List of Digimon Tamers episodes

The 51-episode anime series Digimon Tamers, produced by Toei Animation in 2001, is the third series in the Digimon franchise. It does not follow the plot of the previous two series, Adventure and Adventure 02. Instead, the story is set in a version of the real world where Digimon are creatures in a television program and a collectible card game; however, several children discover that these supposedly fictional creatures exist in a parallel Digital World and are attempting to enter the real world. The series was directed by Yukio Kaizawa, featuring music composition by Takanori Arisawa and character designs by Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru. Tamers aired in Japan on Fuji TV between April 1, 2001, and March 31, 2002.

In the United States, the series premiered on Fox Kids on September 1, 2001. Due to its differences from the first two Digimon series, Tamers received mixed reviews when it first aired. Tim Jones of THEM Anime writes, "Although Digimon Tamers has its faults (slow character development, a sudden change in new characters from the last season, and a less-than-exciting first half), the more you watch it, and the further you get into it, the more you'll enjoy it." In comparison to the first two series, Tamers also displayed darker undertones in its plot. According to English-language dub voice actor Dave Wittenberg, the new series possessed "an element of seriousness" that was not present in the first two seasons. Additionally, some parts would be better understood by older viewers due to the introduction of more difficult concepts.

The airing of Digimon Tamers coincided with the September 11 attacks, and in at least one case, the events have been analyzed within the context of the series. Margaret Schwartz of PopMatters writes, "As NPR and other […] media began to debate the September 11 images, I began to see just how important it was to consider how we as a culture define and experience "reality" […] Some argue that the shocking video footage […] is a necessary experience of the catastrophe—even a condition of it." She points out the metafictional story of Tamers where "bits of forgotten computer data have fused to become a separate world inhabited by live creatures". In acknowledging the line drawn between good and evil in the series, Schwartz writes, "The evil here consists in refusing to see that Digimon are "real", real creatures, and that destroying any one of them is in fact murder." Through the existence of intangible communication networks as a "product of human ingenuity", she concludes that "those of us in the "real" world have become so good at playing creator, at making "things" appear much like "real" creatures, that we tend to confuse the two."

Kōji Wada's song "The Biggest Dreamer" was used as the opening theme for the series. Two ending themes by Ai Maeda (credited as AiM) were used for the series, "My Tomorrow" and "Days: Aijō to Nichijō" (Days −愛情と日常−).

Japanese release
Toei Video, the distribution arm of Toei Animation, released a total of 12 DVD compilations of Digimon Tamers in Japan between January 21 and December 6, 2002. The series was also released as a 9-disc boxed set on April 25, 2007, by Happinet Pictures.

North American release
Alliance Entertainment has released a 5-disc DVD boxed set of the English dub of Digimon Tamers in North America.