Monster Rancher, known in Japan as Monster Farm (モンスターファーム), is a Japanese anime television series based on Tecmo's Monster Rancher video game franchise.[7] It originally aired on CBC in Japan for two seasons from April 1999 to September 2000.In North America, the series was first licensed by BKN, Inc. and broadcast with an English dub on the Bohbot Kids Network, the Sci-Fi Channel, the Fox Family Channel,[4] and Fox Kids in the United States and YTV in Canada.It was later licensed by Discotek Media in 2013.
Plot
The series follows Genki Sakura, who plays the Monster Rancher video games. In the first season, after winning a tournament hosted by the game's creators, Genki wins a CD that unlocks a special monster in the game. However, upon inserting the disk into his game console, he is transported to a world of monsters that, like in the 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 searching for a stone disk containing the legendary Phoenix, who will save the land from the tyranny of the evil Moo.
Upon attempting to use Genki's disk to release the Phoenix, they summon a different monster, who Genki names Mocchi.
In order to free the land from Moo's rule, Genki, Holly, Mocchi, and Suezo set off in search of the Phoenix guided by Holly's Magic Stone; this leads them to meet Golem, Tiger, and Hare, who join them on their journey.
It is revealed that Moo is Holly's missing father, who merged with an evil spirit after being banished from his village. Determined to separate him from Moo, the group continues their search for the Phoenix, defeating Moo's strongest minions, the Big Bad Four—Pixie, Gali, Grey Wolf, and Naga—while helping and befriending monsters by unlocking Mystery Disks in hopes of finding the Phoenix. One of the monsters, Monol, tells them of a previous war between Moo and the Phoenix, part of a larger war between humans and monsters, who exploited monsters as workers and companions in a futuristic society. The war destroyed much of the world and weakened Moo and the Phoenix, sending them into a dormant state and separating their bodies from their souls.
Moo's body is found and merges with Holly's father. Soon after, the Phoenix's body is found and it is revealed that the five monsters—Mocchi, Suezo, Golem, Tiger, and Hare—are fragments of its soul. They say farewell to Genki before merging with the Phoenix's body to revive it and fight Moo; as they fight, Moo realizes that good and evil are inherently inseparable and that they, as representatives of good and evil, are doomed to perpetually fight. They seemingly die and Genki is transported back to the real world in the resulting explosion, comforted by visions of his friends as he returns home.
In the second season, Genki returns to the Monster World to revive his friends, who were turned into disks and separated after the fight with Moo, and competes in a series of tournaments against General Durahan's army in search of Holly's father. In the third season, they fight against Durahan, who has been possessed by Moo's soul. In the Japanese version, in the credits of the final episode, it is revealed that Genki and Mocchi are able to travel between the Monster Rancher world and Earth.
Episodes
Season 1: The Secret of the Stone Disk
Season 2: The Legendary Path
Broadcast and release
In Japan, under the title Monster Farm, the series was broadcast on TBS for two seasons; the first 48-episode season, The Secret of the Stone Disk (円盤石の秘密), aired from April 17, 1999, to March 25, 2000;[5] the second 25-episode season, The Legendary Path (伝説への道), aired from April 1 to September 30, 2000.[6]
The series was brought to the United States by BKN,[2][8] with an English dub produced by Ocean Studios.[9] It was also broadcast in the United States on the Sci-Fi Channel and Fox Kids[3] and in Canada on YTV.[1] In the United Kingdom, the series aired on children's Saturday morning show Live & Kicking,[10] with episodes also airing on CBBC (on BBC Two) until April 9, 2001.Repeats of the series continued throughout the year and early February 25, 2002.[11]
ADV Films licensed the home video rights to the series and released its first twelve episodes on four DVDs.[9][12] In 2005, BKN International A.G. licensed the DVD rights for 73 episodes of Monster Rancher to Digiview Productions;[13] however, only one DVD was released.[14] In 2012, the series was available for streaming on Hulu.[15]Discotek Media licensed the series in 2013,[16] and released it on three English-dubbed DVD box sets in 2014,[17][18]
