There are a lot, I mean, a LOT of copycat anime and games of Pokemon. The most successful of those is certainly the Digimon series. If there's a second place for a good "Pokemon type" it would be it for sure.
But...what about the one for the third place? That is quite debatable since there are quite a few good ones out there! But I think a very strong candidate for that spot would be Monster Rancher aka Monster Farm in Japan! Of the anime/games of this type that I like the most, Digimon is among my favorite copycats~
A good reason for that is because like the best copycats out there...I would even hesitate to use that word since it's more like they use the same "idea" as Pokemon but they do their own thing with it and do a good job. While I like the games of MR, we're only going to talk about the anime here and since the anime exists in its own continuity you don't even need to play the games to enjoy it.
Well, I say that but I don't think was ever confirmed if the anime is connected to the games directly or not. If they do exist in the same continuity then the anime has to be before the first game and we can only think that because we have Holly there as your Breeder's assistant in that game. I dunno, if it's the same Holly it makes NO SENSE AT ALL she would not even mention Genki and her journey with the rest of the party during the game.
So! What is the anime about? From wiki: "The story follows a boy named Genki Sakura, who is a key player of the Monster Rancher video games. After winning a tournament hosted by the game's creators, Genki wins a special CD that he can use to unlock a special monster in his game at home. However, upon using this disk in his game console, he finds himself transported to a world of monsters that, much like Genki's game, are given life by scanning special stone disks within temples.
There, he meets a girl named Holly and her monster friend Suezo, who are seeking a stone disk containing a legendary Phoenix that will save the land from the tyranny of an evil ruler named Moo. Upon attempting to use the disk Genki had won to try and release the monster, they bring forth a different monster, which Genki names Mocchi. Wanting to free the land from Moo's rule, Genki, Holly, Mocchi, and Suezo set off to find the Phoenix, using Holly's Magic Stone to guide them in the direction of the Phoenix. The Magic Stone leads them to Golem, Tiger, and Hare, each of which have their motivations to join the group on their journey to find the Phoenix."
As you can see, MR was one of those anime that was isekai before isekai was a thing! And also a good isekai all things considered. Maybe that's another reason why the anime is good...it was a good isekai anime even back then since we see this whole new world through Genki's eyes, learning about the lore of that new world over time and such! A bit more about this later in the spoiler section.
Let's now meet our main cast~
Genki Sakura: The MC of our anime who gets isekaid to the world of MR after winning a tournament (of MR...yes it's a game inside the anime xP) and getting a prototype game as a result. When he plays it that's when he gets isekaid and the action starts right away! As the typical MC of a shounen anime of that time, Genki is pretty energetic (which ironically is a translation of his name), dumb, impulsive, and enthusiastic! But he does mature more by the second/third season and he has his heart in a good place. He's also quite brave and despite being a young boy he doesn't hesitate to fight by their friend's side, even if he's just a human without any powers. The anime even "explains" he's that strong because he does a lot of sports and has dumbbells in his room so he is technically stronger than a normal ten-year-old boy. While it's easy to make a character like that annoying he's around as good as most Digimon MCs. Certainly better than Ask Ketchum, at least in the first seasons.
Holly: Holly is quite the special lady! I think she's the only human character that shows up in all (or most?) games of the franchise though as I mentioned before I'm not sure if it's the same Holly or even the same Holly in all of them. So, let's talk only about the anime Holly!
In a way, she's technically the MC of the anime. After all, the party is joining on HER quest to find Phoenix so that Moo can be defeated. Why? Because Moo's army destroyed her village around the time she was 14 years old. With the help of the magic stone given to her by her grandfather, she can locate the monsters that have "parts" of Phoenix within them. So she departed her village accompanied only by Suezo, her monster partner.
While she doesn't fight she might if the circumstances call for it. She's mature and composed and ends up becoming "the heart" of the group, the glue that keeps everyone together.
