''Hamtaro'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

and storybook series created and illustrated by

Ritsuko Kawai is a Japanese manga artist known as the creator of the ''Hamtaro'' franchise. Kawai originally created Hamtaro as storybooks for children first published in 1997 and adapted into an anime television series in Japan in July 2000. ''Hamtaro'' is a ...

about a hamster. The manga was serialized in

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's "Second Grade" magazine in April 1997; more ''Hamtaro'' stories would later be added into the other grade-level magazines, as well as in '' Ciao''. The series focuses on a

hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera.Fox, Sue. 2006. ''Hamsters''. T.F.H. Publications Inc. They have become established as popular small pets. The b ...

named Hamtaro, who has a variety of adventures with other hamsters known as the "Ham-Hams" ("Hamuchans" in the Japanese version).

Viz Media VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...

published the manga adaptations and storybooks in English. Multiple anime adaptations were produced by

TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as '' Lupin the Third' ...

and aired on

TV Tokyo JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...

. The first series was dubbed in English by

The Ocean Group Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, ...

Plot

The series revolves around a hamster named Hamtaro, who is owned by a 10-year-old girl named Laura Haruna (Hiroko Haruna in the Japanese/Original version). Curious by nature, he ventures out each day to make friends and go on adventures with a clan of fellow hamster friends known as The Ham-Hams. The Ham-Hams meet at a special clubhouse built by Boss ("Taisho").

Media

Manga

There are three manga about Hamtaro, ''A Home for Hamtaro'', ''Hamtaro Gets Lost'', and ''Jealous Hamtaro''. In the first two, Hamtaro's owner is named Yukari while in the latter, her name is Amy.

Anime

In Japan, ''Hamtaro'' aired three anime series, released four films, several specials, many video game/DVD releases and merchandise. By 2002, the franchise had generated $2.5 billion in merchandise sales. The success was not paralleled in the United States, however, with only the first series, some special episodes, three video games (though two others were released in Europe), and limited merchandise. On 23 February 2011, it was announced that ''Hamtaro'' would be receiving a series titled ''Trotting Hamtaro Dechu!''.

Games

The Hamtaro franchise has multiple video game titles with independent storylines. These titles include

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

and

educational game Educational games are games explicitly designed with educational purposes, or which have incidental or secondary educational value. All types of games may be used in an educational environment, however educational games are games that are design ...

s that can be found for PC,

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

, Game Boy Advance (GBA), and the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

consoles.

In popular culture

On 26 July 2020, a group of more than 2,000 protesters in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

called the Free Youth Movement, led a protest against the government of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

which involved singing the theme song for ''Hamtaro'' with modified lyrics to say "The most delicious food is taxpayers’ money. ..issolve the parliament! Dissolve the parliament! Dissolve the parliament!" Other student protests during the same week have continued using Hamtaro as a symbol for the government's "feasting on taxpayer's money," and have involved groups running in circles, as if in hamster wheels, while singing the modified version of the jingle.

References

External links

Hamtaro Official Japanese site
* * {{Toonami Cartoon Network 2000 Japanese television series debuts 2006 Japanese television series endings 2000s fads and trends Animated television series about mammals Fictional hamsters Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga Shōjo manga Toonami TMS Entertainment TV Tokyo original programming Viz Media anime