Hamtaro
Cartoon Network (ended 2003)
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Season 2
- Ep 54Ham-Ham Games8/21/04
"The Ham-Ham Games"''''Prince Bo sends the ham-hams on an important mission: to carry the ever-lasting hamtorch to Hamcropolis. His fans, the Rainbow Girls, become jealous and try to steal away the torch, not knowing that Prince Bo had another important job for them. The ham-hams get help from friends new and old as they try to make their way to Hamcropolis while avoiding the pesky flying Rainbow Girls. Along the way, Hamtaro shares both the flame and the spirit of friendship.''''"The Ham-Hams Rescue Stan"''''The remainder of the special consists an edited version of "Clubhouse Intruders" in which the ham-hams must rescue Stan after he skips an earthquake drill and ends up trapped inside the clubhouse with hostile chicky-chickies. All content involving the human characters is removed.moreless - Ep 53Ham-Ham Halloween!10/21/03
When Hamtaro hears that Laura and Kana are attending a Halloween party at Roberto's, he thinks that it's a "Hamoween" party. He tells the ham-hams all about and finds about Halloween, although none of the ham-hams are too sure of the details of it. Then Elder Ham and Auntie Viv give them some advice and Cappy and Panda make costumes for all of the ham-hams. After receiving a mysterious invitation, they head into a forest, where they find themselves at the mercy of Auntie Viv and Elder Ham, who have dressed up in scary costumes to terrorize them.''''Meanwhile, Kana and Laura create their costumes in a hurry and also decide to dress up Brandy. When they arrive late for the party, Roberto plays a trick on them by dressing up his puppy Samba as goblin. This gives them a scare, but Brandy's costume is even scarier to Brandy and Samba ends up running into the same forest where the ham-hams are and creating an even bigger stir than Auntie Viv and Elder Ham.moreless - Ep 53Pepper's Visit! (a.k.a. The Star Festival)8/2/03
Laura is busy, working on a story for a story-writing contest that's being held in her town. Her story is about two star-crossed lovers and a jealous old wizard. The crabby old wizard at first tries to separate them. However, he eventually realizes the error of his ways. He creates a rainbow bridge to bring them back together and the lovers cross the stars. The stars are still up there today, it's the Milky Way. Hamtaro heads to the clubhouse, where he comments about trying to figure out what all the decorations around town are for. Snoozer talks in his sleep about story-writing contest and a Milky Way festival. Maxwell's seen some signs for it and explains it to the ham-hams. The ham-hams decide that they too should make up stories. Maxwell starts up with something about astronomy, which causes Dexter to shoot back that a story should be something he makes up, not something from a science book. Then, Oxnard shows up the clubhouse, very excited. He's just heard some good news and can't wait to tell the ham-hams about it. His love, Pepper, is coming to town! Boss is surprised, after all, they just saw her not long ago. (In "Pepper's Visit," which wasn't that long ago, provided one follows the first season timeline.) The ham-hams think back on the wild time that they had then. Oxnard says that Pepper just knows how to have a good time, no matter where they end up. Bijou thinks they'll enjoy the visit, saying that Pashmina and her like Pepper's sense of fashion. The ham-hams continue to work on their preparations. Cappy is making a bunch of party hats. Dexter and Howdy are doing story-writing, but both end up with the same story, about "a handsome ham-ham who's always getting stuck with this annoying ham-ham." Oxnard, however, isn't doing any of that. He's busy making a nice present for Pepper. Back at Laura's, Laura is doing more work on her story. She's decided to make some changes and is adding in a hamster. Naturally, Hamtaro thinks this is a great idea. Elswhere, Dylan is talking with Pepper. He says that he has his Milky Way story ready, but he wonders what kind of story Pepper would come up with if she could talk. Pepper thinks back to "Oxnard's Big Crush," when Oxnard yelled out his love for her through the car window. She can't wait to see him. That could be more of a problem than anyone thinks, though. On the day of the big festival, Kana and Laura are waiting for Dylan at Oxnard's house. Oxnard is getting very antsy in his cage, thinking that maybe Pepper isn't coming. Then, they get a call. Dylan's car has broken down in Lake Chickawombat, a popular place for Bigfoot enthusiasts. Pepper complains that she told Dylan to the transmission before they left, but he didn't listen. After all, she's just a hamster. It's a long way away and Oxnard fears that all is lost. Still, he feels that he has to do something. He slips out of his cage and takes off. The ham-hams protest, saying that the mountain is three days away at their speeds and that there isn't any way to get there. Not only that, but Kana is going to notice he's gone missing. Oxnard won't hear any of it and continues onwards. The ham-hams decide that they need a plan and quickly. What they need is a decoy. They quickly decide that Cappy is going to be the decoy and before he can say anything, they quickly slip into Oxnard's carrier. Boss says they're counting on him. Cappy pleads with them not to leave him there, but his protests fall on deaf ears. Noticing that they're not coming back, he nervously says that the joke is over. But it's not a joke at all. As the ham-hams head after Oxnard, Dylan is back on his way. Kana and Laura suggested that he catch a train so that he could make it into town. As the ham-hams catch up to Oxnard, they see the train going by, with Dylan and Pepper on board. They decide to head back, but not before rescuing Cappy. Unfortunately, things have become a bit more complicated. The girls have taken off to meet Dylan and have taken Cappy, thinking him to be Oxnard, with them. They did find a bit odd though that Oxnard wouldn't come out of his house, but figured that he was just tired. Kana and Laura meet Dylan at the train station. They try to get Oxnard to say hello to Pepper, but can't figure out why Oxnard is being so unsociable. They finally decide to let the issue go, at which point Cappy reveals himself to Pepper and explains what happened. Dylan talks with the girls, saying that he's thinking of getting into writing storybooks. He could use a pen name, such as "Harry Gardner." The ham-hams finally arrive and begin their search for Pepper. However, they keep missing everyone. Laura, however, sees Hamtaro flitting by for a brief second, but dismisses it, saying that she thinks that maybe she should have her eyes checked. The ham-hams in general may be inobservant, but Penelope isn't and starts crying out "ookwee." Pashmina doesn't understand, though and thinks that Penelope just wants a treat. The ham-hams search all over, but become dejected when they still can't find Pepper. Oxnard, however, is determined to keep searching and so they climb up a pole, hoping to get a better view. Up top, they finally spot Pepper. The girls and Dylan are at a crosswalk light, which is going to turn green any second, eliminating the ham-hams possible last hope of catching up to Pepper. Oxnard manages to get Pepper's attention, as the picture he made of him and her goes fluttering down to the ground. Pepper sees it and spots the ham-hams. They tell her that they need a distraction. So Pepper starts ramming up against her carrier, causing Dylan to stop and wonder what's gotten into her. This provides sufficient distraction for Oxnard to slip down and get Cappy out of his carrier and get in himself. Once he's finally inside, Pepper stops her distraction. The girls notice that Oxnard has finally become sociable and decide to place him together with Pepper. Oxnard apologizes to Pepper, saying that he's messed everything up. Pepper tells him that he didn't mess anything up. In fact, she's very impressed that he went to so much trouble for her. They rub up against each other happily, schmubby-wubby. That evening, Laura reflects on the events of the day. She worked up the courage to tell her story and she's glad that she did. She tied for first-place with Dylan. She mentions that she's going to get the story posted on Kana's website. Impressed with her story-writing skills, she starts thinking of some hamster-themed pen-names for herself. She thinks that today was fun and tomorrow will be even better.moreless - Ep 52Hamtaro Birthday Special8/31/03
Join the ham-hams for a special two part birthday episode! In the first part, a special episode called "Ham-Hams Ahoy," the ham-hams meet a hamster named Heidi while Laura is away at summer camp. Heidi is searching for a special treasure to help out her ailing grandmother, guided only by the words of a special song that her grandmother taught to her. The ham-hams join her on her search, which ctakes them to Razzle Dazzle Beach and then to Hamasea Island. They face a number of difficult trials along the way, but they're determined to stick together as a team and help Heidi find the treasure she seeks.''''In the second part, the ham-hams throw a giant birthday party for Hamtaro and Cappy and you're invited! Watch and listen to some great musical numbers, followed by the big birthday bash, "Happy Ham-Ham Birthday." Then, stick around for a birthday role-call of all of the main ham-hams.moreless - Ep 51The Milky Way6/25/03
Laura and her class are studying the star constellations at school, and have a field trip planned to study the Milky Way under the real night sky. Laura and Kana are all excited because they will have plenty of stars to wish on. Kana says jokingly to Laura that if you wish on a star at the same time as someone else, the two of you will fall in love. Laura, half believing, sets her mind on standing by Travis when her class goes to see the stars so that they can make a wish on a star together. Hamtaro is confused about this Milky stuff in the sky, reports to the Ham-Hams that Laura is about to go way far away to make a wish on a star with Travis. At all costs, the Ham-Hams set out to keep Travis away from Laura so that she cannot go with him to wish on a star. But to Laura's eyes, it looks like Roberto is trying to keep her from being with Travis. Luckily, the good-natured Roberto is up for proving his good intentions to Laura, and on the night of the field trip, the sky is alive with starry lights, so beautiful that Laura forgets all about her wish and she, her class, and the Ham-Hams just have a wonderful time being exactly where they are.moreless - Ep 50The Tale of Princess Bijou6/24/03
On a rainy day, the ham-hams slip into a fantasy adventure similar to a story that Laura's been reading to Hamtaro. Boss and his guards are working under Sparkle, who is at rage at the beauty of Princess Bijou and wants to take her place as princess. They realize that Sparkle is just jealous and soon team up with Sheriff Hamtaro to defeat her evil plans to depose of Princess Bijou. It's not aeasy, as Sparkle has weaponry such as lasers at the ready, but there are rewards at hand for those following the right path.moreless - Ep 49Clubhouse Intruders6/23/03
It's morning and Hamtaro is in for a rude awakening! Laura shakes his cage and tells him to hold on - there's an earthquake! Then, she reveals the truth - there wasn't really an earthquake, she was just shaking his cage. She explains to Hamtaro that at school they're having a fire and earthquake drill and so she figures they should practice at home. Hamtaro's a bit confused, as he doesn't understand the concept of a "fire drill" and so he comments that he thought kids were supposed to stay away from fire and drills. He gets to thinking that a fire drill is a drill that shoots fire, which you can use when there's an earthquake. He heads to the clubhouse to talk about it. There's some more discussion about what it could possibly be, before Maxwell finally explains it. Boss snippily asks him if he found the definition in one of his books. Maxwell says that it's important to be prepared in an emergency, so that you don't panic when one happens. Hamtaro thinks this is all interesting, although he still likes the idea of a drill that blows fire. Howdy cracks some fire-related wordplay jokes. They decide to do their own earthquake/fire drill. As they're talking about it, Stan comes in. He wants to know what they're doing. Sandy tells him that he's late and that they're doing an earthquake/fire drill. Stan decides not to participate, saying that he doesn't have to practice anything. He knows his way around. The ham-hams all think is a bad idea, but decide that if he doesn't want to do the drill, they can't force him to. As for the earthquake drill - Panda shows the ham-hams that he's had safety in mind. He built an emergency tunnel that they can use. So they do their earthquake drill, only to find that there's a problem with Panda's emergency tunnel. They don't have any idea where the exit it is. It turns out that it connects to a whole bunch of exits and they don't know which is the fastest. As they ponder this, we see some chickies above ground. They find a hole leading into one of the tunnels. So while the ham-hams are heading up, the chickies are heading down, into the clubhouse. The ham-hams finally reach one of the exits. They made it out in about five minutes. They decide that it was certainly a learning experience, finding out about all the different exits, so it's a good thing they did the drill. They'll have to test more of them later. They stop to have a picnic. At school, Mr. Yoshi demonstrates an "earthquake simulation device" to show what to do in the event of an earthquake. Laura says that Mr. Yoshi seems so confident and Kana says that since he's married, he can handle anything. The ham-hams return to the clubhouse, to find that the chickies have taken over! Pashmina thinks it's awful - they're going to wreck everything! Worse, isn't Snoozer stuck in there? It turns out that he's not, he actually came with the ham-hams during the drill. Stan, however, is stuck inside, since he chose to skip the drill. Stan, inside, soon wakes up and panics when he sees the chickies. Oxnard tries to make chicken calls to get them out, but he doesn't sound like them. Then, Howdy has an idea: someone could dress up as a chickie and try to trick them out. He just wonders who. The ham-hams soon answer that for him: they make him go in. He seems to have them tricked at first, but then he lets lose with a "why did the chicken cross the road?" joke and blows his cover. Hamtaro finally decides that he's not going to have a bunch of "puffballs" barge in and take over. So he and Boss institute a daring plan to chase the chickies out. They send the chickies scurrying the tunnels and finally out and away. When the chickies reach ground again, Charlotte finds them. They're hers and she was wondering where they went. She apologizes to them - she's been spending so much time with Mr. Yoshi lately that she hasn't given them proper attention. Stan is left to clean up the mess that the chickies made, since he's the one who skipped out on the drill.moreless - Ep 48Office Adventures6/13/03
Father's Day is coming and Laura thinks that this Father's Day is going to be the best one ever. She and her Mom are talking about how much time Dad has been spending at work lately. Just then, Dad comes in. They're hoping to spend some time with him. He says that he's tired, but can't stick around, as he has to get going back to work. He talks about corporate restructuring and how what's happening at his company is great, but the hours are long. He leaves and Laura's Mom complains that they're working him to a "frazzle." She says it isn't fair. Hamtaro takes the problem to the clubhouse. He thinks that if the ham-hams pitch in to help Laura's Dad, he could finish his work faster. Howdy's not really sure what work is and Dexter says that it's what humans do to buy groceries. Maxwell says that he'll do some research on work. Hamtaro tells the ham-hams to get a good sleep because they're going to work tomorrow. The next day, the ham-hams are all wondering where to go. There are so many buildings around town and they're worried that finding the one that Laura's Dad works at could be a wild goose chase. Hamtaro remembers that Laura's Dad takes the city bus to work. There are so many buses, but they get a lucky break and spot Laura's Dad riding on one labeled Green Line #5. They scurry up and ride along the top of it. Hamtaro comments that they got the best seats and Boss cynically responds that they're the best seats unless it rains. The bus gets caught in some sort of traffic jam, but it doesn't matter anyway because the ham-hams realize that Laura's Dad has gotten off. They follow him inside his office. Inside, they lose track of him and wonder where he went. They decide to take the elevator and form a hamster chain to reach the buttons for the elevator. Penelope's at the top of the chain, but they're just not quite tall enough and so she can't reach. Then, a couple of women come towards the elevator and they scatter to avoid being seen. The women hit the up button and the ham-hams quickly follow, just making it in before the door closes. The height makes the ham-hams a bit dizzy, but they reach the top floor and all scurry out when the doors open. They soon notice that the area they've reached is very quiet and there doesn't really seem to be anyone there. Maxwell explains: it's Saturday and most people are off on Saturday. The ham-hams start exploring. They find a bookshelf and have fun running around in it like it's a tunnel. Then, Howdy finds a computer mouse and calls it a "weird looking little doggy." He starts messing around with it and Dexter tells him he's not using it properly. He starts swinging from the cord like he's Tarzan and encourages Howdy to join in. Then, the ham-hams see the two women from earlier using a copier. They see that it's spitting out pieces of paper that all look alike and think that there must be a little man inside of it. Some of them decide to investigate and they end up getting copied. The others watching on wonder how they're going to take so many of them home. They finally escape from the copier, saying that the little man inside must really want to stay in there. As they continue along, they see rows and rows of computers. Howdy wonders what they're for. Dexter says that they're computers and that humans use them to play video games. Then, the ham-hams hear screaming emanating from a dark area. They're scared, thinking that there might be a ghost. Hamtaro, however, is worried that someone may be in trouble. So they go in to investigate. It turns out that the screaming is coming from Gabriel! He looks totally different from when the ham-hams last saw him, almost kind of normal. It turns out that he's screaming out of frustration. Laura's Dad comes in and Gabriel tells him that he's "doomed." He calls it "total writer's block." He's been working on a story and he's created a great villain, but he can't figure out a way for the villain to be caught. Laura's Dad gives him some advice, saying that if he's smart enough to write a villain, then he's smart enough to catch him. As they talk, Laura and Kana are out at a mall somewhere discussing Father's Day. Back at the office, Gabriel comments that he needs a kick in the head to get a new idea. So the ham-hams decide to give him one! This causes him to come up with several ideas, but he ends up discarding them all as dumb. He suggests that maybe the villain talks in his sleep, which gets him thinking about how he hasn't slept in days. This causes him to doze off. Hamtaro notes that he's completely knocked out and he decides that they have to wake him up. They wake him up and start talking to him. He naturally finds the concept of talking hamsters crazy, but the ham-hams convince him that he's just dreaming. They cheer him on in various ways, Howdy saying that he has "the right to write whatever he thinks is right." At Laura's, Laura is in her room talking to Hamtaro. She says that there's still no sign of Dad and she wants to know if Hamtaro thinks he's coming home. When Hamtaro doesn't acknowledge her (because he's not there!) she figures he must be in his little house, sleeping. Back at the office, Gabriel has a flash of insight on how to capture the villain. There's a crazy scene where he takes off his normal-looking clothes to reveal the wacky attire he's normally in. He informs Laura's Dad about his inspiration, as well as his "dream" in which Laura's hamster and the others cheered him on like a cheerleading squad. That evening, Laura's Dad comes home and says that he's glad to share Father's Day with Laura and her Mom. Laura presents him with a family photo, which he really likes. He quips that it looks like they've been "framed."moreless - Ep 47How To Rescue a Wedding6/12/03
It's the day of Charlotte and Mr. Yoshi's big wedding - but the bride isn't in attendance! She's still at home, hoping to obtain the blessing of her stubborn father, Mr. Yoshi. The ham-hams do their best to help, with Hamtaro ending up playing the role of Cupid. There's a mad scramble as Chairman Rooster gives his all to try to stop the ceremony - but can he really put a stop to true love?moreless - Ep 46The Very Best Present6/11/03
This episode starts out with a bang. Mimi's family forgot to change their clocks for Daylight Savings Time and so Mimi's Father is running late for work. He's all in a panic and Mimi's Mom suggest that he settle down, or else he might choke on his granola. As he heads out, she suggests that he should be an actor, as he loves drama. The topic among the family turns to his birthday, which they figure he's probably forgotten is coming up, once again. Mimi's brothers think they have a great present and tell Mimi that she's running out of time to think of a present. The scene changes to Kana and Laura, who are talking about Mimi. Kana mentions that last year Mimi chipped in on a present with the help of her brothers, but this year she wants to come up with something all by herself. Laura and Kana reflect back on the very first presents they ever gave their Dads. Laura's was a paper crayon and Kana's was a fly for fishing. The fly didn't exactly work out, but she still managed to make something out of it and of course her Dad appreciated the thought. We check in on the ham-hams, who are over at Bijou's. Bijou wasn't at the clubhouse that morning and so they decided to come check on her because they were worried. But it turns out that Bijou was just sleeping in and so she's okay. Oxnard notices Maria's piano playing. He comments on it and Hamtaro thinks it's neat that Oxnard notices music and "stuff like that." Then, Oxnard comments that hearing music gives him an appetite. Boss doesn't like this idea, after all, it's the music that's supposed to fill you up. Just then, Mimi's Father passes by on his way to work. He hears Maria's piano playing and starts to admire it, as well as acting as if he's conducting it. Mimi watches all of this interestedly, as do the ham-hams. Mimi heads home, where she asks her Mom about a toy piano that she had when she was a little kid. He Mom remembers it - Mimi used to play on it all the time, but after a while, she lost interest and so it got put away. With her Mom's help, Mimi is able to find the old piano. But it's in bad shape. It's not looking too good and additionally, one of the keys is broken. Panda takes the problem of the broken piano to the ham-hams. They're all surprised that he wants their help with Mimi's birthday present, but they're eager to help him out. Not before Howdy gets off a few bad piano-related jokes, though. Dexter criticizes his jokes with another bad pun and Boss rightly suggests more bad puns will probably only encourage Howdy. Bijou says that listening to Maria has given her a sense for music, so she can help Panda with the actual repairs of the piano. The rest of the ham-hams will work on cleaning it up and getting it presentable. After completing the repairs, the ham-hams present the piano to Mimi. They apologize for waking her up. Hamtaro tells her that she can a song for her Dad's birthday present now and she sets to work. However, she's not very good at playing at first and sounds bad. Outside, her Father is doing some lawn work and asks her Mom where the "awful piano playing" is coming from. She informs him that it's Mimi and he changes his tune very quickly. Inside, Mimi herself realizes that her playing sounds awful. She's not happy, but the ham-hams tell her that they can make up a song together and play it. They create the Ham-Ham Band. Hamtaro tells Mimi that she doesn't have to be an expert musician. She just has to put her heart into her music. The scene changes to Mimi's Dad who is arriving home. It's his birthday, but when he hears Kana and Laura mention "birthday," he starts to panic, thinking that he forgot one of his kids' birthdays. It seems that once again he's forgotten his own birthday. Kana and Laura were just stopping by drop off gifts, but they're invited in for the birthday festivities. After some exchanging of gifts, Mimi announces her piano presentation. Her Dad hypes it and she gets very nervous and nearly decides not go through with it. But the ham-hams start up their band and encourage her to play along. So Mimi delivers a beautiful performance that impresses everyone. One of her brothers wonders about the music in the background, but the other says he's just imagining it. Everyone's impressed with Mimi's performance. They then sing Happy Birthday to Mimi's Father as Mimi plays along on the piano. (It's the same odd birthday song as in "Maria's Birthday Party.") Afterwards, Mimi's Father admits that when he was young, he always wanted to be a musician. He was in a band called "Liquid Squid," but he got kicked out because he was tone deaf. Mimi is congratulated on her piano playing and she says that Hamtaro and Panda helped her, but everyone just thinks she's imagining it. That evening, as Laura reflects on the day's events in her journal, Hamtaro comments that he thinks the Ham-Ham Band should go on tour.moreless - Ep 45Keeping Promises6/10/03
It all opens with shots of Laura and Kana's faces. They're angry faces. Very angry faces. Something has happened between them and they're really mad at each other. Laura arrives at her house where she announces to Hamtaro that Kana accused her of breaking a promise, right to her face. Hamtaro's sleepy, apparently he overslept. But he's awake enough to realize something is very wrong. As Laura heads downstairs, Oxnard comes in and says that Laura and Kanas' friendship is over. Hamtaro wonders what's going on and what they could possibly be fighting about. The two decide to head over to Kana's house, where they find her in the same sad state as Laura. She basically just plopped down on her bed, without even taking off her backpack. She states unhappily that she just lost her best friend. Hamtaro thinks that it must just be a misunderstanding. He can't imagine Laura purposely doing something to hurt Kana. Then, the two begin to worry that if they don't do something about this, it could spill over into their friendship. They might start choosing sides and it could get ugly. They have to stop it. Hamtaro then realizes that he has something important he's supposed to be doing. He tries to leave, but Oxnard says that Hamtaro can't leave him now. He doesn't know what to do. So Hamtaro agrees to stay. Meanwhile, Boss is at Bijou's, wondering where Hamtaro is. Hamtaro was supposed to come and help him clean up leaves at Bijou's. Boss is starting to get irritated, but says to Bijou that he can clean up after her by himself. Bijou, however, insists on helping and ends up slipping and falling off a tree branch. The scene cuts away to Laura's, where Laura is fixing herself a snack. She says that she always gets hungry when she's angry. She blurts out to her Mom about what's happened with Kana. Laura's Mom says to just let Kana sleep on it and they'll make it. But Laura thinks that it's too late and it's all over. Back at Oxnard's, Hamtaro and Oxnard are trying to figure out how to help Laura and Kana. Hamtaro thinks that they need the help of someone older and wiser, someone like Boss. Then he remembers that he was supposed to be helping boss at Bijou's. At the clubhouse, Boss is ranting and raving about how he'll never forgive Hamtaro for what happened to Bijou. Hamtaro and Oxnard arrive just in the middle of Boss's rant and he gives Hamtaro the third degree about how Bijou fell off a branch. He says that fell screaming with fright and that he and Hamtaro made a promise between guys and Hamtaro broke it. As Hamtaro goes to check on Bijou, we see the actual events in a short flashback sequence. Bijou did fall, but some leaves cushioned the blow and so she was okay. The ham-hams all criticize Boss for being too hard on Hamtaro. Howdy cracks some bad jokes about Hamtaro "falling" for Boss's deception. Still, Boss thinks that Hamtaro should "squirm" for a while because he deserves it. That evening, at Laura's, Laura is wrestlin with her being upset at Kana. She doesn't understand what could have happened. She didn't tell anyone Kana's secret - that Kana is worried that people think she's too scrawny and have been making fun of her. Hamtaro, in his cage, hopes that Bijou is okay. The next day at school, Kana has a talk with Kylie and June. She learns that the supposed conversation in which Laura told her secret never happened. Instead, Laura was actually talking with them about cooking. June remembers the conversation and tells Kana that's all they were talking about. Kana realizes she's made a big mistake. Meanwhile, Hamtaro and Oxnard are at Bijou's, cleaning up after Bijou. It's exhausting work, especially with the fervor at which they're doing it. But Hamtaro still thinks Bijou is hurt and so he'll do anything to help her out and Oxnard is more than willing to join him. Later that day, Hamtaro is back at home and very exhausted. He doesn't even perk up when Laura calls him, so Laura decides to take him to Doctor Lion. She takes him to the Vetmobile, where Kana is there waited for Oxnard, who's in the same condition as Hamtaro, to be checked out. Panda sees the two there and reports the news back to the clubhouse. At the Vetmobile, Hamtaro and Oxnard decide that it's "showtime." They take off, causing Laura and Kana to bump into each and fall down as they try to head off after them. The two start laughing and Kana apologizes to Laura. She realizes now that the whole thing was just a big mistake. The two make up and are friends again. Doctor Lion sees Hamtaro and Oxnards and pronounces them okay. He says that they just need sleep. Later, Boss apologizes to Hamtaro for letting him think that Bijou was injured. That night, Laura reflects on the day's events in her journal. She tries to get some acknowledgement from Hamtaro, but Hamtaro is way too tired to respond.moreless - Ep 44Who Stole My Shoe?6/9/03