Maybe it's because she's the only girl in this sausage party but everyone tends to be quite "respectful" with her. Of everyone, aside from Suezo I think Genki and Tiger are the ones that have a more unique relationship with her. I can see why some fans like to ship her with Genki but if we judge only what we see in the anime I think her with Tiger would make more sense. And, again, if she's the same Holly from the games then we know nothing of that sort will go anywhere anyway...maybe the games are the reason why the writer only kiiiiiiiinda teased a bit of Genki x Holly and Tiger x Holly here, and there but never go all the way with either.
Suezo: https://imgbox.com/g/xMrwpJw1GP The first monster that "joins" the party as he was there from the beginning since he is Holly's partner.
Poor Suezo...if there is one character in the series that tends to be bullied it's him. All because he tends to be the comic relief of the party many times, which might be because he's also quite obnoxious and loud-mouthed. But he is always there for the party, especially for Holly, always! Even if he also suffered like his partner for sure since he was from the same village and lost friends and family just like she did. He lost his "big sister" Pink eye in that attack. No wonder that despite being a bit of a coward monster, he will still fight when needed and wants to find Phoenix as much as Holly!
Mocchi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xh30GvgwHQo Genki's monster partner! He was born from the game prototype that Genki was able to bring with him when he was isekaid. As the youngest of the group, since he was literally born in the first episode, he's very naive and cute but also quite brave! While he can talk like the other monsters he always adds "chi" at the end of his sentences, as some cute characters might do in an anime.
Probably alongside Genki himself is the character that got the most development as you see him grow through the series, especially in battle. By the end of the anime, he had become one of the strongest of the team!
Golem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKHkyOKyPdE Quite literally a golem, a monster that is like this big wall. Because of his past, he avoids violence despite being quite strong, and during most battles, he tends to stay behind just to protect Holly. In a way, he might be the most traumatized of the entire party given his past which also explains why he is disturbed by violence and also hates being alone.
In a way, he's one of the best "gentle giant" characters I've ever seen in anime. Golem's issue isn't even him but because the rest of the party is just so good! I'm not even sure if anybody can watch this anime and have Golem as his favorite monster but hey, he's here. Even if I wish they used another monster in his place since quite a few didn't manage to be in the anime but will talk more about this later.
Tiger: https://imgbox.com/g/KLkq7wunBe Probably the most complex character in the anime. Depending on your PoV, you can argue he's also the most developed.
First, in the English dub, he's called "Tiger of the Wind". You might be wondering why a wolf is called a "tiger". Well, in Japanese his name is Rygar. That word is brilliant since it comes from the Japanese word "raigaa" which means thunder fang. Plus, it's a reference to the Rygar franchise, another game series developed by Tecmo who are the same guys that do the MR games! How in the heck do they translate Rygar to Tiger it's either someone being very dumb or a mystery.
He's a wolf that grew up as a wild monster alongside his brother Gray Wolf (Silver Rygar in Japanese). To avoid any spoilers, let's just say he hates Moo and joins the party to get his revenge on him by helping them find Phoenix!
Tiger is just...HMMM! He's proud, stubborn, short-tempered, cynical, and one of the best canines you will ever see in any anime! It's no wonder he is one of the most popular characters and also as a monster of the anime!
He's so good that by himself he's already one of the best characters. But...we can't talk about Tiger without also talking about...
He's called "Ham" in the Japanese version so I guess this means he and the entire "hare" species of monsters are hamsters and not hares? xP
Hare is the most cunning and smartest of the group...but also tends to be quite selfish and greedy. He loves money which sometimes can bite him in the ass and the party too. Plus, his nature very often can make him have fights and argue with Tiger! In part, that's because Tiger never forgot how Hare won their fight in their first meeting and it's even more humiliating in the Japanese version.
And his dynamic with Tiger is so amusing to watch! It's also very easy to just ship him with that wolf and any fur that watched this anime will probably have done that already~
MR has 2 seasons though the dub has 3 which makes no sense but yeah they did that. And that's one of the issues with the dub...but worse than that, the dub cut and censored a lot of stuff. Especially the violence and the action plus some jokes and other stuff. A big example of this is how they removed the worst attack that Hare got and also the one he used to win his duel against Tiger...his farting. I'm not a fan of that stuff but I dislike censoring even more. For this reason alone I strongly recommend the subbed version even for you guys that prefer the dub, unless you really don't care about all the cuts and censorship. But you will be missing a lot of stuff including seeing Tiger drunk and hitting on Hare~
I don't know why they did something dumb like dividing the anime into three seasons when it's just two in the Japanese version, so I will talk only about it as it has two seasons. And season 1 is by far the best one. Moo is a good villain, the party only has good characters that you can see as they all slowly develop and bond together as a group and have their adventures looking for Phoenix, the action was quite good for an anime of this kind at the time. It has a nice ost too! And while simple the plot still has some nice twists here and there.
