HomeAnimeDigimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 – Review

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Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 1Title: Digimon: Digital Monsters
Published by: Madman Entertainment (Australia / New Zealand)
Based on: Original Anime Series
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy and Drama
Audio: English Dubs
Subtitles: None
Aspect Ratio: Full-Frame Original Ratio
Runtime: 675 minutes
Cost: $49.95
Classification: This title has been classified PG for Low Level Violence.
Blurb: If you were a child growing up in the early-00’s, you will without a doubt fondly remember the Digimon series, that was a staple morning “cartoon” alongside Pokemon and a number of other classic anime series. While the series does show its age slightly in the design department, the music is still enjoyable with the same “Di-Di-Di-Digimon (and so-forth) theme song” and a storyline that whilst feeling shorter then what I remember it, still had the winning non-sappy storyline!
Special Thanks: Madman Entertainment PR Team for providing me with a review sample of this title.

This alongside many older series have been heavily requested for many years now, with one of the those being the original Digimon seasons. Whilst I don’t believe any companies prior have done a DVD release of this series -Madman Entertainment have stepped forward and decided to take action by releasing the first season of Digimon in two DVD collections, with the second collection due out next month. This was a staple for morning television back when I was in primary school, in which you were almost guaranteed to have at least half your class watching it, and another couple of people being closet watchers (A bit extreme perhaps, but Cheez TV was serious business back then). If you want to rewatch the series or were not able to see it upon its original release, read on to find out how this series holds up in 2011. 

Seven kids at summer camp are mysteriously transported to another reality, where they are befriended by a group of strange creatures who call themselves Digital Monsters or Digimon for short. The seven children are now dubbed as the DigiDestined, tasked with protecting the Digital World from evil Digimon like Devilmon. Can they save the Digital World and find a way back home?

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 2

Saban Entertainment was perhaps a little bit different from most companies that released anime targeted at the younger audience ten years ago. Where in series such as Pokemon there were edits to attempt to remove the culture gap between Japan and more western countries through the editing of dialogue, imagery and even removal of scenes entirely, Digimon only had very minor edits such as the inclusion of their own theme in Digivolutions and a few references, but not anywhere near the extent of other series (At least in my opinion).

The series itself follows seven children – each with unique and conflicting personalities who get dragged into a mysterious world known as the DigiWorld after strange events start occurring around the world including snow falling during summer camp…. in the middle of summer. Upon awakening, they each meet their respective Digimon partner and travel the world Digivolving into stronger versions of themselves and defeating evil Digimon who threaten the livelihood of everyone else, man or mon.

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 3Before going further, I should mention the characters in this collection. The “leader” character of the group is Tai, who is your generic headstrong character and is act first think later which causes the group to get into all sorts of troubles. Matt is the “cool” guy of the group who got dragged along to this world alongside his younger brother T.K and is overly protective of him, whilst TK is more the innocent “I don’t wanna fight” type. The other two male characters consist of computer-wizard and at-times antisocial Izzy and worry-wart Joe.

There are two female characters to keep the balance, those two being the ditzy Mimi who is more concerned about looks and beauty then the monster about to eat her and Sora, who is more suited to be a leader but remains more of a support to the group. As you can tell, these characters are diversified which are commonly used as means for both storyline progression and developing the characters as they learn to adapt in the unforgiving environment they are in. Each of the Digimon are supposed to be respective of their partners personality, however you will find them conflicting on a regular basis which keep them involved in the storyline as more then monsters to be used to duel.

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 4The storyline is split up into a number of different “arcs”, each of them usually having a corresponding evil Digimon for the characters to deal with. The first set of episodes focus on Devilmon in which the characters who are learning to adapt to this new environment find themselves under attack by Digimon transformed under the power of the Black Gears and must learn to work with one another and their Digimon in order to survive his constant attacks. This arc primarily covers the first two discs of the series and covers Episodes 1-13. The second arc covers the characters trying to find “Crests” which will allow their Digimon to transcend to the next level whilst followed by Etemon (A Digimon crossed with Elvis from English Dub). As this goes until Episode 22, you are further treated to five episodes from the third and longest arc in the series, where the team is split up, and during the process of finding each other, learn about the plans of Myotismon.

