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I’m pretty sure that many of you reading this blog have in some way experienced animation from Japan otherwise known as anime. While many of you may have experienced anime through “Pokemon,” “Digimon,” or “Yu-Gi-Oh,” there is one anime that seems to be, in my view at least, the best anime to introduce neurodivergent/special education students to.
I am, of course, talking about the anime, “Hamtaro” of which I was introduced to in 2002 when it first debuted on Cartoon Network. The premise is about Hamtaro, a hamster who is part of a group called The Ham Hams that take part in a variety of adventures while also focusing on the adventures of his owner, Laura and her friend, Kana to tell the story from the perspective of a human.
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Each of the Ham Ham’s has their own unique personality trait that neurodivergent and special education students can relate to. In addition to Hamtaro, there is also Oxnard, a hamster who is always holding onto a seed as sort of a security blanket; Howdy, a hamster that talks in a southern accent; Snoozer, a hamster who is 99.9% of the time sleeping; Dexter, a smart aleck hamster and Boss, the largest and self-proclaimed leader of the Ham-Hams.
Of course, there are plenty more Ham-Ham’s, but this would be a lengthy blog if I had to list them all. But, the truth of the matter is that “Hamtaro” is more than just a cash grab, it is a franchise that teaches important and valuable life lessons through it’s characters. While some may argue that “Pokemon,” may teach life lessons, I felt it was more for the action and drama that overshadows the life lessons. The same can also be said for “Yu-Gi-Oh,” of which I felt dragged on their stories for far too long.
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In a way, “Hamtaro” is more or less like the first two seasons of “Digimon” whereas “Digimon” incorporated life lessons into the stories of its characters, “Hamtaro” is more strictly slice of life based. Perhaps the most important lesson it teaches is about friendships and socialization.
All of the hamsters come from a variety of backgrounds and the episodes each showcase a particular character for exampled in the episode, “The Wise Elder Ham,” the main focus on an older hamster named Elder Ham who displays not just his overall wisdom, but also his quirks of falling asleep while thinking. The show teaches the viewer that its okay to have quirks because it’s the quirks and flaws of the characters that make them unique. In fact, if you watch carefully, you will see that a particular hamster displays a trait of neurodiversity such as Boss, who wants to be the one always in charge and Oxnard, who is sort of like the Linus of the Ham Hams with his sunflower seed.
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“Hamtaro” is also an anime that has a structure that can help the viewer connect more and give them a sense of normality. The case in point is at the end of every episode where it ends with Laura writing in her journal and remarking to Hamtaro that the day of the episode was great and that tomorrow would be even better. Neurodivergent individuals can take a lot from that particular segment of every episode because that is a sense of normality and structure.
However, there are times where this structure can be somewhat altered as a way to show the audience that nothing will always be the same. In the episode “Hamtaro, Please Come Home!” Laura’s monologue is done through thoughts as she was exhausted from worrying about Hamtaro’s near death experience. In a way, it teaches the audience about flexibility and how things can be altered through certain events.
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Of course, some of you reading this may feel like Japanese animation is only for teenagers and young adults. While that is somewhat largely true to some people and believe me, there are a lot of anime’s that are very inappropriate and unwatchable, “Hamtaro” is an anime that families can watch together on account that there is no violence at all and is along the lines of “Sesame Street.”
There is very little family friendly animes out there and “Hamtaro” is like a diamond in the rough if you will. I feel that introducing “Hamtaro” to neurodivergent and special education students will teach that anime is more than just creating a fad or phenomenon, but a chance for people to open their eyes and learn important valuable life lessons.
In fact, there are thousands of anime conventions around the globe and many of the attendees will tend to focus on the anime’s that are more well known or action packed. “Hamtaro” is very low key and it can bring people together just as much as some of the better anime’s. You just gotta give Hamtaro and his friends a chance to do just that.
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Catch you all later!!
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