An automatic machine-translated blog post on the official Digimon website has accidentally name-dropped the franchise’s bigger competitor, proving that sometimes a human touch is better.
Digimon has often been accused of being a Pokemon knock-off, and while there are certainly similarities, the franchises have both gone in very different directions. Pokémon has been refining its familiar gameplay loop while maintaining its kid-friendly image, whereas Digimon is more experimental and targets a more adult audience.
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The official Digimon website is now giving free shout-outs to its rival, as a post promoting a new virtual pet toy in the Digimon Pendulum Color line randomly mentions “Pokemon” when the English language tab is hit.
Digimon References Pokemon On The Official Website
The Pokemon reference is completely made up by the translation, as the original Japanese text has no mention of Pikachu’s famous franchise. The entire issue appears to be a context error on the machine translation software used by the website.
The official Digimon website is primarily aimed at the Japanese fanbase, so it’s not as if every post needs a direct translation. A lot of the merchandise they promote does receive an international release, as these Digimon Pendulum Color toys are released in the United States of America. This is more about the amusing quirk of letting the website have auto-translate options in different languages, especially when they’re this bad.
2025 is poised to be a big year for the Digimon franchise, with Digimon Store: Time Stranger looking awesome, and Digimon Alysion is set to bring the TCG to mobile phones. Pokemon is also set to have a huge year, with Pokemon Legends: Z-A being a cross-gen title. Pokemon might have the advantage, especially when it’s getting shout-outs from the official Digimon websites.
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