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 5The storyline for the first half of the series is enjoyable, especially considering it is targeted at a younger audience – and it is obvious why it proved so successful back even when the Pokemon craze was at its peak. The storyline does hold a few cliche plot-twists that they use frequently – such as the group getting separated in order to focus on one or two characters specifically for an episode or the only way to defeat enemies is for the Digimon to digivolve into their Champion or Ultimate form. Looking past this, I don’t think many people would be disappointed by the Digimon of the Day setting or the tiny plot holes.

If you have children say…. 8 years or older, I would highly recommend showing it to them as there are messages of loyalty and friendship (That are not so evident that it is like having the words LOVE and COURAGE in big subtitles at the bottom of the screen) and everything is age friendly within it. If you are an old fan of the series, it might show its age a bit but the thing I have learnt with series such as Digimon is that old series can be a better watch then more modern childrens series.

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 6In terms of design, the series does show its age and does not have the refinement that most series nowadays have, but it is still pleasant to view. The character designs are what you would expect – the characters generally wear the same clothes every episode and appear exactly the same, but they are appropriately coloured and there are generally no shifts in quality throughout the episodes. The Digimon designs generally stay true to what their names state (Eg. Frigimon is a giant snowman whilst Devilmon is a devil), however they are all well designed and given the number of them, they are of a quality that I find acceptable. The Environment of the Digiworld has that charm which makes it pleasant to view even if some of them seem to have a more…. purposeful graininess to them all (Cannot think of the word).

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 7Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 8Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 9

The opening sequence of the series is most probably one of the more memorable moments to anyone who has watched the show. They do spam this song a lot, not only in every one of the 52 episodes but throughout the Digivolutions and other segments in the show – which makes it very repetitive but at the same time highly catchy. For the ending sequence, there is also a shortened instrumental version of the song with sequences from the show to the left and credits on the right – a common practice in childrens anime around that time.

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 10The music in this series is perhaps the biggest downfall of this series. Most of the original Japanese music did not make it into this version, so there is only a limited number of tracks within this season, including the two instrumental tracks (The opening sequence and a Hey Digimon! song). Despite that, the voice acting is surprisingly good, and I think it could possibly be better then the original Japanese dub by far. They do go overboard at times – for example Etemon (Pictured to the left) spends every moment of screentime speaking in an Elvis Presley tone of voice, however all the main characters and most of the Digimon have sufficiently good voice acting talent – that improves as the series continues. Considering this is a more younger demographic anime, they have included quite a few well known voice actors such as Mona Marshall (Izzy) and Wendee Lee (TK) among others.

Digimon: Digital Monsters Collection 1 - Review 11In terms of packaging design, there are a total of four DVD’s each with a different colour scheme and each feature different Digimon on them. They are housed in a DVD case similar to that of  “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” or “Fate/Stay Night” where they are normal size but can house more then one or two DVD’s. The cover art is rather simplistic with the focus on Tai and Agumon, but it does the job. Unfortunately for those of you who like extras, you may be a tad disappointed. There is no extra content on the disc and only contains trailers for Digimon: Data Squad, K-ON!, Kimba: The White Lion and Astroboy (A mix of modern and retro).

Personally, if you were a fan of the series when it was shown on Cheez TV, then I would highly recommend purchasing this series as it is most probably the only other chance you will have at watching this series. As well, Madman Entertainment has stated their decision on the acquisition of future series may partly be based on the number of sales for this version (After all, if no one buys it, why bother with the others – even if they might be better), so if you want to see future seasons, it might be another incentive to purchase. I found it extremely fun to rewatch a series I got up at 7am in the morning to watch as a kid – especially at my own leisure with no ad breaks.

Final Score
Storyline/Character Development: A-
Design: B
OP/ED Sequences: B
Music/Voice Acting: B
Packaging/Extras: C
Personal Opinion: A-
Overall Score: B+

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

2 COMMENTS

  1. God i miss the late 90s/early 00s early of anime. i wish this along with Sailor Moon would be available on Netlfix Instant stream someday. they seem to have been trying harder to get quality anime on there, especially with titles like Trigun and FLCL.

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