The Pokémon brand has always been popular. Since the first Pokémon game on the Gameboy was released, the franchise has become nothing short of a phenomenon. While it may be hard to imagine the series being more popular than it is now, I would argue that Pokémon was the most popular in the late nineties when the anime started airing in the West. Every kid watched the show. I would watch it every day; my mom would buy VHS tapes of the Pokémon show and I would watch them constantly. It was my favorite show as a kid, and it still holds a special place in my heart.
Thanks to Pokémon, more anime aimed towards kids began airing in western countries. This includes anime that have oddly similar premises to Pokémon. While everyone remembers Digimon as the main Pokémon rip-off, people also seem to forget that there were dozens upon dozens of other Pokémon imitators. Everyone tried emulating the Pokémon formula, to varying degrees of success.
There were genuinely some great shows that came about from companies trying to copy Pokémon, some of which turned out better than the actual Pokémon anime. For example, I honestly believe the first three season of Digimon is better than most of the Pokémon anime. However, for every good rip-off the Pokémon show, there were probably twice as many bad ones. So on this list, I will be going over the bad, and the good, blatant Pokémon copycats.
20 Rip-Off: I Lost My Appetite
I remember when this anime came out. Fighting Foodons was a show about a ten-year-old chef in training, who uses magical “Meal Tickets” to transform his meals into fighters. To become a master chef, the young boy not only has to cook the most delicious meal, but also the strongest warrior.
Of all the animes centering on a young boy and his magical monsters, Fighting Foodons may be the oddest one out there.
It’s certainly more original than other blatant Pokémon rip-offs, focusing on different foods rather than your typical monsters or children’s card game. With that said, it doesn’t do much with its premise outside showcasing delicious Japanese cuisines fighting one another. It’s a by-the-numbers Shōnen show aimed towards young boys. It doesn’t do much new, and it isn’t anything spectacular.
19 Does It Better: Let It Rip!
I remember as a young kid seeing the first commercial for the Beyblade anime, and thinking how dumb it looked. I loved my shows about pocket monsters and children’s card games, yet, I felt like a show about spinning tops was a step too far for me. The Beyblades didn’t even transform into unique creatures, they were just tops. I was able to catch a few episodes in my youth, and it was the first time I recognized a show being an obvious toy commercial. Pretty much everything I watched as a kid was a toy commercial; Beyblade was the first time I began to recognize cartoons as sometimes being commercials.
At least the toys Beyblade were advertising were kind of cool. The tops are exaggeratedly designed, but the actual game of Beyblade actually looked fun. People still bring up Beyblade, so it must have done something right.
18 Rip-Off: Pokémon, Roll Out!
If Pokémon is my number one show as a kid, then Transformers: Armada was a close second. Armada was an anime Transformers series that was brought over to the U.S. in the early 2000s. It was about the Transformers coming to Earth in search of Mini-Cons, their Pokémon, essentially. So many elements of the show still resonate with me to this day, including the characters and themes. Armada has my favorite version of Starscream, who probably has one of my favorite passing scenes ever. My profile names online are almost always “transformers03," as a tribute to the year the show ended (2003).
Despite my nostalgia for the show, Armada was never good.
Even at the time, fans couldn’t stand how cheap it looked, and the “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” elements that the Mini-Cons brought. Armada was often labeled Pokéformers and is commonly seen as one of the worst Transformers series out there.
17 Does It Better: Best Of The Bunch
Despite the negative reaction of Transformers: Armada from older fans, the show was still a big hit for young children like me at the time. It led to Transformers: Energon, a far more awful show. While Energon didn’t have the Pokémon elements that fans despised in Armada, it was overall a bigger mess story-wise and makes Armada look better in comparison. Transformers: Cybertron, the second sequel to Armada and the final part of the self-titled Unicron Trilogy, is probably the most well received.