Kylie, Kana and June have a problem. Their shoes, or at least some of them have gone missing. Laura doesn't seem to be affected though, she hasn't lost any shoes, at least, not yet. It's an odd problem, but nobody really seems to know who could be behind it. There are some ideas flying though: perhaps maybe Roberto? He's been going home early a lot lately. Laura arrives home and finds Hamtaro sleeping. He wakes up and is ready and raring to go. She asks him if he was a good boy, but he doesn't seem to be interested in chatter, he just wants to play. Then, Laura finds that one of her shoes has gone missing too. Hamtaro takes the problem to the clubhouse. The ham-hams agree that they should try and do something to solve the problem. Oxnard's certainly interested, since Kana is one of those who lost a shoe and he "hates callouses" and Penelope and Pashmina want to track the thief down for Kylie and Junes' sake. Hamtaro says they'll search for clues at every house that's missing a shoe. In the meantime, Laura and Kana are also out and about. Laura says that she isn't going to put up with what's happening. Kana, sort of dragged along by Laura's strong will, ends up being a part of the search to find the missing shoes and the thief who took them. The ham-hams don detective outfits and head to Laura's place, where Hamtaro finds tiny footprints. They're small enough that they have to be those of an animal, but the ham-hams aren't sure just what exactly. Then, Boss picks up a scent. It's not enough for him to identify the culprit, but it's enough of a scent to follow. Meanwhile, Kana and Laura come across Roberto. Kana wonders if perhaps Roberto had one of his shoes taken too. The ham-hams come across a crow and think that maybe the crow could be thief. They nearly become food for the crow, but then a puppy appears and rescues them. They all hide at a playground. With the crow gone, the ham-hams get on their way. They tell the puppy they'll come back and play later. As they continue their investigation, Laura and Kana are walking along and come across a TV broadcast about a baby monkey that escaped from the local zoo. They wonder if the monkey could be the thief. They finally are also able to talk to Roberto, who reveals that his uncle gave him a little puppy, but it's gone missing. The girls realize that the reason Roberto has been running home so quickly lately is because of the puppy. As the girls talk with Roberto, the ham-hams come head-to-head with the monkey. It's a mischievous little monkey and the ham-hams soon also suspect that it might be the thief. The monkey chases after them and Oxnard wonders if anyone has a banana. The ham-hams climb up a pole, but the monkey still comes after them. Fortunately, the puppy dog comes to their rescue again. He finally ends up knocking the monkey into a pool, where a police officer spots it and takes it to be returned to the zoo. Now, Laura and Kana are out looking for Roberto's puppy. Kana thinks that they should have asked Roberto for its name, but Laura notes that puppies tend to just run up to anyone. They end up coming to a large house, which they recognize as Roberto's. It has to be his because it has his last name: Arvello, on the door. They find the puppy there as well. It's unchained, so it's no doubt: it's his. Then, the ham-hams find the missing sneakers behind a bush in the yard. Roberto comes and gives the puppy's name as Samba. He admonishes Samba for taking the shoes, but he's not mean and Laura and Kana are impressed with the way he handles the situation. He gives them back their shoes and then says that he's going to go to give the rest back to their rightful owners. Hamtaro notes that the "big-bad shoe thief" was really just a little puppy and Howdy cracks some bad jokes about "lacing up" the case. That evening, Laura reflects on the day's events. She thinks that Roberto is very good with dogs. Now if only he would work on his people skills. She thinks that it was a fun day and that tomorrow will be even better. She asks Hamtaro if he's thinking along the same lines and Hamtaro seems to agree.moreless - Ep 43The Ham-Ham Express6/6/03
Laura and her class are getting ready for a hike. They're heading up Chick-Ah Chick-Ah mountain. Mr. Yoshi is taking them and he has a new toy: a video camera. Laura comments that he's so obsessed with it, he never puts it down. Travis, however, manages to get it away from Mr. Yoshi long enough to film him. He tells the class to say "cheese." Hamtaro takes the news to the clubhouse and suggests that they try to climb the mountain too. The ham-hams have several objections, among them being that it's a very long way to climb and that they "don't got no survival skills." (This is Howdy's objection and no one bothers to correct his bad grammar either.) It's suggested that they use landmarks, leading Howdy to wonder what landmarks are and if they could be dangerous. Panda takes the moment to announce that he's made a ham-ham train. He made alterations to the locomotive at the Ham-Ham Fun Park and now they can take it anywhere they want. He calls it the Ham-Ham Express. The first question is: who gets to drive? It doesn't take long for the boys (some of them, anyway) to have a big fight about this. Bijou finally breaks up the fighting and they decide to play rock / paper /scissors in order to determine the driver. They're all shocked and surprised when Penelope joins in the match - and wins! She chose scissors, but everyone else chose paper. Boss says they should declare a rematch. Penelope's too young to drive and not only that, she can't reach the brake pedals. Hamtaro, however, says that Penelope won, so she's the driver. They can just lower the brake pedals. The issue is finally settled and the Ham-Ham Express takes off. As they ride along, they sing the Hamtaro theme song. Snoozer's even riding along, at the back of the train and Boss is functioning as a tour guide of the overground tunnels. They pass under Hamtaro's home and then Bijou's. Then, they come to a fork in the road. Boss tells Penelope to go right, but she accidentally messes up and goes left. Pashmina notes that Penelope isn't very good with her directions yet. The tunnel takes them to parts unknown. They finally end up in a back alley and the train breaks down. Panda manages to find something to repair it, but they are faced with a cat. Penelope blows the train whistle and it is scared away. After Panda fixes the train, they are back on their way. At the mountain, Laura's class is well on the way up. However, they're getting tired and want to take a break. Mr. Yoshi, however, doesn't sense their tiredness and has them keep going. Laura comments that someone should take out his batteries. The ham-hams get back on track up the mountain, but it's really rough. Even with the train, it's a difficult journey. Then, Jingle comes along, with his pig Herbert. He calls Hamtaro "Ham and Eggs," but fortunately is the solution to their problems. Or rather, Herbert is. They hook the train up to Herbert, who takes them up the mountain. Jingle finally leaves them, saying that he always travels alone. The ham-hams catch up to Laura and the class. They're finally taking a break and are having something to eat. Mr. Yoshi tries to film this, but Laura tells him to stop, it's embarrassing. The ham-hams take a break to eat too. They gather up some nuts and such and have themselves a feast. While this is happening, Mr. Yoshi tries to film some birds. He ends up being attacked by the birds, however and in the process loses his camera, which goes tumbling without him noticing. He finally realizes it is gone and the class all helps him search for it. The ham-hams see this and at first think they're looking for nuts. We get to hear Travis's thoughts: after hearing Mr. Yoshi comment that the video on the camera was irreplaceable, he thinks that Mr. Yoshi must really care about them. The ham-hams finally realize what is happening too. They decide to help out as well and start searching. As they're searching, Mr. Yoshi gives up on searching. The class needs to be heading back. He says that he'll come back by himself the next day. The ham-hams are still searching though and as they do, Penelope falls down a hole. The ham-hams are scared at first, but they manage to rescue her. Then, they take another look at the hole - the camera's in it! With the help of the Ham-Ham Express, they rescue the camera from the hole and leave it for Mr. Yoshi to find. He finds it and checks it: it's working okay. Interestingly enough, though, the video he checks isn't of the class: it's of him and Charlotte! The class comes to a realization: that video is what he was really interested in! He speaks quickly, saying that his class is important to him too. Then he makes an announcement to the class: that he and Charlotte and getting married. He says that they haven't set a date for the wedding yet, but it's coming. He asks them who the greatest class in the world is and they all say that they are. That night, Laura reflects on the day's events, as well as Mr. Yoshi getting engaged.moreless - Ep 42The Flying Carp6/5/03
Laura is out an about, admiring some flying windsocks in the shape of fish, hanging from a pole. She's talking to Hamtaro about them: she really likes them and wants to hang one up herself, but her Mom doesn't like them and won't let her do it. Laura heads home and tries to convince her Mom. She uses the "everyone is doing it" strategy, but it doesn't work. Her Mom tells her that she won't have any fish flying from their home's rafters and that's the end of the story. Laura tries to argue some more, but just then the doorbell rings. Laura goes to get the door, as they expect it's Grandpa and Grandma coming for a visit. Indeed, they have, but Grandpa has gotten a little well, taller. Actually, a lot taller. It's just another of his inventions though, "spring pants." Grandma comes out, she was hiding behind Grandpa. Hamtaro comments that Laura's Grandpa's inventions are getting weirder all the time. Grandpa heads inside, where he talks about the flying fish with Laura. He says that he always dreamed of flying when he was young. However, people just thought he was weird. Laura responds that he is weird and she thinks that's what makes him a great inventor. She inspires him to try creating a mechanical flying fish. Hamtaro takes the news of this to the clubhouse. The ham-hams, particularly Boss, are at first skeptical. Boss doesn't understand how a fish could fly without any wings and Dexter comments that there's no way a fish could fly. Howdy seizes the moment to make a wordplay joke about fish and flies, which, naturally, flops. As the ham-hams continue to discuss the flying fish, Jingle shows up. He says that the winds have brought him back home. Hamtaro greets him and Jingle calls him "Hamgogo" and asks him how he is. Hamtaro decides to take this moment to have it out with Jingle about his name. He says that if he can just say it right once, it's easy. After Jingle gets it wrong a second time, Boss tries to get it through his brain. Jingle finally gets it right, but then ends up blowing it again. The ham-hams decide it's hopeless if he's not even going to try. The scene changes to Laura's house, where Laura and Grandpa are getting ready to fly the mechanized fish they've created. The ham-hams are looking at it from a tree and don't understand how it can fly. Grandpa sends it flying, but it malfunctions and ends off flying into the distance, where it crashes near an area where Sabu is out and about trying to peddle seeds. He sees it fly by and wonders what on earth it was. Laura tells her Grandpa that it was a good try. Grandpa, however, says that they're not done yet. There's something to be learned from failure. They'll create a flying fish that's twice as good as that one. Seeing Grandpa's determination, Hamtaro announces that he thinks the ham-hams should try and create a flying fish too. Boss tries to dissuade him, saying that he's just a hamster and has to face the facts. Bijou, however, thinks that maybe they can give it a try and the rest of the ham-hams agree. First, the ham-hams decide to examine the windsocks in the hopes of getting some inspiration. Boss and Hamtaro climb up a pole to investigate them. But when Hamtaro tries to hop onto one, the wind ends up blowing him and he ends up hanging for his life at the end of it. Boss rescues him, but not before nearly being blown away himself. The ham-hams decide to forget this idea. Back at Laura's, Laura and Grandpa are hard at work on flying fish mark 2. Laura's Mom is concerned about the fact that Laura is so involved that she won't even stop for lunch. But Laura's Grandma calls it a positive sign that at least Laura sat down for a moment. The ham-hams begin their attempts at making a flying fish. But nothing seems to be working. They have a number of good ideas, but none of them will fly. Then, Maxwell comes up with an idea - instead of getting wind to blow the fish, perhaps they could get air inside it. Helium, actually, in the form of balloons. They consider a mission to head into town to get the balloons, but the ham-hams think it may be too complicated. Boss comments that he knew he should have saved the balloons from his last birthday. Then Oxnard announces that Laura and her Grandpa are going to launch their new fish. And launch they are - like a rocket! After launching it, it begins to fall, but then Laura's Grandpa takes it into "Stage Two." It flies for a while, but then, like the last one, it crashes, this time in water. It once again disturbs Sabu, who comments on the size of it. While in the water, it actually swims around for a while like a fish, before finally giving up the ghost. Laura's Grandpa is ready to give up on the whole idea. The ham-hams manage to get their balloon fish flying, but Laura and her Grandpa don't see it. Then, Hamtaro gets an idea. He asks Sabu, who has joined the ham-hams nosw, if he knows where Francois is. His plan is to have Francois and her flock of birds help out. The ham-hams work together and decorate the birds as fish. They fly high in the sky, with Hamtaro and several of the other ham-hams riding. Laura and her Grandpa can't help but see this and the ham-hams' plan is a success. Laura's Grandpa says to imagine thousands of flying fish. Maxwell comments that it "pays to have friends in high places." That evening, Hamtaro reflects on the day and how he was so high up that Laura couldn't have seen him. Laura thinks it was fun helping Grandpa try to make a mechanical flying fish and that tomorrow will be even better.moreless - Ep 41Dance, Chef Ham!6/4/03
Laura, her Mom and her Dad are watching one of those cooking shows of the type that have become so popular on television these days. Laura is impressed by the chef's apparent skills, perhaps too impressed. Hearing Laura gush over this chef, her Dad declares that he can cook well too. He says that tomorrow he's making dinner and he'll show her who's a good cook. The next morning, Oxnard is heading towards the clubhouse. He has a large bunch of sunflower seeds, but is beginning to wish he didn't. He bought a huge amount in bulk and they're beginning difficult to carry. He loses his balance and some of the seeds go flying through the air. Fortunately for him, they land in the pan of a ham-ham he's never seen before. This ham is a chef of some sort and decides to make a meal out of them. He compliments the quality of the seeds and Oxnard explains that they're organically grown, without any preservatives. Chef Ham quickly makes them into a great meal, which Oxnard loves. Oxnard calls him "fast" and the Chef says, in his Italian accent, that he hasn't seen anything yet. Oxnard says that he loves food, but this is the first time he's tasted anything gourmet. He asks Chef Ham to come to the clubhouse with him and prepare a meal for the ham-hams. Chef Ham, however, says he needs to get home to his wife and kids. Hamtaro arrives on the scene and asks Oxnard "what's cookin'?" But Chef Ham is already gone. While Oxnard and Hamtaro are heading to the clubhouse, Laura's Dad is out shopping, with Laura and her Mom along. They're arguing over tomatoes: Laura's Mom thinks that Dad could save money by buying cheap tomatoes, but he shoots back that he "only uses the finest ingredients when he cooks." At the clubhouse, Oxnard tells the ham-hams about Chef Ham. They all seem pretty excited, except for Howdy, who seems to be a cynic. He says that a "sunflower seed is a sunflower seed." Bijou, Pashmina and Penelope, however, all agree that it's good to try good things. And Boss says that they don't have this opportunity every day. So they set out to find Chef Ham, but as Howdy notes, it's like "finding a needle in a haystack." They really don't have any idea to find him because they don't know where he lives, or which way he headed. Then, luck strikes. It turns out that Chef Ham is still hanging around the same area where Oxnard ran into him. Chef Ham explains that the truth is that he's kind of afraid to go back to his wife and kids. He's worried that they may not like his cooking. He has been all around the world training, even to France, as Bijou notes, but he's still not sure of his skills. The ham-hams don't mind. They all ask that he make something for them. Hamtaro says that they'll do the dishes. Chef Ham agrees, pleased to have the opportunity to cook for them. They go out and gather ingredients for him. He comments that sometimes the best meals come from the simplest ingredients. He creates them all a tasty pizza. Bijou calls it the best pizza she ever tasted. Howdy even goes back on his previous comment, which gets him a jab from Pashmina. At Laura's, Laura's Dad seems to be making a mess in the kitchen, but he claims he has everything under control. Now that Chef Ham has cooked for the ham-hams, they encourage him to cook for his children. He's still worried: what if his own children don't like his cooking. He says he's more nervous no than he ever was at cooking school. The ham-hams, however, maintain their upbeat attitude and encourage him to give it a shot. They'll throw a big party for his kids and invite them all over. He can serve them their first meal cooked by him at the clubhouse. Sometime later, at Laura's, Laura's Dad announces that dinner's ready. Hamtaro comments that Chef Ham isn't the only one in the kitchen. In any case, he needs to be getting back to the clubhouse. At the clubhouse, Chef Ham is just about done. He's very pleased with the feast he's created and thinks that everyone will be smiling and laughing and eating. Oxnard calls it a feast fit for a king. The feast even gets Snoozer talking. He thinks that it smells good. It's tempting, but he doesn't want to get up... yet! Chef Ham's children arrive... all ten of them! They're all white hamsters, like him. Chef Ham presents them with his feast and they gobble it quite happily. He worries that they're just being polite, but Hamtaro notes that they've cleaned their plates. They wouldn't have done that if they didn't like it. Oxnard, however, is worried about something else - Chef Ham's kid's have eaten all of it. That means there's nothing left for him! Chef ham's delighed with his results, but Oxnard is panicked. At Laura's, Dad's meal turns out not to be as bad as everyone thought it would. Laura liked it so much that she had seconds. Laura and her Mom, impressed, insist that they should do the dishes. However, he wards them away, saying that it would be best for them not to go into the kitchen, as it's a disaster. That evening, Hamtaro reflects on Chef Ham. He figures that even grown-ups sometimes like to hear that they've done a good job. Laura reflects on her Dad's cooking and how she was surprised that it actually turned out well.moreless - Ep 40Doctor Lion6/3/03
It's time for Brandy's annual shots. However, as Laura expected, Brandy is trying to hide because he doesn't want to go to the vet. She talks about the veterinarian, Doctor Lion and what a great veterinarian he is. Hamtaro is listening in and he thinks this "Doctor Lion" sounds scary. He fantasizes a vicious lion. He's rather scared when he hears Laura say that she's planning to take him in for a checkup as well. Nevertheless, both Brandy and Hamtaro both go to the vet. Kana and Maria are coming along too, bringing Oxnard and Bijou. When they get there, they find that Charlotte's there. Mr. Yoshi's tagged along too. Charlotte's there because she thinks that since she plans to be a veterinarian, watching Doctor Lion do his work will be good training. Doctor Lion gives a series of dogs their annual shots. Then, it comes time for Brandy. But Brandy runs off, scared. Doctor Lion, however, calms Brandy down with the antics of his assistant monkey, Pepe. While Pepe distracts Brandy, Doctor Lion gives Brandy his shots. It's over before Brandy even knows it. The ham-hams are all there watching on and they decide that Doctor Lion isn't as bad as they thought. It comes time for Hamtaro's checkup and at first he's scared, but it's over pretty quickly and Doctor Lion gives Hamtaro a clean bill of health. He examines Oxnard, who he thinks is getting a bit chubby and Bijou, who he thinks must have a lot of guys chasing after her. The ham-hams are all very impressed with Doctor Lion's intuition and decide that they want to do something to help him. That evening, they see him working late. They figure he must be very dedicated to his patients. They hear him complain about his clinic being a mess and decide to help clean up. However, they're not even really sure to begin and then end up being chased by a group of chicks. Boss is left at the clinic to see if maybe he can get anything done, but he ends up falling asleep and the ham-hams find him the next day. Things have been cleaned up, but it wasn't Boss's doing. Opportunity knocks again when Doctor Lion comes upon a sad looking dog just as he's leaving his clinic. He quickly rushes the dog into his clinic and discovers that it hasn't eaten for days. He diagnoses the dog as being sick for the kind of love only his owner can give and decides that the dog probably won't start eating again unless he can find its owner. Information comes in the form of Mimi, who recognizes the dog as "Johnny." She's seen the dog at the park before and knows who it belongs to. However, she doesn't know where the owner, Natalie, lives. Worse, she recently learned that the owner has been in the hospital and so that's why Johnny's been separated from her. The doctor decides to put up flyers in the hopes of finding the hospital that Natalie is staying at. The ham-hams see this as their opportunity. They take the flyers and blanket area hospitals and Laura/Kanas' school with them. Unfortunately, the flyers don't produce any results. Nobody seems to know anything about the girl and the missing dog. But, while at the last hospital, Boss overhears a nurse talking about a sketchbook that got left behind by Natalie. The ham-hams get the sketchbook to Doctor Lion, who recognizes Johnny in the sketches. Also depicted in the sketches is /Johnny's home. Doctor Lion, along with his assembled group of Mimi, Laura, Kana, Mr. Yoshi and Charlotte head to the house, where they find that the owner, Natalie, has chained herself to Johnny's leash. She doesn't want to leave the spot until Johnny returns. Then, Johnny comes bounding up to her and all is well. Doctor Lion thanks everyone for their help, but also says that he thinks that they may have had some "little helpers." The ham-hams wonder how he could know this. They start to head home, but in a comic ending are chased by the chicks again. That evening, Laura reflects on Doctor Lion's skills. She also wonders who the "little helpers" could be, which makes Hamtaro a bit nervous.moreless - Ep 39Hannah is in Love!6/2/03
Dexter is out in front of the eyeglass store, apparently heading for the clubhouse. Then, he notices a ham-ham that appears to stuck in a hole in a fence. He rescues her from the hole, then complains about her heaviness when she ends up on top of him. Howdy comes along and it turns out that he knows Hannah. He's invited Hannah over to the clubhouse and is upset by Dexter's calling her "heavy." Dexter quickly amends that she's "just perfect." Howdy and Dexter head to the clubhouse with Hannah. Hamtaro arrives at the clubhouse just in time for Howdy's introductions. Hannah is a southern ham and he and her have been friends for a while now. Hamtaro says that he just hopes that Hannah doesn't have Howdy's sense of humor. Later, while the ham-hams are outside trying to play with Hannah, Hannah pulls Howdy aside. She wants Howdy to find out if Dexter has any sort of affection for her. She finds him "sophisticated" and thinks that he has "gerbil eyes," which she finds appealing. So Howdy tries to pull Dexter aside, but he can't get Dexter to let him to talk to him. Dexter is worried that Howdy is just trying to tell him a bad joke or something. Howdy ends up telling Hannah that Dexter likes her, even though he never actually said anything about her. The ham-hams eventually learn the truth behind Howdy's subterfuge. They decide to help him out because they realize that Howdy's intentions were pure and it's possible that maybe Dexter really does like Hannah. They set them up for a date at the Ham-Ham Fun Park. They'll come along, but still let Dexter and Hannah have some "alone time." The "date" goes through, but when Dexter gets woozy from the ferris wheel ride, he admits that he doesn't like fast rides. He's very surprised when Hannah breaks up with him, saying that he's not her type. He starts to protest that he never liked her in the first place, but Howdy stops him before the truth can come out. In the end, it's Howdy and Hannah who end up together on the rides. Stan notes that Hannah is the only ham-ham who can stand Howdy's jokes. Oh, and by the way, Laura is concerned because Brandy isn't eating his food. Kana thinks that Brandy may be in love with a neighbor's dog. But it turns out that he was just concerned about a duck with some unhatched eggs that he and Laura saw a while back. That about sums that up.moreless - Ep 38Auntie Viv and Elder Ham5/30/03
It's another beautiful day, when the cherry blossoms are out in bloom. Laura and her Mom are preparing a nice picnic. They want Dad to come, but he ditches out, saying that he has to go to work. This disappoints Laura and her Mom, who were really looking forward to him coming. Now they're going to end up having leftovers. Fortunately, Kana and her Mom are joining them. But Kana's Dad won't be there either. Hamtaro laments that the Moms and daughters must be angry that the Dads aren't into flowers. Laura takes Brandy along, but Hamtaro's not coming, at least not officially. Unofficially, he is coming and so is Oxnard. Hamtaro tells Brandy that he'll meet him there, but to not tell Laura. At the park, the other ham-hams are waiting for Hamtaro and Oxnard. They're a bit anxious and want to get going and see the cherry blossoms. They decide to wait for Hamtaro and Oxnard anyway and so finally they show up. In the meantime, Auntie Viv is heading their way too. She's carrying a big load of sunflower seeds, which she sets down while she goes over to greet them. Hamtaro asks if she's there to watch the cherry blossoms too. She says that she wouldn't miss it for the world. First, though, she wants to go back and get the sunflower seeds to share with the ham-hams. While she's talking to the ham-hams, Elder Ham comes along the sunflower seeds. Since they're just sitting there in the open, he helps himself to them. Auntie Viv is shocked when she returns and finds that the seeds are gone. She asks Elder Ham if he ate the seeds and he at first non-answers that she looks great. Finally, she forces out of him that he ate the seeds. The two get in a big fight. Boss tells Auntie Viv to calm down, but she snaps back for him to calm down. Elder Ham finally issues an ultimatum - he's never talking to her again! In the meantime, the girls and the mothers are wishing their Dads could have come to see the cherry blossoms. Kana's Mom says that it's their loss, so they shouldn't be worrying about. She decides that it's best if they just don't talk about them. The ham-hams suggest to Elder Ham that he should apologize to Auntie Viv. Elder Ham just snaps that Auntie Viv should apologize to him. He lets on that the conflict is really about more than just sunflower seeds. He and Auntie Viv used to be "an item." But soemthing happened between them, a long time ago, on a day similar to today when the cherry blossoms were falling. It had to do with Elder Ham's annoying habit of falling asleep. After Elder Ham leaves, Pashmina has a great idea. Howdy seems to tune into it too: the ham-hams should hook them up! Boss finds the whole thing to be "very sneaky" and says that he likes it. So the ham-hams split up to get Auntie Viv and Elder Ham. They find Auntie Viv painting by the river. As the ham-hams are in the process of completing the hookup, Laura and Kanas' Dads arrive at the park. They've just gotten off work and realized that they should have come sooner. The ham-hams finally get Auntie Viv and Elder Ham together. At first, they're hostile, but then the cherry blossoms carry them back to their memories of better times. Elder Ham takes responsibility for his stubbornness and Auntie Viv decides to be forgiving. With the Dads at the park, Laura and Kana perform the "You've Got Friends" song and the ham-hams join in. A crowd gathers to watch Laura and Kanas' performance. That evening, Laura calls it a "fantastic day."moreless - Ep 37Boss Runs Away5/29/03
