01-11-2004, 04:51 PM
When I said "Pet-monster/Tamer style story", I did not mean episode-driven drivel like Pokemon where every episode seems to reintroduce the same main characters as ever -- that is why I comment "please no... please, please no". However, a story driven primarily by a single character could still be good -- it has been done in various mediums and styles.
Wisemon, I know you love Frontier to an almost unhealthy degree, but all of us here probably have what people would consider "unhealthy" interests in some of the Digimon or human characters, so I won't put you down on that. There's also much more to the similarities of the X-Men and Frontier cast, though, that is beyond the powers/appearances, and is in the personalities. Note that I use somewhat different corellations between them, spanning the entire history of the X-Men.
Takuya & 'Slim' Summers: Both are confused about what it means to lead a team at first, but over time they grow into it through experiences both positive and negative. Both have more or less heat-based powers, and over time both go through a period when they so doubt themselves that they're willing to give up.
Kouji & Logan Logan: Both are associated with fierce predators, prefer to work alone, and have no qualms about fighting even if the enemy must die in order to win the fight. Both also use Japanese fighting styles based upon the Bushido code, and also have uncertainties about their past. Both also come to look after the 'kid' of the group (Tomoki & 'Kitty' Pryde/Jubilation Lee) in their own unique way.
Junpei & Henry McCoy: Both are not the "ideal" appearance for a superhero, but because of this they have a chance to develop both physically and mentally -- In addition to being a genius, McCoy was a football star in high school, before joining the Xavier School. In spite of their size and shape, both are quite agile.
Izumi & Ororo Munro: Both control the power of the wind, and are clearly different in the setting they are thrust into -- Izumi because she grew up in Italy, and Storm because she was considered a weather goddess. Both struggle with their being outsiders during the early times in their respective teams, and there is little doubt of a shared romantinc interest, whether acted upon or not, for both with the "third" member (Junpei & Beast).
Tomoki & Katherine Pryde/Jubilation Lee: The "kids" of their respective groups, all three are curious and want to explore their strengths, but at the same time they are afraid of doing something wrong. All grow into a mature confidence more befitting of a young adult (not teenager/child) and stand up to adversity in their own ways. [NOTE: Likely if Frontier spawned a sequel, Tomoki would be in it to link it clearly to Fontier, the way both Shadowcat and Jubilee did in Excalibur and Generation X.]
Kouichi & Warren Worthington III: Well, both have one major similarity -- they were used by the greatest dark force known to the entire World they were sworn to protect, except Kouichi never started out as a hero. Both were an avatar of darkness and death. certainly applies after the Spirits of Darkness were purified. Note however that I feel this is more appropriate:
Kouichi & Victor Creed: Both have a mysterious past which is clearly linked to the "loner" of the heroes, are aggressively violent, but do have memories of the 'lover' from the heroes which either fuel or dampen the rage (yes, Creed has had times when he's stopped fighting Logan because of these memories, though they're very rare). Both are "dark" to the others "light", and provide a balance wherein only one of them can defeat the other, and it's never certain in advance.
Cherubimon & Sinister: Both are corrupted tools used directly by the greatest evil force in their respective worlds, even when they feel they work to their own ends. They can be turned agaisnt this force at times, but generally are unaware of the subtle control being used on them. They feed the darkness of the world in order to prepare for the greater evil on the horizon.
Ranamon & Rogue: Great power for these two comes at a great price -- While Ranamon cannot completely control her stronger form, Rogue is unable to so much as touch anyone for fear of leaving them comatose. Both suffer by hurting the one they love because of this price, Ranamon loses her own beauty when she is conquered, while Rogue must drive away those she comes to love.
Arbormon & 'Black' Tom Cassidy: Both have powers based upon plant nature, and are nigh on to invincible when using their powers skillfully. Their powers and appetites overcome them, however, and both fall to time and their own strength, Black Tom by losing control and Arbormon by being betrayed (Kouichi ruthlessly destroyed Arbormon arfter the children defeated him as Petaldramon).
Mercuremon & Mimic: Despite showing great power, and even the ability to copy the skills of his opponents and allies, both are weakened as much as strengthened by their powers -- For though one combines skills flawlessly (Mimic) his power levels come to exceed those of the originals, while the other is unable to combine the powers he copies due to an oversight. For both this leads to their downfall, while also being their greatest asset.
Grottomon & Marvin (Or is it Fred?) Dukes: Nearly unstoppable, they succumb to gross incompetence and stupidity when they are finally beaten. Even given a team to work with, they lack the competence to do their job as well as their allies, and so are the first to fail or fall.
Bokomon & Destiny: Both use books as a source of knowledge, one recording the future while the other learns of the past.
