Have/Will the original Digimon seasons be put on DVD ever?

[SuperPhillip]

I've always liked the first two seasons, but I'm unsure if the episodes were ever put to DVD.

[Lavenderpaw]

Yeah,Digimon was part of my childhood.Not as much as Pokemon',but it stayed with me.The first episode I watched was the sailing episode of the first season where everyone turns to stone.

[Storm Eagle]

Back in 2000, there was a DVD released that consisted of the first thirteen episodes of the first season. It's rather rare now though, and it's going around for wicked amounts of money on Amazon and eBay. I'm just glad I managed to score a copy in a store back in 2002.

Anyway, other than that, and the Digimon movie if you count that, nothing else Digimon has ever been put out on DVD by either Saban or Disney. Though after the other movies aired on ToonDisney and ABC Family, you'd think Disney would give each of those DVD releases, but no.

[Dr.Pepper]

Yeah I would like to see some of the really old episodes (the ones before they got that one guys sister) on DVD. I didn't watch it as much as Pokemon but still would like to have it.

[Light Lucario]

As PRdude mentioned, the only things related to Digimon that have been released on DVD are the set with the first thirteen episodes and the movie, which was really a bad combination of the first three movies in order to make it look like they were all related when they weren't. I do recall see later episodes of Adventures 01, 02 and even Tamers episodes on video, but I never bought them.

That's really a shame since I would love to have the different Digimon series on DVD. Each of them had strengths and weaknesses, as all series basically do, and I did enjoy watching all of them. Not in the same way with Pokemon not only because that was my first anime, but I can also relax more to an episode than I usually can with Digimon, even though I know that Digimon does have better storylines and character development. Anyway, I don't know if they ever will put out the series on DVD, but I really hope that they do at some point. If they were just given the right amount of promotion, then I could see Digimon DVDs selling pretty decently at least.

[NewcomerDC]

Shout! Factory is my first choice for releasing DVDs of Digimon. Just like Oban Star-Racers, Digimon can get the same treatment. The downside is this series will be just like Medabots release a couple months back: no Japanese audio track.

[zoombie]

There was an unoffical release of the first season and a half.

While it would be great to have the first two seasons on DVD, though you can have find home made very good quality of every season through the trade market.

But what I would really like is for the original Japanese version (prefitable with subtitles) to be released on Region 1 or Region Free DVD. The Japanese version in any season is superior in my opinion. Especially the music. You haven't seen the best of Digimon until you seen the original version.

Though I think this topic should be in the Anime or DVD message boards. We have discuessed on those board. This is not a Disney show.

[Kevin the Geek]

I, too, would also like to see Digimon released on DVD. According to this thread, from the Shout! Factory forums, Brian Ward may try to get DVD rights to this series.

http://www.shoutfactory.com/community/665/thread.aspx

As much as I would like that to happen, I imagine that getting DVD rights to Digimon would be pretty hard to get, considering that Toei owns the rights to Digimon, and we all know how it's difficult to get things licensed from them. *Cough* Sailor Moon, One Piece *Cough*

[zoombie]

I think we can all agree Digimon is one of the most underrated anime series ever. It is often dismessed as another kid shows, which is true. Also dismessed as a Pokemon clone, when the story lines of Digimon far surpasses the Pokemon series, not including the Pokemon movies which is much better than the Pokemon tv series but I digrice, I put that on close to equal footing with the Digimon show. Ironic I think the Digimon series are better than the movies, complete opposite of the difference in quality in the Pokemon series and movies.

The story telling is on par with any great anime series.

[Storm Eagle]

I think we can all agree Digimon is one of the most underrated anime series ever. It is often dismessed as another kid shows, which is true. Also dismessed as a Pokemon clone, when the story lines of Digimon far surpasses the Pokemon series, not including the Pokemon movies which is much better than the Pokemon tv series but I digrice, I put that on close to equal footing with the Digimon show. Ironic the think Digimon series are better than the movies.