Those reasons alone are enough to recommend MR for any fan of those anime that are "Pokemon clones" though it's easy to argue that MR is far more than that. The games aside, I'm confident to say that the anime's first season is superior to the entire anime of Pokemon and it rivals some of the best seasons of Digimon. Heck, we have no less than seven characters as part of the main cast! They're on the screen like 80% of time! And the anime did a damn good job with all of them. The unique dynamic that they all have with each other made MR quite fun to watch on its own but when you add in the other stuff...again, I'm confident to put this anime as a strong option for third place.
The first season has a beginning, middle, and an ending so I had no doubt they must not have planned for another season. This also would explain why the second season is quite inferior compared to the first one, despite the first ending being quite rushed. But it's not like the second season is bad. It's just...inferior compared to the first one and it also has some good stuff. I will talk more about that and the endings in the spoiler section!
So I will talk about some spoiler stuff like the endings of the seasons. If you want to avoid spoilers and want to see what the anime offers for furries which is the main point of my review, then please scroll down to the “KEMONO SCALE JUDGEMENT” section!
SPOILERS OF THE ANIME AND ENDING
-I wish they had elaborated on how Genki even came to that world in the first place. We never got an explanation for that, was the prototype even needed? Did Phoenix do something? Who knows. And the second season somehow does an even worse job with that since Genki just happened to find a place with another MR game and he just decided to play it, all by pure chance. That's so weird, why not just make it be directly something that Phoenix did like sending a portal to Genki or such? Would be better than this nonsense.
-IMO there's only one bad thing about the first season 1 and it's the ending. It's kinda of crazy, right after they defeat Moo Genki falls to his death and is somehow transported back to our world which implies that's a thing that Phoenix can do. And then the anime just ends with him hallucinating the party saying goodbye to him in a way lol. That's quite fucked up, especially since from the party's PoV they shouldn't even know what happened to him. I really wonder if this messy ending was planned from the start but I don't think so...it just doesn't match the wonderful writing the entire season had. For whatever reason I think they realized they had fewer episodes they would need to so they had to scrap an epilogue and rush the ending. Shame but it is what it is but the ending isn't so bad that it ruins the whole experience.
-It's never explicitly told in the anime but I think Genki was transported to Earth from either millions of years ago or millions of years in the future given the hints that we see like some "lost technology" that matches ours. But if Holly from the anime is supposed to be the same in the games that means he was transported to the world of Pangaea which is more like another dimension Earth. So...yeah. I think would be cool if they made it more clear on that. IMO it makes more sense if MR anime takes place in the past or future Earth because if he was isekaid there because of Phoenix that's already crazy enough but if he was isekaid to another dimension that just brings even more questions like just how powerful is Phoenix lol.
-The second season is...okaish if compared to season one. It is nice that now they do stuff that is more similar to the games like the training and fighting in the tournaments but that is just not as fun and cool as the journey they went through in the first season for the most part. Plus, it brings to question some stuff like where the fuck were those strong monsters like Most that didn't become baddies when Moo was around? They were just hiding or something lol?
What I do think it's the worst part of the second season and also makes me believe they were not planning for it to even be a thing from the start is who is the main villain this time. General Durahan...eh? Really? A guy they already defeated in the first season? And now it's just a fucking head? This feels like the party having to clean up their own mess from the first season, kinda like the season 2 of Digimon with Davis and the others having to defeat Myotismon because apparently the guys in season 1 fucked up and didn't kill him "enough". And even if Durahan being alive made sense why he is a baddie. Actually, why there are still baddies in that world since Phoenix is supposed to have resurrected and "cured" every monster of that now that Moo isn't a thing anymore?
