Summary

• Digimon
  has been releasing anime and movies since 1999 with a variety of standalone and interconnected storylines.
• Each new installment introduces powerful Digital Monsters and unique storytelling approaches, catering to different age groups.
• Despite various formats and narratives, Digimon’s success as a multimedia franchise is evident through its evolving characters and themes.

Digimon, much like its most notable contemporary, Pokémon, started as a gaming franchise before spinning off into other forms of media, most notably an animated adaptation. While both series have children as their target audience, Digimon is known to have more instances of trying to appeal to an older audience through its themes and imagery, and it’s also notable for having a new cast and story with every new installment.

Digimon has been releasing anime and movies since 1999, and as such, there are a lot of different stories to watch. While most of the anime are standalone stories, some of them do exist within the same continuity, so some anime do end up with more development than others.

Every installment varies in length and quality, but regardless, Digimon having so many anime and movies to keep track of is a major testament to its success as a multimedia franchise.

Digimon Adventure is the Series’ First Anime, & Still One of its Best

Directed by Hiroyuki Kakudo

The first Digimon anime to be released is 1999’s Digimon Adventure. DigimonAdventure follows seven children known as the “DigiDestined”, or “Chosen Children”, in Japan, who were called to the Digital World to protect it from evil with help from their Digimon partners.

As the first Digimon anime, Digimon Adventure is the most iconic of all the Digimon anime both in and out of Japan, and not only has it been expanded on the most, but its basic plot has also been the basis for many Digimon anime to follow.

Watch On Hulu

Digimon Adventure 02 is a Trend-Setting Sequel

Directed by Hiroyuki Kakudo

Following Digimon Adventure was Digimon Adventure 02 which, as the name implied, was an immediate sequel to Digimon Adventure. Released in 2000, 02 took place three years after Adventure and followed a new cast of children, in addition to two of the younger characters from Adventure, being tasked with protecting both Earth and the Digital World from the Digimon Kaiser and other threats.

Digimon Adventure 02 made changes to the original formula that other Digimon anime would also utilize such as splitting time between the two worlds and giving characters other than the main characters Digimon partners.

Watch On Hulu

Digimon Tamers is Still the Series’ Darkest Entry, & It’s Not Close

Written by Chiaki J. Konaka

Digimon Tamers was released in 2001 and was the first anime to exist outside the Adventure continuity. In a major contrast to its predecessors, Tamers took place in a world similar to the real world where Digimon exists as a multimedia franchise, with much of the conflict centered around the kids dealing with Digimon being real.

As strange as it may seem,
Tamers’
head writer, Chiaki J Konaka, was also responsible for writing the dark anime
Serial Experiments Lain
.

Digimon Tamers is noted for being much darker than other Digimon anime series through its use of Lovecraftian horror themes and how it deconstructs the series in various ways, such as the government getting involved in the story and death being permanent for Digimon.

Watch On Hulu

Digimon Frontier is a Return to Basics With a Slight Twist

Directed by Yukio Kaizawa

After Digimon Tamers deconstructed the series, 2002’s Digimon Frontier went back to basics by being another show about children being brought to the Digital World to protect it from evil. In a major departure from the norm, however, the children didn’t have Digimon partners, instead drawing on the power of ancient Digimon to transform into Digimon, themselves.

Digimon Frontier‘s premise draws similarities to the Power Rangers franchise and the Super Sentai genre, in general, and that, among other reasons, has made it a rather divisive entry into the franchise.

Watch On Hulu

Digimon Data Squad Was an Attempt At Aging the Franchise Up

Directed by Naoyuki Ito

Following Digimon Frontier, there wouldn’t be another Digimon anime until 2006’s Digimon Data Squad. Similar to Digimon Tamers, Data Squad features a government organization tasked with keeping Digimon at bay, but rather than be at odds with them, the main characters in Data Squad are part of said organization.

With Digimon being about ten years old at that point, Digimon Data Squad was meant to appeal to an older audience by making the main characters teenagers and adults and having more instances of physical violence and character-driven drama; it was the franchise’s biggest attempt at creating a typical shōnen anime.

Digimon Fusion is the Longest Digimon Anime to Date

Written by Riku Sanjo

The series would go on another hiatus following Digimon Data Squad until 2010’s Digimon Fusion. Fusion returned to the basic premise of children being brought to the Digital World to protect it from evil, but with the addition of the DigiFuse gimmick used to combine Digimon into different forms.

