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Monster Rancher

Monster Rancher is the type of series that you either think is boring, or you love it. I fall into the latter category. Of course, I'm a little bias, for MR was the anime that got me into this whole mess, making me the otaku I am today. Oh, and as another note, before I begin this review: many people may compare this to Pokémon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh etc. It's not. Not at all.

Well, anyway, when you begin watching the series you are instantly introduced to Genki (for those of you who are Japanese-illiterate, the word genki means energy, but it is actually the main character's name here). Genki is a hyperactive (go fig), annoying, and ultimately unlikable 10 or 11 year old person. He does poorly in school, falling asleep and daydreaming frequently, is rather obnoxious, and is absolutly obsessed with the Monster Rancher videogame series.

When Genki gets home from a great day at school (sarcasm alert), he is overjoyed to find that his mailbox contains the newest Monster Rancher video game: Monster Rancher 200x. Genki immediately rushes to his apartment and pops the game into his machine. Genki eagerly starts watching the game's intro. While he's doing that, the camera cuts to a young girl and what appears to be a yellow hopping eyeballrunning from dinosaurs towards a building. While we have no clue what relevence this has to our hyperactive little friend, the camera quickly cuts back to him, as he inserts a CD into the PSone.

Now wait a second, if you've ever played the Monster Rancher videogame series, you can skip this paragraph. In MR, you raise 'monsters'. You put these monsters, which are basically pets, through drills, train them to fight, and win money to update you ranch and feed your monsters. But to get these monsters, you must put CDs into your PSones when the game promps you to. The game will read the info on the disc, and you will get a certain type of monster depending on what CD it is. So that's what Genki's doing. Back to the synop.

While Genki's doing this, the two running people sprint into the building. The girl (who will later be introduced as Holly) tosses a circular disk she was holding to the eyeball (who will lated be introduced as Suezo). The screen splits, and both Holly and Genki simultaniously unlock the disks. Genki is immediately sucked into his TV screen and, to his confusion and distress, is transported into the Monster Rancher world, where an equally confused Holly and Suezo await him. They stare at each other for a moment until a little pink ball that resembles a Japanese cake (a mocchi) falls out of the sky onto Genki. The ball opens up to reveal itself to be a weird duck... thing...

This is when the evil pursuing dinosaurs decide to burst in the door. Genki, Holly, Suezo, and the soon to be named pink ball thing quickly escape to a remote hiding place where they're sure the evil monsters (or "baddies") won't find them. All the introductions are made and Genki appropriately names the little monster Mocchi. Holly tells Genki that she and Suezo are searching for the mystery disk (in their world, THOSE unlcok monsters) that contains the legendary Pheonix. The Pheonix has the power to turn all the baddies good, and destroy the ultimite evil leader (try not to laugh): Moo. Holly and Suezo do this by way of the magic stone Holly has around her neck, that points out mystery disks. Genki, seeing no way to get home, joins their quest.

Well, Genki along the way Genki and the others meet up with Golem, a giant made of stone, Tiger, a whoop-ass wolf with horns, and Hare, a smooth-talking con artist who resembles a rabbit that stands erect. The first season is pretty basic, and much more geared towards kids. Genki and his team of seven defeat two of the 'Big Bad 4', Moo's elite soldiers, and gain experience along the way. The second series is much more serious, though generally still geared towards kids.

During the second series, which IMO is much better than the first, Tiger must face a personal battle as he battles his brother, who is the 3rd of the Big Bad Four, and so must Holly, when they go against the final Big Bad baddie, Naga, who destroyed Holly's village when she was young, murdering everyone in it, except (obviously) her and Suezo. Then in the later half of the second series, the crew goes against and ultimately vanquishes Durahan, who tried to undermine Moo, even though Durahan still worked for him. The second series comes to a dramatic close, and Genki ultimately.....well, you'll find out.

-Akemi's Anime World