Instead of Mini-Cons, the transformers are collecting the four Cyber Planet Keys that can save their home planet from a black hole. Many older fans admit Cybertron is definitely an improvement over its predecessors, but most of those same fans will only ever say the show is just okay. However, I thought the show was awesome as a kid, and is probably my personal favorite Transformers series yet.
16 Rip-Off: Late To The Party
While Pokémon the brand is still going strong after all these years, I would argue the anime peaked in the early 2000s, if not earlier. Elements of the Pokémon show can still be seen in shows today, though rarely would you come across a show as a blatant Pokémon rip off anymore.
So imagine my surprise when I found out Monsuno came out in 2012. That was long after Pokémon the anime’s prime. Monsuno is an America-Japanese produced animated show that focuses on the adventures of a group of teens and their monsuno. Monsunos are re-awakened monsters, who form a bond with their masters. The show was not only a blatant rip-off of Pokémon, it was a rip-off that came in way too late.
15 Does It Better: A Rip-Off With Its Own Charms
Pokémon and Monster Rancher are both about young boys using fantastical creatures to fight their battles. They are also both based on popular video games. Though Monster Rancher was clearly copying from its more famous cousin, the anime does enough different to make it stand out. For one, the anime is about a boy who magically teleports to a new world that is based on the Monster Rancher video game.
The show also has a more mature edge compare to Pokémon, while still being fairly juvenile.
It had real conflict, and legit bad guys to face off. It even has an ending, something Pokémon has yet to experience. And it is definitely a better show than it needed to be, improving on certain aspects from Pokémon.
14 Rip-Off: At Least The Name Rhymes
I am extremely terrified of spiders; mainly tarantulas, though. In my mind, spiders are nature’s biggest mistakes. I don’t care if spiders get rid of all those annoying insects we all hate, like flies and mosquitos. Arachnophobia is one of the most common fears in the world for a good reason: spiders are inherently evil.
Spider Riders is a show that shouldn’t exist. The show is about a boy going to the mystical land of Arachna and learning to tame spiders. I don’t care that the giant spiders in the show are very anime, the biggest mistake of the series is showing some spiders being heroes. Spiders are not heroes unless they’re Spider-Man, who’s more man than spider anyways. Normal spiders cannot be heroes because spiders don’t have souls, which is why Spider Riders is just a forgotten Pokémon copycat rather than an anime classic.
13 Does It Better: A Breath Of Fresh Air
Remember the first episode of Pokémon, when Pikachu was a big jerk to Ash? Pikachu eventually warms up to him, and they have literally been inseparable since. But imagine an anime where Pikachu remains a jerk to Ash. That’s essentially what Medabots is, but with robots instead of creatures.
Both Medabots and Pokémon are based on Game Boy games.
Medabots are artificially intelligent robots who serve humans. The main character wants to use his Medabot to enter the World Robattle Tournament and become champion. His Medabot, Metabee, is a complete jerk to him. They make an unusual pair as they face against different foes in their attempts to be the best. It only lasted for two seasons; however, there has been some nostalgia for the show. I remember really liking it as a kid. It was kind of refreshing to see a lead learning how to get along with his monster/robot companion, rather than they be buddy-buddy right off the bat.
12 Rip-Off: Not Even Dragons Could Save It
Dragon Drive is about a lazy high school student who, after entering the Dragon Drive virtual reality game, discovers he is in possession of a rare dragon. He then goes off on a series of quests with his friends and dragon companion in the virtual world. The series has several games based on it, making it a mild hit. Unfortunately, none of it came to the U.S. Dragon Drive only came out in Japan. The anime never aired in the U.S. and was only brought over via DVDs. The anime isn’t necessarily super terrible, it just lacks originality and is kind of bland. Unless you’re a big fan of early 2000s children’s anime, this is a very skippable show.
11 Does It Better: Angelic And Underrated
Based on the manga series created by CLAMP (a group of manga artists and writers), Angelic Layer is probably one of the best Pokémon knock-offs out there. The show stars Misaki Suzuhara, a small-stature girl who takes part in competitive games called Angelic Layer. In these games, competitors use dolls to fight with one and another. The dolls, which are called angels, are mentally linked to their masters. Angelic Layer is an under-appreciated anime classic.
