… And 99% of the people reading this post just when, “Huh?”
Today is August 1st. Normally this would just be another day, the start of another month, but for fans of Digimon, it’s a little bit special. August 1st is the confirmed day that the original seven DigiDestined from the first season of the anime when to the Digital World for their first adventure. And for so many people, that’s a part of their childhood that they don’t want to forget.
So, let’s take a look at a bit of Digimon history, and where we stand now.
Digimon Adventure, the first season of the anime, started airing in the United States on August 14, 1999. To no real surprise, it was immediately labeled as a Pokemon clone here in the States, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Digimon came into conception following the release of the Tamagotchi in 1996, which was a little digital pet toy that came out in the mid nineties. Inspired by these virtual pets, a one-shot manga titled “C’mon Digimon” was published in V Jump magazine. The success of both the Digimon-themed Tamagotchi and the manga led to the creation of the anime, as well as a manga series called Digimon Advenutre V-Tamer 01 (which is considered to be an alternate universe from the universe the anime franchise is in).
There were a few glaring differences between Pokemon and Digimon that became pretty obvious within watching just a few episodes of each show. For example, the characters in the Pokemon franchise collect Pokemon, and do battle as part of a league. In Digimon, the DigiDestined are partnered with one Digimon (for the most part. Willis in the second 02 film has twin Digimon partners, Terriermon and Kokomon.)
The other, bigger difference is in the story. While there is an overarching story, for the most part Pokemon is pretty episodic. You can go several episodes with nothing happening in the main story (Ash’s journey to the Pokemon League). On the flip side, Digimon is heavily story-based. Most episodes tie directly into the current main storyline, with few filler episodes. Even episodes that don’t seem like they are advancing the plot actually are, as they are giving character development to at least one character of the ensemble cast.
In contrast to the immediate and immense popularity that Pokemon seemed to achieve almost immediately after the release of both the games and original anime, Digimon took a bit more time to take off. It aired during the Fox Kids block, and was pretty popular, but nowhere near what Pokemon was doing. But it aired every episode, and returned for it’s second season when that debuted.
I came into Digimon at the perfect time. I was already somewhat bored with the Pokemon anime, as I felt like the story was going to take absolute years before anything would happen. I happened to watch episode 21 of Season One, “Home Away from Home”, which is actually the episode that inspired Odaiba Day. I turned it on by accident. The episode is set right after a major conflict, and turned out to be the best starting point for me. It focused mostly on Tai, who is basically the leader of the DigiDestined (the “Gogglehead”, if you will. I’ll reference that later.).
Something about the episode, how it was set up and how it continued, caught my interest. And so, I started watching it every week. I caught up on the show thanks to the weekday afterschool reruns and was immediately hooked.
So where does Odaiba Day come from? Well, during episode 21, Tai sees the date on the calendar (they have one of those daily calendars), and sees that it is August 1st, 1999. He almost immediately freaks out, as that was the day that he and his friends ended up in the Digital World, and he thought it had been months, not hours. When he returns to the Real World again eight episodes later, all of the DigiDestined discover that that it has only been minutes, not months. The Digital World moves at a different rate of time.
The episode aired in Japan using the title “Koromon, the Great Clash in Tokyo!” on August 1, 1999. This largely went unnoticed for many years, mostly because social media was just starting to grow.
In the second anime, Digimon Adventure 02, there is an episode called “Ghost of a Chance” in the dub. It’s original name is “Odaiba Memorial.” During the episode, the original DigiDestined mark four years since they first went to the Digital World. They reflect on the battles that they faced during their time, especially those they fought in the Real World.
But what really sealed Odaiba Day as a celebration to Digimon was actually Fuji TV, the Network that has aired most of Digimon series. In 2009, the tenth anniversary of Digimon Adventure, they held a live concert on August 1st in Odaiba, featuring Koji Wada and AiM (Ai Maeda), two of the iconic performers who brought to life the music of the first four seasons. And in 2014, the 15th anniversary, Fuji TV held the “Digimon Adventure 15th Anniversary Event,” which went on to announce Digimon tri, a six movie series that is a sequel to Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02.
Online, fans have taken Odaiba Day and ran with it. There are writing events and art galleries. If an anime convention happens to meet over August 1st, there is at least a small chance of a gathering of fans. It’s nowhere as big as other fan events, but it’s something that the Digimon community still seems to hold close.
I honestly don’t normally celebrate on Odaiba Day, because I usually forget about it. Sad but true. This year however, someone over on one of the discord servers I frequent made a comment about crossing Digimon with 9-1-1, and the idea stuck and went wild and now I have one fic posted and probably another one sometime tomorrow.
The thing is, Digimon isn’t a dead franchise. It’s not as popular as it once was, and it definitely doesn’t get recognition by the anime community, but it’s still there. A remake of the first season is airing in Japan, simulcast to most of the world. There was a film that ended the original series that was released last year. An new anime was announced just hours ago, to be released this fall. And there’s a game that is set to be released either the end of this year or sometime next year (delayed mostly due to a new engine and then the pandemic).
As for me, I still consider myself to be a Digimon fan, even though I dropped off during the break between seasons 4 and 5. (Digimon Frontier was a lot of fun, though it wasn’t nearly as popular as Tamers, which is my favorite season. Savers/Data Squad didn’t impress me, especially with the different animation style and the overreliance of Agumon.) I was hoping that the reboot of season one that released last year would catch me, but it really didn’t. Hopefully the new show will do it.
Or they could just give Tamers a damn sequel. Please.
Until next time!
(This was actually written yesterday, but due to internet issues it didn’t get posted until today, August 2nd. Sorry for the confusion!)