After the first two seasons of Digimon Fusion, the anime was rebranded as Digimon Fusion: The Young Hunters Who Leapt Through Time and changed its format to a monster-of-the-week series, and with 79 episodes, Digimon Fusion stands out as the longest Digimon anime, to date.

Watch On Crunchyroll

Digimon Adventure tri. Ages Up the Original Cast

Directed by Keitaro Motonaga

In celebration of Digimon Adventure’s fifteenth anniversary, a six-part movie sequel ran from 2015 to 2018 called Digimon Adventure tri. The series took place three years after the defeat of MaloMyotismon in Digimon Adventure 02 and followed the original cast of Adventure as teenagers going through the pains of adolescence coupled with another adventure with their Digimon.

Digimon Adventure tri. was notably the first Digimon project simulcast in territories outside of Japan, although most places split each movie into multiple parts.

Watch On Crunchyroll

Digimon Universe: App Monsters Moves the Series Away From Digimon

Directed by Go Koga

While Digimon Adventure tri. didn’t finish until 2018, a new anime premiered in 2016 called Digimon Universe: App Monsters. App Monsters was a major departure from the series for focusing not on Digimon, but Appmon, digital lifeforms from the Net Ocean derived from phone apps. This is because Digimon Universe: App Monsters technically wasn’t based on Digimon, but on the App Monsters spinoff franchise, which has long since been defunct, but even with that, the writing and character dynamics do a great job of capturing the basic aesthetic of the Digimon franchise.

Watch On Crunchyroll

Digimon Adventure Reboots the Original Series

Directed by Masato Mitsuka

The next Digimon anime was 2020’s Digimon Adventure:, a full reboot of the original Digimon Adventure anime. Adventure: followed the basic premise of the original series, with the major differences being that Adventure: took place in 2020 instead of 1999 and that there was a larger focus on some of the lore elements of the franchise.

Digimon Adventure: ended in a way that could set up a potential sequel, but as of now, it’s unknown if that will ever be followed up on.

Watch On Crunchyroll

Digimon Ghost Game is the Newest Series (and a Strong Entry)

Directed by Kimitoshi Chioka & Masato Mitsuka

The newest Digimon anime is 2021’s Digimon Ghost Game. Ghost Game is another series where the main characters have to deal with Digimon causing trouble in their world, but the hook in Ghost Game is that the Digimon are causing incidents labeled as supernatural phenomena.

Digimon Ghost Game leaned far more into the monster-of-the-week format than its predecessors and left much of its overarching plot unexplained until the end of the series, and this has caused it to be a rather contentious entry among fans.

Watch On Crunchyroll

Digimon Adventure (Film) Was the Movie That Started it All

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda

In addition to anime, Digimon also features a wide variety of movies, the first of which is 1999’s Digimon Adventure. The film was the directorial debut of legendary director Mamoru Hosoda, and as the name would imply, the Digimon Adventure film was a pilot to the anime, with its story being crucial to the overarching lore of the Adventure franchise.

The film also makes up a third of the infamously poorly edited Digimon: The Movie, but fortunately, Discotek will soon be releasing it as a separate film with the original cast returning for a more accurate dub.

Unfortunately, Mimi’s original English voice actress, Philece Sampler, will not reprise her role due to her passing in 2021. Instead, Mimi will be played by Elsie Lovelock in the English releases of the
Digimon Adventure
film and in
Our War Game
.

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda

Between the end of Digimon Adventure and the start of Digimon Adventure 02 came the franchise’s second film, Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! The film served as an epilogue to the original anime and saw the DigiDestined reuniting with their Digimon to fight Diaboromon, a metaphor for the Y2K virus trying to destroy the world.

Acclaimed director Mamoru Hasoda would go on to direct a spiritual successor to
Our War Game!
with the film
Summer Wars
.

Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! is famous for its introduction of Omnimon into the franchise, and just like with its predecessor, Discotek will be rereleasing it on Blu-ray with the original cast returning for a more faithful dub.

Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! is the 02 Cast’s Cinematic Debut

Directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi

The last film to make up Digimon: The Movie‘s story was Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! In Hurricane Touchdown!!, the cast of 02 team up with a DigiDestined named Willis to investigate the disappearance of the original DigiDestined, and it soon becomes apparent that Willis knows more than he lets on.

Digimon Adventure 02: Digimon Hurricane Touchdown!! was the most heavily edited of all the films to make up Digimon: The Movie, its plot being completely rewritten to justify its inclusion, and just like the other films, the original cast will reprise their roles for a more faithful dub.

Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge Of Diaboromon Saw the Return of a Powerful Threat

Directed by Takahiro Imamura

Shortly before the end of Digimon Adventure 02, the series received a second film in Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon. As the name would imply, Digimon Adventure 02: Revenge of Diaboromon saw Diaboromon come back to life to cause more havoc in the world, and the film even saw him take on a new form in Armageddemon that surpassed Omnimon in power.

While many Digimon projects are notably lacking physical releases in the West, Revenge of Diaboromon stands out for never once having any sort of physical release in the West, to speak of.

Digimon Tamers: Battle Of Adventurers is a Fun Side Story for a Dark Series

Directed by Yasuko Kobayashi

2001 saw the release of Digimon Tamers‘s first film, Digimon Tamers: Battle of Adventurers. While Takato and Guilmon are on vacation in Okinawa, a sudden uptick in Digimon attacks forces them and their fellow Tamers to take action and uncover the reason behind it all, most notably how the new V-Pets are connected to everything.

Like with other Digimon films, Digimon Tamers: Battle of Adventurers has never been released on any home media in the West, and at the time of writing, there’s no word on that changing, anytime soon.

Digimon Tamers: Runaway Locomon is Tamers’ Epilogue

Directed by Testuji Nakamura

The end of Digimon Tamers was followed by its second film, Digimon Tamers: Runaway Locomon. While planning a surprise party for Rika, a Locomon suddenly appears causing a rampage under the influence of the parasitic Parasimon, and everyone has to put their plans on hold to stop it.

While the film serves as an epilogue to the anime, the fact that Digimon are still on Earth creates a notable continuity error with Digimon Tamers‘ ending, so its canonicity is a subject of debate, even more so than other Digimon films.

Digimon Frontier: Island Of Lost Digimon is Frotnier’s Only Film

Directed by Takahiro Imamura

Unlike the previous anime, Digimon Frontier only had one film: Digimon Frontier: Island of Lost Digimon. While traveling through the Digital World, Takuya and his friends wind up on an island in the midst of a civil war between human and beast Digimon, and as they work to put a stop to it, they discover that there’s more to the war than they originally thought.

Digimon Frontier: Island of Lost Digimon was the last Digimon film to premiere at the Toei Anime Fair, as the event was shut down in 2002 before its eventual revival as the Toei Cartoon Festival.

Digital Monster X-Evolution Made the Leap to 3D

Directed by Hiroyuki Kakudo

The first, and currently only, Digimon film to not be based on an anime is 2005’s Digital Monster X-Evolution. When Yggdrasil, the God of the Digital World, attempts to purge all Digimon with the X-Antibody, a war breaks out between X-Digimon and regular Digimon, with the seemingly uninvolved Dorumon ending up in the middle of it all.

Digital Monster X-Evolution is notably the only Digimon film to be entirely in CG, and it was also the first time Digimon Adventure director Hiroyuki Kakudo worked on the franchise since Digimon Adventure 02.

Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! Featured Gorgeous Animation

Directed by Tatsuya Nagamine

Like Digimon Frontier, Digimon Data Squad only had one film: Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! When mysterious thorns ensnare the city and their partners, Agumon, Gaomon, and Lalamon team up with a mysterious girl named Rhythm to free their partners and stop the villainous Argomon.

The film is another one of the few Digimon films to never be dubbed into English, and most notably, Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! was the directorial debut of Tatsuya Nagamine of Dragon Ball Super: Broly fame.

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna Was Meant to End the Original Era

Directed by Tomohisa Taguchi

Two years after the last film in Digimon Adventure tri., the Adventure series was continued once again with Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna. A mysterious Digimon is putting DigiDestined around the world in comas, and as Tai and Matt work to investigate the threat to the DigiDestined, they’re forced to confront the idea that their Digimon might leave them for good.

Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna was created in celebration of Digimon Adventure‘s 20th anniversary, and despite its ending, the film isn’t meant to retcon the original ending to Digimon Adventure 02 where everyone in the world has Digimon.

Watch On Apple TV

Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning is the Latest Digimon Film

Directed by Tomohisa Taguchi

In 2023, Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna was followed by Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning. The cast of Digimon Adventure 02 investigates a giant Digi-Egg broadcasting a message wishing for everyone to have Digimon, and in doing so, the Digimon Adventure 02 cast begins to unravel the mystery of why DigiDestined exist, in the first place.

The film is currently the last Digimon project to be released, and considering how the Digimon Adventure series is meant to progress, there are bound to be more Digimon Adventure stories released in the near future.