Digimon Story Needs Its Own Anime ASAP

Sony and Bandai Namco finally revealed the newest Digimon game that’s been rumored to be in development for years. Digimon Story: Time Stranger was announced with a reveal trailer at Sony PlayStation’s February 2025 State of Play event. Bandai Namco has been teasing a Digimon game for years, separate from the long-in-development Digimon Survive from 2022. Multiple reports and information about the mysterious Digimon title have trickled out to fans, hinting the series would be the next installment of the popular Digimon Story sub-franchise. The Digimon Story series is one of the longest-lasting Digimon games in the core franchise, giving fans an ambitious storyline filled with iconic characters separate from the anime shows.

With no anime series currently airing, Digimon Story could serve as a great foundation to build a new show. The anime series hasn’t been able to capture the same appeal since the airing of the early seasons, yet with Digimon Story‘s proven track record of delivering epic storylines and fun characters, maybe it is time for fans to see how an anime adaptation would work.

Why The Next Digimon Anime Should Be Based on Digimon Story

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth and its sequel, Hacker’s Memory, are some of the most popular Digimon media released in the last decade. Fans adored the anime aesthetic the games brought and the engaging storyline. The design and look of the games have created a new defining look for the franchise, giving the series a new voice that it has been desperately trying to capture again since the early 2000s. It’s unsurprising, too, that the aesthetic was well-received, with its Persona comparisons both in gameplay and in execution in the games. Fans want to see more of the world of Digimon Story, preferring the plots and designs of Cyber Sleuth and Hacker’s Memory over the more recent Digimon anime.

Anime adaptation of video games isn’t unheard of, yet the typical issue faced with those adaptations is that they end up too similar to video games. However, given Digimon Story‘s clear anime style and well-thought-out plot, Digimon Story is a much more natural fit for the medium than other video games. Digimon Story, especially with Cyber Sleuth and Hacker’s Memory, has always been narrative first and gameplay second series. An anime adaptation has the power to take out the grinding from the games, delivering a more solidly paced narrative. Toei Animation has the potential to give fans a new interpretation of their favorite video games with modern animation and necessary expansions to the story. A Digimon Story anime adaptation can enhance the games’ stories rather than detract from them.

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Why Isn’t There a new Digimon Anime in 2025?

A Digimon Story anime could also fill the void of no Digimon anime currently airing. The Digimon anime has always been a subsidiary of the main digital pets. The anime serves to advertise the digital pets and toys for the franchise. The show turning into a pop culture sensation for a hot minute in the United States was a testament to the original anime’s quality. The anime contained enduring characters, amazing monster designs, and a story with actual stakes. The franchise rode on the high of the original Digimon Adventure‘s success for a few years before the series began losing relevancy. Bandai Namco produces a new Digimon anime show every few years, assuring fans the brand will always continue in the medium.

Even though seasons that follow up on Digimon Adventure have their fans, the successors have never been able to capture the same lightning-in-a-bottle magic that made the earlier shows such a hit in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Bandai found major success with the series with the release of new anime continuations of the original Digimon Adventure universe, bringing back the classic characters fans know and love. This led to a full-on reboot of the Adventure series in 2020 by Toei Animation. The reboot received mixed-to-negative feedback from critics and fans, many criticizing the show’s lack of character development and giving so much screentime to the lead character Tai over the rest of the cast.

The Adventure reboot was followed by Digimon Ghost Game, which is currently the last major anime show in the franchise, airing its final episode in March 2023. Unlike Pokemon, where a new anime is always airing on television, Digimon typically takes several year breaks between shows. Since we’re only two years out from the most recent Digimon anime, Bandai is likely holding off on a new anime for a little while. Bandai also appears to be more focused on expanding on the highly popular Digimon card games, creating new novels and comics based on the Digimon TCG.