This just doesn't make sense and I think this is the second season wanting to have the cake and eat it too. In other words, they want to do a plot that is more similar to the games with the training and tournaments and stuff but also are afraid to commit to that so they make up stuff to "continue" the plot of season one which was already concluded. And obviously, this just hurts both plots as they get in the way of each other which is part of why this season kinda sucked compared to season one.
-That's a big shame since there is some cool stuff there, they should have fully committed to making it more of a fanservice season or something at least. Things like Tiger meeting Gray Wolf again now that he was back and not as a baddie was nice. Seeing Hare's past which was the only monster whose past we knew nothing about was good too even if it was obvious they didn't plan that at all before given it's quite a filler episode unfortunately. If they had fully committed to the tournament/training thing or made it all be about the fanservice like say Buddyfight X: All-Star Fight did that would also be good. Sadly it's not what we got.
-The ending of the second season makes me wonder if they wanted to make up for the rushed ending of the first season since we did get an epilogue, as small as it was. It was nice but it also brings questions like what Genki can just travel to that world because it's a thing he can do now? In the end, we switched the rushed and bittersweet ending of season one with this open as fuck ending of season two.
-Regardless of that, I like this anime a lot. Really hope we will get a reboot or something one day so they can use the good stuff from the second season in a more meaningful way and maybe give us the ending they originally must have planned.
There is at least one thing that an anime of a so-called Pokemon clone needs to get right. And that's the monsters! Their designs need to be good. And the games of MR absolutely get that right, there are many good monsters of many types for each one which gives a big variety. That's another reason why I hope the anime will get a reboot or sequel one day since there are too many good monsters from the games such as Beata for example that never showed up in the anime.
Still, the anime does show up a lot of them. Let's take a look at some examples though most of those are baddies, haha:
And there are still many more of those in the anime, not even counting the ones from the games that can show up in a reboot or sequel one day. For a full list, you can check out those links but you gotta watch out for spoilers:
The big variety of good monsters with great design that MR provides is among the biggest ones I've seen in anime like this, there's something for everyone. MR isn't "specialized" in one unique type lacking a large variety for one kind of monster in particular (like for example how Buddyfight is 80% about the dragons) but you still have a lot of variety here for many monsters. The main thing of MR in this aspect is how they already have a wide variety of different kinds of monsters to begin with but each one has many variations that can be quite different from each other. So, for example, if you like Suezo then you will probably like many if not all of the "variations" of the suezo-type monsters such as Captain Horn.
I would say the only issue if I can use that word is because it's not like we see all of those variations or even all the base monsters of the games in the anime as I mentioned before. But also, those monsters only show up in one or two episodes at most with some exceptions, especially in the second season like Most. That's a shame since if you like one monster in particular you know that you probably won't see them again but that's just how it is. All things considered, the anime did a great job of using so many different monsters even if most of them are baddies so almost like the enemy/monster of the week.
That might suck if you became a fan of for example the Black Dino squad that shows up in the very first episode since they only showed up there and never again. But don't forget we got the main cast there and most of them are kemono! And even if we ignore Tiger and Hare, the rest of the cast is solid enough to carry the entire show on their backs so you can appreciate them and the other monsters as they show up in the anime. Heck, Tiger or Hare even if they were ALONE they would be able to carry the entire anime on their backs!
But...TOGETHER? Holy fucking shit! You can tell the animators had the most fun working on those two. They had the best expressions and maybe animation in the entire anime, it's so fun to watch their fights x3! Even if there was no other kemono at all in this anime we only had the main cast, especially those two...it would be enough to easily recommend this anime for kemono fans.
And yes, it's based on the games but you do not need to play the games at all to enjoy the anime since it follows its own plot. You will just enjoy the anime even more if you play the games as you will see how the anime used one monster in particular.