Angelic Layer is one of the few shows on the list to have a female lead, and it focuses more on mature themes. CLAMP’s unique designs make the series pops, and the animation by studio Bones holds up really well. Angelic Layer is overall an easier show to consume as a grown-up because not only is it good kids’ anime, it is good anime in general.
10 Rip-Off: Trying To Cash In On The Craze
A Canadian/Korean co-produced series, Magi-Nation, was based on a card game. The card game itself was apparently a rip-off of Magic: The Gathering, which makes Magi-Nation a double rip-off. The lore of the show is kind of complicated, including things like Dreamstones and the final dreamer.
When you boil it all down, it is just another show about a group of kids traveling a mystical land and seeing bizarre creatures.
It doesn’t do anything new with the Pokémon concept, and the monster designs are not that good, at least to me they are not. It is very much a show meant to be watched with the eyes of a little kid. Yet, given that there are many other shows with similar premises, many of them better than this one, it is hard to recommend Magi-Nation to even young children.
9 Does It Better: Pokémon Meets Yu-Gi-Oh?
While I do think Beyblade is a better Pokémon rip-off than most, I felt the whole spinning top thing to be kind of stupid as a kid. Bakugan Battle Brawlers was more in my wheelhouse when I was a young. It contains several elements from other children’s animes that I loved when I was little.
The show has a card game that determines the fate of the world, and toys transforming into monsters.
Bakugan is a card game created by the main characters using marbles that can transform into miniature monsters. The main story involves the leads using the card game to save the dimension where the monsters live. Apparently, Bakugan Battle Brawlers was a failure in Japan, yet somehow was a big hit in the U.S. I’m glad, because I always thought the toys and game looked really cool in the anime.
8 Rip-Off: They’re Not Even Trying To Hide It
If you thought that this list would only focus on TV shows that rip off the Pokémon anime, think again. I will also be going over the bad games that rip off the Pokémon video games. Robopon on the Game Boy is possibly one of the most shameless Pokémon Red and Blue copycats I have ever seen. It looks and plays almost exactly the same as the original Pokémon, except instead of cute little monsters to battle and train with, you have robots.
Robopon even has more than one version, just like Pokémon Red, Blue, and Yellow. There’s a Robopon Sun, Star, and Moon version. Pokémon would later have their own Sun and Moon versions in 2016, which means that Pokémon copied from Robopon. Or that Robopon has become so obscure that the Pokémon Company had no idea it existed in the first place.
7 Does It Better: Based In Lore And So Much More
Pokémon was, for a long time, pretty much unmatched when it came to monster collecting-based proprieties. Its early rivals either vanished or evolved into something separate. Pokémon was the last big franchise left that centered on capturing and collecting monsters. That is, until the Yo-Kai Watch games came out, and proved to be a huge sensation in Japan.
On the surface, Yo-Kai Watch seems like any other Pokémon imitator, but they are so much more.
The games are about a young boy going around collecting unique monsters. However, underneath the surface, the games have their own unique charm. The monsters are heavily influenced by Japanese lore and have their own style that is very different than Pokémon. The story is also more tongue-in-cheek and absurd than Pokémon, making them funnier games. It succeeds where many Pokémon copycats fail, and Yo-Kai Watch deserves points for that.
6 Rip-Off: Draconius Go Away, Please
Despite my social status as being the Pokémon fanboy among my family and friends, I couldn’t get into Pokémon Go. I love how big it became, and how much people got into. I simply wasn’t one of them. After Pokémon Go’s success, a lot of copycats came out. Draconius Go is probably the most obvious rip-off; mostly because of how little it tries to hide the fact it is a rip-off. Instead of Pokémon to capture, Draconius Go instead has generic mystical creatures to capture. The world map, which is based on the GPS, is eerily similar to Pokémon Go’s map. Pokémon Go itself isn’t a very good game as is, but has the benefit of having hundreds of iconic characters at its disposal. Draconius Go doesn’t even have that, so it is just a bad mobile game.
