Digimon Web Dot-art Contest
In 1999 and 2000, Digimon Web held a series of two Original Digimon Contests 「オリジナルデジモンコンテスト」. The contests tasked fans with drawing monochrome pixel art of their own ideas for new Digimon, in the same styles as those used in Digimon virtual pets and other LCD devices.
In addition to receiving Digimon mechandise, the prize of these contests was that winning entries would be adopted by Bandai as official Digimon. However, a minority of winning entries have still never appeared in any official Digimon material to this day.
1st Original Digimon Contest[edit]
The 1st Original Digimon Contest 「第１回 オリジナルデジモンコンテスト」 was held in 1999.
There were seven winning entries: three that were decided by votes, and an additional four that were chosen by Bandai employees Watanabe Kenji ("Hige Kenji"), Kitagawara Makoto ("Kitagawara Meijin"), Volcano Ota, and the webmaster of Digimon Web. The results page on Digimon Web presented the winners' submitted pixel art alongside Bandai's stock art of the species, and also disclosed when the winning Digimon were planned to debut in official Digimon media (all seven winners have since done so).[1]
Unlike the winners of other original Digimon contests, their respective profiles in the Digimon Reference Book make no mention of the contest.
| Award | Contest Entry | Official Digimon | Submitted By | Votes | Prize(s) Awarded | Official Debut | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Award | 
|
|
Fujita Yozo 「藤田 要三」 from Hokkaido Prefecture[1] |
40[1] | Contest results page:
Actual: |
||
| Silver Award | 
|
|
Yoshida Masahiro 「吉田 昌弘」 from the Tokyo metropolitan area[1] |
32[1] | Contest results page:
Actual:
|
||
| Bronze Award |
|
|
Taguchi Hiroshi 「田口 裕司」 from Hyōgo Prefecture[1] |
27[1] |
|
||
| Hige Kenji Award | 
|
|
Tada Koji 「多田 幸司」 from Nagano Prefecture[1] |
N/A |
|
||
| Kitagawara-Meijin Award |
|
|
Doitakuya 「どいたくや」 from Tottori Prefecture[1] |
N/A |
|
||
| Volcano Ota Award | 
|
|
Taguchi Hiroshi 「田口 裕司」 from Hyōgo Prefecture[1] |
N/A |
|
Bandai also used Taguchi's original contest entry sprite for Big Mamemon, without any modifications, for its appearances in the Digimon Pendulum virtual pets. It is the only contest-winning Digimon whose contest sprite is known to have been adopted wholesale by Bandai. | |
| Webmaster Award | 
|
|
Yoneda Utaro 「米田有 太郎」 from Shizuoka Prefecture[2] |
N/A |
|
2nd Original Digimon Contest[edit]
The 2nd Original Digimon Contest 「第２回 オリジナルデジモンコンテスト」[N 1] was held in early 2000. This contest was divided into two categories, each representing one of the two different styles of sprite used by Digimon LCD devices at the time. Each category had seven winners, in the same manner as the 1st Contest.
Digimon Category[edit]
The "Digimon" category of the 2nd Contest was for Digimon pixel art in the 16x16 pixel style of the sprites used in the Digital Monster and Digimon Pendulum virtual pets.
Of the seven winners of the "Digimon" category, only two have been explicitly acknowledged by the Digimon Reference Book as having been adopted as official Digimon.
| Award | Contest Entry | Official Digimon | Entry Data | Submitted By | Prize(s) Awarded | Official Debut | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Award | 
|
(none to date) | Kato Ryuhachi 「加藤 竜八」 from Fukui Prefecture[2] |
|
(none to date) | ||
| Silver Award | 
|
(none to date) | Kanno Rikiya 「管野 力也」 from Ibaraki Prefecture[2] |
|
(none to date) | ||
| Bronze Award |
|
|
Tamura Naohisa 「田村 直久」 from Chiba Prefecture[2][3] |
|
When it was adopted as an official Digimon, Valkyrimon's Level was changed to Ultimate. | ||
| Hige Kenji Award | 
|
|
Kameda Takaaki 「亀田 たかあき」 from Tottori Prefecture[2][4] |
When it was adopted as an official Digimon, Harimogemon's name was changed to Togemogumon, and its Level was changed to Armor. | |||
| Kitagawara-Meijin Award | 
|
 Mermaimon |
Seshimo Chika 「瀬下 ちか」 from the Tokyo metropolitan area[2] |
|
It has not been explicitly confirmed that the official Mermaimon was adopted from, or based on, the contest-winner Mermaimon; its Digimon Reference Book entry makes no mention of the contest. If it was adopted from the contest, then it underwent a significant redesign, as well as a change of Level to Perfect. | ||
| Volcano Ota Award | 
|
(none to date) | Chiba Masaki 「千葉 昌輝」 from Shizuoka Prefecture[2] |
(none to date) | |||
| Webmaster Award | 
|
 Witchmon |
Takeuchi Aya 「竹内 亜弥」 from Hyōgo Prefecture[2] |
|
It has not been explicitly confirmed that the official Witchmon was adopted from, or based on, the contest-winner Witchmon; its Digimon Reference Book entry makes no mention of the contest. If it was adopted from the contest, then it underwent a change of Level to Adult. |
Digivice Category[edit]
The "Digivice" category of the 2nd Contest was for Digimon pixel art in the larger, 24x32 pixel sprite style that was introduced in the Digivice LCD device.
All seven winners in this category have since appeared in official Digimon media, and their origins in this contest are acknowledged in their Digimon Reference Book entries.
| Award | Contest Entry | Official Digimon | Entry Data | Submitted By | Prize(s) Awarded | Official Debut | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold Award | 
|
|
Nabetou Shun 「鍋藤 駿」 from Fukuoka Prefecture[2][5] |
|
|||
| Silver Award | 
|
|
Ogura Yūsuke 「小椋 勇輔」 from Okayama Prefecture[2][6] |
|
|||
| Bronze Award |
|
|
Higuchi Keiichi 「樋口 景一」 from Hyōgo Prefecture[2][7] |
|
|||
| Hige Kenji Award | 
|
|
Yousuke 「ようすけ」 from Gifu Prefecture[2][8] |
When it was adopted as an official Digimon, Vademon Kai's name was changed to EBEmon. | |||
| Kitagawara-Meijin Award | 
|
 
|
Ino Takahiro 「猪野 貴裕」 from Yamagata Prefecture[2][9][10] |
Black variant: | Similar to the case of Big Mamemon in the 1st Contest, Bandai's sprite for the gray Deathmon in the D-3 toy appears to be partially based on Ino's original contest entry sprite. Its head and torso are very similar, if not identical, although its wing and limbs differ significantly. | ||
| Volcano Ota Award | 
|
|
Shima Masaki 「嶋 真樹」 from Ibaraki Prefecture[2][11] |
When it was adopted as an official Digimon, Karatenmon underwent a significant redesign. Shima's original design is still, to an extent, reflected in Bandai's Karatenmon sprite for the D-Ark toy, although it does not actually use Shima's contest entry sprite at all. | |||
| Webmaster Award | 
|
|
Azuma Taiichirō 「東 泰一郎」 from Miyagi Prefecture[2][12] |
Other Entries[edit]
In addition to the above fourteen winning entries, the Digimon Reference Book acknowledges that two further Digimon were adopted from "winning entries" in the 2nd Contest that were not mentioned on its results page.
| Contest Entry | Official Digimon | Submitted By | Official Debut |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Sudō Chie 「須藤 千絵」 from Saitama Prefecture[13] |
|
|
|
|
Somei Daisuke 「染井 大輔」 from Hiroshima Prefecture[14] |