The story telling is on par with any great anime series.

I agree with you 100%. I've been following Digimon: Data Squad religiously, and I'm retaping the older seasons for when I'm ready to get them copied to DVD-R(W). Watching the older seasons all over again, I see that the series has aged well after all these years.

I like to think of Digimon as "the thinking person's Pokemon".

[Wolf Boy2]

I would like the first two seasons, but season 3 is my favorite.

Season 1 was more or less a retread of The Chronicles of Narnia. The first part of the show mirrored "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" (it even had a lion sacrifice himself). The parts that took place on Earth were vaguely similar to elements of "The Magician's Nephew" and the most striking similarity was in the Dark Masters story arc, which was almost the same plot of "Prince Caspian" (the children return and find a darker world where a much longer period of time has passed).

I would be happy just to have the Tamers series, which was more original and adult. But ultimately, I'd buy all of them if I could. Digimon and Beast Wars were my favorite shows when I was 13 (and I already have all of Beast Wars).

[NewcomerDC]

I would like the first two seasons, but season 3 is my favorite.

Season 1 was more or less a retread of The Chronicles of Narnia. The first part of the show mirrored "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" (it even had a lion sacrifice himself).

I tend to disagree on that note. If you mean Leomon staying behind to fight Ogremon and Devimon then return to help Mimi and Joe defeat MetalEtemon then I wholeheartedly agree on that idea.

Shame that Leomon doesn't return until Season Three only for him to get killed again. Why does Toei love to kill Leomon so much?

[Wolf Boy2]

I tend to disagree on that note. If you mean Leomon staying behind to fight Ogremon and Devimon then return to help Mimi and Joe defeat MetalEtemon then I wholeheartedly agree on that idea.

Shame that Leomon doesn't return until Season Three only for him to get killed again. Why does Toei love to kill Leomon so much?
That's exactly what I meant. I truly believe it's a Narnia homage on someone's part. The Narnia series has been published in Japanese, though the Japanese learn English so one of their producers may have even read the original. The similarities are too striking to ignore (though, in Tamers he doesn't come back).

Season 2 has less similarities, though even in the Narnia series Lewis gradually phased out the original children (the Pevensie children), replacing them with Eustace and Jill who starred in "The Silver Chair" and "The Last Battle." In fact, the youngest of the original 4, Edmond and Lucy, continued to have adventures in Narnia in "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" alongside the newcomer, Eustace -- not unlike TK and Kari being on the same team with Davis, Cody and Yolie.

The "time jump" in Season 1 is another stong tie. In "Prince Caspian," the Pevensie children returned to Narnia and found that 1,300 years had elapsed in their absence. Since then, Narnia had been conquered by the human Telmarine Empire. The Digidestined returned to the Digiworld and found that a very long time had passed, since when the Digital World had been conquered by the Dark Masters. The idea of human conquers from "Prince Caspian" was also touched upon in Season 2 with the Digimon Emporer. Also, Ken turned out to be good in much the same manner that many Telmarines, most notably Caspian, were good (though Ken was a single person where the Telmarines were an empire).

Both stories also ended with ressurections and reunions. All Narnia characters, living and dead, from every era were gathered into Aslan's kingdom (ie, Heaven). All Digimon characters were reunited also, though in the real world, not Heaven. Both are similar to the Book of Revelation and the idea of a ressurection of the dead at the end times, following the defeat of an Antichrist figure.

Not that any of the similarities bother me, but I REALLY doubt their coincedence.:cool:

[Pomegranate]

As I've said again, I wanted the original Japanese Digimon on R1 DVD/Blu-ray with accurate English subtitles or a faithful dub, but I don't think that'll ever happen until Disney loses the entire Digimon license and that could probably take an eternity for that to happen:( . It's also disheartening that none of the more decent anime-licensing companies(e.g. Funi and Bandai Ent.) want the rights, so I hope New Galaxy Anime could snatch the rights the minute Disney's rights expires, as they've sounded like a promising youth/family-oriented anime-licensing company when they first introduced themselves!

