Monster Farm: Enbanseki no himitsu

I remember this show. I liked it. Compared to other anime out there, it may not seem like much, but I find it to be an entertaining adventure story nevertheless. At the time, I also liked Pokemon and Digimon, but I remember thinking this show was better than both of them. True, the monster designs are a lot more plain than either show, but I still liked this show the best for some reason. When it aired on FOX Family, I was disappointed to see that only 26 episodes were dubbed, but later on in the year they ended up being there, which made me very happy. What surprised me was that the show started out kind of kiddy, but it actually gets darker and more emotional as it goes on. My only regret is that I never got to see the third season. But, anyway, I'd recommend it.

My favorite characters were Hare and Suezo, they were funny, haha!

The "rip-off" trilogy, as I like to call it, consists of "Pokemon," "Digimon," and "Monster Rancher." I had seen the other two and decided, what the heck. This has turned out to be my favorite. I normally don't care for the way the dubbing is handled in shows like these, but here I think the voices work well. The animation in this show puts the other two to shame. There are some FANTASTIC monster creations here! My favorite character is probably Golem, the kind-hearted rock monster voiced by Richard Newman. He is peaceful, yet will fight if he has to. And I just love how he forgets to catch Suezo (the "eyeball monster") after he's been thrown up into the air. What really separates this one from the other series is the fact that our heroes cannot evolve. They are what they are, like it or not, and they must learn to accept each other as such. There are some nice stories in this series. Definitely worth watching.

Cartoon done well even if the idea is not very original.

Digimon and Pokemon have been taught too well which keys to tap to appeal to young audiences.

In the early 21st century there was a whole genre dedicated to kids who would catch monsters and then make them fight each other.

I think the best characters were Lilim and General Durahan, two villains who were the best episode of the series in their departure.

From what I remember I really enjoyed this show. I watched it on Fox Kids along with "Digimon" and I didn't really find any comparison between the two. My favorite monster characters were Mocchi and Suezo, they are sooo cutee! I also liked Genki and Holly.

My favorite episodes are "In the beginning" since its the episode that started it all. I also liked "Holly's Happy Birthday".

Overall I really liked this series. The action was good, the characters were good, and the anime was good. The only real problem was the dubbing was a little off. But that was O.K.

"Monster Rancher" deserves 10/10 stars and I recommend it to anyone who likes anime.

Most property based animated series basically just serve as half hour commercials for toys. "Monster Rancher," while it does serve that purpose, rises above what you'd expect given that. Unlike "Pokemon," which is insipid, and "Digimon," which is derivative of the latter, "Monster Rancher" rests its strengths in strong, character development scripts.

Except for a few stereotypes like "Star Wars" familial elements and the brooding, loner type with attitude, the majority of episodes have, thus far, been fine essays reaching into the minds of characters we would normally not care about. Whereas one would expect a character to be chosen from the video game to use as a plot device, the plot device is instead the motivation for the character, rather than motivation being revealed as an afterthought to spur on the plot.

So far, there's only one season of episodes. But, if there are more, and if the same attention to character detail is maintained, this series should prove to be quite enjoyable, despite a few minor stereotypes.