Monster Rancher (known as Monster Farm in Japan) is an anime series based on the video game series of the same name. The series initially consisted of only 48 episodes; however, it was eventually decided to extend it for a total of 78 episodes. The series follows a young boy named Genki who gets trapped in the Monster Rancher world. Genki eventually meets a variety of characters that join him on a quest to defeat Moo, an evil entity bent on destroying the world. See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... // Atom, star of the long-running science fiction series Mighty Atom (also known as Astro Boy to Western audiences). ... Tokyo Broadcasting System, Incorporated (株式会社東京放送, Kabushiki Gaisha Tōkyō Hōsō, commonly referred to as TBS) (TYO: 9401) is a television network in Tokyo, Japan. ... April 17 is the 107th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (108th in leap years). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... March 25 is the 84th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (85th in leap years). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... // Atom, star of the long-running science fiction series Mighty Atom (also known as Astro Boy to Western audiences). ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... An episode is to television and radio what a chapter is to a book: a part of a sequence of a body of work. ...

Characters

Heroes

• Genki: A hyperactive elementary school boy who truly cares about the monsters and his friends. He is extremely skilled at roller-blading and even fights bad monsters while wearing his skates. Determined, optimistic and hopeful, Genki is a real go-getter. "Genki" means "Energy" in Japanese.

• Holly: A teenage girl who is on a quest to find the location of the ancient Monster called Phoenix. Holly uses a magical pendant to locate new Mystery Discs that contain monsters. Though she denies it at first, she learned that her father has become a vessel for the soul of the evil Moo. After the Phoenix & Muu destroyed each other, Holly soon went on a new quest to find Moo's Mystery Disc to save her father from the very monster he had become.

• Mocchi: A cute little pink monster who is Genki's tag team partner in many battles. Although he is rather loveable, Mocchi is no softy. When necessary, Mocchi can move very fast by rolling into a ball like an armadillo and bouncing. Mocchi is also capable of producing very powerful attacks, most notably his Mocchi Canon move. As if that were not enough, the little creature's stomach is a bottomless pit.

• Suezo: Holly's loyal monster retainer. Suezo serves as comic relief in many instances, though he can be a little obnoxious and loud-mouthed. He has amazing binocular vision and can teleport himself and other objects from one location to another in mere seconds.

• Golem: A large and powerful humanoid monster made of rocks. He moves slowly, but his punch is destructive. Golem is a kind hearted monster who loves nature. However, when in battle he will fight furiously with powerful techniques. He can break apart to perform his Tornado attack, launching bits and pieces of himself in a whirlwind formation. Unfortunately, he doesn't like water since he'll sink.

• Tiger: (Rygar in Japan) A blue wolf-like monster with horns on his head. He was originally the leader of pack of his own gang of tiger mix breeds until Moo's Dinos killed them and left Tiger for dead. But from Genki's caring nature, Tiger decided to join the group. Besides an array of swift physical attacks, some of his special attacks include shooting electricity from his horns and blasts of icy wind from his mouth. His brother is Gray Wolf who was taken by Master Moo. That encounter explains Tiger's scar. He somewhat resembles the Digimon Garurumon

• Hare: (Ham in Japan) A humanoid rabbit with large fists and a cute expression. At first, he was a con-artist who tried to steal the gang's valuables. But after Tiger spared him, Hare joined the team. While friendly, he tends to be selfish and gloats about his skills. His fighting style revolves around boxing, flying kicks and flatulence.

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Others

• Pixie: Formerly one of Moo's Big Bad Four, Pixie left Muu after Genki opened her eyes to the truth of Moo's evil. Although her exact age is not known, Pixie appears to be in her early twenties. Pixie is based on the pure-bred pixies depicted on the Monster Rancher video game. Her overall appearance is that of a slim young woman with red hair and a pair of leathery wings. Two silver horns jut from her head and she has a whip-like tail that ends in a small spike. Her usual garb is a reddish-pink bikini-like outfit. Pixie is one of the most physically powerful characters featured on the Monster Rancher series. In addition to seemingly superhuman strength and speed, Pixie can fly and generate massive energy surges. Pixie came to play a semi-regular role on Monster Rancher, and helped Genki and his friends time and again until she was mortally injured by Moo. By the sacrifice of her follower, Big Blue, Pixie was healed and reborn as Granity. After this transformation, Pixie took on an angelic appearance. Her wings became feathery and her hair turned green, and her reddish-pink clothes were replaced with silver battle armor. Pixie’s disposition ranges from quiet and shrewd to level-headed and mature. Strong-willed, independent and very pretty, Pixie is perhaps the character on Monster Rancher most likely to click with adult anime fans.