Laura and family are heading to the bus station and Hamtaro is tagging along. (It's an official "tagalong," Laura took him with her, he didn't sneak aboard.) Laura's Mom is going on a trip. Laura and her Dad assure her not to worry: she and Dad will take care of the cooking and cleaning while she's away. She playfully tells Hamtaro to stay out of the garden. It's a particularly nice, clear, day and Boss catches Bijou sitting alone in a field. He thinks that it's his chance to tell Bijou how he "really feels." He comes up to her with a flower, which he tries to present to her, but he freezes up and starts stammering. Then, Hamtaro comes and sees the both of them. He gives Bijou a couple of flowers he just picked that are exactly like the one Boss has. Boss gets irritated and walks away. The camera changes to Sabu, who's been watching this. He wonders what's wrong with Boss. Boss chastises himself for blowing his one chance to show his feelings for Bijou. Later on, the ham-ham gang are all out in the field, except for Boss. Sabu comes up to them, peddling his seeds. Those that haven't met Sabu before are pleased to meet him. Hamtaro's told them so much about him. Oxnard mentions the events of "Laura's Valentine" and how he and his girlfriend Francois helped him. Sabu notes that he hasn't seen Francois lately. Sabu offers them his seeds, saying that he's got a whole bunch of them and no hmasters to eat them up. Sabu talks about his life and about Francois. Howdy says that there's two sides to Francois, urging Sabu to "look out below." Hamtaro, Oxnard and Penelope are shown as the ham-hams all groan. Howdy says a flippant "you know what I mean" and Sabu states that he doesn't know what Howdy means. Dexter urges Sabu to ignore Howdy, as Howdy is, well, "different." The ham-hams invite Sabu to the clubhouse to tell them stories about his journeys. At the clubhouse, Sabu and the ham-hams wonder about Boss, who's been napping. Boss goes out to get some fresh air. Hamtaro tries to stop him, but Sabu says that if Boss wants to go out, then Hamtaro should let him go. He tells the ham-hams some stories and they munch on some seeds, then all settle down and take a nap. Sabu heads out and finds Boss. Boss tells Sabu about how he likes "a girl," but always freezes up when he tries to talk to her. He thinks he must be a loser. Sabu says that if Boss is a loser, then he must be one too. Boss doesn't understand, since Sabu has a girlfriend. Sabu agrees, but says that when "the moment came," he choked. But he thinks he's found the secret: you don't have to be perfect, just don't give up. We see flashback scenes of him creating wings and attempting to fly like Francois, in an effort to win her love. That evening, Sabu leaves. The ham-hams want to stay, but he tells them that he has other customers he needs to serve. The next morning, at Laura's, Laura's Dad tries to make an omelet. (Or is it that evening? Given what happens later, the omelet might have been intended for dinner.) But he ends up burning it. Hamtaro, seeing all of the commotion, figures that this is a lot of work to have breakfast. If he wants breakfast, all he has to do is crack open a shell. At the clubhouse, Boss packs up at leaves, saying that if he stays at the clubhouse, he'll never be a "real man," like Sabu. He leaves a note, saying that he's going to find Sabu and learn courage. When Hamtaro arrives at the clubhouse, Bijou calls him in worriedly. They show him the note that Boss left. Hamtaro wants to go after him, but the ham-hams suggest that he not, noting that if Boss left last night, Hamtaro will never catch up with him. We see Boss join Sabu. He gets himself a cart just like Sabu's and peddles seeds to a group of orange hamsters. Sabu seems to like his sales pitch. Sabu and Boss talk and Boss says that he thinks that maybe this is the life he should have had, being a field hamster and all. That evening, Laura's Dad tries to cook again. It's even worse than before, though, he makes cupcakes for dinner. He calls himself a failure at cooking and cleaning. Laura and her Dad both realize that they miss Mom. Hamtaro compares their feelings to his about Boss being gone. That night, Boss thinks about the ham-hams. He misses them, but tells himself that he can't go back. He tells himself to "start being a man." Sabu overhears and says to himself that Boss has a funny idea of what being a man is. The next day, Francois comes and finds Hamtaro. She leads Hamtaro to Sabu and Boss. Hamtaro urges Boss to come home and Sabu does too. He says that Boss misses home, so he should go home. Boss thinks that Hamtaro and Sabu don't understand, but Sabu tells him that if he wants to be a man, he can't turn his back on his friends. He also notes that Boss was crying and that a real man has the courage to cry. Boss finally agrees and Francois carries him and Hamtaro back to the clubhouse. Along the way, Boss tries to talk to Hamtaro, but is irritated when Hamtaro starts laughing. Hamtaro explains that he's not laughing at Boss and points towards the ground. Boss looks down and sees a giant representation of himself that the ham-hams have created. He tears up and says that he loves them all. That evening, Hamtaro arrives home. He overhears the conversation in the house and hears that Laura's Mom is home. She wasn't supposed to be back so soon, but apparently she decided to return early. Hamtaro scurries up the drainpipe, as Laura is heading upstairs to go get him. After she gets him, she returns downstairs and Laura's Dad is forced to admit that things didn't go so well while she was gone and that he's terrible at cooking. That night at the clubhouse, Boss hears Snoozer snoring. He wonders if a man snores in his sleep, then decides that it really doesn't matter. At Laura's, Laura reflects on the events of the past couple days. She thinks that Dad is a great man and a lot of fun, but things are going to be even better with Mom back home.moreless - Ep 36Hamtaro and the Space Ship!5/28/03
When Laura says that she wished upon a star and her wish came true: that she got Hamtaro, Hamtaro is led to believe that he comes from outer space. His fears seem to be confirmed when Oxnard is apparently beamed up by a spaceship, but is there a more rational explanation for what happened?moreless - Ep 35The Search for Spring!5/27/03
It's morning. A very cold, wintry weekend morning. Laura just wants to sleep in, but her Mom has other ideas. She comes into Laura's room and opens the window, sending a blast of chilly air into the room. This annoys Laura, but also has the effect Laura's Mom intended: it gets Laura up. Everyone agrees that it's really cold and they can't wait for spring to come. Laura's Dad suggests a trip to Shimmer Lake. It may be cold where they are, but it's supposed to be getting warm already at Shimmer Lake. Laura's not sure, as she was supposed to go treasure hunting with Kana today. Laura's Dad suggests that Kana come along - they can go treasure hunting at Shimmer Lake! Hamtaro likes the idea of the search for spring and Shimmer Lake as well. He goes out to meet up with the ham-hams. The ham-hams are getting tired of the cold too and think maybe the search for spring is worth a shot. Maxwell interjects, saying that spring is just a season that comes around every year, not something to be found. Being as cold as they are though, the ham-hams decide that they're not going to just wait around. They'll come on the trip in the hopes of finding spring. Hamtaro returns home and as Laura gets ready to leave for the trip, she tells Hamtaro that she can't take him along. She says that it's just too cold outside to take him and tells him to be good. She leaves and we see Hamtaro escaping down the drainpipe. He's joined by the rest of the ham-hams, who get a lift from Brandy into the car. Brandy's coming along as an official member of the trip. Laura lifts him and puts him in the car, but not before commenting on how heavy he seems to be getting. The Harunas and Kana take off for Shimmer Lake, but on the way there, they get stuck in a giant traffic jam. While stuck in the traffic jam, Laura and Kana notice a girl with a puppy in a neighboring car. Laura's Dad finally decides to escape the traffic jam by taking a back road. We see him consulting a map labeled "Map" and with some Japanese symbols, but he ends up getting lost anyway. Then they have car trouble and end up at "Ed's Garage." It's really cold at Ed's Garage and it doesn't seem like they'll be finding spring there. The ham-hams are all freezing. Howdy suggests that they do the "shiver boogie," an idea that only makes things even colder. At the garage, Laura and Kana notice a nearby "fun park." They decide to go investigate and the ham-hams follow. At first, they call it a "ghost park," but after looking around a bit more, they decide to give it a try and head for a see-saw. The ham-hams play on the fun park too, figuring that if they keep moving, they can stay warm. Then a girl shows up - it's the same girl that Laura and Kana saw in the car earlier. She's calling for "Spring" - Laura and Kana ask her about it and learn that's the name of her puppy. The ham-hams also hear her calling for "Spring," but don't catch that it's the name of her puppy. The girl explains that a motorcycle scared him off and now he's lost. Laura and Kana decide to help. They think Brandy could also help out - as he's great at sniffing things out. The ham-hams search too, not knowing that they're looking for a dog. As they search though the forest, it starts snowing. Not only that, but Laura's parents have no idea where she is. Then, Brandy catches a scent of something. He bounds for the ham-hams and to their surprise, Peneloepe latches onto his tail and takes off with him. Brandy finds "Spring," the dog, as well as butterburst sprout. The ham-hams, including Maxwell, all take this as a sign of spring. Then, Brandy shows them more, a big sunny flower patch. Laura, Kana and the little girl find it as well and think it's great. They see Brandy and Spring frolicking in it. The ham-hams realize that the dog is actually "Spring," but they're pleased that the real spring is coming as well. That night, Laura reflects on the day's events. She met a new friend - Jasmine (spring's owner.) And although she never made it to Shimmer Lake, it was a great day, a real adventure.moreless - Ep 34Nin-Ham The Ninja!5/23/03
Laura's in her room, complaining about her score on her math test. (a fairly simple decimal multiplication test, with problems all of the same type) She only get 10% on it, but she could have gotten much higher, it's just that she accidentally skipped a problem and wrote the correct answers in the wrong places. Her Mom calls up to her and she realizes that she's supposed to be doing something with Kana today. She folds the test paper in her jacket pocket so her Mom doesn't see it. Hamtaro's there and kind of figures out what's going on. She heads downstairs and meets up with Kana, who's excited about getting 100% on the test. Laura's Mom asks what Laura got on the test. Laura lies that she got a 100% too and leaves. Outside, Kana asks if it's true and Laura tells her the real deal. Kana thinks that maybe Laura should tell the truth, but Laura's not so sure, especially considering how excited her Mom was. She'll just have to hope that she never asks to actually see the test. In the meantime, Hamtaro heads off to meet the ham=-hams at the park. They're having a picnic of sunflower seeds. Hamtaro joins in and then everyone sees what appears to be a kite flying in the air. (It has a Japanese symbol on it.) Looking at it more closely, it appears that there's a hamster flying on the back of it. The kite crashes and they all go to investigate. When they find it, there's no hamster on the back of it and they wonder if they're seeing things. They finally spot the hamster, who calls himself "Nin-Ham." He has his own unique ham-speak sound: "nin nin nin nin, nin nin nin nin." He says that they have very keen eyes for spotting him, but now he's going to disappear. He attempts to vanish in a cloud of smoke, but the trick fails. The ham-hams try to get to know him. Howdy wants to know what's with his ninja "get-up." Boss wants him to teach them cool ninja tricks. He says that he can't as "bein' a ninja is no cakewalk." They share some of their sunflower seeds with him, as he's very hungry from his journey. Boss says that he has to show them some of his moves now that they've shared their seeds, but he still won't show them anything. Laura and Kana return to Laura's home, as Kana has convinced Laura that she should tell the truth about the test. Then, they overhear Laura's Dad inside. He's very excited about Laura getting a 100% and wants to take her out to dinner. Laura decides that it would be best to just go over to Kana's for the time being. Back at the park, Nin-Ham talks to himself. He doesn't want to return to his village, as his grades are low and he'd just be the laughingstock of his ninja school. But he doesn't want to stay there at the park either. The ham-hams return from having left from a bit: they all made themselves ninja outfits! Nin-Ham throws some ninja-stars in an attempt to escape. But then he gets pegged by somebody else's ninja stars! It's Elder-Ham! It turns out that he spent some time a while back training to be a ninja in the same village and under the same instructor as Nin-Ham. He'd like Nin-Ham to show everyone some of what he's learned. The ham-hams all agree. They ask him to show them how to throw some ninja stars. Nin-Ham complains that they're not that easy (they're actually his worst skill) but Oxnard says that if he's such an expert, like he claims, then they should be easy for him. They set up a dartboard target, which Nin-Ham fails to even hit. He claims that he wasn't aiming for the target. Then he offers to show them the "Kushi-Kushi 36 trick." He says that if they "kushi-kushi" 36 times, then they'll disappear! To himself, he notes that someone is going to disappear: him! He tries to make his escape, but they see him and stop him. Elder Ham continues to try the trick and is surprised when everyone is gone. They decide that if he's a ninja, then maybe he can help with Laura's test. They "nin-nin-nin" on over to Laura's house, but find that Laura's not there. Howdy cracks a bad joke about why the ninja didn't cross the road. Then, Oxnard reports that Laura is at Kana's house. So they head there, where Nin-Ham just attempts to escape again. In the process, he ends up writing an extra "0" next to the existing one on Laura's test. The score now reads "100." Laura's parents arrive, they'd been looking for her. Laura breaks down and tries to tell them the truth about what happened with the test. But then they see the 100. Laura's Dad thinks that it's odd the ones she got right have slashes through them, but whatever. They tell her that she shouldn't be so hard on herself, she obviously knew the material. Nin-Ham admits to the ham-hams that he's been lying about being such a great ninja. And Elder Ham reveals that he's actually known the truth all along. He got a message to tell Nin-Ham to go home to finish his training. Nin-Ham's surprised that they want him back. Boss wonders why Elder Ham didn't say anything if he knew all along. Elder Ham responds that he should have, but what happened was fun! That night, Laura reflects on how much she learned by being honest. She wonders how the test grade got changed, though.moreless - Ep 33Maria's Birthday Party5/22/03
Maria holds a birthday party and the ham-hams tag along. The ham-hams are worried that the party may be ruined when they accidentally knock down Maria's doll collection after being chased by her new puppy, Princess. Fortunately, the ham-hams manage to get the undamaged dolls back in place, while Boss distracts Princess's attention.moreless - Ep 32Super Hamster Robo-Joe5/21/03
Hamtaro is at the clubhouse, taking part in a bit of a tea party. He leaves hurriedly, as he remembered that Laura's grandfather, the famous inventor, is coming over for a visit. He has to be there when he comes. Hamtaro arrives just as Laura's grandfather shows up and manages to make it up the drainpipe and into his cage in time. Grandpa, as usual, has some wacky gifts. For example, he gives Laura's Mom a scale that takes off five pounds - it calculates a person's weight and then subtracts five pounds from it! But the big deal is what he gives Laura - "Robo-Joe." Robo-Joe is talking electronic hamster who learns by imitation - he basically just copies what he sees other hamsters do. Laura calls him "incredible." Laura introduces Robo-Joe to Hamtaro, who remembers Laura's grandpa quite well. She leaves the two alone to "play." Hamtaro tries to help Robo-Joe up the stairs. But Robo-Joe can't seem to grasp how to climb them. Then, he goes completely haywire and heads outside. Hamtaro follows him and runs into the ham-ham gang. They came over because they were bored without Hamtaro. Hamtaro introduces them to Robo-Joe. They're pleased to meet him, but shocked when Howdy cracks a joke and Robo-Joe imitates him. Howdy thinks he's finally found someone who appreciates his humor. But the jokes on him when Robo-Joe mindlessly knocks him into a hole in the ground. Then, Robo-Joe goes crazy again, taking off towards parts unknown. The ham-hams decide to chase after him, but tell Hamtaro to stay home in case Laura gets worried about him. Inside, we learn that Grandpa has a locator-device for Robo-Joe, so that he track him, just in case something like this were to happen. Hamtaro decides to go after Robo-Joe, as he feels that the situation is his fault. The ham-hams chase after him. Two girls see Robo-Joe and wonder if he's some kind of wind-up toy. Hamtaro catches up to him and tries to stop him, but he takes off again. The ham-hams manage to corner Robo-Joe in a dark alley. They think they've got him, but he manages to elude their grasp once again. Then, the ham-hams are cornered in by a group of cats. They think that they're done for, but then Robo-Joe comes and scares the cats away by imitating Brandy's barking. Then, he shorts out and the ham-hams finally realize that he's a machine. They think he's done for, but then Grandpa and Laura come. Grandpa is able to repair him. He mimics Penelope's "Ookwee" sound and talks about heading home, which Laura and Grandpa find sort of odd. That night, Laura makes her usual comment about tomorrow being better than today. But Hamtaro's so tired, all he can do is groan.moreless - Ep 31Roberto's Ally5/20/03
There's a soccer game at Laura's school. As usual, Roberto is being a big star. But his being a big star is at the expense of the team. The ham-hams are watching and Boss and Dexter note that Roberto has improved his skills, thanks to all his practice. On the field, Travis calls for Roberto to pass the ball, but Roberto won't. Roberto is called out and told that he needs to pass the ball more often. Laura calls out that no one should care. They don't need him anyway. Roberto gets mad and says that he's quitting the team. He leaves. The team members are worried, as Roberto may be a ball hog, but he's also their main offensive player and they have some big games coming. The ham-hams too are playing soccer. And, like Roberto, Boss is becoming a ball-hog. The ham-hams tell him this and Boss says that he understands how Roberto feels: that it's "lonely being at the top." This aside, the ham-hams agree that they have to do something to get Roberto back on the team. Meanwhile, sometime that day, as Roberto walks along, practicing with his soccer ball and complaining to himself, he accidentally kicks the ball into Brandy, who's temporarily tied to a post while Laura's Mom does some shopping. Roberto apologizes to Brandy and spends some time petting him and paying attention to him. But when Laura's Mom comes out and sees him, he runs away. Laura gets home and complains about Roberto throwing his "prima donna hissy fit." Her Mom tells her that Hamtaro is out of sunflower seeds and she forgot to buy some. Hamtaro is panicked for a minute, but Laura says that she can go get some. She takes Hamtaro with her. She goes to a shop named "Cat & Dog Pet Shop." As she leaves, she sees Roberto. She wants to talk to him about joining the team again, but she's afraid she'll start a fight. She tries talking to him, but it's eactly like she expected: they end up fighting and nothing gets accomplished. Roberto comes across Brandy again. Brandy is pleased to see him and greets him warmly. Laura's Mom says that she recognizes him as Roberto. She knows his parents and wonders if he could take Brandy for a walk. Roberto does so happily. That evening, Laura's Mom tries to tell Laura about Roberto. But Laura isn't really paying attention and interrupts to ask a question about some popcorn balls. The next day, the ham-hams decide to do something about Roberto. They set up a play in which they get Roberto's soccer ball away from him. Then, they all kick it in the direction of where the soccer game is being held. Roberto follows. At Laura's house, Laura's Mom sees that Laura forgot to take her thermos to the game. She leaves to take it and takes Brandy with her. Roberto arrives at the park, where he watches the soccer game. He looks like maybe he wants to join in again, but his pride is still interfering. Then, Laura's Mom comes with Brandy. Brandy sees Roberto and runs over to him and pounces, licking him excitedly. It creates quite a scene and Travis sees Roberto. He asks Roberto to join them again and apologizes for getting mad at him. The ham-hams all think this great, but wonder how Brandy and Roberto became such good friends. Roberto joins in again and plays the rest of the day. He scores some great goals and also passes the ball and plays with the team.moreless - Ep 30Laura's Valentine5/19/03
It's Valentine's Day and Laura is getting ready for school. She has two boxes, one with chocolates to give to Travis and one with candy to give to her Dad. Hamtaro is russling around the various red ribbons and quips that he hates all the "red tape." Laura's Mom calls up and warns her that she's going to be late for school. Laura, leaves, with the box that she thinks is the chocolates. But Hamtaro heard: Laura said that the box with the chocolates has a red ribbon. The one that she left with is blue! That means that she's taken her Dad's candy with her! He's got to find some way to switch the boxes. He leaves the house and finds Oxnard, who agrees to help him with the switch. At the clubhouse, Boss, Howdy and Dexter are busy romancing Bijou, Pashmina and Penelope. They're all very suspicious of why the guys are being so nice to them, until Boss accidentally blurts out that it's Valentine's Day. Stan comes and warns the guys that putting on a show for just one day won't get more presents. He claims that he gets 25... no hundreds of presents for Valentine's Day because he's so popular. Hamtaro and Oxnard come to the clubhouse and tell everyone about the Laura situation. Stan sees this as a way for the guys to prove to the ladies that they're sensitive. Then, maybe they'll get presents. Outside, Boss assigns teams. He has Hamtaro, Oxnard and Howdy carry the chocolates. He and the rest of the gang will head to the school and try and get the candy away from Laura. As they head there, Boss wonders about what'll happen if Laura's already given Travis the candy. Dexter says not to think about it. Meanwhile, Hamtaro, Oxnard and Howdy encounter difficulty when the chocolates end up in a truck. They chase after it, but the chocolates end up falling into a river. Howdy wants to just forget about it. Hamtaro, however, won't forget about it. At school, the ham-hams try to get the candy. They manage to find them, but just before they can get a hold of them, the students return to class and they have to hide. Hamtaro, Oxnard and Howdy are spotted by a giant crow, who swoops down and grab the chocolates. At school, Laura is outside now and trying to work up the courage to give the chocolates (or rather, the candy) to Travis. The ham-hams watch on nervously and wonder if everything is all right with Hamtaro, Oxnard and Howdy. Hamtaro, Oxnard and Howdy run into Sabu, who is hawking sunflower seeds. They tell him about their situation and he offers the services of his dove, Francois. So Hamtaro takes off on Francois. Francois tracks down the crow and grabs the chocolates back from him. At the school grounds, the ham-hams manage to get the candy out of Laura's bag. So when Laura tells Travis about it, she finds that her bag is empty when she goes back to get it. Just then, Hamtaro arrives. He manages to get the chocolates on the ground without being seen. Laura spots them and quickly gives them to Travis. Back at the clubhouse later on, the male ham-hams receive a big gift of sunflower seeds from the female ham-hams. When Stan act excited, they note how he said earlier that he gets hundreds of Valentine's. Sandy reveals that he's never gotten a Valentine. So Stan starts trying to romance all of the girls, including Penelope, but they reject his advances. Finally, Boss gives him a sunflower seed. That night, Laura reflects that her Valnetine's Day wish finally came true. She thinks it was a fantastic day.moreless - Ep 29Ham-Romance5/16/03
Kana is doing her fortune-telling again. She reads Laura's cards and says that she's going to predict Laura's husband. That doesn't exactly happen, but she does make a different prediction: that Laura's pet is going to play matchmaker for her. Laura says that she couldn't possibly imagine Hamtaro helping her with Travis. Meanwhile, at the clubhouse, Oxnard is also doing the fortune-telling, which Boss mocks out loud as just being hogwash. Oxnard reads Pashmina's fortune, predicting her future husband. Howdy and Dexter are all excited, until Oxnard says that her future husband is "nobody in this room." He suggests that for right now, she should just concentrate on friends. Boss secretly heads over to Oxnard. He wants Oxnard to tell his fortune - but he also wants him to keep his voice down because it's not like he believes in this stuff or anything. Oxnard reads his cards and says that he will have an unexpected encounter with someone he likes. Oxnard's prediction comes true, when Bijou comes in and Boss bumps into her. Oxnard also predicts Hamtaro's fortune and, mirroring the prediction made earlier by Kana, he predicts Hamtaro as a Cupid. Boss says that Hamtaro doesn't know the first thing about romance, so he'll have to help him. Hamtaro heads home. Laura's there too. Since she thinks Hamtaro is supposed to be her matchmaker, she decides to take him outside with her while she makes a delivery to the post office for her Mom. Hamtaro complains that he's in trouble unelss he finds some wings and takes archery lessons. Laura, while out on her errand, heads by the soccer field. Travis is there and so is the new guy, Roberto. Roberto's all energized. Travis tells him to relax, as soccer practice is over. Roberto, however, says that he's just getting started. Laura comes up and Roberto comments about her "rat." She says that he's not a rat, he's a hamster. Hamtaro says "hamha" to him - he remembers him from the last time they met. Laura thinks that Roberto is so rude. She's upset that she missed Travis. Hamtaro calls the "cupid business" a big responsibility. He decides to go after Travis and try to find him. He escapes from Laura. Laura tells him to come back. Hamtaro goes on ahead anyway, then comes back and leads Laura to Travis. But Laura trips and when Travis asks what she's doing, she says that she's "working on some new dance moves." She runs off, saying it's the "flight of the hamster." Hamtaro complains that instead of helping, he only made Laura feel awful. He says that he'd do anything to repair the damage. Maxwell comes up with a plan. They'll get Laura's handkerchief and use it to lead her to Travis. They get the handkerchief, but thigns go terribly wrong when they get to the school. Hamtaro drops it and Roberto finds it and picks it up. He sees that it's Laura's and goes to return it to her. But when he tries to talk to Laura, Laura is rude with him again. So Roberto decides to hold on off on giving it to her, since he can't seem to get her to talk to him. He gives it Travis to give back to Laura. Travis gives it back to her, telling her about Roberto. He says that Roberto may seem rude, but he's really kind of a nice guy if you actually get to know him. Kana notes that Roberto was wearing what she predicted would be Laura's lucky color: "blue." Laura shoots back that her lucky color has nothing to do with Roberto. Later on, Laura takes Brandy for a walk. Hamtaro's still trying to salvage the Travis situation. Laura goes by the soccer field and sees that there's no practice. So she won't be seeing Travis there. Then, Hamtaro spots Travis. He attracts Brandy's attention and Brandy breaks free of Laura and heads for Travis. Travis sees and stops Brandy, not wanting him to get hurt. He asks Laura if Brandy is her dog. He says that he loves dogs. He's always wanted one like Brandy. As he and Laura walk towards the sunset, talkking of dogs and more, the ham-hams look on. Oxnard says that it looks like Laura is in seventh heaven. That night, Laura reflects on the day. She says that Brandy made a great Cupid. Hamtaro grumbles about Brandy getting all the credit.moreless - Ep 28Stucky's Tunnel5/15/03
