Megacabuterimon!

I am nearly certain I spelled that wrong, but who's keeping track? That's one qualm I have with this show: the Digimon's names are so ridiculously long! Of course, that is only when these Digimon are ridiculously huge. Instead of evolving gradually like the Pokemon, they evolve and de-volve instantaneously. And when they have reached their highest level of evolution, these tiny little critters become half as big as the Earth. Not much exaggeration there. And they talk. While Pokemon could say no more than their own names (except for Meowth and Mewtwo), these Digimon talk just like people.

They don't have Pokeballs; I've rarely seen them not walking around, but it seems that they are stored in a tama gachi sort of device when they don't feel like being outside. Or maybe that just contains their vital statistics. The story centers around seven digimon and their digi-destined (does that sound cheesy to anyone else?), a group of kids from the "real world". Together they have to do...something, I haven't quite been able to figure that out yet. But they've been looking for an eighth member to join their group.

At many points in the show, Japanese writing comes zooming out of the screen, usually with the names of the monsters fighting one another. There are no "battles" here; the fights are for real, and they appear to be battling for the protection of all mankind. As with Pokemon, there is an emphasis on the importance of friendship, but the story is so complicated that I can hardly make any sense of it and still don't know the characters by name. I think this is one of those shows you have to watch from the beginning to understand, and I suspect that even if I had seen the first episode I would still be rather lost. Yes, Pokemon won me over, but I'm afraid that Digimon didn't make the cut.

*** All right, it is now June 21st, over two months after I first wrote this review. And now I feel compelled to add on to it, having been subjected to two more months of this show. I won't hesitate to say that I still don't quite get it, but I'll admit that it has grown on me a bit. The interaction amongst the main characters is often entertaining, sometimes even borderline heart-warming. The lovable nerd Joe remains my favorite. Kari, with her heart of gold, is a close second. Dead last, with the distinction of "How the heck did she wind up a digi-destined?", is Mimi, the whiny princess-type with a high voice.

The show focuses largely on the friendships between each of these characters, with the digimon usually being the voice of reason. Adorable in their first couple of digivolutions, they are enormous and frightening as ultimates and megas. I still hate the fight scenes, even though these battles are the whole reason that these kids are in the digital world. Most enjoyable are the episodes in which the kids are whisked back to Earth with their digimon and they have to tread carefully to make sure that no one discovers them.

I still seem to be missing the most important episodes, because I remain a bit muddled. But I guess I'll survive. I wish Puppetmon didn't have to be a Dark Master; I kinda feel sorry for him. But maybe that's my little brother talking. Anyway, I still think Digimon is incredibly complicated and very strange in more ways than one, but I guess it at least deserves more than a two.