(296 episodes)
What’s it about ?
The adventures of a pet hamster and his furry friends, adapted from a children’s manga series that’s still running.
Characters
Hamtaro, our protagonist. Tends to escape a lot from his cage, as he likes to explore his surroundings. Easily makes friends.
His owner is a nice little girl who just moved into a new neighbourhood and doesn’t get much screentime yet. I’m sure she and her family will have room for more characterization later on.
Oxnard, a goofy other hamster who lives in the neighbourhood and apologizes a lot.
“Boss”, a “field hamster” who built his own little underground nest nearby. He’s a bit gruff, but seems nice enough once you get to know him. He’s in love with…
Ribbon, a cute hamster who lives in a house nearby. She doesn’t get any lines as Boss tries romancing her through the window… but it looks like it’s Hamtaro who caught her eye. (Also, her owner makes friends with Hamtaro’s in a subplot.)
Production Values
Perfectly alright. On the other hand, this is another show where I could only get the English localization… which clocks at 17 minutes instead of the usual 22. Even accounting for the absence of OP & ED sequences, it still makes me suspect some cuts were made… Although nothing immediately noticeable.
Overall Impression
That was quite cute. I can see how it got successful enough to run for six years : it’s well made, the characters are fun to follow, and it has none of the lowbrow humour you often get from kids’ shows. Even this setup episode was entertaining enough.
But not enough for me to commit to watching nearly 300 episodes. It’s good at what it does, but I’m not really the audience for it.