Laura is excited, as her friend Claire, her best friend from her old neighborhood, is coming to visit. Laura's Mom, however, is a bit worried. Claire's just sort of showing up and she didn't say that she was coming or anything. She wonders if there's something wrong. But Laura figures that Claire just wanted to surprise her. As Laura leaves for the train station, Hamtaro leaves to meet his ham-ham pals. They were going to play today, but he was running a bit late. When he gets to meet them, he finds that they've already started the game. It's hide-and-seek, so they make him be "it." Hamtaro counts and has them all hide. Penelope tries to hide in Boss's place, but Boss sends her away, so she hides with Pashmina. But then Hamtaro tricks everyone! He gets them all out of hiding with the prospect of a sunflower seed. Dexter gripes that it takes the game to a whole new level. They can't all be it, so they decide to play "rock-paper-scissors." The only thing is, Cappy is still in hiding. He finally comes out. Today he's wearing a nice, leafy saucepan that blends in nicely with the background. They tell him to come out from underneath his cap so he can play "rock paper scissors." Then, all of a sudden, some sort of moving bush shows up. It runs around shouting "I'm ready" and everyone wonders what it is. Hamtaro wonders if it's "friend or foe." Laura meets her friend Claire at the train station. She immediately wonders where Claire's parents are. Claire tells her: they're not there! She's run away from home. The ham-hams finally reveal what's under the bush - it's a hamster! He calls himself "Stucky" and seems to be stuck in a plastic hamster tube. The ham-hams all try to free him, but can't seem to get him out. They decide that he seems to like being in it. Then he rolls away, saying that he's ready. He seems to still want to play hide-and-seek. They try asking him where he's from, but he's already gone. The ham-hams all agree that Stucky has a talent for hiding. This annoys Cappy, who feels that he's the best hider. He finds Stucky and challenges him to a hide-and-seek match, a showdown of sorts to see who the real genius is. At Laura's, Clarie explains why she ran away: she wanted to have a pet, like Laura, but her Mom wouldn't let her. Not a dog, not a hamster, nothing. She came to Laura because she knew that Laura would understand. Her Mom said that she didn't see how she could take care of a pet when she couldn't even keep her room clean. Laura looks around her room and notes that she's not the best at keeping hers tidy either. In the meantime, Cappy and Stucky are continuing their hide and seek game. Cappy suggests that Stucky just give up. The other ham-hams all go home, as their owners are expecting them. Finally, they both end up at the bottom of a hill. They talk with each other and Cappy learns that Stucky lives with a bunch of other hamsters. He doesn't get much attention and so that's why he hides. Cappy thinks it's kind of nice. He feels that if no one's watching over you all the time, then you can go on lots of adventures. At Laura's house, Laura's Mom says that she called Claire's parents. She says that her parents are worried about her. Claire gets irritated, saying that it's just an excuse and that the truth is she doesn't care about her. If she did, she would let her have a pet. That night, Stucky stays and sleeps at the clubhouse. He doesn't want to go home. The next day, Cappy and Stucky are at it again. But Cappy, looking for a hiding spot, ends up rolling down a hill and get stuck in a crevice. At Laura's, Claire gripes that her parents are saying their worried. She pets Hamtaro, enjoying his company and wishing she could have a pet like him. When she gets up for a minute, Oxnard comes to the window and tells Hamtaro that there's an emergency. Hamtaro leaves, to help everyone search for Cappy. Aid comes in the form of Stucky, whose rolling technique helps everyone to find Cappy. At Laura's, Claire thinks that she lost Hamtaro by leaving him on the couch. The ham-hams find Cappy, thanks to Stucky's help. They declare him to be part of the ham-ham gang. Then, Hamtaro realizes that he needs to be getting home, and fast. But he can't get back up the cliff. So Stucky helps out, by rolling him back up. At Laura's, Hamtaro manages to arrive back in without being spotted. Laura finally sees him and says that she missed him. Seeing this, Claire decides that she's going to go home after all. Hamtaro has made her realize that she's not responsible enough to take care of a pet yet. Maybe sometime in the future.moreless - Ep 27Sunset Proposal5/14/03
Mr. Yoshi has finally gotten up the nerve to propose to Charlotte, but it won't be happening if Chairman Rooster has anything to say about. He pulls out all the stops to try and stop Mr. Yoshi's plan for a magnificent sunset proposal. Not only that, but cloudy skies threaten to keep there from being any sunset at all. When the ham-hams learn of Mr. Yoshi's plan, they try to help in whatever ways they can. That includes anything from trying to change the weather to facing Chairman Rooster's attack chickens.moreless - Ep 26The New Year's Kite Adventure5/13/03
The ham-hams open the episode with a new year's greeting. They want to welcome everyone to a great new year of episodes. Hamtaro says that the ham-hams are going to have a great new batch of adventures. Howdy cracks a bad joke (what other kind?) about hot dogs and suntanning. Dexter says that Hamtaro should say something special to bring in the new year. But Hamtaro is completely speechless. At Laura's house, Kana's family is visting for the new year. Kana and Laura's fathers fight over taking their daughter's pictures. The girls play a Japanese verison of badminton. Their fathers, always looking for ways to compete, take over and start a fierce match with each other. Kana's Dad suggesting something less strenous (for Forest's sake -right!) He claims he was really good at kite-flying when he was in school. The ham-hams like the kite-flying idea. Howdy and Oxnard take the idea back to the clubhouse. They tell them all about it. Dexter makes a quip about Howdy having been told to "go fly a kite." Panda helps out with making kites. He makes one for Penelope and the ham-hams all join in, creating kites bearing their likenesses. They go out to fly them. Panda helps again, by getting them to run fast, so they get a good wind. Boss, however, gets a little carried away and ends up crashing into a tree. Howdy quips that he's been "officially grounded." Stan stirs up trouble by noting that Bijou and Hamtaro's kites are flying close togehter in the air. This causes Boss to fight to get his kite next to Bijou's and he and Stan have a tussle over position. Howdy and Dexter get in on to too, trying to get positions next to Pashmina's kite. Then the kites all get tangled together. They fly away in a tangled mess. Penelope is really upset by this and lets out choked, incomplete "ookwees." Boss, Stan, Howdy and Dexter leave, feeling kind of bad about what they did. In the meantime, Laura and Kanas' Dads have managed to turn the kite-flying into a competition. They're trying to impress their respective daughters. Laura and Kana don't even really care. They're busy flying their own kites, which feature pictures of them and their hamsters. Then, Travis comes and offers to help them with flying. The Dads get upset over their daughters not paying them any attention. Hamtaro, who's watching, grumbles that kite-flying isn't a spectator sport. Boss is at the clubhouse. He's thinking about apologizing, but he also feels that he's being unfairly blamed when it wasn't all his fault. He overhears Snoozer dreaming about kite-flying and finds it ironic that Snoozer is the only one flying a kite. Howdy, Dexter and Stan arrive. They have the kites! They found them stuck in a tree. Back at the park, the ham-hams all pitch in to make a new kite for Penelope. Penelope likes the kite --- but ends up getting trapped at the top of it! Hamtaro dashes up in a daring attempt at rescue. Boss, Dexter, Howdy and Stan show up. They help with holding onto the kite, so that Hamtaro can rescue Penelope. There's a near-miss, where Penelope nearly falls off. But Hamtaro saves her and coaxes her to slide down the kite. At the bottom, Pashmina asks Penelope if she was scared. But based on her response, Penelope apparently thought it was fun. Boss reveals that he and the other guys made a kite for Snoozer. Since he can't be there to fly it, they'll fly it for him! They all fly their kites as one. As they do so, a rocking version of the closing theme plays. They sing along with the "ooh, ya, la, la" portion. That night, Hamtaro gets a nice package of sunflower seeds. Laura reflects that it was a great year and that she thinks the next year is going to be even better.moreless - Ep 25The Little Bandits!5/12/03
Mr. Yoshi has given an assignment. He wants the class to read a novel and then write an essay about it. Kana can't believe it and laments that comic books probably don't count. Laura says that she's going to read something "adult," as she's going to be a teenager soon and needs to be more mature. The ham-hams are playing a game. It's a bandits/detectives type game. The female ham-hams are upset because the boys told them that they couldn't play. They said that bandits have always been men in the past. Then, Snoozer rattles off a huge list of famous female warriors. The girls demand that they be allowed in on the game. At the library, Laura tries to read her book. But there are so many words that she doesn't understand that she has to check a dictionary every five minutes. She falls asleep and goes into a dream sequence. In the dream seqquence, Hamtaro finds himself in seventeenth-century France. He's chasing a band of female bandits who are after the famous "sunflower star jewel." Boss, acting as "the Capitan" comes to Lady Lauralina (Laura), tending a garden. He presents her with the sunflower star jewel. He says that Count Jokester has requested her presence at his castle. He wants her to be wearing the jewel when she comes. But Lady Lauralina doesn't want to come. The Capitan insists that Count Jokester's orders are law. Count Jokester wants her there because he thinks that Lady Lauralina will appreciate his jokes. Just then, the Little Bandits appear. They release a smoke cloud of bath beads and steal the jewel. The Little Bandits consist of Bijou, Pashmina, Penelope and Sandy. Although they've all changed their names. The Capitan is ready to surrender right away. Maxwell tells him to get a hold of himself. The Little Bandits escape. Hamtaro shows up, riding Brandy. He says that the Little Bandits seem sweet and innocent, but they're notorious thieves. He promises to go after them on Lady Lauralina's behalf. At the castle, the Capitan and his men have to explain the loss of his jewels. They also are subjected to his awful jokes. Hamtaro is on the trail of the thieves. He has a close encounter with a rolling stone trap, but escapes. He continues, but then Brandy sees a bone hanging from a string. Hamtaro tries to stop him, but Brandy goes for the bone, triggering a spike trap. Hamtaro finally catches up to the bandits. He tries to get them to give up the jewel. They compliment him on his appearance and then make a getaway on a balloon. Hamtaro chides himself. He doesn't have much time for this, though, as something goes wrong with the balloon. Penelope (Squeak) falls out and tumbles towards the ground. Hamtaro and Brandy save her. As thanks for saving her, the bandits agree to give Hamtaro the sunflower star jewel. And it's not a trick either. There's a problem however: it's cracked! At the castle, Count Jokester is trying to manipulate Lady Lauralina. Since she won't laugh at his jokes, he's going to send her out to find the jewel. Hamtaro arrives. He exposes the "jewel:" it's a fake. He throws it to the ground and it shatters, proving that it was made of cheap, cut glass. Count Jokester, desperate, tries to force everyone down to his dungeon with his sword. But they fight him off. Then, one of the ham-hams cracks a joke. Count Jokester laughs and declares himself defeated. At the end of the dream sequence, the Little Bandits all give their names: Bijou - Ribbons, Pashmina - Blinky, Sandy - Little Tiger and Penelope - Ookwee! (Squeak) Laura wakes up from her dream. Kana finds her yelling out "En garde, Little Bandits" and wonders if they're characters in her book. At the clubhouse, Howdy complains about always being the bad guy and never getting the girl. Hamtaro reflects that it would probably be best for them not to leave out the girls again.moreless - Ep 24A Wonderful Santa Claus!5/9/03
Laura and Kana are out shopping. Laura complains that Christmas shopping is "such a blur." Of course, her real dilemma is what to buy for Travis. She's worried that if she even buys him anything, he's going to think that she has a crush on him. (Because there's no way he could have any idea of that based on past experience. Not a chance.) Hamtaro is over at Elder Ham's house. He's shocked when Elder Ham tells him that Santa wants him to dress up as Santa Claus this year and deliver presents. Elder Ham tells him that Santa is busy - he wants to build a new sunroof to prepare for global warming. Hamtaro is reluctant about accepting the assignment. Elder Ham guilts him into it, asking him to imagine Christmas morning without any presents. He emphasizes the need for secrecy - that Hamtaro can't tell anyone what he's doing. The ham-hams are out and about. They find Hamtaro and wonder where he was. When they mention Christmas, he hastily answers that he doesn't know anything about Christmas, "honestly!" At the clubhouse, the ham-hams discuss what presents that they want. Pashmina speaks for Penelope, saying that she wants a new sunflower brooch. Cappy, of course, wants some new headgear. Boss claims that all he wants is love. Howdy cracks a wordplay joke using the homonyms "deer" and "dear." Then, there's speculation that Santa Claus may not show up at all. The ham-hams say that they wouldn't really mind if he didn't, just as long as they're together. Hamtaro gets mad, saying that they think that "Santa can't do it," but that he's coming and "that's that." Laura is continuing to work on her present for Travis. She's been cooking and is going to give him some lunch she made during the soccer game. She finds a four-leaf clover - good luck! Hamtaro returns to Elder Ham's, looking to make gifts for the ham-hams. But he doesn't think that he can do much with the junk in Elder Ham's closet. Laura and Kana arrive at the soccer game. Kana yells out "Hey, cutie!" and is embarrassed when Roberto thinks that he's talking to her. Laura presents Travis with the lunch she made. But Travis says that he can't eat it because the coach has already fed them and he doesn't want to eat too much. He encourages her to stay, though and cheer on the game. Laura drops her four-leaf clover in disappointment. Kana eats some of the pizza. She says that it's delicious and that Laura can make lunch for her any time. Laura groans. Bijou finds Hamtaro at Elder Ham's. She suspected that he was being a secret Santa Claus all along and offers to help him. Hamtaro reluctantly agrees and they work on presents. They manage to find the perfect presents for everyone. At Larua's house, Laura's Dad is excited about Christmas Eve. So he's surprised when Laura goes upstairs and goes straight to sleep. She's still upset about apparently being rejected by Travis. That night, Hamtaro and Bijou deliver the presents. They dress Brandy up with antlers and a red nose and employ his services as if he were Rudolph. As they deliver the presents, the ham-hams all sing an original Christmas song. Hamtaro and Bijou agree that they both had fun delivering the presents together. That night, Hamtaro delivers Laura a present, the four-leaf clover that Laura found earlier in the story. He speaks to her and Laura seems to understand. She wakes up and sees Hamtaro sleeping in his carrier. She's ready to dismiss it as a dream, but then she finds the four-leaf clover on her bed. She says that Hamtaro makes a good Santa. The next morning, Hamtaro finds a gift from Laura. He says that Santa managed to bring him something too and wonders how he did that. Laura's Mom presents Laura with a giant stuffed Hamtaro. Hamtaro likes it, but says that "nothing is cuter than the real thing." That night, Laura reflects on the "wonderful dream" that she had. She thinks it was a great day and that tomorrow will be even better. (Even though it was Christmas!)moreless - Ep 23Hamtaro is a Star! (a.k.a. Laura and the Seven Hamsters)5/8/03
Laura and Hamtaro are watching TV when Glitter, with her hamster Sparkle, appear on the screen. They're going to be in a new movie. Laura thinks that it would be fun in a movie. One thing that she does know: she's totally wiped out. She falls asleep and Hamtaro do too. They both go into a combined dream sequence. In the dream sequence, Laura, Hamtaro and the main ham-ham gang are in the play. Maxwell introduces the play, with Laura as the star. Elder Ham is directing the play. As usual, he's sleeping. Howdy wakes him up to give some "profound words." He screams out a little and then goes back to sleep. Glitter and Sparkle are the villains of the film. Glitter is ruling over the kingdom of "Ham-Land." She declares that she's dissolved all the unions and Sparkle cackles that there will be no more challenges to their power. The ham-hams all sing the "we are going home together song." Then, they realize that Glitter doesn't like singing. So maybe they'd better stop. Elder Ham, meanwhile, is being a completely bossy director. He wants "more passion, more emotion." He thinks that the ham-hams are doing really badly at the scenes. In fact, everyone is. The ham-hams, however, think that their lines are bad. They're also shocked when Elder Ham tells them that they have to sing. That wasn't in their contracts! Oh... wait. It was. Howdy gripes that if he wanted to sing, he would have auditioned on Broadway. Hamtaro decides that he's not afraid of singing. He knows that the entire thing is a dream and so it'll go the way he wants it! Things get going with the plot. Glitter gives Laura an apple, saying that if she wants to be a great actress like her, she has to eat fruit. But when Laura eats the apple, it turns out that it's a poison apple and she falls into a deep sleep. The ham-hams all cry as they think she's dead. But then, the brave hero, Travis, appears and rescues her. So Glitter tries her ultimate gambit: she's going to stop time entirely! This is a terrible scene for the hams, as they have to stay still for two whole minutes. They fail a couple times, but finally resolve to get it right. The fictional play succeeds and the imaginary audience, which includes Kana and others, applaud. Elder Ham offers the ham-hams, Laura and Travis a role in his sequel: "Laura and the Seven Hamsters II." Hamtaro and Laura wake up. Hamtaro wonders why he dreamt up a musical. He thinks he must have had too many sunflower seeds. That night, Laura writes in her journal that she had a great dream. She thinks she'll have an even better one tonight.moreless - Ep 22The Abominable Snow Woman5/7/03
Laura and Kana are at an ice skating rink. It's kind of a remote location, but Laura likes that because she's not very good at ice-skating yet. The ham-hams are there too, although Laura doesn't know that, not even about Hamtaro being there. They're sort of sliding around the ice having a good time. Laura falls. Mr. Yoshi sees Laura's attempts at ice skating. He offers to teach her how to skate. He says that all she has to do is watch her. Since they're close by his Mom, he suggests coming to her house when they're done. She can tell them another of her ghost stories. When they suggest that she doesn't have to do that because it might be too much trouble, Mr. Yoshi acts like some kind of scary vampire or something and says that it's her favorite pasttime. So they go to Mr. Yoshi's Mom's house. The ham-hams follow too, but they trail behind because it's a snowy path and they're not sure exactly where they're going. At the house, Mr. Yoshi's Mom tells them a scary tale about an abominable snow woman, who, if you see her, she turns you to ice. Laura and Kana are very scared by this, but try to act like they don't believe it. Mr. Yoshi's Mom tells them that if they see her, they're not suppose to say anything because if you say her name out loud, she'll hunt you down. The ham-hams arrive just as Laura and Kana are about to leave. They're disappointed that they missed the story, but they overhear some of the details. Sandy says that she likes ghost stories, as long as they have a plot and aren't just scary and stupid. Mr. Yoshi suggests that he help the girls on the home. He doesn't want them lost in the forest again, like what happened in the "Ghost Mountain!" episode. So they head off. But it starts to snow. Not only that, but Mr. Yoshi has a terrible sense of direction and gets them lost. The ham-hams try to follow along, but then they get lost too. They don't know if the girls and Mr. Yoshi decided to walk down the hill or take the bus. Meanwhile, the girls decide that they should stop walking and try to find the nearest bus stop. But then, they see something that they think is the abominable snow-woman. They panic and run away, losing Mr. Yoshi. The ham-hams too are becoming fearful of the snow-woman. Then, they see a strange figure who they think is it. But it turns out to just be Auntie Viv! It's the first snow of the season and she's out doing some snow boarding. She explains this and then leaves, with the ham-hams still lost. Boss gripes that if they're not home soon, she should come and look for them with a blowtorch. As the ham-hams continue along, they see Mr. Yoshi, bumbling through the snow. They all think that he's the snow-woman and stop talking because they're afraid that if they say anything, they'll be turned to ice. Hamtaro, however, doesn't see him and wonders what the fuss is. Then, he finally realizes it. They make a daring escape. Boss uses a tree leaf as a tobaggon. But there's no brakes, so they end up flying through the air. Auntie Viv sees this and comments on their nice hangtime. Meanwhile, Laura and Kana have found an old, abandoned school building. They find a candle and take refuge within, hoping to wait it out until the snowstorm calms down. The ham-hams land intact from their fall. They land near the school building. Hamtaro wants to go inside, as he needs to warn Laura and Kana somehow about the snow-woman. Then, another ghostly figure approaches. Eventually, the confusion is all sorted out. It turns out the second figure is actually Mr. Yoshi's Mom. She came out searching for everyone because she was afraid they might be lost in the storm. She chides Mr. Yoshi for his poor sense of direction. Mr. Yoshi tells her that she should save her ghost stories for amateur theater. Mrs. Yoshi can't believe that the girls actually believed her story.moreless - Ep 21Welcome Home Penelope!5/6/03
Laura, Kana, Kylie and a couple of others are outside before school. Kylie wants to tell them something, but she's having a bit of trouble saying it. She finally blurts it out: it's "this boy." She likes him and wants to talk to him, but she doesn't even know his name. The girls all encourage her to go for it. Meanwhile, Penelope is out walking, probably to meet up with the other ham-hams. As she walks along, Jingle's pig, Herbert, goes rushing past. He knocks Penelope into some kind of gutter. Penelope is very upset. She tries to get out, but she seems to be trapped. She cries out, but it seems like no one is going to help her. Then, Herbert returns. He rescues her from the gutter. Penelope gets a ride on Hamtaro and seems to have made a new friend. Meanwhile, the gang is in a forest, talking with Jingle. As they talk, Herbert comes rushing in, with Penlope riding on him. Everybody notices how Penelope seems to have made friends with Herbert. Jingle, however, doesn't seem to be too fond of this idea. He tells everyone that he and Herbert are going on a journey. Penelope protests, but they leave anyway. Penelope seems very depressed. She tries to go after Herbert, but Pashmina stops her, telling her that she can't go. That evening, Kylie is at her house, trying to figure out what to do to talk to the boy she likes. She tells Penelope that she's lucky she doesn't have boys to worry about. She notices that Penelope seems to be depressed. She decides that she's going to make some cookies for this boy that she likes. The next day, the ham-hams are all at the clubhouse. But it's not long before they realize that Penelope's not there. Based on what Jingle told them yesterday, they head off in Jingle's direction, figuring that Penelope must be out to find Herbert. Meanwhile, Penelope, who is indeed searching for Herbert, finds herself lost in a forest. She cries and out Herbert hears her cries. He races to find her. Jingle tells her that that "passion" has "blended their roads as one." The other ham-hams soon arrive. They tell Penelope that she has to stop what she's doing. But Penelope won't listen. So they begin plotting ways to get her away from Herbert. Howdy comes up with a wild idea. He asks Oxnard if he can borrow one of his sunflower seeds. Oxnard nervously agrees, after Howdy promises that he's not going to eat. Howdy goes over to Penelope with the seed and tells her about how great it is. He says that there are more like it, but she can only have them if she comes back to the clubhouse. But this doesn't work. Not only that, but Howdy apparently ends up eating the seed, to Oxnard's shock. Then, Pashmina gets an idea. She starts heading off, making as if she's going to leave. The other ham-hams ask if she's really doing so and she tells them of course not. They just want to make Penelope think that. So they all motion as if they're going to leave. But their cover is blown when they hide behind a bush and end up falling and rolling out from behind it. Then, Hamtaro has the best, most sensible of idea of all. He goes up and talks to Penelope. He tells her that if she goes off with Herbert, then she won't be able to see Kylie again. Or any of them for that matter. She would be sad and so would all of them. Pashmina tells her that she's just not ready to travel yet. Seen in that light, Penelope decides to go back with the other ham-hams. Although she's still sad to see Herbert go, Jingle is sure that they'll run into each other again sometime. As for Kylie, she tries to present her cookies to the boy she likes. But at first when she tries approaching him while he's out running, she can't even bring up the nerve to talk to him. Then, once she does, she panics out and asks him for the time. That night, she ends up eating her cookies by herself, alone.moreless - Ep 20A Breath of Autumn!5/5/03
