Parents' Guide to

Digimon: Digital Monsters

By Emily Ashby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Loud battles + toy tie-ins = OK, but not great.

TV Toon Disney Kids' Animation 1999
Digimon: Digital Monsters Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 12 parent reviews

JustinC-
JustinC- Adult
May 5, 2021
age 7+
This show especially the first and third season will teach your children some very important things about life and has many lessons they can learn from. In the first season, there are crests that represent different personality traits: friendship, courage, love, sincerity, knowledge, hope, light and kindness. The tamers would have to show how they resemble their own trait which allows for their partner to evolve. Many topics such as divorce, relationships between siblings and other real world issues get explored in the entirety of Digimon. Though Digimon Tamers is more dark, I think it is suitable for young kids but if you are wary of that maybe wait until they are 10+

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Zsolti-kun
Zsolti-kun Adult
August 25, 2019
age 12+
The Digimon-animes have sci-fi wars and Digimon-films are not recommended for little children. The Digimon-films have 12+ age-rating in much countries. The Digimon-Tamers series has most violence and psychological scenes.

This title has:

Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
See all 12 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Long-running cartoon series DIGIMON: DIGITAL MONSTERS centers on a group of kids who travel to a parallel universe called DigiWorld and work alongside the digital creatures they befriend there to battle evil forces that threaten their peaceful existence. The Japanese-inspired anime 'toon has been known under a number of different titles since it began airing in 1999, including Digimon Adventures and Digimon Tamers. With each title change, the series added new characters and tweaked the original plot (in which the initial seven kids mysteriously transported to DigiWorld from their summer camp and ended up immersed in battle).

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (12 ):
Kids say (23 ):

While the general basis of relationships between the show's kids and their digital companions remained constant over the course of the series, almost everything else went through many makeovers. Some seasons feature seven human visitors to DigiWorld; others, as few as three. In early episodes, the kids can't get back home; later stories show a new cast of youngsters effortlessly journeying between the two worlds. And while in most stories each kid has his own specialized Digimon sidekick, a full season of episodes featured humans who could transform into the digital beings rather than just summon them for battles.

Youngsters will certainly find this lack of continuity confusing, and parents may be wary of introducing their kids to yet another marketing conglomerate looking to rival Pokemon. (Digimon boasts a similar assortment of tie-in video games, trading cards, virtual pets, and other toys.) And it's worth noting that although the show's violence is mostly of the flashy, fantasy variety and battles are reserved for the digital beings, those who are seriously injured dissolve into pieces that are said to regroup and reincarnate at a later date.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what kids like about this show. How is it similar to and different from shows like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh!? Why do you think these anime-style shows are so popular in America? Families can also talk about cross-promotion and how TV shows and movies are used to sell products. Kids: What other Digimon products are you familiar with (cards, games, toys)? Do you own any of them? How does watching TV affect your desire for items like these?

TV Details

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