Now to add a note here, when I refer to "supporting" characters, I don't mean they can't be regular, but they have a less developed personality -- for examples, look at Zordon and Alpha in the old seasons of Power Rangers: Neither had an especially developed personality, but they were both in most all, if not every, of the episodes. Also characters who help move the plot but do not appear in every episode (Holy Angemon and Leo in V-Tamer), and have a general but not developed personality.
Furthermore, in response to your comment abput only the Games and Cards being cause for Pokemon being on the air, that isn't true -- It gets good ratings in the US, and so they continue to dub it. It gets good enough ratings injapan, and so they continue to make new episodes. In addition, Misty is no longer in the cast of Pokemon as of the current season, she has been replaced by a beginning trainer named May (Haruka in the original) who is the daughter of Houen's "Pokemon Professor". There's also some kid whose name I haven't quite caught, and after a number of episodes Brock (Takeshi) returned.
As for Ash and anyone "fucking" in Pokemon or Digimon, the show is for little children, not young adults, teenagers, or business professionals, so there will never be "fucking" inthe show, nor will there be foul language or overly dark overtones. People complain about those sorts of things not being there, but they're not supposed to be there because of the target audience. Digimon targets a slightly older age group, but it is still a children's show made for and targeted at children -- the fact that Japanese children aren't babied like American children is the sole reason there are darker stories and tones in Digimon is because it's meant to feel like a 'sweeping' story, not just a feel-good run though Pokeland to "catch 'em all".
Pokemon was made to be a happy story that doesn't have a lot of interconnected arcs that need to be followed to get it. Thet's why it has bright colors, cute monsters, and the minimum plot needed for an episodic series. Watch a series like... Rocket Power or Fairly Oddparents to see American examples, though as a moral seris Rocket Power sometimes touches on issues liek stealing, ripping people off, and skipping school (etc., etc.)
Digimon was created to be an adventure story, and as such it touches darker subjects than Pokemon ever will outside of the movies (and the Digimon movies go beyond even that). That's also why the monsters look like they really fight, the world has dark colors and natural tones, and a plot that does sweep through the whole season, not simply an episode or two.
I just spent an hour writing this post, and it's almost 2 AM here in Michigan, so I should be getting to bed. I meant to be in bed almost an hour ago, but... Anyhow, think about it as a single-character "Adventure" series instead of an episodic "Pokemon" clone. I never meant to make people think of Digimon catching and training, just of a story driven by one character. I would probably give the series up if the next season of Digimon were episodic, but it may happen. G'night folks.
Wisemon, I know you love Frontier to an almost unhealthy degree, but all of us here probably have what people would consider "unhealthy" interests in some of the Digimon or human characters, so I won't put you down on that. There's also much more to the similarities of the X-Men and Frontier cast, though, that is beyond the powers/appearances, and is in the personalities. Note that I use somewhat different corellations between them, spanning the entire history of the X-Men.
Takuya & 'Slim' Summers: Both are confused about what it means to lead a team at first, but over time they grow into it through experiences both positive and negative. Both have more or less heat-based powers, and over time both go through a period when they so doubt themselves that they're willing to give up.
Kouji & Logan Logan: Both are associated with fierce predators, prefer to work alone, and have no qualms about fighting even if the enemy must die in order to win the fight. Both also use Japanese fighting styles based upon the Bushido code, and also have uncertainties about their past. Both also come to look after the 'kid' of the group (Tomoki & 'Kitty' Pryde/Jubilation Lee) in their own unique way.
Junpei & Henry McCoy: Both are not the "ideal" appearance for a superhero, but because of this they have a chance to develop both physically and mentally -- In addition to being a genius, McCoy was a football star in high school, before joining the Xavier School. In spite of their size and shape, both are quite agile.
Izumi & Ororo Munro: Both control the power of the wind, and are clearly different in the setting they are thrust into -- Izumi because she grew up in Italy, and Storm because she was considered a weather goddess. Both struggle with their being outsiders during the early times in their respective teams, and there is little doubt of a shared romantinc interest, whether acted upon or not, for both with the "third" member (Junpei & Beast).
Tomoki & Katherine Pryde/Jubilation Lee: The "kids" of their respective groups, all three are curious and want to explore their strengths, but at the same time they are afraid of doing something wrong. All grow into a mature confidence more befitting of a young adult (not teenager/child) and stand up to adversity in their own ways. [NOTE: Likely if Frontier spawned a sequel, Tomoki would be in it to link it clearly to Fontier, the way both Shadowcat and Jubilee did in Excalibur and Generation X.]
