The 24-episode series (an adaptation of a popular tragic romance manga novel by Yuu Watase, animated by Studio Pierrot, broadcast April 20 - September 28, 2000) spans Aya's transformation from a carefree tomboy to a frightened young woman. The confusing-enough changes of adolescence are compounded by the fears of losing her body and mind to the emerging powerful personality of Ceres. There is the horror of isolation from family and friends, as those who hope to control Ceres murder anyone they think might aid Aya. Above all, there is romance: romantic humor as she and one teen savior, Yuhi, who try to keep their relationship on a chaste hero and rescued damsel-in-distress level, start to develop embarrassing adolescent hormonal stirrings toward each other; romantic horror as Aya's beloved brother Aki is possessed by the personality of Ceres' ancient lover and starts to attack her incestuously; romantic mystery as Toya, the handsome agent of one of her enemies, announces that he has had a change of heart and he will save her from them instead (can she believe him?). Not all of the unexpected plot twists or explanations of mythology as ancestral memories of space aliens are convincing (one of the ruthless enemies turns out to have an unselfish motive; still, a noble goal does not excuse his murderous means), but the serious attempt to keep the viewer intellectually guessing is an admirable one. By the halfway point the romance has become serious. Both Yuhi and Toya recognize that the other truly loves Aya, and each believes that the other is the better man to protect her, so the viewer is kept wondering which of them will be first to sacrifice himself unselfishly so Aya can live happily with the other.

Hamtaro. Photo credit: Cartoon Network.

Hamtaro. V.1, Hamtaro and the Ham-Hams. V.2, Ham-Hams Head Seaward. V.3, A Surprise Party! V.4, A Ham-Ham Christmas! (more to come)
TV series. Japanese premiere: TV Tokyo, July 7, 2000; most recent episode #118, October 4, 2002. U.S. premiere: The Cartoon Network, June 3, 2002. Series director: Osamu Nabeshima. 3 episodes/75 minutes. Price & format: Dubbed video $12.98, DVD $14.98. Distributor: Viz Video.

Ever since the success of Pokémon, the American TV industry has been looking for "the next Pokémon" from Japan. Those who are concerned about the confrontational violence inherent in TV cartoons derived from video games (Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Monster Rancher, etc.) have been hoping for a next Pokémon that is kinder, cuter and cuddlier. It looks like they have found it in Hamtaro.

Hamtaro is the kinder, gentler kin to Pokémon. Photo credit: Cartoon Network.

Totoko Hamtaro (usually translated as Hamtaro's Tales, although "totoko" -- one of numerous onomatopoeic words in the Ham-Ham language -- is closer to "scampering" or "trotalong") began in 1997 as illustrated children's stories by Ms. Ritsuko Kawai in Little School Second-Grader magazine published by Shogakukan, the educational/entertainment conglomerate also responsible for Pokémon. It became popular enough there that Shogakukan gave Hamtaro star treatment with picture books, pop-up books, origami books and hamster care books. The anime TV series, produced by Shogakukan Music & Digital Entertainment (with animation production by TMS Entertainment), premiered in July 2000. It quickly became the top-rated children's show on TV Tokyo and replaced Pokémon as the #1 licensed character in Japan. The first theatrical feature, Trotalong Hamtaro: The Great HamHamland Adventure, was released on December 15, 2001; it was in the box-office top ten for six weeks and grossed $18,623,382. The second theatrical feature, Trotalong Hamtaro: Princess HamHamHamja's Dreams! (the promo pictures show an "Arabian Nights" setting) is scheduled for December 14, 2002. The first 52 TV episodes have been shown in the U.S. on The Cartoon Network starting in June. Shogakukan's U.S. subsidiaries, Viz Communications and ShoPro USA, are set to start releasing translations of Ms. Kawai's books and videos of the TV episodes beginning in October.

Hamtaro is a golden hamster, the pet of 10-year-old Laura (Ryoko). In the premiere episode Laura and her parents move to a new home, and she enters the 5th grade. It turns out that all her new classmates have pet hamsters, too. Hamtaro, bored at home alone, gets out of his cage and sneaks out of the house to explore his new neighborhood. He finds that all the other hamsters come out to play while their human friends are at school, too. Hamtaro, a natural leader, proposes they build a clubhouse under a big tree. The Ham-Ham Gang is not quite as numerous as Pokémon's 151 "gotta catch 'em all" menagerie, but there are close to two dozen hamsters (Oxnard, Pashmina, Boss, Bijou, Howdy, Jingle, Snoozer, etc.), each of whom has a distinct fur pattern and personality. Some stories feature the Ham-Hams interacting among themselves while their human friends are at school; others involve Hamtaro helping out Laura without her knowledge ("The Search for Dad's Glasses!").