Digimon (デジモン Dejimon?), short for (デジタルモンスター Dejitaru Monsutā?, "Digital Monster") is a popular Japanese series of media and merchandise created by Akiyoshi Hongo, which is comprised of anime, manga, toys, video games, trading card games and other media. Digimon, the lifeforms the series revolves around, are monsters of various forms living in a "Digital World," a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.