Hamtaro

• Name — Hamtaro • Ja Kanji — とっとこハム太郎 • Ja Romaji — Tottoko Hamutarō

• Type — manga • Author — Ritsuko Kawai • Publisher — Shogakukan • Magazine — Shogakukan Learning Magazine • First — 1997 • Last — 2000 • Volumes — 3

• Type — ova • Director — Tomomi Mochizuki • Producer — * Kazuhiko Kurokawa • Tadahito Matsumoto • Writer — Tomomi Mochizuki • Music — Motoyoshi Iwasaki • Studio — TMS-Kyokuichi • Released — 15 September 1999

• Type — tv series • Director — Osamu Nabeshima • Writer — * Shinzo Fujita • Yoshiyuki Suga • Miho Maruo • Atsuhiro Tomioka • Fumihiko Shimo • Koji Miura • Toshiyasu Nagata • Michiru Shimada • Music — * Motoyoshi Iwasaki (JP) • Tom Keenlyside • John Mitchell • David Iris (U.S.) • Studio — TMS Entertainment • Network — TXN (TV Tokyo) • First — 7 July 2000 • Last — 31 March 2006 • Episodes — * 296 (Japanese) • 105 (English) • Episode List — List of Hamtaro episodes

• Type — ova • Director — * Osamu Nabeshima (1, 4) • Kazuhiro Ochi (2, 3) • Writer — * Michiru Shimada (1) • Tomoko Konparu (2) • Kouji Miura (3, 4) • Music — Motoyoshi Iwasaki • Studio — TMS Entertainment • First — 6 August 2001 • Last — 6 August 2004 • Episodes — 4 • Episode List — List of Hamtaro episodes#OVAs

• Type — film series • Director — Osamu Dezaki • Producer — * Masato Matsumoto • Yuoh Sekita • Writer — * Osamu Dezaki (1) • Michiru Shimada (1, 2) • Tomoko Konparu (3, 4) • Music — Motoyoshi Iwasaki • Studio — TMS Entertainment • First — 15 December 2001 • Last — 23 December 2004 • Runtime — 50 minutes each • Episodes — 4 • Episode List — List of Hamtaro episodes#Films

• Type — tv series • Title — Trotting Hamtaro Hai! • Director — Osamu Nabeshima • Writer — Yoshiyuki Suga • Music — Motoyoshi Iwasaki • Studio — TMS Entertainment • Network — TXN (TV Tokyo) • First — 5 April 2006 • Last — 26 March 2008 • Episodes — 77 • Episode List — List of Trotting Hamtaro Hai! episodes

• Type — tv series • Title — Trotting Hamtaro Dechu! • Director — Osamu Nabeshima • Studio — TMS Entertainment • Network — TXN (TV Tokyo) • First — 2 April 2011 • Last — 30 March 2013 • Episodes — 103

• Portal — yes Hamtaro, known in Japan as Trotting Hamtaro, is a Japanese children's manga and storybook series created and illustrated by Ritsuko Kawai about a hamster named Hamtaro. The manga was first published in Shogakukan's Shōgaku Ninensei (Second Grade) magazine in April 1997; more Hamtaro stories would later be added into the other grade-level magazines, as well as in Ciao. The series focuses on a hamster named Hamtaro, who has a variety of adventures with other hamsters known as the "Ham-Hams" ("Hamuchans" in the Japanese version). Viz Media published the manga adaptations and storybooks in English. Multiple anime adaptations were produced by TMS Entertainment and aired on TV Tokyo. The first series was dubbed in English by The Ocean Group.

The series revolves around a hamster named Hamtaro, who is owned by a young girl named Laura Haruna (known as Hiroko Haruna in the original Japanese version). Curious by nature, he ventures out each day to make friends and go on adventures with a clan of fellow hamster friends known as The Ham-Hams. The Ham-Hams meet in an underground gathering hangout called the Ham-Ham Clubhouse, built by Boss with the help of the other hamsters.

There are three manga about Hamtaro, A Home for Hamtaro, Hamtaro Gets Lost, and Jealous Hamtaro. In the first two, Hamtaro's owner is named Yukari while in the latter, her name is Amy.

In Japan, Hamtaro aired three anime series, released four films, several specials, many video game/DVD releases, and merchandise. By 2002, the franchise had generated $2.5 billion in merchandise sales. The success was not paralleled in the United States, however, with only the first series, some special episodes, three video games (though two others were released in Europe), and limited merchandise. On 23 February 2011, it was announced that Hamtaro would be receiving a series titled Trotting Hamtaro Dechu!.

The Hamtaro franchise has multiple video game titles with independent storylines. These titles include adventure and educational games that can be found for PC, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance (GBA), and the Nintendo DS consoles. • Title — Platform — Release date • Tottoko Hamtaro: Tomodachi Daisakusen Dechu — Game Boy Color — JP: 8 September 2000 • Hamtaro: Ham-Hams Unite! — Game Boy Color — JP: 21 April 2001 NA: 28 October 2002 • Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak — Game Boy Advance — JP: 3 May 2002 NA: 7 April 2003 • Hamtaro: Wake Up Snoozer! — PC/Mac — 1 October 2003 • Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue — Game Boy Advance — 22 May 2003 • Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games — Game Boy Advance — 26 July 2004 • Tottoko Hamtaro: Nazo Nazo Q Kumonoue no? Jou — Nintendo DS — 1 December 2005 • Hi Hamtaro! Ham-Ham Training — Nintendo DS — JP: 15 March 2007 NA: 23 September 2008 • Hi Hamtaro! Little Hamsters Big Adventures — iOS — 12 April 2011

On 26 July 2020, a group of more than 2,000 protesters in Bangkok called the Free Youth Movement led a protest against the government of Thailand which involved singing the theme song for Hamtaro with modified lyrics to say "The most delicious food is taxpayers' money. [...]Dissolve the parliament! Dissolve the parliament! Dissolve the parliament!" Other student protests during the same week continued to use Hamtaro as a symbol for the government's "feasting on taxpayer's money," and have involved groups running in circles, as if in hamster wheels, while singing the modified version of the jingle.