Honestly, even if the entire main cast had only humans but kept the monsters that too would be enough to recommend the anime to kemono fans. But since you have both elements, good monsters that are well written and developed as part of the main cast and also monsters that show up in all episodes...it's no wonder why to this day MR is one of my favorite kemono animes. Still in my top ten list for sure~
So, for those reasons, I believe that Monster Rancher (anime) deserves a...*turns around and points dramatically at the cartoon* A FOUR OUT OF FIVE OF LOF IN THE KAMIKAZE SCALE!!! I really REALLY want to give this one a five on the scale! And it is quite close! But I can't do that...and it's not because of the humans in the anime. Genki and Holly are good as characters and most of the time the anime deals with other monsters, not humans. If it was only for this reason plus what I already mentioned anime deserved a five for sure. But...I can't ignore that the second season exists and how it brings the whole thing down a bit, unfortunately. You might still enjoy the second season of course but when you watch it you will see what I mean.
It’s an anime that is easy to find on any anime site but you can watch the seasons 1 and 2 of the dub in youtube since someone uploaded those versions there with the English and Spanish dubs but I don’t recommend it at all due to the cuts and censorship. For the anime of MR the best way to go is the sub version!
Commissions based on this cartoon so far: OH BOY DID I EVER COMMISSIONED STUFF FROM THIS ANIME! xD It's enough to say there's an entire comic and even more stuff now! And if you guys join me, I do want to commission even more! So, if that interests you, don't hesitate to contact me~
The best furry character this time is...I would love to say it's a tie between Tiger and Hare but given that Hare might have a thing for farts which I'm not into I'm putting Tiger as the choice here. Such a sexy wolf~
Aaaand that’s it for this one! Hope you guys enjoyed reading this review. Please don't hesitate to leave your comments and opinions about it and also about Monster Rancher (anime) if you happen to have watched it or maybe wanna check it out thanks to this review xD. I want to leave those journals as a place where people can discuss the respective things being reviewed here!
Same. Monster battle anime always seem to have at least one super cute and attractive anthro. Monster rancher has multiple. Legendz mostly has dragons but there’s a few fluffy anthros there ^^
Same. Monster battle anime always seem to have at least one super cute and attractive anthro. Monste
boy, i haven't seen the monster rancher anime in a reeeally long time. think i tried some of the games and they had that really unique gameplay mechanic on ps1 where you could switch out discs to get different monsters.
i'm not sure but i think that can work with emulators too.
that's about all i remember of it right offhand though.
boy, i haven't seen the monster rancher anime in a reeeally long time. think i tried some of the gam
If you like the games for that reason alone I can recommend you check out the anime too! It's very fun to see many of the monsters in 2D and talking and all :3!
If you like the games for that reason alone I can recommend you check out the anime too! It's very f
A couple random thoughts I had. First off, I agree that Monster Rancher has a variety of cute anthro characters, it has enough cute furry characters to make it worth existing in its own right but what it even better is that in the anime they can actually communicate with humans and do more than just say there own name, which is something I always love to see in a monster-battle anime. Another thing that I think makes Monster Rancher stand out from the crowd is that it has much more of a sense of adventure, in comparison to other monster-battle anime. Some of them focus a lot on an episodic format of a battle between two monster trainers, happening each episode (some seasons of Pokemon focus a lot on this, as does the anime Dragon Drive, and many others). Monster Rancher stands out from those by having a sense of adventure and forward progression in the story which makes me compare it more to something like Digimon Tamers or Cardcaptor Sakura, which I consider to be the absolute best anime which have a “monster-battle” type nature to them (though Cardcaptor is of course also a magical girl series, not specifically a monster battle one). I think that part of why Monster Rancher has so much effort put into it, is due to the animation studio, and the Head Writer. It’s written by Shoji Yonemura, a very talented writer who I know best for having written Figure 17, Parasyte the Maxim (anime), Smile Precure, and the anime adaption of One Piece (since 2013). He is an extremely talented writer who can really write stories that resonate with large audiences and I think he did a great job on Monster Rancher. Another great thing about this writer is he really knows how to give anthro furry characters a great, loveable personality, and allows them to be important: this is also showcased in Smile Precure which is another fantastic