"Monster Farm: Enbanseki no himitsu" (1999) TV series 1999-2001

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Writers:

Michael S. Harbour (writer)
Tom Putnam (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3

Genre:

Animation

Tagline:

Monsters Rule!

Cast

Andrew Francis	...	Genki / ... (73 episodes, 1999-2001)
Janyse Jaud	...	Mocchi / ... (73 episodes, 1999-2001)
Scott McNeil	...	Suezo / ... (73 episodes, 1999-2001)
Maggie Blue O'Hara	...	Holly (73 episodes, 1999-2001)
Brian Drummond	...	Tiger of the Wind / ... (69 episodes, 1999-2001)
Sam Vincent	...	Hare / ... (66 episodes, 1999-2001)
Paul Dobson	...	Moo / ... (57 episodes, 1999-2001)
Richard Newman	...	Golem / ... (40 episodes, 1999-2000)
Doc Harris	...	Golem / ... (34 episodes, 1999-2001)
Lee Tockar	...	General Durahan / ... (34 episodes, 1999-2001)
Terry Klassen	...	Tournament Announcer / ... (30 episodes, 1999-2001)

Also Known As:

"Monster Rancher" (USA)

Runtime:

USA:30 min (48 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:TV-Y7

Company:

The Ocean Group

Trivia:

There was a third season which aired in Japan (where the show was produced), and was dubbed into English but did not air in the USA. It did air in Canada, the UK and Australia/NZ. All 3 seasons were dubbed in Fench, German, and Portuguese and aired in France, Germany, and Brazil respectively.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dead or Alive 2 (2000) (VG)

I LOVE this show!

When people review Monster Rancher, Digimon, and Pokemon, they nearly always compare the three. It's kind of hard not to, so I will too.

But first, just about MR. This is the opposite of a normal cartoon. Instead of a bunch of action and whatnot, most of each episode centers on the characters and their feelings, emotions, motivations and interactions. No character is what he seems, and the creators do an incredible job of making the characters seem not just _deep_ but like bottomless wells of personality and history.

Now the comparisons: except for the inclusion of monsters, Monster Rancher is not like Digimon or Pokemon in any way. The animation is better than both other 'mons (in my order, Pokemon's animation is horrible, Digimon's is pretty good, and Monster Rancher's is great). As for story, I don't watch Pokemon enough to know completely, but I've seen a few episodes and it seems like a run-of-the-mill children's cartoon. Digimon is great because it actually has a continuous story and characters that I give a c**p about. Monster Rancher, though, goes beyond even Digimon in regards to characterization, which makes the show such a joy to watch.