It's Labor Day and to show Laura's Mom that they appreciate all of her hard work, Laura and her Dad are helping out around the house. They're doing chores such as vacuuming and other cleaning and later, they're going to make her a special dinner. Speaking of vacuuming, Hamtaro's a little close - to the vacuum. He nearly gets sucked in, but Mom notices and swoops in and picks him up. Laura thanks her, calling her a nice save. She tells her that she needs to leave though, as they really want her to just relax. Hamtaro notes that he isn't working either, but he wishes that he could do something, since Laura's Mom is always so helpful to him. Laura and Laura's Dad discuss the things that they're doing for her. Laura says that he forgot to get flowers. Hamtaro goes into the living room, where he sees Laura's Mom, sitting in front of a window. He notices that she seems to be happily watching the falling leaves. She comments that she hasn't feeled this relaxed since "that day." Hamtaro notices that the leaves she's watching are red. He decides that he'll help her out by finding more leaves like that. He heads out of the house and lands on top of Brandy. He heads towards the clubhouse, but it turns out Boss, Bijou and Oxnard were already heading his way. Hamtaro tells them about what he wants to do. Boss tells Hamtaro that most leaves aren't green. He's not sure where Hamtaro would find something like that. Neither is Oxnard. Then, Bijou has an idea. She explains how when it gets colder, the color of leaves changes from green to different colors, including red. They wonder where they could find someplace where it's colder. Then, they see it: a nearby mountain! It's filled with trees that are changing color! They decide to take their packs, thinking that in addition to the leaves, they're also sure to find lots of neat acorns and other things. They climb the mountain and find a beautiful sight. And it's fille with neat things, just like they thought. Hamtaro gets very excited and starts gathering things up like crazy. He's so into it that he basically forgets about the loves. Meanwhile, Boss tries to win Bijou's affection by making her a pretty costume out of some leaves he found. As she admires it, he tries to tell her something (that he loves her?) But he just freezes up and starts stammering like it always happens when he tries to tell her something like that. Then, Hamtaro races through and it breaks up the moment. Not long afterwards, some black clouds roll in and it looks like it's going to rain. So the ham-hams make a beeline down the mountain. Then, Hamtaro sees a large tree filled with bright-red leaves and remembers what he came for. Boss, Bijou and Oxnard discourage him from going, as it's starting to rain and flash lightning and it's rather dangerous. But Hamtaro goes anyway and gathers up some nice leaves. Then, he falls and ends up hanging from a cliff. He nearly falls to his death, but Boss lowers a stick to him and Bijou and Oxnard help to pull him up. He has to dispose of some of his stuff, but it saves his life. With Hamtaro rescued, the ham-hams head back. At Laura's, Laura's Dad sees the storm clouds rolling in. Laura tells him that he get the flowers tomorrow, at least he did the laundry. The mention of laundry makes Laura's Dad realize that the laundry is hanging out on the line to dry. If they don't get it off, it's going to get soaked! After that's taken care of, they treat Laura's Mom to an outdoor meal. Laura's Mom comments to herself that she should help them cook, but then again, maybe she'll just watch. The ham-hams arrive just in time to see the dinner. Then, Laura and her Dad present Mom with a gift-certificate booklet. They're for massages, for any time in the future she may need to relax. They tell her about how they day has made them appreciate the hard work she does. Laura's Mom also tells Laura's Dad that she's not going to let his hard work go unrewarded either. She presents him with a nice, new tie. Hamtaro decides that it's the right time. He sends the leaves he gathered flying down. Laura's Mom says it's just like "that day" and has a flashback sequence of a similar day, up on the mountain, with Laura's Father. She asks him if he remembers it and he does. Laura suggests that next Labor Day, they all go up to see the mountain leaves changing together. That night, Laura reflects on all she learned on how hard her Mom works. And Hamtaro thinks about how happy Laura's Mom was to see the red leaves. He's glad he could help out.moreless - Ep 19The Knitting Craze5/2/03
The ham-hams are in a forest, playing a game of hide-and-seek. Hamtaro is "it," so he has to search for the other hams. He finishes his counting, even giving them a little time and then starts searching. He looks around some, considers things and then goes over and finds both Pashmina and Penelope hiding behind a bush. They're both surprised that he found them so quickly. Then, Boss yells out and comes out of his hiding place. The ham-hams scold him for interrupting the game. Boss calls out Hamtaro, saying that he must be cheating. There's no way he could have found Pashmina and Penelope so quickly! But Hamtaro gives him a perfectly good reason: Pashmina's pink scarf was sticking out. All he had to do was spot it and he found Pashmina. Boss considers this and decides that it's reasonable. He apologizes for saying Hamtaro cheated. Pashmina asks Penelope why he didn't tell her it was sticking out. But all Penelope can do is say "Ookwee!" It's suggested to Pashmina that she just take her scarf off for the rest of the game. But Pashmina says that the scarf is very important to her. It was knitted for her by her human, June and when she wears it, she feels like she's being hugged with love. The ham-hams don't understand at first, but then Elder Ham chimes in. They're surprised to see him. He shows them that he's wearing a scarf too and says that it was knitted for him by someone very special. When he's questioned on who this is, he says that he forgets. He notes to himself that he ought to start writing things down. The ham-hams all seem very interested in knitting now, so Pashmina tells them that she'll show them how. Later on, at Laura's, Hamtaro is very bored because Laura has caught onto the knitting craze. She's so busy knitting, that she doesn't pay any attention to Hamtaro. Hamtaro tries to get her attention, by unraveling some thread. But it turns out that the thread comes from a scarf that she was knitting. Laura scolds him and gets back to her work. She's not doing very well, so she decides to go to her Mom for advice. Her Mom gives her some great tips that cut her time in half. Meanwhile, Hamtaro continues to be very bored. He decides to go visit the clubhouse. Outside, he runs into Brandy. He talks with Brandy and Brandy sneezes. He wonders if Brandy might be catching a cold. At the clubhouse, Pashmina is instructing the female ham-hams in knitting. The guys, however, have apparently decided this is another "girl thing" and are off on their own trying to play a game of soccer. Hamtaro, however, decides to join in, as he's tired of just watching knitting. The scene switches for a bit to Laura and Kana, as the girls discuss the knitting craze. Laura's working on a scarf for Travis. She just hopes that now that knitting is popular at school, people don't come to her for advice, as she doesn't think she's very good at it. Back at the clubhouse, as the guys play their soccer game, Stan accidentally kicks the ball into a wall, causing it to bounce into Penelope's heard. Pashmina yells at them, telling them to take their game outside. Then, the guys, including Elder Ham try to convince Hamtaro to go outside and play soccer. They don't think his attempt at knitting a pair of pants for Laura is going too well. Hamtaro reveals that he's really just practicing so that he can make a scarf for someone special. When pressed, he tells them that it's Brandy. He's worried that Brandy is getting too cold and that's why he's sick. The ham-hams all agree that this is a great idea. And they all agree to help out. They visit Brandy to take measurements. To reinforce that Brandy is a helpful dog, the scene from "Boss, the Cool Ham of the Sea!" where Brandy rescues Bijou and Boss is shown. The ham-hams head back to the clubhouse to get started. There's a problem at first where they don't have enough yarn. But then, the male ham-ham gang that was playing soccer shows up and surprises everyone with a whole bunch of lime green yarn that they got from an old sweater. They decide that it's the perfect color and get to work. They do this song-and-dance routine about knitting the scarf and the male ham-hams all pretend that they're a train. They work in teams to complete the scarf. Back at Laura's, Laura's finally completed her scarf for Travis. Just as she's presenting it to her Mom, her Dad comes in. Seeing it, he thinks that it's an early Christmas present! He thanks Laura for it and calls her the best daughter ever. Laura starts to sputter, but her Mom cuts her off. Her Dad continues to gush and Laura has no choice but to let her Dad have it, even though it was really going to be for Travis. Then, the ham-hams present their scarf to Brandy. They ask him what he thinks and he seems to approve. That night, Laura reflects on how she didn't have it in her to tell her Dad that the scarf was really going to be for Travis. She also presents Hamtaro with something she knitted for him: a hat! Hamtaro tries it on, but it's a bit too big. So he ends up wearing it around his waist instead.moreless - Ep 18The Animal Hospital5/1/03
Laura and Kana are out walking when they come across Maria. She has Bijou in her carrying. But it seems Bijou is sick - she keeps sneezing like crazy. Maria says that she's going to take her to the vet. They talk about this. Neither Hamtaro or Oxnard have ever needed to go to the vet before? Perhaps they should both have checkups? Laura and Kana decide to go with Maria. They'll ask about it while they're there. The ham-hams are watching the whole time. They hope that Bijou would be all right. Then, the scene changes to the clubhouse, where Boss is giving Oxnard the third degree. He told Boss about Bijou's going to the vet and Boss somehow got the idea that he was responsible. It takes the entire ham-ham gang to calm him down and tell him that it's not Oxnard's fault. Then, they talk about the vet. But this only scares boss even more, when they start talking about medicine and needles. Seeing that they've spooked him, they try to convince him that the vet is only going to heal, Bijou, but he takes off, hoping to save her. The ham-hams want to follow him, but they realize they have a problem: they don't know where this clinic is anyway. They finally figure it out and take off. They've gotta catch up to Boss. Then, the scene changes to Boss, out on the street. Suddenly, he realizes he doesn't have any idea where the clinic is either. The rest of the gang reaches the clinic, which they identify by its sign. They head inside, where they find Maria, Laura and Kana in a waiting room. Finally, Maria's told that's her turn. She's taken into the office, where she meets the very pretty, but very strange, vet. This vet seems very dedicated to her practice and also acts as if she has psychic abilities in diagnosing Bijou's illness. She promises to take care of it, but then she's called away on a "Code 27" emergency. Meanwhile, the ham-hams are inside, checking things out. They assess the equipment, which Maxwell deems to be state-of-the-art. But then Boss shows up. Unnoticed, he unlatches Bijou's carrier and takes off with her. The ham-hams finally see what he's doing. The ham-hams take off for him to stop, but he refuses. He looks for someplace to hide. Finally, the vet arrives back. But now there's a calamity: Bijou's not in her cage! The odd-mannered vet promises to find her, even if it costs her life. As the humans search, the ham-hams are on a desperate quest to catch Boss. They catch up to him and try to reason with him. They tell him that even needles aren't bad and they show him one. But that only makes Boss even more scared. Eventually, Boss decides to take Bijou "somewhere safe." The safe place is the clubhouse, but the ham-hams all follow him there and demand that he stop what he's doing. They apologize for getting him all scared and reinforce that the vet just wants to heal Bijou. Boss finally relents and Bijou is taken back to the clinic. The ham-hams hide just in time and the humans see Bijou in front of her cage. The vet, though, seems to have heard the hamsters, although she doesn't say anything. She then does this strange "prepare to operate" routine and then gives Bijou some medicine. It works quickly and the vet says she's out of danger. Later, in the clubhouse, Boss appears to be rather down. The ham-hams wonder if he caught Bijou's flu. But Boss explains that he just feels bad that he possibily put Bijou in danger. Bijou tells him not to feel bad. She knows he was just trying to help her. Boss gives her a present: a nicely wrapped sunflower seed. Boss says that he also gave the vet a present. At the clinic, the vet's assistant shows the vet some sunflower seeds he found. He wonders if he should get the background. That night, Laura reflects on how good the vet was at healing Bijou. Perhaps sometime she'll take Hamtaro in for a checkup.moreless - Ep 17The Baby Goat4/30/03
It's another visit to Dylan's farm - but this time, there's a special surprise involved! On the way to the farm, Hamtaro helpfully voiceovers that the ham-ham gang has snuck in the car and is along for the ride. Laura insists that Kana tell her what the special surprise is. So Kana does: one of Dylan's goats, Daisy, is having a kid. (It's explained that a "kid" is a baby goat, for those that don't know.) As they talk about this, the ham-hams are talking about lunch, specifically the fact that they forgot to bring any. Bijou says taht her ham-ham intituition says that Pepper has probably made lunch for them all, particularly Oxnard. The gang arrives at the farm, where Dylan informs everyone that Daisy has not yet had her kid. But, as we can see, she's very pregnant and he expects that she's going to give birth soon. Daisy, having been cooped up in a pen for over four months, doesn't seem to be very happy. Dylan decides to let Daisy be for right now and have Kana and Laura milk some jokes. Meanwhile, the ham-hams try to make friends with Daisy, with Pepper's help. But Daisy seems to resist their attempts at friendship, bleating and kicking wildly. Then Bijou suggests that maybe they could get through to her with the universal language: music! So they all sing her a birthday song, but that only makes things worse. It would seem that it isn't her birthday. At about this point, Howdy tries cracking a joke about goats not being able to have hamsters because then hamsters would have horns. Nobody finds it funny, except maybe for the goat, it bleats. The ham-hams all decide to give up for the time being. Oxnard, however, doesn't give up. He continues to try to help the goat and comes to a conclusion: it wants out of the pen! It's been cooped up for so long and it wants to get out. So he opens the latch to the gate for the pen. Just then, the ham-hams show up. They see what Oxnard's doing. Pepper doesn't like this at all: if Daisy gets out of the pen, she could get hurt! They all try to get the gate latched back up, but Daisy breaks free and is off and away. As she runs off, Dylan, Laura's father, Laura and Kana see her. They're worried too now: if something were to happen to Daisy, it could be devestating to both her and her calf. The ham-hams want to try and rescue Daisy. But Pepper is very mad at Oxnard. She can't believe he did what he did. Boss thinks he's crazy too, calling him a "guinea pig." Still, the ham-hams decide to split up to try and find her. When they have no success, Oxnard goes for drastic measures. He climbs high up a tree to try and find her, saying it's his fault that she's missing. Pepper yells from below that she didn't mean what she said. But Oxnard won't come down. Then, he yells for them to call the fire department. He's just joking, but it's probably not something he should joke about, as right after that, he falls. After landing, he sees something. It's Daisy! She's in the forest and it would seem she's okay for now, but she won't be if she doesn't get some help. So Hamtaro leads Brandy to Daisy and then has him lead the humans to her. The ham-hams all skedaddle away from the scene, so that they won't be seen. Dylan checks and finds that that Daisy is all right. Not long after, Daisy gives birth. It's a beautiful sight, so moving that Boss has trouble even looking. Then, to everyone's surprise, the baby goat tries standing. They encourage it to keep trying and with their encouragement, it does, then has a feeding. That night, Laura reflects on how beautiful it was to see new life. She thinks it was an amazing day, but that it's possible tomorrow could be even more amazing.moreless - Ep 16A Fortune Comes True!4/29/03
Fortune-telling - it's Kana's newest craze! She has some tarot cards and has gotten Laura into it and even her hamster Oxnard. Laura and Kana are both sporting new skirts. They're red and yellow - their lucky colors respectively as predicted by Kana. As they head outside for school, they meet up with a police officer who's walking by. He compliments them on the skirts and Laura doesn't recognize him at first, but Kana identifies him as the officer who gave a safety demonstration at their school a week ago. They talk to him about fortune-telling. Back inside the house, Oxnard talks with the hamsters about the fortune-telling. He's learned some things about it and it's not long before they're all clamoring for him to read their fortune. Well, the girls, that is. Boss thinks that the fortune-telling thing is just nonsense and he manages to get the guys on his side, at least for a while. Bijou, however, isn't with the rest of the ham-hams. She's out at the park, when she sees a kid tending to a rabbit. The kid seems to be taking care of the rabbit - however, instead of taking it with him, he just leaves it in the park. Bijou finally arrives at Laura's with the rest of the hamsters, where Boss quickly tries to convince her that the fortune-telling is just nonsense. Bijou, however, seems to be convinced, leading Hamtaro to suggest that maybe fortune-telling really is just "a girl thing." Then Howdy launches into this crazy comedy routine in which he claims he can tell fortunes. He takes on the apperance of some of crazy slickster or snake-oil salesman and claims that he can grant them all sorts of riches and tell wonderful fortunes and all sorts of stuff. Of course, the ham-hams are less than impressed by his crazy routine. Then, Boss is drawn into the whole fortune-telling thing, when Oxnard says that he's read his future. He's not going to tell him though, since after all, Boss doesn't believe in all of it and so it wouldn't really matter. Boss insists, so Oxnard finally relents. He reveals that Boss has drawn a bad card: the evil wizard. He predicts that the boss will have an encounter with something big, round and white. Boss is skeptical, but then Bijou talks about the rabbit that she saw at the park. It must be the thing that is big and round and white. The ham-hams all decide to go to the park. There, they're all searching around. Then, as predicted, Boss has his encounter. He gets squished underneath the rabbit. He's freed and the ham-hams all wonder what he's doing there. Then, the rabbit hops off. As it happens, Laura and Kana are passing by at that time. They're discussing the popularity that the fortune-telling seems to have brought Kana. Then, they see the rabbit. Noticing that it's wearing a red ribbon, they decide that it must be lost. They decide to take it the office of the police officer they talked with that morning. The police officer isn't really sure what to do with it, but promises to try to find its owner. This leads to a series of events in which Kana and Laura try to find the rabbit's owner using their fortune-telling. In the meantime, the ham-hams are the ones doing the real work. They head to the police station, where they see the rabbit. Seeing it in a cage, they think they must have been jailed, which leads to a series of funny lines about "most wanted lists" and the bunny being innocent. They decide to see if they can find the bunny's owner and lead it to the bunny. Laura and Kana are actually also doing some work. They go to a pet shop, where the store owner tells them about a boy who purchased a bunny a while back. However, he didn't quite have enough money, so he cut the kid a deal. The kid paid in cash, so he doesn't have his address. But he does know what elementary school he goes to and he gives Laura and Kana the information. The hamsters, back at the police station, hatch their plan by removing the bunny's ribbon. It's taken to the park, where the kid is there looking for the bunny. He sees the hamsters with the ribbon and follows them as they head towards the police station. Meanwhile, Laura and Kana are also heading to the police station, following a lead from the cards. Things come to a head at the police station, when the kid, Eric, runs into the rabbit, the ham-hams having released it from the cage. He greets it as Snowball. The situation is explained to the police officer - the kid wanted to have the bunny, but he lives in an apartment where pets aren't alone. He thought he could leave it in the forest and visit it to tend to it. But, as the police officer reminds him, if he does that, the bunny can run away and possibly get hurt. Then, the police officer makes a generous offer. He can take care of the bunny. He lives rather close to Eric's elementary school, so Eric should be able to stop by every day and see Snowball. Everyone seems to think this is a great arrangement. That night, Laura reflects on her good fortune. She feels she's lucky that she lives in a household where pets are allowed. She also mentions the fortune-telling - it was wrong about them not finding the rabbit's owner, but it did lead them in the right direction. She thinks that overall, it was a great day.moreless - Ep 15The Haunting4/28/03
Laura's Dad, Mr. Haruna is going to his old friend Gabriel's mansion and taking Laura and Kana with him. Laura and Kana are bringing Hamtaro and Oxnard and, although the don't know it, the rest of the ham-ham gang is tagging along as well. Mr. Haruna's friend, Gabriel Black, is well known for his scary tricks he likes to play on people. When they arrive at his mansion, they knock at the door, but get no answer. They decide to go in, thinking that he might be out back. When they open the door, they see an apparition of a ghostly skeleton. They're all scared for a bit, but then Laura realizes that something is odd. She flips on a light and finds that Gabriel is controlling the strings of the "skeleton." Gabriel welcomes them all and they have a little meet-and-greet session in which Gabriel meets Hamtaro and Oxnard and also shows off some of the books that he's written. (He's a popular author.) Not long afterwards, Gabriel leaves, saying that he has to go get something to eat or something. Some time passes and Laura, Kana and Mr. Haruna start hearing noises. They decide that it's just dogs howling, but as time continues to pass, Mr. Haruna begins to wonder where Gabriel is. He goes out to search for them, leaving Laura and Kana by themselves in the mansion. (With the hamsters, of course!) Not long afterwards, Kana and Laura are in the kitchen, when a strange creature comes to the door. It's a werewolf! The girls, very scared, dart upstairs and hide underneath a bed. They take Hamtaro and Oxnard with them, but as they're going up the stairs, the two hamsters sneak out. Hamtaro decides that they have to save Kana and Laura. Boss agrees and so the hamsters "triple-team" to save them. Their plans involve pelting the werewolf with pepper and acorns. They also use an alarm clock as "time bomb," scaring the werewolf with its ringing. Howdy also mixes in some jokes, which, of course, go over like lead balloons. Eventually, the werewolf escapes from them and decides to head upstairs. But the Ham-Hams are ready and distract his attention to the stairway, where he slips on some acorns and takes a tumble. After falling, his true self is revealed: the werewolf is actually Gabriel! He was just playing a trick on them the entire time. Mr. Haruna arrives back and is scared to see the werewolf. However, he too soon finds out the truth. He came back when he saw that Gabriel's car was still in the driveway, which he found very odd. That evening, the group all has dinner together. Gabriel says that he would have scared everyone good, if he hadn't slid down the stairs. He says that he thinks he needs to take his book in a scarier direction. But then he seems to reconsider and takes a different direction entirely - fairies. The next day, Mr. Yoshi is out reading on the porch. Gabriel comes up behind him, dressed as a vampire. Seems maybe the fairy thing wasn't so true after all. Mr. Yoshi panics, while Laura, Kana and the ham-hams all laugh.moreless - Ep 14The Zoo Date4/25/03
It's a beautiful morning and Mr. Yoshi is out for a walk. The hamsters are outside too and they enjoy the beautiful sunrise along with Mr. Yoshi. Then, Laura and Kana come along. As they arrive, a bird flies in and lands on Mr. Yoshi's head! It turns out it's Charlotte's bird and it's delivering a note: Charlotte wants Mr. Yoshi to come with her to the zoo today and bring Kana and Laura along with him. Mr. Yoshi's excited at the chance to go on a date with her. He gets ready by packing a whole bunch of stuff, perhaps more than his needed. Meanwhile, the Ham-hams try to think of ways to help out and also discuss what a date is. It would seem that Boss is the only one of them who's ever been a date. They get the idea that a "date" is just two or more people spending time together. On the way to the zoo, Mr. Yoshi begins to wonder what he's really doing at the zoo that day. Charlotte has him in the back of the car with the pigs. Then, when they get to the zoo, Charlotte sort of takes charge and the ham-hams can't help but notice that Mr. Yoshi and Charlotte aren't together. The group sees all sorts of different animals including giraffes and apes. There's a wild chase scene in which some of the apes go after the ham-hams. But Charlotte gets them under control with a special dance. Then, later, they meet some ostriches. One of the ostriches makes off with the special lunch that Mr. Yoshi made for Charlotte. The ham-hams decide that they have to get it back to them, as they've decided that eating together seems to be an important part of the date as well. As Charlotte is tending the ostriches, she notices that one of them, Achille, has a thorn stuck in its beak. Mr. Yoshi comes to the rescue - it just so happens that in all the stuff he packed, he brought some tweezers. So Charlotte is able to get the thorn out. The ham-hams catch up and nearly get Mr. Yoshi's lunch back to him. But then one of the ostriches, Hector, grabs the lunch and starts running off. Charlotte, Mr. Yoshi, Kana and Laura see this. Charlotte saddles up Achille and chases after Hector. Mr. Yoshi chases along as well. At one point he slips and creates quite a scene. But he gets back up and keeps following. The ham-hams manage to chase Hector into a pen, where they hope to get him cornered. But the pen is open on the other end. Luckily, Mr. Yoshi also has a rope. He tosses it to Charlotte, who uses it as a lasso to close the gate. She corners Hector and makes him give back the lunch. Afterwards, she, Mr. Yoshi, Laura and Kana all have lunch together. Everyone's happy and things look good for the future of Charlotte and Mr. Yoshi.moreless - Ep 13The Sunflower Ferris Wheel4/24/03
Following the destruction of the Ham-Ham fun park, the ham-hams vow to rebuild it better than ever after Jingle tells them not to give up. He lets them ride his pig Herbert to the amusement park, where the rides give them inspiration to create new attractions for their fun park. They work hard on it, hoping to give Mimi an experience she'll never forget. Meanwhile, Kana's father tries to convince Mimi's father to take her to the amusement park while it's still in town, but pent-up childhood hostilities lead to immature fighting between the two.moreless - Ep 12Mimi's Dream Park!4/23/03
A traveling amusement park comes to town and Laura and Kana plan a trip with their younger cousin, Mimi. Sadly, Mimi finds herself not wanting to go when her parents are unable to take her due to the illness of her new baby sister, Tina. Laura and Kana still get to go and Hamtaro and Oxnard sneak along with them. When they return, they tell the ham-hams back at the clubhouse about their adventures. This makes Panda sad and angry because he knows that Mimi is upset about having missed out on the fun. The ham-hams hatch a plan to show Mimi a good time by inviting her to their Ham-Ham fun park.moreless - Ep 11The Reconciliation!4/22/03
Dexter and Howdy have never exactly been, well, the best of friends. But when their respective owners get into a big argument, they want to solve the problem and fast. Their owners have argued with each other before, but in the past they always made up within a few hours. This time, they've been arguing for days and it shows no signs of letting up. They're worried that if it keeps going, they could miss the upcoming hamster festival. That, and their concern for their owners is enough to convince the ham-hams that they need to do something to fix this situation. Hope comes when Dexter and Howdy talk about a certain photograph. It's apparently at both of their places and it features their owners, Curtis and Goldie, getting along nicely. The ham-hams decide that if they could just show the both of them that photo, they would be reminded of when they were friends and stop fighting. So they set out on their mission. On the way, they see Curtis and Goldie, who are arguing. They're in a petty fight about signs that are in front of their doors and that aren't supposed to be. Then, later, they argue about Japanese vs. Italian food. The ham-hams think the situation is pretty bad and work hard to get those photos. They have some setbacks, including not being able to find the photos at first, a meddling kid, Zach, who keeps taking stuff from Goldie's convenience store and a mynah bird who nearly gives them away. Still, they manage to deliver the photos. Curtis and Goldie find them and, as the ham-hams had hoped, they have the desired effect. The two decide to put aside their differences and start being friends again. Still, they wonder who it was who could have brought them the photos. The mynah bird squawks out "Howdy and Dexter," but they decide it couldn't have been them. The hamster festival goes off marvelously, with huge balloons of the various ham-hams. Boss is there too, having his fill of sunflower seeds. The ham-hams are all having a great time. In the background, the "Friends" song plays. (Check out this page to see the full lyrics.) That evening, Laura reflects on the hamster festival and how great Curtis and Goldie's foods were. (Although she refers to them by their last names.)moreless - Ep 10Penelope Makes a Friend4/21/03
