Ash Ketchum is a regular 10 year old boy who dreams of one day becoming the world greatest Pokemon Master, a person who can battle with and control the world’s strongest Pokemon, or little monsters. Ash’s dream gets off to a rough start when he oversleeps picking his starter Pokemon, ending up with a disgruntled electric mouse named Pikachu who refuses to obey him. But as events soon develop, Ash and Pikachu soon grow to work together along with new friends and allies in order to help Ash achieve his dream.

This is the obvious choice. Coming out at roughly the same time, Pokemon and Digimon both deal with characters growing over their journey with their monster companions as they strive to defeat their opponents no matter what. Ash ends up sharing some similar traits to Tai, the leader of the DigiDestined: they are both hot headed at first and prone to acting before they think, yet both learn to become leaders and consider what’s best for the team. If you haven’t already seen this series in some regard, definitely check out the 1st season that started it all.

Ace is a young kid striving to become a proper Dragon Caller, which is exactly what it sounds like. In order to do that, Ace will have to work with other Dragon Callers on Dorogoza Island in order to prevent what are known as “Drop Impacts” aka monster attacks via the use of puzzle challenges. The winners will acquire great rewards if they defeat their enemies through these puzzle wars, but only the brave can overcome them…

Definitely a unique twist on the genre, Puzzle and Dragons Cross sill bears a similar feel to Digimon Adventure in the sense that monsters are still present throughout both world. In addition, while it wasn’t the main emphasis nor as clear cut, the DigiDestined found themselves coming across multiple puzzles that appeared in various forms, with some of them lasting an episode and others lasting far longer. If you enjoyed the encounters where the DigiDestined had to figure out a puzzle to get past a certain obstacle or reunite with the team (especially early on in the series), then Puzzle and Dragons Cross is worth a watch.

In the year 2022, virtual reality has advanced to the point where players can control their video game avatars with nothing but their thoughts. When a new game called “Sword Art Online” is released, Kazuto Kirigaya, also known as "Kirito," is among the first to get his hands on it. But what starts out as wonder soon turns to horror as the creator traps Kirito and the other players within this new virtual world, with the only means of escape being through the completion of all 100 levels. Kirito will have to form allies and strategies in order to survive: if he is killed in this virtual reality, then he dies in real life as well.

While Sword Art Online emphasizes the “video game” angle (something not done in Digimon”, it certainly captures early on the concept of suddenly realizing you’re trapped in a virtual world and working out how to get home the same way that Digimon does. The story and character development do leave something to be desired; however, if what interested you the most about Digimon was the concept of a virtual world in addition to the hijinks some of the DigiDestined found themselves in, then Sword Art Online certainly kicks it up a notch with its over the top interactions between Kirito and the girls that meet him.

15 kids are enjoying their summer camp together when they discover by chance a mysterious place full of computers. When the owner, Kokopelli, tells them that he is working on a game which involves a giant robot designed to protect the Earth, he persuades all but one of the children to sign a contract in what he claims will be a fun adventure. However, this soon leads to dark consequences…

Bokurano definitely has the same feel that Digimon Adventure did in the beginning in terms of setting: both groups of kids are enjoying summer camp in their own ways until an outside force takes hold. Bokurano is definitely darker, however, in terms of what the fates of the 15 kids are as opposed to the DigiDestined. Not to mention that we learn the stories of each of the 15 one by one; we grow to learn the backstories of each of the DigiDestined gradually over time from what they share with each other until the focus turns to developing each of them further. If you enjoyed the darker aspects of Digimon Adventure with a similar setting, then Bokurano would be a good starting point for you.

In 2029, chemical elements such as oxygen and carbon suddenly disappear from the earth's crust and form what eventually becomes known as “Nega Earth”, located in a completely different dimension. With the human population having decreased by 90% in a span of 60 years, the "Element Hunters" are formed, consisting of 13 year olds and younger in order to be able to access “Nega Earth” and become the heroes Earth desperately needs.

Element Hunters stands out in the sense that most anime don’t focus on characters travelling somewhere to retrieve things and make return trips as needed. That being said, Digimon Adventure certainly shares that concept in the sense that the main plot involves the DigiDestined figuring out how to return home, only for them to go back when the season’s final antagonists start laying waste to the digital world. In Tai’s case, he makes multiple trips back to the digital world in order to save his friends. In addition, both sets of kids have to rely on key technological items in order to fight and win their battles. If you were fascinated with the aspect of travelling between worlds as well as the method of fighting, Element Hunters offers a unique but similar take on the subject.

Kiyo Takamine is an apathetic 14 year old genius that tends to skip school and keep to himself. That is, until his father sends him a young boy named Zatch, who brings with him a strange book. Kiyo and Zatch soon learn that Zatch is actually from the Momodo world and part of a strange tournament to become the Momodo King. The object of each fight between each human and Momodo paring is to burn the book of the other Momodo: the last Momodo left becomes King.

While Zatch Bell doesn’t have a virtual world to explore by any means, it actually takes the concept of Digimon Adventure and flips it on its head. The Momodos end up mysteriously travelling to the human world, find their partners, and battle in this new strange world as opposed to what happened to the DigiDestined. While there is a tournament involved in Zatch Bell that doesn’t exist in Digimon, the concept of fighting between partners from different worlds still remains the same. If you found a key element to why you liked Digimon being the pairing of the DigiDestined and the Digimon themselves, then you’re sure to enjoy the Momodo and human pairings in Zatch Bell.