[Ykwia]

I would love to see them on DVD.

[veemonjosh]

As I've said again, I wanted the original Japanes Digimon on R1 DVD/Blu-ray with accurate English subtitles or a faithful dub, but I don't think that'll ever happen until Disney loses the entire Digimon license and that could probably take an eternity for that to happen:( . It's also disheartening that none of the more decent anime-licensing companies(e.g. Funi and Bandai Ent.) want the rights, so I hope New Galaxy Anime could snatch the rights the minute Disney's rights expires, as they've sounded like a promising youth/family-oriented anime-licensing company when they first introduced themselves!

...And what exactly can this company I've never heard of do when Disney's AIRING rights expire?

The actual show rights for Digimon were transferred back to Toei ages ago (shortly before the Data Squad dub started), and Disney is just buying the broadcast rights (and the rights to put Data Squad out on DVD) directly from Toei until a time when Digimon no longer gets decent ratings (and considering the fact that Toei will no doubt make a new series next year for the 10th anniversary of season one, won't happen for quite a while).

This "New Galaxy Anime" can't do crap unless they can convince Toei to let them release the series instead of Toei letting Disney release the series (which will never happen).

[Pomegranate]

...And what exactly can this company I've never heard of do when Disney's AIRING rights expire?

They were an anime distribution company that formed during the Fall of 2007 and they promised to stay faithful to their anime licenses w/o altering the original dialog or cutting out scenes or any of that crap, while trying to deliver appropriate content for all ages at the same time. They even called anime an artform!

Here's more info about this company if you want to know! (http://www.newgalaxyanime.com)


The actual show rights for Digimon were transferred back to Toei ages ago (shortly before the Data Squad dub started), and Disney is just buying the broadcast rights (and the rights to put Data Squad out on DVD) directly from Toei until a time when Digimon no longer gets decent ratings (and considering the fact that Toei will no doubt make a new series next year for the 10th anniversary of season one, won't happen for quite a while).

Ummm... Disney did have TV airing rights to Digimon ever since they bought out Fox Family/Saban. It's just that Toei/Studiopolis is dubbing Savers!

Also, where did you hear the idea that Toei will make a new Digimon TV series next year for the 1st season's 10th anniversary:confused: ? I haven't heard anything about a new Digimon TV series after Savers what so ever, but the Savers anime performed well in the Japanese ratings and the new Digimon video games have also sold considerably well I heard, so both Toei and Bandai might plan on crafting a new Digimon TV series in the not-so-distant future. Time will tell!


This "New Galaxy Anime" can't do crap unless they can convince Toei to let them release the series instead of Toei letting Disney release the series (which will never happen).

I think New Galaxy Anime might be able to ally with Toei more easily than Funi or other anime distributors could, as they strive to license and translate children's anime series, just more faithfully than what 4Kids, Nelvana, DiC and other children's media companies do with their anime licenses.

[PC!]

Feh, with Digimon in the hands of two incredibly stubborn companies from two different countries, I'm not holding my breath for Digimon to ever be released on DVD.

But if Shout! ever does somehow manage to get the DVD rights to the series, I'd easily pay $100 for each season.

For what it's worth, though, Toei on Demand is going to have download-to-own episodes of the series soon. Whether it's going to be the dub or a sub remains to be seen. I'd much prefer a DVD, though.


Disney is just buying the broadcast rights (and the rights to put Data Squad out on DVD)...

Where'd you hear that? Why would Disney buy the DVD rights to a show they obviously have no intention of putting on DVD?

[Storm Eagle]

I had this thought. Disney probably wouldn't ever put out season sets when they don't even show all episodes from the first three seasons. Why they always skip the ones they skip, I don't know.