The episode starts off with Laura, Kana, Kylie and Ethan, with the ham-hams Hamtaro, Oxnard, Pashmina and Penelope watching on. Ethan and Kylie are asking Laura about how she makes so many friends. Laura says that it's a secret that she can't reveal. Anyway, Ethan is new to the neighborhood and looking to make some friends. Kylie introduces him to her hamster, Penelope. She reminds him to treat him gently, as hamsters are real, live creatures. Ethan and Kylie seem to get along well and Ethan has a good time playing with Penelope. Inside Laura's, Ethan takes a nap. Penelope, however, goes up to him, still wanting to play with him. The other ham-hams can tell that Penelope likes Ethan a lot and suggest doing something to show the friendship. Hamtaro suggests throwing a party. Then, the rest of the ham-ham gang arrives, having just been tossed out of a play, "Ham"let. They were doing all right, until Maxwell jumped up on stage. They're told about Penelope's dilemma and come to the conclusion that it would be a good idea for Penelope to give Ethan a gift. So they go outside and together create a nice flower bouquet with a sunflower seed. However, when Penelope tries to give it to him, Ethan doesn't understand what she wants. What's worse is that Penelope is shy and so she has trouble getting his attention. She ends up making several attempts to give him the gift, but each one fails. Things get so bad that Maxwell suggests that according to Child Hamcology, if Penelope doesn't give Ethan the gift soon, she may never recover. As things are getting really bad, Howdy tries to lighten the mood with one of his jokes. But, as expected, that only serves to make things worse. Eventually, Ethan ends his visit at Laura's house and the ham-hams fear that Penelope may never to get to give him her gift. But then they hear that Ethan doesn't live too far away. So he should still be able to come and visit. The ham-hams decide to take decisive action. Since Ethan doesn't live far away, they'll got and find him. But this proves problematic because, not knowing exactly where he lives, they have to search house-to-house. Then, it's suggested that maybe they could just find his preschool and, by further luck, they find Laura, Kana and Kylie, who just happen to be heading there to check on Ethan. When they get there, they find Ethan: with a friend! Her name is Mimi (Mimi is Panda's owner.) and he refers to her as his best friend. Laura's happy that Ethan made a friend, but Penelope is very sad. She drops her flower present on the ground and the ham-hams all head off. Ethan turns around sees the flower on the ground. He says that Penelope was carrying a flower just like it the other day. He thinks she came to give it to him. Laura, Kana and Kylie think that Ethan must have an amazing imagination, but Ethan insists that it's true. Meanwhile, as they ham-hams are heading along, she sees the school's pet bunny. Communicating with the bunny and then with Pashmina, she expresses that the bunny wants a friend. The ham-hams all faint in aggrevation. That evening, Laura, while writing in her diary, says that the secret to making friends is to just be yourself.moreless - Ep 9The Chicken Contest4/18/03
Laura and Kana are out walking. It's the end of summer and Laura can't believe that they have to back to school soon. It just so happens that they're walking by the school and they notice Mr. Yoshi tending to smoe plants. They ask him about it and he explains that even though school might not be in session, the plants still need to be taken care of. The ham-hams happen to be out and about too. They notice that Mr. Yoshi seems distracted and figure that he can't get the girl he likes, Charlotte, off his mind. This is confirmed when they hear him talking to himself about her. He says to himself that he should ask her out. He tries out a line on a bullfrog that happened to hop along. Just then, Charlotte walks by in the background, but Mr. Yoshi isn't looking that way and doesn't notice her. The ham-hams decide that they have to do something. They grab one of Mr. Yoshi's garden towels and make off with it, heading towards Charlotte. Laura and Kana see this and comment that the towel has a life of it's own. The ham-hams continue and deposit the towel near Charlotte. Their plan has the desired effect. Mr. Yoshi chases after it and Charlotte bends down to pick up the towel, he demands that she give it back. Charlotte says that she was just picking it up and not stealing it. Mr. Yoshi realizes that it's her. Laura and Kana have followed along and they introduce themselves by their full names. Charlotte invites them all over to where she lives. Seeing the huge mansion / farm, Kana comments that it "sure doesn't look like a hobby farm." At the farm, a sheep comes up and licks Mr. Yoshi. He thinks it's a cow, causing Charlotte to comment that he apparently hasn't spent much time on a farm before. Still, the sheep seems to like Mr. Yoshi, which surprises Charlotte, as this particular sheep is normally shy. She thinks that they have a lot in common, but she hopes Mr. Yoshi doesn't find her too forward. Mr. Yoshi, though, doesn't even understand what she means by this. She invites him to go to the zoo with her on Saturday. Just then, trouble shows up, in the form of the chickies, right behind the ham-hams. The ham-hams panic and the chickies swarm Mr. Yoshi. They're not attacking him, though. They're being nice to him. They like him because he rescued him the last time he was there at Charlotte's. Still, he's afraid of chickens and he panics and faints. Once he comes to, he yells for them to get the chickens off of him. Just then, Chairman Rooster shows up. He's tall and intimidating as usual. He says that they consider chickens good luck on his estate and if Mr. Yoshi doesn't like them, then he's bad luck. He wonders what Mr. Yoshi is doing back on his property. In any case, he has something to tell Charlotte. He's found some other guy she wants him to marry, this time some guy named Alexander, with a fancy French last name. He shows her a picture of him, holding a rose in his mouth. Charlotte shoots back that she's not marrying anyone for money. She's going to veterinarian's school and then she's going to marry someone she loves. The husband she wants is Phillip - Mr. Yoshi. Chairman Rooster declares that he won't let her ruin the future of the farm. He'll let her marry Mr. Yoshi, but only if he first wins... the chicken contest. Charlotte thinks this is terrible. There's no way Mr. Yoshi can win the chicken contest. The rules state that the winner is the first competitor to grab a chicken with his bare hands and place him on a tall pedestal. Mr. Yoshi swallows up his fear and says that he'll take on this chicken contest. He'll do whatever it takes to be with Charlotte. The ham-hams admire his bravery and decide that they'll help him. It comes time for the big chicken contest and Alexander seems preetty confident of himself. The chicken contest starts and the ham-hams are wondering where the chickens are. It turns out that they're behind a curtain, which the ham-hams are standing right in front of! Even worse, the chickens in the contest are the ones that Mr. Yoshi is so afraid of from the school. They were specially lent out from this very farm. The ham-hams split, since the chickens seem to be looking for a pre-contest snack. Alexander immediately rushes for the chickens, but he misses and they get away. The ham-hams decide to use Oxnard as a decoy to help Mr. Yoshi, but when that fails, Hamtaro goes in instead. Mr. Yoshi tries to catch the chickens, but they end up blowing right past him too. Alexander bowls Mr. Yoshi and it seems that he's in real trouble. The ham-hams try another distraction, calling the chickens names. Just then, Alexander comes up, makes a lasso with a rope and ties one of the chicken's legs and starts dragging it. Chairman Rooster and everyone else can't believe it. Not only is Alexander not playing by the rules, but he's treating the chicken terribly as well. The other chickens don't like this and neither do the chickies. They attack Alexander, who ends up running off in a panic. Mr. Yoshi frees the one chicken from the rope. It hops into his arms and is very calm. Mr. Yoshi's no longer scared. He calmly walks over to the pedestal, sets the chicken down and wins the contest. Chairman Rooster can't believe it. He says he's proud of Mr. Yoshi and can tell he really loves animals. But, then, when Charlotte and Mr. Yoshi start talking about their relationship and marriage again, Chairman Rooster says that nobody is going to run off with his only daughter. He says that if Mr. Yoshi wants to prove his dedication, he'll stay in the henhouse for one year. Mr. Yoshi runs off in a panic, saying that he likes chickens, but not that much. That evening, Laura reflects on what happened. She thought the day was wacky. She hopes that Charlotte and Mr. Yoshi get married, as they really seem to love each other.moreless - Ep 8The Fresh Summer Breeze!4/17/03
Kana and Laura are stopped in front of Maria's house, listening to her play a piece on the piano. (Which sounds suspiciously like background music used in past Hamtaro episodes.) However, they hear arguing inside. Inside, Maria's not in a good mood and seems to be having trouble focusing on her playing. She won a scholarship to a music school. However, she's worried that she's losing her gift for playing and that she doesn't deserve the scholarship. She's supposed to play a piece for the award presentation, but she's not sure she can do it. Outside, Laura wonders if there's something she can do to cheer her up. Meanwhile, at the ham-ham clubhouse, the ham-hams are struggling with the heat. Their fan is broken. Panda repairs it, but Boss complains, as he now has it spinning the opposite direction of the way it's supposed to. Things seem to be pretty tense with the ham-hams too and they decide that they need a vacation. Howdy protests that they don't need a vacation, they're ham-hams and every day is a vacation for them. Still, everyone agrees that they have been rather on edge lately. So they decide to start planning a day-trip. As they're planning, Bijou comes over. They invite her on their day-trip, but Bijou doesn't want to come. She tells them about the situation with Maria and says that she's going to stay home and watch over her. At first, the ham-hams are still going to go on their trip anyway, but Boss insists that they follow Bijou and help out. At Laura's, Laura wonders if maybe she isn't being nosy by wondering about what's happening with Maria. Still, she decides go over and talk to her anyway and stop by with some cookies (health-food cookies) that her Mom is making. She talk Brandy along with her and use the excuse that she's walking Brandy and just happened to stop by. The ham-hams head toward Maria's and along the way, encounter Jingle. They tell him about Maria's situation and ask him, as an artist, if he's ever had a situation where he felt like he'd lost his creative energy. But Jingle dodges the question and instead comes up with some sort of advice about green thumbs, then leaves. At first, they don't understand him, but then it's soon figured out that what he's trying to say is just that Maria needs some fresh air. When they reach Maria's, they find her being directed by her bossy music teacher - Mr. Sharp. So they concoct an elaborate plan to get Maria out of the house, by creating a breeze causing stuff to go flying and also hiding under a hat and running out of the house. The plan begins with Boss tickling Mr. Sharp's neck and escalating from there. The plan succeeds in getting outside, where Maria runs into Laura, who's just arriving with Brandy. Maria doesn't stop to talk, however, as she's chasing after the hat and Bijou. The ham-hams, seeing Brandy, enlist his help. They get Laura and Maria to folow them all to a beautiful riverbank. There, the ham-hams are in seventh-heaven, as they find a huge patch of sunflowers, with enough seeds to stock up nicely for a good, long while. While they're doing that, Maria and Laura admire the gorgeous view. They also find Bijou, who peeks out from behind a tree. While sitting there, they talk. Maria finds this place very relaxing and says that she hasn't had a chance to relax this way in a long time. She says that it was getting to be that playing the piano wasn't fun anymore. She's been working so hard. But feeling the way she does now, she wants to play a song about it. She thanks Laura for helping her out and says that she wasn't being nosy. Laura says that she should thank Brandy, since it would seem he's the one that led them there. Eventually, they head home and on the way, they talk about hamsters. Maria gives Laura a picture of Bijou, for Kana to use on her website. That evening, Laura reflects on getting out and on helping out Maria. Hamtaro comments that he "gets out" at least once a day.moreless - Ep 7Ghost Mountain!4/16/03
Laura and Kana are visiting at Mr. Yoshi's Mom's mountain home. She's been telling ghost stories and right now is telling a particularly frightening one, the unfortunate tale of Harry and Ernie. Harry and Ernie were a couple of bad kids who fought with each other over everything, even their hamsters. One day, Harry bet Ernie that he could let his hamster loose in the woods and find him again. It soon escalated into an all-out competition in which they let loose all the hamsters in the village. Harry and Ernie went into the woods to search for them, but something happened. They never returned to the village and all of the hamsters disappeared, except one. Laura, Kana and both Hamtaro and Oxnard are very frightened by the story, although they won't admit it. Just then, Mr. Yoshi arrives. He wonders what the girls are doing at his mother's and they explain that they had just helped her carry some groceries up the mountain. Mr. Yoshi's Mom says that she's repaying them for their kindness by telling the stories. Mr. Yoshi offers the girls some watermelon. Mr. Yoshi's Mom suggests that Mr. Yoshi might want to go outside so he isn't scared by the stories, but he shoots back that her stories don't scare either him or the girls. Hamtaro, however, begs that she not tell another one. His paws are still shaking. In the meantime, the rest of the ham-ham gang is down in the fields near the mountain. They're very hot, so Howdy suggests that they tell stories to cool themselves down. His story though is actually just a thinly disguised bad joke. Boss suggests that they climb the mountain. The cold mountain air should help them to cool off. As they head off, they notice Elder Ham sitting under a tree. They think maybe he's passed out from the heat, but it turns out he's just sleeping, as usual, although he claims that he's thinking. He says that the heat's good for him and he's thinking up all sorts of new stories. He starts to tell them one, but it puts them to sleep. He soon forgets what story he was telling and while he's trying to find his place, the ham-hams head off on their way. He yells for them to come back, but it's too late. Back at Mr. Yoshi's Mom's place, the girls are getting ready to head home. Mr. Yoshi offers to walk them home, but they say that they'll be okay. As Laura and Kana are heading down, the ham-hams are heading up. They're beginning to think that it was a mistake, though. It may be cooler on the mountain, but all the walking is just making them hotter. They find the girls and realize that they're heading the wrong way. Now they're all lost. At Laura's place, the parents of both girls realize something is wrong. They make a phone call and learn that the girls started heading home two hours ago. They should have been home long ago. Kana's Dad is very worried. Kana doesn't have any survival skills for such a situation. He wanted her to go camping outdoors, but she wanted to go to theater camp and build a website. She said that they didn't need to know how to use a compass. They decide to head off and look for them. In the forest, the clouds block the moon and now Laura and Kana don't have anything much in the way of light to guide them. They envision the ghosts of Harry and Ernie in a tree and panic. Hamtaro and Oxnard have separated from the girls and are worried too, when something starts tickling them. They think that it's ghosts, but it turns out that Boss and Oxnard were playing a prank on them. Hamtaro and Oxnard try to act cool, but they seem really shaken. Hamtaro's convinced that there's something out in the woods that's after them. The girls decide to stay in one place, but they see spooky lights and figure that they're ghosts, with torches. Eventually, they realize that Hamtaro and Oxnard are no longer with them and start calling out for them. They finally decide to confront the "ghosts" and it turns out that they're just Mr. Yoshi and his Mom. Elsewhere, the ham-hams are tracking some ghosts of their own. They end up tumbling down a cliff and nearly end up the water. Bijou has a very close call, but Hamtaro manages to save her. The ham-hams eventually end up on top of the "ghosts." As Laura, Kana, Mr. Yoshi and his Mom come to investigate the "ghosts," the ham-hams split, all except for Hamtaro and Oxnard. It turns out that the two ghosts were actually Laura and Kanas' Dads. They had to use torches because of problems with their flashlights. As for the ghost story, Mr. Yoshi's Mom admits that it was just something she made up and has been telling for the longest time. Then, the entire group and all of the ham-hams see strange lights in the distance. They all panic and run away. We see what the lights really were, though: Elder Ham! He got the last laugh on all the ham-hams, for not sticking around to listen to his story. That evening, Laura reflects on ghost stories, saying that you have to be careful with them. She thinks that it was an unusual day, but it was still fun.moreless - Ep 6Boss, the Cool Ham of the Sea!4/15/03
Boss is outside, sitting on a swing. He fantasizes an image of Bijou in the sun and the image repeats an old line of Bijou's about Boss being like a brother to her. Boss is finding that hard to believe. He feels that she thinks that he's boring. It's very hot out and he decides to go and find someplace cool, but just then Auntie Viv shows up, filled with energy as usual. Boss can't believe how energetic she is on a hot day. She tells him that she's heading for the ocean. She talks about sand and big picnic baskets being romantic and this gives Boss an idea. Over at Laura's house, Laura and her family are planning a trip to the beach. Laura talks about how much better she is at swimming than she used to be. Kana's there and they invite her to come along. Kana suggests that it would be best to invite her Dad, as there's apparently going to be free food around. Hamtaro provides a funny image of him sneaking into the trunk, but says it would be best if he didn't, as the ham-hams are going to be sneaking in. Hamtaro takes the news about the trip to the clubhouse. Pashmina's excited, as she wants to collect seashells for craft projects in the winter. Howdy, looking for a way to get together with Pashmina, says that he knows a lot about shells. It seems to work at first, but then he blows it by going into a long routine involving a bunch of plays on the word "shell." He laughs at his own joke, but none of the ham-hams laugh, so he tries to enlist the audience's support. Boss then announces big plan for some water fun with Bijou. The ham-hams don't really believe him, but he says that the only reason he got seasick last time was because it wasn't hot out yet. He tells Bijou that he's her "fun in the sun" and dons a wild outfit and starts playing his ukelele. The ham-hams can't believe that he would wear such an outfit in public, nor can they believe his awful singing. Later on, Boss is out on his own, talking to himself by the lake. He's trying to think of a plan, as he knows that he'll get queasy the second he hits the sea. The ham-hams overhear him and decide to help him. They try to simulate what things will be like on the sea, in the hopes of him getting over his fear. When it doesn't work at first, they try to get him on the river to make it more realistic. Instead, they end up causing him to fall out of the teacup they set up and then he gets seasick. Maxwell comes up with a new idea. If Boss just uses willpower, he can overcome the problem. And to help out, none of them will mention seasickness or any variation on it. Boss says that it's great and he feels like a new ham. The day of the trip finally comes and on the way there, Laura and Kana joke about whether Brandy will go swimming, while Bijou cracks her own line about "hair" conditioning. At the beach, Laura is excited about having a race with her father. However, he seems to have disappeared. Boss has done a little disappearing too, but he eventually shows up and shows the ham-hams a contraption that he made. It's a miniature yacht. Bijou had wanted to ride on one. The ham-hams are a bit dubious about this. Howdy figures that Boss must have gotten help from Panda and also says that hams and water don't mix. Laura, Laura's Mom and Kana finally find Laura's Dad. He's volunteered to help the staff at a seaside restaurant called "Beach House." It's a busy day, but the owners' kids, who would normally help them, all have to be elsewhere. Meanwhile, Brandy, ends up overheating. Fortunately, the helpful restaurant staff are able to diagnose the problem and get him into the shade to cool off. Boss finally takes Bijou on their big sailing trip and does well at first. But then he sees a seagull and that gets him thinking of the sea and then seasickness. As he gets all dizzy and sick, he ends up poking a hole in their vessel, causing it to start sinking. Bijou's in a panic and Boss is too sick to know what to do. The ham-hams don't know what to do at first either, but then they see Brandy. Brandy bravely heads into the water and rescues the scared Bijou and sick Boss. On the shore, Boss is beside himself. He doesn't know how he's ever going to make it up to Bijou for putting her in such danger. But Bijou's already forgiven him. Laura's Dad finally finishes helping at the restaurant and Laura gets to prove just how good her swimming skills have gotten, by having a race with him and winning. At home that evening, Laura reflects on her Dad: she never knew that he could do dishes! She thinks he's a "natural." She thinks it's too bad that Hamtaro wasn't able to come to the beach, but she did bring him back some seashells.moreless - Ep 5Laura is Really Gone!4/14/03
Laura and Kana are walking home from school. They're discussing class, where their teacher, Mr. Yoshi, gave a surprise quiz. Laura is disappointed at how bad she did. She claims she's going to go and tell Mr. Yoshi that it's not fair to give surprise quizzes. As they walk along, they pass by Maria's house and stop to enjoy her beautiful piano playing. At home, Laura's parents are less than pleased with her quiz grade: a 35%. They tell her that until she can shape up her grades, she's not going to be able to get a CD player she wanted. Also, they're canceling a trip so that they can help her study. Laura storms off to her room, where she complains that she already told all of her friends she was going to get the CD player on Monday. As she continues to gripe, her Mom calls her for lunch. But she says she's not hungry and leaves the house to go over to Kana's. However, when she gets to Kana's, she finds that not only does Kana have a new CD player, but she's also leaving with her parents on that trip. Meanwhile, Hamtaro meets up with the other hamsters. He's worried about Laura and the bad mood that she was in. She seemed really upset. Boss, calling himself an "expert on the pre-teen psyche," suggests that Laura might try to join a circus. Their fears seem to be confirmed when it's reported that Laura was seen heading downtown. Downtown, however, it turns out that Laura is just looking for sheet music. She heard Maria's playing again and she's hoping to improve her own skills, by starting out with some simple tunes. She asks a lady at the store if they have anything like that and she suggests some simple childrens' tunes. Laura says that she was hoping for something a bit more adult, so the lady goes to see if she can help out. After concluding her business at the record store, Laura gets on a bus, where she runs into Maria and Maria ends up dropping some of her sheet music. Laura picks it up and gives it to her. She wants to talk more, but it's Maria's stop and Maria gets off. Laura decides to follow. The hamsters are following too and Bijou goes off after Maria, while the rest continue following Laura, still convinced that she may be trying to join the circus. Laura looks at the money she has and realizes that she may not even have enough to take the bus back home. Meanwhile, back at home, Laura's parents are starting to get worried about her and start contacting her friends. Laura wanders around town and ends up in a dark alley. But then hears Maria's playing and follows it to a music hall. The concert has already started, but the lady at the counter lets Laura in anyway, since she promises to be quiet. When the hamsters see a stagehand operating the spotlights over the piano where Maria is playing, they decide to cause some havoc, as they think that Laura is going to be going next and become part of the circus. When they do this, the spotlight ends up shining on Laura. Maria sees this and recognizes Laura as the girl who's always stopping in front of her house. The hamsters find Maria and Laura in the lobby, talking. Maria and Laura get to know each other and Laura learns that she doesn't have to be afraid of Maria, just because she's a good piano player. Maria says that sometimes she gets lonely and Laura suggests that maybe she could help with her making some friends. Maria, in turn, offers to help her to become a more dedicated piano player. Then, Laura realizes how late it is. Fortunately, Maria intervenes on her behalf and calls home for her. She says that her parents sounded pretty upset, but promises to come home with her to help her out. She does just that and while Laura's parents are upset, they're glad that she's back home. Laura agrees to let them help her study and, therefore, she'll be getting the CD player next week. Not only that, but with Maria's help, she thinks she can become a more dedicated piano player.moreless - Ep 4The Scary Principal!4/13/03
Laura and her parents are discussing Laura's principal, who is just returning from a trip around the world. He likes to travel a lot. He also is known to have huge eyebrows and he keeps a collection of weird plants, which he sometimes lends out to teachers. Laura thinks that he sounds kind of hairy. Hamtaro is listening in to the conversation and gets the idea that principal is "a scary, flying teacher with itchy feet." Laura's Dad had said he has itchy feet because he likes to travel a lot. Hamtaro heads to the clubhouse, where he tells the ham-hams that he's off to see the "flying principal." The ham-hams talk about the principal. Oxnard adds his input based on what he heard from Kana. They come up with all sorts of a crazy theories, such as that the principal is an alien, or a gigantic monster. They envision him roaming around, terrorizing the town, like something out of a Godzilla movie. They decide that they need to go to the school and check him out. At the school, Laura is rushing and ends up bumping directly into the principal. He asks for her name and she gives it to him. He says he'll remember it and tells her not to run in the hall. Laura can't believe it. She tells Kana that she's sure that now that the principal knows her name, he's going to go find her file and mark her as a troublemaker or something. Kana tells her to relax, saying that she worries too much. The ham-hams still think maybe he could be an alien in disguise, but Boss says that he was wearing pink and anyone who wears pink can't be too scary. Just then, the principal walks right by them and boss's tail fur sticks up straight on end. Maxwell says that his stature is definitely intimidating and his manner is brusque. Even if he's not an alien, he sure is scary. Laura gets to class and Mr. Yoshi asks her to go to the principal's office to get a potted mimosa. Laura says she'd rather wait until Kana gets back, but Mr. Yoshi needs it and time is of the essence, so she'll have to go and get it. She goes to the office, but finds that nobody is there. Thinking she's all clear, she goes inside to get the plant. She gets it, but then stumbles and ends up dropping on top of another pot, breaking it. The ham-hams see this and figure she should go and tell the principal right away. Laura goes to find him, but she overhears him talking to another teacher about the importance of taking care of plants. The ham-hams now aren't so sure. Some of them now think it would be best for Laura to wait until he cools off before she says anything. Laura runs off and heads back to class. The ham-hams decide to provide a distraction for the principal. Some of them hide under a ceremonial mask and draw his attention, while the others attempt to repair the pot. Back in class, Laura is spazzing out, imagining what the principal will say to her when she tells him about breaking the pot. Mr. Yoshi calls for her attention, saying that she needs to concentrate during class. He lectures about the mimosa and how the name literally means "touch me not." He demonstrates this by showing how the leaves of the plant curl upon touch. The ham-hams meanwhile continue distracting the principal, while the others are having a hard time repairing the pot. The ham-hams manage to get a lead on the principal when he gets distracted by Mr. Yoshi, who has stepped out of class for a minute. They get into a conversation, which allows the ham-hams under the mask a bit of a break. The ham-hams under the mask end up in what seems to be a pantry for the school cafeteria. They're well hidden, but they end up coming out when they smell food, as they're starting to get hungry. The principal finds them and nearly catches them. In escaping, the eventually end up bowling straight into the broken flowerpot. Their repair efforts have failed, but as it turns out, it doesn't matter because Laura has just come to apologize, with Kana along for moral support. She explains what happened and the principal isn't mad at all. He explains that she didn't break the flowerpot, he did. It was already broken when she dropped the other pot on it and so maybe she just chipped it a little more. He was going to repair it, but hadn't had a chance yet. He thanks her for telling him about it, but is a bit confused about why she didn't tell him sooner. She explains about how she was scared of him. He sends her on back to class and after she's gone comments that he does look sort of like a gangster. Hamtaro comments that when you've done something wrong, it's best to admit to it right away. That evening, Laura reflects on the day's events in her journal. She's glad that she's better at taking care of hamsters than she is plants.moreless - Ep 3Treasure Hunting4/13/03
