Welcome to the Fantasy Zone
This Zone is dedicated to the lesser known elements of anime hosted by the cast of Victory Script.
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Who will win in this Death Battle?
Is this costume practical?
You name it, it's all covered here in the Fantasy Zone!
With all the high octane action, monster taming and children's card games, you'd be forgiven for wondering how Hamtaro fits in, now I have already reviewed Hamtaro years ago so this is more a look at Hamtaro's run in the west.
1. Origin as a Children's Story
Created by Ritsuko Kawai in 1997, Hamtaro started as a Children's book and a manga, the art style was more in line with typical children's books of the era, some have been translated into English and can be purchased online whereas the manga is more in line with the art style seen in the anime.
2. Screwed by the Network
While Hamtaro did have a moderate audience in the west, it never matched the $2.5 Billion it made in Japan through it's success, this was due to either being aired during school hours or too early for most children to wake up.
3. Too Weird to Dub or too Ultra Safe?
Reasons for it's cancellation were likely more due to the poor timings but a couple of theories are out there, the first was that the Ocean Group who were put in charge of dubbing were finding the episodes too weird to dub and ended after barely half the episodes, the other is my theory and I said the same in my review is that it was too ultra safe, Ritsuko Kawai made Hamtaro to promote non-violence, teamwork, cooperation and sharing which is at odds with the Network block it aired on, it made more sense here in the UK as it aired on Fox Kids but over in the States.
4. It Bizarrely Aired on Toonami
That's right, the heart warming story of little Hamsters going on big adventures was aired alongside the likes of Dragonballz, Justice League and Samurai Jack, it was even joked by Nostalgia Critic and Channel Awesome as being the most bad ass show on the block, that probably didn't endear itself to the right audience but those who did watch it never hated it.
5. It's Impossible to Hate Hamtaro
In the 20 plus years it's been around, Hamtaro has this legacy of being impossible to hate, it tapped into the childhood of anyone who owned a small pet which was already a popular trend in Japan owing to not having much home space for anything larger than cats as well as the tried and tested success formula of wondering what goes on when you aren't watching.
6. Cancellation and Legacy
Hamtaro sadly went the same way as Medabots being that too much was released at once in regards to merch, games and way more episodes than needed along with an unpopular redesign that took away Hamtaro's cuddly nature.
But it left an interesting legacy.
As late as 2020, the Free Youth Movement Group used the Hamtaro theme to protest against the Thai Government.
Franchises like Animal Crossing also found success during Hamtaro's run with much of the cast overlapping.
7. Cute Animals Will Always Sell
Hamtaro maybe long cancelled but web short Pui Pui Molcar about stop motion Guinea Pig cars and YouTube star Red Birb Gumi still keep adorable animals on the map.
So that is Hamtaro's unique little slice of history, I'll throw out the choices again and see what you want to hear about next.
"Escaflowne's messed up history"
Or
"How Gundam got it's groove back and lost it again"
Or
"Princess Peach was Always a Bad Ass"
Or
"The Curious Case of Shinzo"
Or
"I thought I dreamt Strange Dawn"
Or
"Did anyone watch Flint the Time Detective?"
Or
"Did Yokai Watch really happen?"
End