• Big Blue: An ice-carved giant whose is made of un-meltable ice rock. He functions as Pixie's bodyguard and travelling companion. But Big Blue loved his master, so much that his sacrificed his own existence to save Pixie by fusing his being into her, turning her into Granity.

• Grey Wolf: Tiger's gang brother who was made into a member of Moo's Big Bad Four.

• Naga: Formerly one of Muu's Big Bad Four, a humanoid serpent with a stinger on his tail. He lives for battles, his cruel fighting style horrifies other monsters. He took his own life after he was defeated by Genki's group only to be resurrected later as a purified monster.

Villains

• Master Moo (Muu in Japan): He was an extremely powerful giant dragon-like monster engineered as the ultimate weapon in the great war of ancient times. His dark powers eventually grew too powerful to be controlled, and he created legions with his ability to transform good monsters into his evil servants for the purpose of destroying the world. But it is due to the Phoenix and a special machine that Muu's spirit was separated from his body. Muu's soul became a Mystery Disk imprisoned in his castle, along with the Mystery Disks containing many of his old troops.

Centuries later, after he was banished from his village, Holly's father went in search of the Phoenix without the aid of the Magic Stone, but found Moo's castle instead. When he unintentionally unlocked Moo's soul, it entered his body and thus Moo was reborn. He reassembled his army with his Big Bad Four enforcing his injustice and terrorizing the world while in search of the location of his old body which he found and merged with.

• Gali: One of Muu's Big Bad Four. This suave and cultured creature is invisible save for the golden mask and cape that he wears. Gali enjoys mocking his opponents and toying with lesser rivals, but if pressed, he can unleash fearsome attacks that batter and drain even the most formidable enemies. His calm and arrogant nature hides a wrathful temper; if angered or insulted, Gali attacks without mercy. He was killed by Mocchi's Mocchi Cannon attack.

• General Durahan: A living suit of armor that serves Moo. His body houses the soul of a proud, ancient knight. He intended to take over Muu's operation, but failed. He would later resurface years later to resurrect Moo and absorb him into his own body.

Changes

The Character Hare had his "Gas" attack cut out in America. "Gas" is an attack where Hare turns around and flatulates on his enemy. The flatulence stinks so bad, it stuns enemies, knocks them out, as seen in Hare's Trick and he used Gas to keep the Iron Bird afloat in the Iron Bird episode. Hares Trick is the sixth episode in the Monster Rancher anime series. ... Iron Bird is the ninth episode of Monster Rancher. ...

A couple of scenes were also lifted from the episode "My Name is Pixie". At one point during the episode, Genki rescues Pixie from quicksand. After he hauls her out, the mud on her face makes her look as if she has a beard (why that was cut out is not known). There is also a scene in that episode where Genki lifts Pixie "bride over the threshold" style in his arms and skates away with her while she kicks and yells in protest. For reasons unknown, a few frames were cut from that scene as well.

Several key episodes of Season 2 were skipped by some networks that aired Monster Rancher in the US. "Battle with the Big Bad Four" and "Tiger's Battle with Destiny" only aired once in the USA on Fox Kids.

Monster Rancher on DVD and VHS

ADV Films owns the rights to the first 12 episodes, which the company released on DVD. ADV also released the entire first season of Monster Rancher on VHS. The series was brought to the US and dubbed by Ocean. After Monster Rancher went off the air in the US, ADV halted its release of the series on home video and DVD. In 2005, BKN International A.G. licensed the DVD rights for 73 episodes of the Monster Rancher anime series to Digiview Productions LLC for US and Canadian mass retail market distribution. The current status of Digiview's release of the series on DVD is unknown.

See also

• Monster Rancher
• Monster Rancher monsters

Monster Rancher (Japanese: モンスターファーム Monster Farm) is a video game series by Tecmo. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and make it more accessible to a general audience, this article may require cleanup. ...

References

BKN International A.G. (September 1, 2005). "BKN News". September 05 Newsletter.

CNN Matthews News Distribution Network (July 21, 2005). "BKN Announces New USA Deal". Press Release.