The ham-hams are all gathered around Elder Ham. He's showing them how elastic he is because he's been stretching out his "ham"-strings. At the same time, he's having sepia-toned flashbacks, not that the ham-hams know anything about this. After his little demonstration, they ask him what he called them there for. He called them all for a ham-conference for a reason, but he hasn't gotten to it. At first, he can't remember why he called them, or even that he called them at all. He soon remembers the reason. He wants their help spring-cleaning his second house. They're all surprised that he even has a second house. He shows them - it's inside the ground underneath a rock. The ham-hams all try to move the rock, but it won't budge. Then, Elder Ham opens it like a hatch. They head inside, but it's very filthy. They seem to be thinking of ditching out, particularly Howdy, but Elder Ham stops him before he can go anywhere. So they go down and are amazed. It's a cozy little place that Elder Ham has got. Hamtaro says that he never knew places like it existed. They get to work with the spring cleaning. As they do, Boss and Hamtaro find a door. They go inside and Elder Ham says that it's his room. They find some nuts and bolts, which Elder Ham was using for building something, but he can't remember what. Then, the rest of the ham-hams call them over. They've found something that appears to be a treasure map. The big giveaway is that it is has a red "X" on it. Elder Ham looks at it and says that it's been passed down through his family for generations and that apparently his hamcestors buried a treasure somewhere. The ham-hams, particularly Boss, like this idea and get visions of jewels. They study the map to figure out where to go. Maxwell deduces that their first clue is "inside a mirror that you can see from the sky." They all head out to look for the treasure. Over at Laura's house, Laura's Mom is missing gold broach with pearl's on it. She wanted to wear it to an occasion recently, but couldn't find it. Laura's there and she wonders just why the broach is so important. In the meantime, the ham-hams have made their way to the general area the treasure map indicated. Boss is now wondering what a mirror is. Maxwell figures out that since water reflects, the clue could be referring to a pond or a lake. They find a pond which they decide must be it. They're not sure what to do until they notice a small island in the middle of the water. Now they just need to get to it. Penelope comes up with the solution. She climbs along a hanging branch which droops down to the island. The ham-hams all follow and now they're all stuck on the island. They decide that to continue, they'll need to dig down. After digging for a while, they finally end up in a field. Maxwell notes that it's getting dark and suggests that they pick up the hunt tomorrow. So they all go home. Back at Laura's house, Laura and her Mom have turned over all sorts of things looking for the broach. Laura's Dad arrives home a bit early from work. He wonders what's going on. They just dodge his question and suggest that he order a pizza. So he goes off and orders a pepperoni and mushroom. That evening, Laura asks Hamtaro if maybe he knows what happened to the broach. Hamtaro listens and thinks that Laura must be on a treasure hunt too. The next day, the ham-hams continue the hunt. The treasure map now leads them to something with a cross on it. Back at Laura's house, Laura's Dad wants some coffee and waffles, but Laura and her Mom are still busy looking for the broach. They direct him to instant coffee and pancake mix. He wonders whatever happened to family time. The ham-hams find the cross and are now looking for the next location. They determine that it must be a chimney, but they see three chimneys and wonder which it could be. They go back and ask Elder Ham, who says that it must be the chimney to the far left, since it's the only one that was around when his hamcestors were alive. Once they leave, he begins to suspect that maybe he was the one who actually wrote the map. The ham-hams continue to the chimney, but find their path blocked by a wall. Still, they carry on and eventually find themselves heading back where they started. The last treasure map clue is a rock - could it be the same rock where they started? They return to Elder Ham's second home, where the mystery is solved. It turns out that Elder Ham did write the map when he was young and hid the treasure behind a picture. The treasure is an acorn with "VIV and ME" carved on it. It turns out he used to be in love with Auntie Viv and carved it to show his affection for her, but he could never bring himself to give it to her. Back at Laura's, Laura's Mom finally finds the broach. It turns out that she hid it in a secret drawer in her jewelry box. It's important to her because it was the first gift that Laura's Dad ever gave her. Laura's Dad comes in and now he knows why they turned the house upside-down and why it was so important that they find this. That evening, Laura reflects on the hunt for the broach. Hamtaro figures that the best treasure is one that has a fond memory attached to it.moreless - Ep 2In A Pinch A Rival Appears4/13/03
A new soccer star named Roberto comes to Laura's school and quickly earns a reputation as a "ball-hog." He and Laura quickly come to be on bad terms when they bump into each other and he refers to Hamtaro as a "rat." When the ham-hams hear of Roberto's "ball-hog" ways, they set out to teach him a lesson, only to find that he's a tougher opponent than they thought. They also find out that he's a really nice guy, but seems to be acting tough. At another soccer game, Roberto acts huffy when he feels he isn't credited for winning the game, but a muttered comment suggests what he's really angry about.moreless - Ep 1Pop Star4/13/03
A new and upcoming pop star name Glitter comes to Laura's school. She's having a concert in a local part and all of the girls are over her, but she's very snooty and seems only interested in Travis, trying to woo him with a backstage pass, although Travis seems like he couldn't care less. Glitter has a hamster named Sparkle and the ham-hams try to rescue her from danger and make her a part of their club, but she makes it clear that she couldn't care less about them, not that they seem to notice. Come the big concert, Glitter attempts to make her big move on Travis, but ends up finding that the only thing that moves is her superstar status - away from her.moreless
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Season 1
- Ep 52It's Robin-Ham!8/29/02
Kana and Laura are at the park and are having a bit of an argument. They're painting and Laura thinks that trees are a great thing to sketch, while Kana would rather sketch flowing water any day. The two decide to split up and each paint what they like, but not before some good-natured jesting about "forest ghosts." At the clubhouse, the boy ham-hams are playing "King of the Castle." However, they feel that Howdy isn't playing fair. Bijou suggests that they all knock it off, as she's trying to read a book, Robin Hood. Snoozer chimes in with a comment, leading the ham-hams to start talking about him and his dreams. Then, Bijou starts getting sleepy, followed by the rest of the ham-hams. At the park, Laura also seems to be spacing out. She is jolted when she thinks she hears something, but then quickly falls asleep. The ham-hams and Laura all go into a combined dream. In this dream, Laura is Maid Laurian and finds herself at home with her ailing father, who happens to be Elder Ham. They don't have a sprinkle of gold to their name and are in danger of going hungry. Hamtaro, who is Robin-Ham, comes by and notices their plight. Meanwhile, there's a crisis at the town castle. Prince Snoozer been sleeping non-stop and nothing can wake him upk. The situation's gotten so bad that palace guard Maxwell has brought in the chick-ah chick-ah ninja gang, consisting of Boss, Pashmina, Penlope and Stan to help protect the palace. However, the power of these ninjas is rather questionable. When they demonstrate their skills, they do tricks involving "jellybeans of doom" and knitting. Nobody is impressed and Bijou figures that they must be joking. Nevertheless, they're the only help the palace has, so they're put to work guarding the palace gates. Robin-Ham shows up at the palace gates with Brandy (who he's calling "Little Dog") but they won't let him in. Then, Howdy shows up, claiming to be a bean counter. While he tries to convince the ninjas to let him in, Robin-Ham sneaks into the palace. Howdy continues to try to convince the ninjas to let him in, finally managing to bribe them with some sunflower seeds. As Robin-Ham makes his way to the treasure room, Howdy reveals his true self: he's really "Howlin'" the Magician! The ninjas try to stop him with their "tricks," but Howlin's not impressed at all. He also reveals that he's the one who's been causing Snoozer's continuing slumber. Howlin' refuses to surrender to the chick-ah ninjas and attempts to place them all under a spell. Then, Robin-Ham shows up. He's immediately recognized, but says that he'll help against Howlin'. So Howlin' pulls out his ultimate magic, a super freezing spell. He has everyone under his power, but then Little Dog shows up. Robin-Ham manages to use his excellent aim to shoot down Howlin's magic wand. Without it, he's powerless. Robin-Ham has saved the day, but the hams at the palace still don't like that he's taken the gold. Prince Snoozer, however, who seems to be waking up, lets Robin-Ham keep the gold. He delivers it to Maid Laurian, who tells Elder Ham that it's enough for a feast. Elder Ham, not getting her meaning, tries to eat the gold itself. Afterwards, everyone reflects on how they got a glimpse into Laura's dreams. Well, all except Laura, who Kana finds as she's just waking up. That evening, Laura writes in her journal not once, but twice. She can't sleep because of her nap earlier. Neither can Hamtaro.moreless - Ep 51Stan and Sandy Make Up8/28/02
Laura is working on a project for school. She's cutting apples for a shrunken head, but she just can't seem to get it right. She's trying to peel it to make a face, but she keeps slipping up and peeling way too much. Hamtaro is watching and the whole shrunken head thing is creeping him out a bit. Worse, Laura works on it all that night in her room and Hamtaro feels like the apples are staring at him. The next morning, Hamtaro slips down the drainpipe and heads off to meet the ham-hams, who are out in the fields somewhere. Hamtaro talks about Laura's project. The ham-hams all listen and Bijou talks about how her owner, Maria gives her cut-up apples. She says that food presentation is actually an art. As the ham-hams walk along, they see Stan and Sandy. Unfortunately, it looks like something bad is happening. They're fighting! Stan has gotten a hold of Sandy's ribbon and won't give it back to her. Sandy insists that he hand it back, calling him a "total pain." Stan still won't let go, so Sandy starts grabbing for it. The ribbon breaks and Sandy is upset. Stan, however, tries to minimize it, saying that she doesn't need a "silly ribbon." He says that he was going to give it back and that his stuff is way cooler. Now, Sandy is really mad. She grabs Stan's maracas and thrusts them to the ground, causing them to shatter to bits. The ham-hams see what is happening and start heading towards Stan and Sandy, hoping to break up the fighting. But before they can reach them, Stan and Sandy head off on their own, separate ways. They don't want to have anything to with each other. Hamtaro says that they have to do something. They can't let them go home angry. They remember that it's Sandy's birthday and, not long afterwards, figure out that since Stan and Sandy are twins, it must be Stan's birthday as well. Howdy cracks that he figured that out right away and so he must be the brightest bulb. Nobody is impressed with his comment. At Laura's school, Mr. Yoshi is discussing the class project. One of the things they're doing is making fruit punch and he's outlined instructions for it on the board. He also gives tips on food presntation and says that if anyone has something left over, they can donate it to the teachers' lounge. Laura, still having trouble with her apples, is beginning to wish she'd joined a group. For example, Travis, with his group, is making some sort of fancy glaze. As Laura continues to struggle with her apples, Travis sees her frustruation and comes over to help her out. He says he can teach her and Kana to cook like a pro, so both of the girls agree to let him help. Back with the ham-hams, Panda has drawn up plans for a humongous cake. The ham-hams all think it's going to be delicious, so they get to work. Back at the school, Laura makes a comment about how while she may not be good at peeling, she is good at cooking. Travis says that he knows and jokes that he ate her lunch. The ham-hams are all hard at work on the cake. Among the tasks are Dexter and Howdy, putting on the icing, Penelope, Pashmina and Bijou creating lovely star shaped carrots and Oxnard and Boss doing some really hard work sculpting the cake. In fact, the work is so hard that Oxnard soon gets hungry and starts eating some of the cake. At first, the ham-hams try to stop him, but then they realize that they're hungry too and start eating. Just then, Hamtaro and Bijou see what's happening. They tell everyone to stop, saying that it's important that they get the cake done. So everyone works really hard to finish it. At Laura's school, things are going well now that Laura has joined Travis's group. Travis is so good that Kana and Laura think that they'll get A's for sure. And there's not going to be anything left over to take to the teacher's lounge. Meanwhile, the ham-hams, having completed the cake, invite Stan and Sandy. They bring them together and when they both ask what it is they came from, they see each other and get angry. But then they see the cake and realize that the ham-hams remembered their birthday. The ham-hams tell them that they can eat the cake on one condition, that they have to make up and be friends again. So the two do and proceed to enjoy the cake, which they think is awesome because of its unique recipe. They ask the rest of the ham-hams to join them in eating, after all, the cake is huge and they could never eat it all themselves. Then, as the ham-hams are eating, they notice that Stan and Sandy have disappeared. They wonder where they went to and hope they're not fighting. It turns out, though, that they're actually exchanging gifts. Stan got Sandy a brand-new two-tone ribbon which she absolutely loves. And Sandy got Stan red Super-Shaker 100 maracas. She'd been hiding them for weeks and they were actually supposed to be a second pair, but, oh well. Then, Stan performs the twirling whirling song. That evening, Laura reflects on the day's events. Once she got home, she was able to peel an apple perfectly. She guesses she'll just have to work at it some more.moreless - Ep 50Even the Ham-Hams get Seasick8/27/02
It's morning and Laura is talking to her Mom. Her class is going on a field trip. Hamtaro is over on the stairway listening in. He thinks that maybe this is something he can come along on. Laura's Mom is talking about the trip, her class is going boating. Something about this reminds Laura's Dad about his first summer job. He goes on about having to walk five miles and stuff and Hamtaro notes that even he's heard this story. Laura's Dad thinks it's nice that Laura has a teacher who doesn't just teach in class, but also shows her the real world. Laura's worried that she might get seasick, but her Mom tells her that if she has any trouble, to just look at the horizon. Hamtaro heads to the clubhouse to see if he can find anytrhing out about this whole boating thing. When he gets there, it's just Oxnard, Boss, Bijou and Maxwell there. None of the other ham-hams were able to make it. As Hamtaro talks about the boat trip, Boss says that he's something of an expert on boating and has been on lots of boat trips. So Bijou decides to ask him for fashion advice instead of Hamtaro and Boss suggests going with her blue ribbon. Then, Hamtaro explains that he wants to go out on Laura's boat trip today and Boss starts coming up with delay tactics. He says that while you're out at sea, there could be unexpected storms. Bijou seems to think that's enough to keep them away, after all, Maria wouldn't want her out in a storm. Maxwell, however, says that he doesn't think there'll be any storms. He makes it a point to always watch the weather forecast and it said that today is supposed to be calm and clear. So, Boss, out of delay tactics, accompanies the ham-hams to the harbor, although he tries going really slow. When the ham-hams complain about this, he suddenly goes really fast and speeds way past them all. At the harbor, Boss says to himself that he's never been on a boat in his life. The ham-hams aren't going boating yet anyway. They're busy enjoying the harbor. Bijou thinks that the air does wonders for her complexion and Oxnard is busy snacking. However, one thing the ham-hams can't find is Laura's class, which they think may have already gotten on the boat. In actuality, Laura's class hasn't yet gotten on the boat. Instead, they've been on a tour and are busy having lunch. Travis is off by himself and Kana and Laura are debating whether they should offer their lunch to him. He isn't eating and they fear that he may have left his lunch at home. Just then, a bunch of other girls from the class head over and offer their food to him. He refuses it all. The ham-hams find the class and decide to follow them to the boat. They wonder where the boat is going and Maxwell says that boats often take long voyages to other countries. So now the ham-hams have an added concern, they have no idea where this boat could be going. And if they don't take it, they could be separated from their humans for a long time. As they head for the boat, Boss is still boasting about his amazing skills. But the boat takes off and the ham-hams aren't on board. In a desperate last-ditch attempt, they scurry along the rope leading to the boat that's tied to the dock. It's set loose and Boss, Hamtaro and Bijou are sent flying to the boat, but Maxwell and Oxnard get left at the docks. Boss yells after them to water his plants while they're gone. Onboard the boat, Hamtaro and Bijou start exploring. Bijou isn't too excited by the boat and says she understands now why she and Maria took a plane when they came from France. Boss, however, is in very bad shape. He's seasick and looks awful. Hamtaro and Bijou ask him if he wants something to eat, but Boss says not to talk about food. They decide to get him some water and take his cap to carry it in. They wonder, however, why Boss would be getting seasick if he's been out to sea so many times before. As they're heading off to get him some water, Travis is feeling sick as well. Laura and Kana notice this and decide to help him. While Kana heads off to get some medicine, Laura advises Travis to look at the horizon. This seems to make things worse at first, but then he seems to be a bit better. Hamtaro and Bijou find some water. Hamtaro is wearing Boss's cap on his ear. They use it to gather up some water. Kana finally arrives with some medicine for Travis, which helps him feel a lot better. Boss, meanwhile, is off by himself, moaning and having fantasies of Bijou. But when he awakes, he sees Auntie Viv and not Bijou. It turns out she's on the boat for a day trip. Bijou and Hamtaro finally arrive with Boss's water. They learn from Auntie Viv that the boat is just a ferry boat, going around the harbor. They're not going to another country. They're relieved, but annoyed with Maxwell. When they finally arrive back, Maxwell admits that he may have been reading about a different kind of boat. Then, Boss makes his big confession, that, like them, that was his first time on a boat. They're all mad and want him to apologize. Boss just falls over laughing and they all give him a very dirty look. That evening, Laura reflects on how good her Mom's advice was. She thinks it was a good day and tomorrow will be even better.moreless - Ep 49In Search of the Pendant8/26/02
Laura's Mom and Dad are playing a game. The two start fighting when Laura's Mom starts winning and Dad claims that she's been staying up extra late practicing or something. Laura's Mom calls him a sore loser and the two start arguing it out. Laura comes downstairs, sleepy-eyed and sees the argument. Hamtaro's with her, in her shirt-pocket. He complains that Saturday mornings are normally a lot more fun. Laura's Dad and Laura decide to go out for the time being. Laura's Mom thinks this is a good idea, as they need some alone time. Laura's Dad wants to get Mom something to make up for the fight. Laura doesn't think this is such a good idea, as Mom doesn't really like surprises, but they end up going anyway. Meanwhile, Hamtaro spots Jingle, who says that he needs to reach a "new level." He's going to spend some time hanging out with the ham-hams, to do some "bonding." Hamtaro's glad that he's back. Laura and her Dad head to the mall, where they find a nice locket that they both agree Mom would think was really great. It's just perfect for a family portrait. They buy the locket and head out of the store. On their way out, two running kids bump into Laura. She's angry, but what she doesn't know at the time is that the locket fell out of the bag she was carrying. When she and her Dad arrive home, they're shocked to find out that it's gone. They deduce what happened, but can't really do anything, since the mall is closed. Hamtaro decides he has to get that locket back. He gets the ham-hams' help and they head for the mall. They run into Jingle and ask for his help. He says that he "doesn't really dig malls" and calls Hamtaro "Ham And Eggs." Nevertheless, he helps them out, even leading them into a way to get into the mall. He even turns the lights on for them, although they don't know it. Inside the mall, the ham-hams find a number of things they think are very dangerous. They get scared by a bunch of mannequins, which they think are real people. They also end up going the wrong way on an escalator, courtesy of Jingle, who's fooling around on the switches. They consider going home several times, but Hamtaro just has to find the locket. They end up in a toy store, where they perform a portion of the Hamtaro ending theme for a robotic greeter, who they think is one of many "mall wizards." In the end, however, it's Jingle who finds the locket. He doesn't realize it, however, so it's up to the ham-hams to get it from him. Back at Laura's, Laura hasn't been able to sleep. Laura's Dad hasn't eitehr, so he tells Laura the story of how he and her Mom first met. They were riding together on a bus and there was this old lady who needed a seat. They both called out at the same time that they would give her a seat. Then, they started arguing, until the bus driver told them that it didn't really matter, since at least one of them wanted this stop. It turned out they both wanted the same stop. Once they got off, Laura's Dad complimented the book that Laura's Mom was reading: "Searching for Happiness..." The two went to chat about it at a coffee shop and then married six months later. Laura's Dad says the only greater moment in is life was when she was born. We get to see Baby Laura: cute! When Laura wakes up the next morning, she finds the locket. She immediately wakes up Dad, who's there in the room, sleeping. She thinks that he found it, but he says he has no idea what happened. Meanwhile, Jingle heads on his way. He tells the ham-hams that he wanted to "bond," but he just can't. He's a traveler and has to keep traveling. Laura and her Dad present Mom with the locket and they receive something too: shirts that she knitted for them! The shirts are the reason why she's been up so late.moreless - Ep 48Ham-Ham Clubhouse in Danger!8/22/02
Laura's class is doing a project in which they're learning about their town's drainage system. They've been discussing it for a while and Mr. Yoshi is also having the class do models. Laura discusses the project with her Mom, who finds it very interesting. Laura's Mom wants to help Laura with the project, but then Laura's Mom learns the catch, Laura has saved the project for the last minute and it's due - tomorrow! Meanwhile, it looks like rain outside. Hamtaro sees this and decides he'd best make a quick dash for the clubhouse before it starts to pour. He heads out and meets up with Oxnard, who says that the air feels heavy and it's making his ears twitch. Oxnard has a little project idea of his own. He wants to make an umbrella out of sunflower shells. Hamtaro wants to know how many and Oxnard tells him that'll it just be one... or two... or three... actually, he doesn't know how many. A lot. They arrive at the clubhouse, where they find things in a frenzy. Hamtaro wonders what exactly is going on and the ham-hams inform him that they're redecorating for the rainy season. Everything is getting moved around, cleaned up and generally getting a new look. As the ham-hams are doing their project, there's something odd going on outside. There's a mole, wearing sunglasses, digging a tunnel. Unfortunately, the tunnel connects right into the clubhouse tunnels. It's a direct access - to the rain - which is starting to pour buckets. It quickly begins to flood the tunnels and build up against the clubhouse door. Inside the clubhouse, Snoozer is having a dream of mermaids and other things under the sea. Then, Bijou tries to exit the clubhouse, only to find that the door is completely stuck. She tries giving it a good kick, but all of her efforts to open it fail. The ham-hams figure they're locked in. At Laura's school, Mr. Yoshi is giving a lesson about the town's drainage system and how everyones' homes would flood without it. He reminds them of their projects, saying that he figures they're ahead of schedules, since they know his feelings about late assignments. Laura winces at this. Back at the clubhouse, the ham-hams are becoming aware of what's really happening, particularly so when water starts to seep underneath the clubhouse door. Panda tries to board up the door, with Penelope cheering on, but there isn't enough wood in the clubhouse. It's not enough to hold it back. The ham-hams all begin to panic, worried about what's going to happen to them and to their possessions inside the clubhouse. Hamtaro says that they all just have to think, while Oxnard notes that hamsters can't swim. The ham-hams head for high ground and also take advice from Snoozer, deciding to try to dig their way out of the clubhouse. They begin their quest, only to find that their path is blocked by a giant tree root, which Boss doesn't remember being around before. Oxnard begins talking about food, leading Maxwell to suggest that he may be hallucinating. He notes that it's not unusual to hallucinate in times of stres. Then, Penelope starts shouting out, leading Hamtaro to think that she might have a plan. Howdy snippily warns agains the practicality of following the plan of someone who can only say one word, which only causes Hamtaro to become angry with him. Oxnard plays peacemaker and the ham-hams realize what she's getting it. She's small enough to fit through the hole between the root and the tunnel and head off to get help. The ham-hams send her on her way, with Boss worried for her safety. It also isn't particularly encouraging that at first, Penelope heads the wrong way. Still, Penelope reaches Laura's house and enlists the help of Brandy. Laura is just arriving home and can't believe that she has to walk Brandy. She has a project to do and she's running out of time. Still, she takes him out for his walk. Once outside, Laura loses control and Brandy takes off. Penelope leads him on, directing him to the spot where he needs to dig. In the clubhouse, the ham-hams are feeling sorry for themselves, when finally they decide to band together and try to do something. After all, there's no guarantee that Penelope will come back and it's better than just sitting around. They start working on an alternate path and soon hear a noise. They realize that it's Brandy digging and start making their own noise so he knows he's digging in the right spot. They get out and are saved. Brandy then runs off to find Laura and starts heading towards home. As he does, the clouds begin to clear and the sun comes out. It looks like the ham-hams will be able to put things back as they once were. The ham-hams put the clubhouse back together, even better than before with their remodeling. Maxwell can't believe it, but Snoozer slept through the whole thing. That evening, Laura reflects on the day, noting that she was able to get her project done. She says that Kana told her that she saw something odd, a mole wearing sunglasses. Imagine! She thinks that despite some of the things that happened, it was pretty fun day.moreless - Ep 47Romancing the Roosters (a.k.a. The Romantic Set-Up)8/21/02