5 Does It Better: It’s Time To Duel!
I was really into Yu-Gi-Oh! when the show first came out. I loved the anime, I bought as many cards as I could, and I would play a few card games at school with my friends. That being said, I tried watching an episode when I was in high school, and it sadly didn’t hold up for me at that time. I thought the show was being overly serious, despite the silly premise, and certain story aspects didn’t hold up for me.
Despite that, the franchise is still going strong.
Yu-Gi-Oh! has the benefit of restarting the series ever so often with a new cast of characters, meaning each variation of the show had a different set of protagonists. I’m sick of Ash in Pokémon, I would have preferred they would have gone the Yu-Gi-Oh! route. Not only that, but the cards are still cool, and the characters from the original show had more personality than the characters in Pokémon.
4 Rip-Off: Ripping Off A Rip-Off
I actually watched quite a few episodes of Duel Masters as a kid, and the dub for it is pretty amazing. The show was edited and dubbed over to make it a lot more comical. Conversations would often go off on a tangent, with the characters bringing up random topics and commonly ignoring the plot. When the show did focus on the plot, it was kind of dumb.
Duel Masters is more of a Yu-Gi-Oh! rip-off than Pokémon, yet they are all essentially about the same thing. Children controlling monsters to fight battles. While the show isn’t that good, I think the cards are pretty cool. I still have a stack of them with me, so I see value in them. The series is still airing in Japan with its spin-offs, so it must have done something right.
3 Does It Better: The Original Challenger
People who I’ve grown up with know I am a big Pokémon fan, though many don’t realize I am also a big fan of Digimon as well. The original Digimon Adventure series may be too childish for some older viewers to stomach now, but when the show got serious, it got serious.
There was always stakes in Digimon, with the lead characters’ lives constantly in danger.
It makes the drama a lot more palpable and intense. Pokémon would rarely have real stakes in their conflicts. Digimon Tamers, the third season in the series, is without a doubt the best season the show has had yet. Some may find the beginning slow, but it is a very methodically paced and well executed season that touches on dark themes that you rarely see in any children’s show. If the early seasons are too kiddie for you to watch, Tamers is still worth checking out.
2 Rip Off: An Attempt Was Made
When I first saw an image of Dinosaur King, the first thing I thought to myself was “Huh, they’re still making Pokémon rip-offs?” And that’s all the show is–another Pokémon copycat in a long line of Pokémon copycats.
The show was based on a card-focused arcade game. In the show, the main protagonists come across a fallen meteor and are gifted with special stones that have elemental symbols on them. When the characters activate the stones with a card, they summon dinosaurs. Dinosaur King is certainly not the worst Pokémon imitator out there, and there are fans of the show out there. If you’re a kid, you’ll probably like it. However, if you are someone like me, who has gone through so many Pokémon rip-offs in their youth, then you understand why Dinosaur King isn’t a good show. It’s a show that lacks originality, and is clearly trying to emulate past kid’s anime.
1 Does It Better: A Legend Is Born
I have gushed over Cardcaptors in the past already, but I am willing to talk more about this awesome show. Cardcaptors is actually the American edited version of Cardcaptor Sakura, a TV anime based on a manga created by CLAMP. The anime stars a young girl named Sakura, who after encountering a tiny magical beast, accidentally releases a deck of magical cards in her hometown.
It is up to her and her friends to find these cards, who are playing havoc in the city, and seal them away.
The American version tried to downplay Sakura’s role in the series, and make the character Syaoran more of a co-lead. It was done in an attempt to make the show more appealing to boys. It worked, as that is the reason why I started watching it as a kid, however, I always knew it was a girl’s show. I still love the show, and I recommend watching it for people of all genders and ages.
