimon Savers.
- Kousuke Yamashita: Composer for the Japanese version of Digimon Xros Wars.
- Shuki Levy: Composer for the English language releases of Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02 and Digimon Tamers.
- Deddy Tzur: Composer for the English language release of Digimon Frontier.
- Thorsten Laewe: Composer for the English language release of Digimon Savers.
- Paul Gordon: Co-Composer for the English language theme song.
- Kouji Wada: Performer of the opening themes of Digimon Adventure, Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Tamers, Digimon Frontier, the second opening theme of Digimon Savers, and the evolution song of Digimon Xros Wars
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