Kouichi & Warren Worthington III: Well, both have one major similarity -- they were used by the greatest dark force known to the entire World they were sworn to protect, except Kouichi never started out as a hero. Both were an avatar of darkness and death. certainly applies after the Spirits of Darkness were purified. Note however that I feel this is more appropriate:
Kouichi & Victor Creed: Both have a mysterious past which is clearly linked to the "loner" of the heroes, are aggressively violent, but do have memories of the 'lover' from the heroes which either fuel or dampen the rage (yes, Creed has had times when he's stopped fighting Logan because of these memories, though they're very rare). Both are "dark" to the others "light", and provide a balance wherein only one of them can defeat the other, and it's never certain in advance.
Cherubimon & Sinister: Both are corrupted tools used directly by the greatest evil force in their respective worlds, even when they feel they work to their own ends. They can be turned agaisnt this force at times, but generally are unaware of the subtle control being used on them. They feed the darkness of the world in order to prepare for the greater evil on the horizon.
Ranamon & Rogue: Great power for these two comes at a great price -- While Ranamon cannot completely control her stronger form, Rogue is unable to so much as touch anyone for fear of leaving them comatose. Both suffer by hurting the one they love because of this price, Ranamon loses her own beauty when she is conquered, while Rogue must drive away those she comes to love.
Arbormon & 'Black' Tom Cassidy: Both have powers based upon plant nature, and are nigh on to invincible when using their powers skillfully. Their powers and appetites overcome them, however, and both fall to time and their own strength, Black Tom by losing control and Arbormon by being betrayed (Kouichi ruthlessly destroyed Arbormon arfter the children defeated him as Petaldramon).
Mercuremon & Mimic: Despite showing great power, and even the ability to copy the skills of his opponents and allies, both are weakened as much as strengthened by their powers -- For though one combines skills flawlessly (Mimic) his power levels come to exceed those of the originals, while the other is unable to combine the powers he copies due to an oversight. For both this leads to their downfall, while also being their greatest asset.
Grottomon & Marvin (Or is it Fred?) Dukes: Nearly unstoppable, they succumb to gross incompetence and stupidity when they are finally beaten. Even given a team to work with, they lack the competence to do their job as well as their allies, and so are the first to fail or fall.
Bokomon & Destiny: Both use books as a source of knowledge, one recording the future while the other learns of the past.
Now to add a note here, when I refer to "supporting" characters, I don't mean they can't be regular, but they have a less developed personality -- for examples, look at Zordon and Alpha in the old seasons of Power Rangers: Neither had an especially developed personality, but they were both in most all, if not every, of the episodes. Also characters who help move the plot but do not appear in every episode (Holy Angemon and Leo in V-Tamer), and have a general but not developed personality.
Furthermore, in response to your comment abput only the Games and Cards being cause for Pokemon being on the air, that isn't true -- It gets good ratings in the US, and so they continue to dub it. It gets good enough ratings injapan, and so they continue to make new episodes. In addition, Misty is no longer in the cast of Pokemon as of the current season, she has been replaced by a beginning trainer named May (Haruka in the original) who is the daughter of Houen's "Pokemon Professor". There's also some kid whose name I haven't quite caught, and after a number of episodes Brock (Takeshi) returned.
As for Ash and anyone "fucking" in Pokemon or Digimon, the show is for little children, not young adults, teenagers, or business professionals, so there will never be "fucking" inthe show, nor will there be foul language or overly dark overtones. People complain about those sorts of things not being there, but they're not supposed to be there because of the target audience. Digimon targets a slightly older age group, but it is still a children's show made for and targeted at children -- the fact that Japanese children aren't babied like American children is the sole reason there are darker stories and tones in Digimon is because it's meant to feel like a 'sweeping' story, not just a feel-good run though Pokeland to "catch 'em all".
Pokemon was made to be a happy story that doesn't have a lot of interconnected arcs that need to be followed to get it. Thet's why it has bright colors, cute monsters, and the minimum plot needed for an episodic series. Watch a series like... Rocket Power or Fairly Oddparents to see American examples, though as a moral seris Rocket Power sometimes touches on issues liek stealing, ripping people off, and skipping school (etc., etc.)
Digimon was created to be an adventure story, and as such it touches darker subjects than Pokemon ever will outside of the movies (and the Digimon movies go beyond even that). That's also why the monsters look like they really fight, the world has dark colors and natural tones, and a plot that does sweep through the whole season, not simply an episode or two.
I just spent an hour writing this post, and it's almost 2 AM here in Michigan, so I should be getting to bed. I meant to be in bed almost an hour ago, but... Anyhow, think about it as a single-character "Adventure" series instead of an episodic "Pokemon" clone. I never meant to make people think of Digimon catching and training, just of a story driven by one character. I would probably give the series up if the next season of Digimon were episodic, but it may happen. G'night folks.