anime he wrote. Theres multiple anthro characters in the show, both on the good guy side (in the form of small anthro ’mascots such as a mascot lion named Pop), and on the villain’s side, with the loveable villian Wolfrun who about 1 million furries all love. It’s just really cool knowing Wolfrun and also all the loveable Monster Rancher furries were from anime written by this same guy. As for the studio, I also believe they contribute to Monster Rancher’s quality: TMS are a great studio who you probably know for Akira and many other famous anime. However despite all these good traits Monster Rancher is still flawrd. For the reasons you said such as some jokes being overdone, moments of limited animation, and a second half that felt weaker than the first, Monster Rancher is not the best of monster-battle anime (that would be Digimon Tamers or one of the other ones I said already). Last but not least I wanted to give a shoutout to the fact that the Japanese original version of Monster Rancher has tons of opening theme songs all of which are unique songs, with lots of new animation. If you haven’t seen the Japanese version you would not know the fact that the series has so many openings, about 7 total openings if I remember right. The 7th and last opening, A Naked Kiss, is absolutely must watch, the animation is beautiful and entirely new, there is no reused animation from a previous opening. And the song is awesome! “Give me you love-“
A couple random thoughts I had. First off, I agree that Monster Rancher has a variety of cute anthro
It's not a coincidence that the anime that allows the monsters to communicate with the humans is among the best of the Pokemon clones xD. And yup, the "sense of adventure" of the first season is amazing and it's another thing just missing from the second season.
Yeah, if we do get a reboot or sequel one day I hope that studio and that writer can return to it but this might be a case of lightning in a bottle. Even when the source material is good it doesn't mean it will be treated with the respect it deserves. Just look how some fucking idiots are fucking up with stuff like One Punch-Man, urgh...so even if the anime of MR returns one day who knows if the new studio or writer will be on the same level as before...
Agree, all the openings and some of the endings are quite good. So much so that it's a complete travesty that the dubs just remove them completely. Again, this is just another reason why watching MR subbed is the way to go!
It's not a coincidence that the anime that allows the monsters to communicate with the humans is amo
I didn't read your whole post, but I'd disagree with you about Monster Rancher being the "third place Pokemon like".
Third place should go to Yokai Watch. It did not catch on in the West AT ALL. But the kemono appeal? Well. Theres a recurring subplot line where Kyubi (a kitsune) tries to "steal" an 11 year old girl's 'heart'.
I didn't read your whole post, but I'd disagree with you about Monster Rancher being the "third plac
There are other anime that could take the third place, I just made the case why it could be MR in this review! :3
It's funny how YW, once called the "Pokemon Killer," had such a major fall from grace. YW's golden age was over years ago, and I guess one of the reasons for that, as you said, is that it never managed to catch on in the West. It's still one that could be considered a candidate for the third place though IMO anime of stuff like MR is superior. Maybe I will go more deep into it when I eventually review it as well since yes, I watched the first series and Shadowside as well.
There are other anime that could take the third place, I just made the case why it could be MR in th
You're right, there are other anime that could have taken third place, but I disagree that MR had that position. Possibly ever.
Well thats kind of the thing: YW didn't have a fall from grace. YW had a fall from grace in the West. But in Japan? Didn't happen. It came to rest after a decade and thats far longer than most other kemono animes that pretty much die in the first 3ish years.
Highlighting any anime's 'golden age' isn't saying much either. YW had 6 movies spread out across 5 years. Which year would be the 'golden age'? Similarly, the best "selling" Digimon season isn't 1 or 2. Its the 6th season, Xros Wars/Fusion. 1/2 has the nostalgia but 6 is Bandai made the most cold hard cash.
You're right, there are other anime that could have taken third place, but I disagree that MR had th
Yeah I was a big fan of the drama between Tiger and his brother, he's weirdly like a more heroic form of Vergil, but I never realized that was how he got his name! (Also Tiger and Hare were more or less the defacto parents of the group)
Tiger aside, I always thought it was cool how the series was set in the ruins of an advanced civilization, I think the fact it had a running theme both in game and series of humans needing to respect the balance of nature is one of thee things that set it apart from the non-pokedigimon monster-collecter games! good read!
Yeah I was a big fan of the drama between Tiger and his brother, he's weirdly like a more heroic for