As Laura's class is out for a jog, led by Mr. Yoshi, the ham-hams are hanging out in one of the trees up above. Their relaxing, enjoying themselves, when, down on the ground, Mr. Yoshi runs smack dab up against the chicken cage. He's still very scared of chickens, which gets him some teasing from Travis. Travis jokes that the chickens are escaping, causing Mr. Yoshi to become very scared. Travis urges him to calm down, saying that the chickens are still in their plan. Mr. Yoshi realizes that Travis was just teasing and says it's not nice of him. He comments that if only "she" were here, she'd know what to do. He's thinking of the girl who helped a while back when the chickens escaped. He can't stop thinking of her, but she didn't even give her name. Laura and Kana later on notice him thinking of her. Laura suggests that perhaps someday their paths will cross again. The girl ham-hams seem to be attracted to this story. They think it's the perfect love story, but Boss and Howdy aren't so sure. Nevertheless, Bijou thinks that they have to seek out this girl who rescued Mr. Yoshi. They remember her, that she wore a big red hat and a yellow vest. Just then, Elder Ham shows up, saying that he knows who they're talking about. So the ham-hams all follow them as he leads them to... a statue, with a red scarf. Howdy's not impressed, but Elder Ham tells them to wait. Sure enough, the girl soon shows up. The ham-hams learn from one of the street vendors she makes a purchase from that her name is Charlotte. Bijou thinks that it's a lovely name. Then, Charlotte walks off, when a limo pulls up to her. The driver of the limo says that he thought he'd give her a ride in case she wanted one. Charlotte says that she would prefer to walk, but the man informs her that her father wants to see her. Charlotte resignedly gets into the limo. The ham-hams wonder who the guy is, noting that he's "smooth with the ladies." They follow the limo, while Elder Ham decides to take a nap. The limo pulls through a gate which has a sign that reads "The Roosters" above it. The limo is greeted by many people who appear to be servants. When Charlotte finally gets out, she comments that she sometimes feels like she's suffocating. She heads into a barn, where she begins feeding some animals. The ham-hams, determined to learn more about the girl, decide to try talking to the animals. Howdy, however, insists that they're just barn animals and won't be of any help to them. Still, the ham-hams try talking to a group of chicky chickies. They think they're very cute at first, until they turn around and show their faces. They look fierce and one of them is even sporting a blue patch over one eye. The ham-hams bolt for it and the chickies give pursuit, until Charlotte comes in and gives them something to eat. Then, Charlotte's father shows up. He's a large, mean-sounding fellow called "Chairman Rooster." He berates Charlotte for wasting her time feeding the animals. Charlotte informs him that she's not wasting her time, she's planning to become a veterinarian. Chairman Rooster doesn't want to hear any of it, blabbering on and on about "sound investments" and "family honor" and such. He says that she's the "rooster heiress" and will marry wisely and carry on the family business. Charlotte shoots back that she'll marry someone who she loves. Chairman Rooster ignores this and tells her that he's going to set up a tea with her and one Chad Kensington Baldwin III, who will soon be the owner of a frozen food distributor. He asks his servant that an invitation for tea be sent out, with the meeting to be scheduled for tomorrow. The servant starts to do it, but Charlotte says that she'll take care of it himself. The ham-hams, not believing the gall of Charlotte's father and not believing that this could possibly be the way things are supposed to go romantically, decide that they'll intercept the invitation and get it to Mr. Yoshi. So, they find Mr. Yoshi, who is sitting on a bench reading a letter written to him by his Mom. It turns out that she's actually trying to set him up with some girl, but he's not interested. Laura and Kana show up and cause Mr. Yoshi to be distracted. He drops the letter from his Mom and the ham-hams slip in Charlotte's note. The trick has been accomplished and Mr. Yoshi is none the wiser. The next day, Laura and Kana are heading by Mr. Yoshi's house. They're wondering if he went to meet the girl his mother set him up with, when Mr. Yoshi comes flying out of the house, yelling about his stupid alarm clock. It turns out he's running late. Worse, he's not dressed appropriately, which the girls inform him of. At Charlotte's the ham-hams are beginning to wonder what happened to Mr. Yoshi, whereas Charlotte and Chairman Rooster are wondering what the deal with Chad Baldwin is. Finally, Mr. Yoshi shows up. Not realizing that a switch has been made, Mr. Yoshi begins to state his rejection, thinking that Charlotte is the girl his Mom set him up with. Chairman Rooster is not at all impressed with him and berates him for being late. Finally, both he and Charlotte come to the realization of what has happened. The ham-hams realize that their game is up and decide that they're going to rescue Mr. Yoshi. Then, the chicky chickies attack and the ham-hams can't do anything. Chairman Rooster kicks Mr. Yoshi out of the house, quite literally. Once outside, the chicky chickies go after Mr. Yoshi. The ham-hams manage to distract them and end up chasing them into a pond. Mr. Yoshi and Charlotte are now chatting it up, Mr. Yoshi with a bandage now on his nose, when they see what has happened. Charlotte wants somebody to save the chicky chickies. So Mr. Yoshi braves his fear. He heads into the water and grabs the chicky chickies. He's feeling quite proud until he realizes that he can't swim. He begins thrashing wildly, before finally realizing that the water isn't deep at all and that one can stand in it quite easily. He laughs nervously. Then, Chairman Rooster shows up and kicks him off the premises entirely, asking if he's trying to set a record for their most annoying intruder. That evening, Mr. Yoshi is out sitting on a bench. Laura and Kana are looking on, when the servant who drives the limo shows up. He gives Mr. Yoshi a note, which he figures must be a restraining order. Instead, it's actually a thank-you note. Charlotte appreciates him saving the chicky chickies and wants them to get together again. The ham-hams decide that it's a happy ending.moreless - Ep 46The Sports Festival!8/20/02
There's a sports festival in town. Laura and her Dad are out training for the Parent-Child triathlon. As they jog along, Laura's Dad decides to stop at a bench for a little rest. Hamtaro has been watching them as they practice. Just then, Kana and her Dad come by. Kana's Dad can't help but subject Laura's to some ribbing. He talks about how hard he and Kana have been training and how he's already set up a place and a party for their gold medals and stuff. The two fathers get into one of their arguing matches again, leading Kana to make a comment. Hamtaro, not really understanding the idea of this sports festival, decides to head to the clubhouse to ask about it. Nobody's really sure at first, but then Maxwell talks about how he saw a sign for it. Events include such things as a scavenger hunt and an apple bob. The ham-hams all want to know what an apple bob is. Howdy speaks up, saying that he can tell them about it. When they ask, however, he just makes one of his bad jokes, saying that he once had a pet apple, which he named "Bob." Nobody is amused and Dexter gripes that by now, they should be able to see them coming. In any case, Oxnard knows about the sports festival. He talks about how hard Kana and her Dad have been training. Then, he and Hamtaro end up getting into a bit of an argument. Hamtaro is all in favor of Laura winning, but Oxnard is adamant, more adamant than he usually is about anything, that Kana and her Dad are going to win. He knows that Kana's Dad would be really upset if he didn't. The ham-hams decide that they'll have to see if they can find a way to help out in this sports festival. They also plan on having their own sports festival. Boss is interested in racing Stan, who thinks that Boss used to be the fastest ham-ham in the clubhouse, until he came along, that is. The day of the big sports festival finally comes. At first, Laura and Kana can't even find their fathers, who turn out to be having one of their competitions off somewhere by themselves. Finally, the big triathlon begins. The ham-hams tunnel around and end up attempting to help Kana and her Dad in a competition that involves rolling a large, red ball. They can't get any motion at first, but eventually they get it moving and Kana and her father can't figure out how the ball just took off on its own. The competition continues, with both Laura and her father and Kana and her's doing well. Then, they come to the scavenger hunt. Laura and her father get something easy to find and have a good chance of winning. Kana and her father, however, got a bad draw. They have to find a dog and carry it all the way to the finish line. The ham-hams, seeing that they're in trouble, decide to help out. They manage to find someone that has a dog. However, the dog is sleeping and they're not sure what they can do. Then, they decide they'll just get it to work. Their plan is successful and Kana and her father spot the dog. It's the solution to their problem, but the dog is heavy and worse, it doesn't want to cooperate. Laura and her Dad spot them and decide to help out. They know how to handle dogs, having one of their own. Together, they get the dog across the finish line. They're all dead last, but it doesn't really matter to them. The crowd likes them and Laura and Kana are both proud. They'll all join together for the championship cookoff. Later, the ham-hams have their own sports festival and all have a good time, but Hamtaro is very tired that evening when Laura does her journal.moreless - Ep 45Ham-Ham Gang At The Aquarium8/19/02
Laura and Kana visit the Aquarium with their fathers, and the Ham-Hams follow along. Inside the Aquarium, strange sea creatures overwhelm the hamsters, but Hamtaro recognizes it as the place from the fairy tale that Laura read the night before. - Ep 44I Love My Grandpa!7/23/02
Hamtaro is out and about and notices these flying fish windsocks that have been going up around town. He heads to the clubhouse, where he finds that fish are all the rage there too. The clubhouse is decorated with lots of pictures of fish and the ham-hams are all busy trying to design their own flying fish windsocks. The ham-hams encourage Hamtaro to join in, but he notes that he doesn't exactly get a lot of wind in Laura's room. Hamtaro heads home, where Laura and her family are eagerly awaiting the arrival of Laura's Grandma (from previous episodes) and Grandpa (who we have never seen before.) Laura tells Hamtaro that he's going to love Grandpa, who's an inventor. Grandpa is known for some rather crazy inventions. Laura's Mom and Dad think back to Laura's last birthday, where Laura's Grandfather brought a mechanized cake-cutting device. It seemed to be working nicely at first, but then it went haywire, slicing Laura's cake to ruins. Laura was very upset, but Grandpa did try to make up, by going out and buying a new cake. Laura comments that Grandpa's always bringing a new invention is kind of exciting, but in a scary kind of way. Finally, Laura's Grandpa arrives. His goofy side comes out right away, he uses a mechanized bird to ring the doorbell. Nobody is really impressed by this and we see sweatdrops to express this. Worse, Laura's Grandpa has a gag carrying bag, which gives Laura's Dad quite a scare when he opens it and out pops a scary face. Grandpa explains that it's for security, in case anyone were to try to steal it. Laura introduces Grandpa to Hamtaro. Grandpa recognizes him from Laura's descriptions, but calls him "Hambobo." Hamtaro thinks that Grandpa resembles Elder Ham. Later that evening, Laura's Grandfather goes out and is unexpectedly gone for hours. He manages to arrive home just in time for Laura to say good night for him. Before she can really say anything to him, however, he slips away into the house's guest room, saying he'll use it as a temporary workshop. Laura seems disappointed, but goes to bed. The next morning, Laura's Grandpa wakes her up bright and early. He wants her and "Hamblasto" to come downstairs and see something. Laura obligingly brings down Hamtaro and finds that Grandpa has some sort of contraption in the middle of the living room. Laura's Grandpa explains, it's a mechanized hamster-treadmill. Laura is very worried about this, fearing that Hamtaro could get hurt. Grandpa, however, assures her that it's safe. Laura goes ahead and places Hamtaro into it. Grandpa starts up the machine. At first, everything goes well, just like with the cake-cutter. Hamtaro seems to really enjoy running in this mechanized whiz-wheel. Then, the machine inexplicably goes haywire, just like the cake-cutter. It speeds up to an unsafe speed and Hamtaro soon goes flying out of it. Laura races over to pick up the stunned Hamtaro, pleading for him to speak to her. Hamtaro seems mostly to be just stunned, but otherwise okay except for a bump. Nevertheless, Laura is extremely upset. She yells at Grandpa, noting that she told him the contraption wasn't dangerous. She stomps off to her room, very angry. There, she bandages Hamtaro. Laura's Mom comes up, encouraging her to forgive her Grandpa. Laura wants nothing to do with it, saying that she just wants Grandpa to go home. Her mother continues to plead with her, but she heads for the door, saying that she needs some air. As Laura heads off on her walk, Grandpa comes into Laura's room. Hamtaro's in the process of trying to escape and as Grandpa comes in, he quickly hurries back to his cage. Grandpa apologizes to Hamtaro and even calls him by his correct name. Hamtaro accepts the apology. With Grandpa out of the way now, Hamtaro heads to the clubhouse. There, Howdy pokes fun at his injury. Howdy couldn't resist the joke, but everyone finds it in bad taste. In any case, Hamtaro wants to do something to patch things up between Grandpa and Laura. Boss doesn't think this is such a great idea at first and in fact seems to be sitting aside from the rest of the ham-hams. Yet, when Bijou expresses favor for it, he's all for it. Back at Laura's house, Grandpa decides to leave as well. Laura's Mom wants him to say, saying that Laura should be home soon. Grandpa, however, uses Laura's same line that he needs some air. As Grandpa is heading out, Laura is with Kana and heading in the direction of her home. Kana is trying to get Laura to patch things up with Grandpa, saying that her own Grandpa isn't ever able to visit her due to his health. She manages to get a weak affirmation from Laura, but as soon as Laura tries to go inside her home, she decides that she just can't. As she's doing this, the ham-hams are cooking up their own plan. They've split into teams to track Laura and Grandpa and get them together. They already know where Grandpa is, so they have Oxnard tail after him. The other ham-hams search for Laura and Boss finally finds him. In the process, Hamtaro is spotted by Grandpa and Boss is spotted by Laura. But neither get a good enough look for them to confirm their suspicion - that they just saw a hamster. Meanwhile, the ham-hams are in a panic, as they think Laura's Grandpa is heading for the train station. As it turns out, Laura's Grandpa has gone to visit Cappy's owner, Kip and Sue. It's there, yesterday, that he got the parts for the mechanized treadmill and spent hours working, doing such thing as using's Cappy's own whiz wheel as a model. Laura shows up and is invited in. Kip and Sue have nothing but praise for Laura's Grandfather and Laura can't help but forgive him. The two make up and start making plans. Perhaps next time Laura comes to visit Grandma and Grandpa, she and Grandpa can work on a project together. Grandpa promises that Laura will be safety inspector. That evening, Laura reflects on the day, saying that it started bad, but that things ended up okay.moreless - Ep 43The Great Chicken Chase7/22/02
Laura is heading to school. Only, she's not going to class, instead, it's a Saturday and her school is holding a pet day. She and Travis are also supposed to be helping Mr. Yoshi with the feeding of the school chickens. Hamtaro is coming along with her. He's been to the school before, but this is the first time he's actually coming along officially, in his carrier. When he gets there, everyone makes something of a fuss about him and how cute he is. Hamtaro loves the attention, but Oxnard is also there and he doesn't like the attention at all. He says he can't eat when everyone is staring at him. Then, someone's frog jumps and lands on Kana's foot. It scares Kana, but Mr. Yoshi is there and he scoops it up. He admires the frog's big croaking voice and gives this big speech about all the different animals being special. His speech seems to work well with Laura, who agrees that every animal deserves special treatment. Meanwhile, the ham-ham gang has shown up. Boss, Penelope and Howdy get themselves in a bit of a quandary, ending up in a pail of chicken feed. Hamtaro and Oxnard escape from their holders to rescue them. They manage to save them, but Oxnard ends up following some corn and ends up in a pen. There, he's trapped in with the chickens. Hamtaro goes in after him and they both end up hiding under a metal pan. Meanwhile, Mr. Yoshi is outside trying to get Laura and/or Travis to feed the chickens for him. He breaks down and admits to Laura that the chickens scare him. So when it's his turn to feed them, he has to get someone else to do it. In the pen, Oxnard and Hamtaro make a daring escape. However, when Oxnard notices some more corn, he goes after it instead of leaving the pen. The chickens then come after him and he ends up going stiff, leaving the ham-hams to drag him away. The chickens then start chasing after the ham-hams. Mr. Yoshi attempts to stop them, but when he sees their big, beady eyes, he panics. The chickens take the ham-hams on a tear through the town. As Mr. Yoshi and his class chase after him, Mr. Yoshi bumps into a young woman and ends up knocking down her in her groceries. He stops to put her groceries back in her bag and then hurries on, accidentally grabbing her hat and placing it on his head in the process. Meanwhile, the ham-hams figure out that the chickens are after Oxnard's corn. They try to pry it away from him, but he's clutched onto it tightly and is out cold, so there's no way to get it away from him. Some of the ham-hams are chased to a park area, where they play a tense game of hide-and-seek with the chickens. Eventually, the rest of the ham-hams show up using an alligator costume as a distraction. Mr. Yoshi and his class eventually show up. Mr. Yoshi tries to get control of the chickens, but they charge and he gets scared again. Then, the girl from earlier shows up. She reclaims her hat and says that she can handle the chickens. She uses a red bandana to hypnotize them and puts them all into a trance. She says that she's been studying techniques like that. Mr. Yoshi is very impressed with her. Then, she leaves, without even giving her name. We see her getting into a limousine and then driving off. Mr. Yoshi thinks that maybe next time he'll be able to feed the chickens, now that he's learned some new techniques, although he's still afraid. That evening, Laura reflects on the day's events and how they never even found out the girls' name. She tells Hamtaro he's lucky that he's never met a chicken. Hamtaro just giggles.moreless - Ep 42Welcome Pepper7/19/02
Kana's country cousin, Dylan is coming for a visit and he's bringing his hamster, Penelope, with him. Oxnard is still madly in love with Pepper and can't wait for her to come. Meanwhile, all of the ham-hams are planning a surprise party to welcome Pepper. Kana and Laura have some fun of their own planned: they're going to give Dylan a tour of the city. While Kana and Laura take Dylan on his tour, Pepper, Oxnard and Hamtaro head for the ham-ham clubhouse. Oxnard and Hamtaro explain to Pepper that there's all sorts of hamsters in the city and they can't wait for her to meet them. As they head to the clubhouse, Kana and Laura are taking Dylan for a walk through the park. He quips that they must be breaking him in by letting him breathe some fresh air before taking him downtown. Hamtaro, Oxnard and Pepper reach the clubhouse, where Boss and Snoozer are the only ones there. Pepper wants to know where everyone is and Snoozer mumbles something about a secret party. Fortunately, Pepper doesn't hear him. Boss covers, by saying that Snoozer sometimes says funny things in his sleep. It was probably just gibberish. The ham-hams take Pepper on a tour of the city, but they have trouble keeping up with her. It's almost as if she seems to know the city better than they do. She catches wind of a scent and follows it to a mall, where there's a petting zoo. Oxnard, Boss and Hamtaro chase after her and end up riding on a mule, which gets loose. The Dylan/Kana/Laura plot connects at this point as they come to the mall and see the animals from the petting zoo on the loose. Fortunately, Dylan's country ways prove useful, as he manages to "rustle up" the wild animals and get them back to where they belong. Fortunately for the ham-hams, they're not spotted. Pepper wants to keep going and have some more fun, but Boss, Oxnard and Hamtaro insist that they follow her. They take her to the other ham-hams, who have been planning a giant surprise party the whole time. They all introduce themselves and make her an honorary member of the ham-ham gang. Then, they all watch a brilliant sunset together. Dylan, Laura and Kana watch it too. That evening, as Laura reflects on the day's events, she comments about how lucky she is. Hamtaro figures he must be the lucky one, seeing as how he always manages to get home before Laura can find him missing.moreless - Ep 41The Scary Museum!7/18/02
Laura visits the local museum to gain some information for an independent study assignment. As she talks with her family about it, they talk about something at the museum that they think looks like a giant sunflower seed. Laura's Mom is thinking about going and she's going to try to get Laura's Dad to come as well, as she's been trying to get him to come to the museum for a while. Hamtaro, listening in, focuses on "giant sunflower seed." He takes the news to the ham-ham gang, who wonder about the origin of this giant sunflower seed. They think maybe that aliens brought it to the planet Earth. One thing they do know: they have to get the museum to check this out. There's just one problem: they don't know where the museum is. Maxwell, however, does. He says that it's like his home away from home. So they make preparations to go to the museum. Hamtaro recommends packing big lunches. He overheard Laura saying that she was going to pack a lunch for Travis, since he always forgets his. This sparks a competition between Dexter and Howdy, who both ask Pashmina if they can pack her lunch for her. Boss, however, plays it cool and is rewarded when Bijou asks him to pack her lunch. The ham-hams head for the museum, where they are at first scared by what seems to be a monster. Maxwell, however, explains that it's actually a dinosaur. He tries to explain some of the history of dinosaurs, but the ham-hams seem more interested in playing around. Eventually, they get the "giant sunflower seed." The ham-hams admire it, not knowing that it isn't really a giant sunflower seed. Laura and her group are there too and they decide to break for lunch. So the ham-hams do as well. At lunch, Boss meets up with Bijou. He's been carrying around something in a knapsack all day and it's time to find out what it is. He brought her a whole bunch of treats. Bijou digs in, but soon finds that they taste awful. To be polite, however, she compliments them. Then, the other ham-hams notice the treats and come for some of the action. Boss tells them that they're only for Bijou, but Bijou eagerly says that they can share. The ham-hams try them and, like Bijou, find that they're awful. Boss doesn't understand, until he tries one himself. They're revolting! All of the ham-hams hate them, except for Maxwell, who seems to think that they have a nice texture. The ham-hams wonder if maybe he isn't associated with the alien hamsters who apparently brought the giant sunflower seed to Earth. Boss, embarrassed over his fiasco, runs up to a high place to sulk. Hamtaro follows him, while the other hamsters return to the museum. As they head inside, Hamtaro tries to talk Boss down. He ends up falling down, but he's okay. Inside the museum, the hamsters look at a display involving electricity. They then find a display with a clock and gear. When Penelope seems a little too interested in one of the displays, Bijou tries to stop her. As Penelope continues to shout "Ookwee!," Bijou doesn't realize that Pashmina is trying to help her - she's become trapped on one of the hooks pulling the gears. The ham-hams see that Bijou's in danger, but they're not sure what to do. Hamtaro and Boss arrive back in the museum and they have boss save her. Bijou's thankful to be saved and Oxnard calls Boss his hero. As the ham-hams continue along, they go by Laura's group and Laura see Hamtaro's reflection. However, she dismisses it as a hallucination. Finally, Laura's group and the ham-hams all visit the museum planetarium. They learn about Pisces and Bijou says that Boss is like Pisces to her. That night, as Laura reflects on the day's events, she says that she sometimes wishes she could take Hamtaro with her everywhere she goes. She's beginning to see him everywhere.moreless - Ep 40The Blossoms Of Friendship!6/28/02
Hamtaro, hearing Laura and Kana talking about going on a picnic, thinks that it would be a great idea for the ham-hams as well. He takes the idea to the ham-ham gang. Everyone thinks it's great, except for Penelope and Bijou, who don't know what a picnic is and wonder what involves. However, after it's explained to them, they're quite eager to go. But when the day of the big picnic comes, Hamtaro's disappointed when he arrives at the clubhouse and finds that Bijou isn't there. Apparently Bijou's owner, Maria, isn't feeling well and so Bijou is staying at home to watch over her. If there's one hamster that's more disappointed about this than Hamtaro, it's Boss. He tells everyone else to go have their picnic. He's going to stay there, at the clubhouse. Meanwhile, Laura and Kanas' fathers have arrived at the picnic area. They want to find a nice spot, with a tree with beautiful cherry blossoms. However, they end up getting into an argument about their athletic ability and end up having a competition to prove who's the strongest, making a spectacle of themselves in public. When Laura, Kana and their mothers arrive, they're disappointed to find that the two fathers spent so much time on their quarrel, that they didn't pick out a spot to picnic. Now, all of the best places are gone. The ham-hams set up their picnic and have a generally good time, although some are bothered by the absence of Bijou and Boss. Howdy tries to lighten the mood by cracking jokes, but they fall flat. Meanwhile, Kana and Lauras' fathers have found a picnic spot, but the tree is bare. It hasn't even bloomed yet. They've apparently ended up with the worst spot in the park. Still, Laura and Kana try to make the best of it. They have the fathers try their hand at cooking, although, as per earlier, they try to turn it into a competition. Things start to relax after Laura and Kana tell them that they should just have fun. Things get even better after they decide to have a sing-along and sing the Hamtaro theme song. The hamsters join in as well, Hamtaro saying that he loves the song. Back at the clubhouse, Boss receives a piece of at advice from Snoozer. At first, he ignores it, but then he decides that it has merit. Over at the park, the ham-hams come to the same conclusion: that if Bijou can't come to see the cherry blossoms, then they'll bring the cherry blossoms to her. They go and meet up with Boss, who is surprised they came up with the same idea. He asks if he can still take credit for it. So they all carry blossoms to Bijou's and spread out on a tree in her yard. Bijou admires the blossoms from her window. Maria, who is starting to feel better, comments that she must be seeing things and decides to go back to bed. Hamtaro returns home and gets a little worried when he realizes that Laura is already back. From inside, he can hear Laura and Kanas' fathers arguing. Looks like the experience at the park didn't do much to change things after all. Still, Laura thinks that it was a great day.moreless - Ep 39The Snoozer Mystery6/28/02
While cleaning out the clubhouse, the Ham-Hams hear that a hamster named Omar has escaped from his owner. Maxwell has a picture of the hamster, and the Ham-Hams realize that he looks like Snoozer. However, Snoozer ends up abducted by a bird, while still staying asleep. The Ham-Hams notice Snoozer is missing, and think he ran away because he's really Omar. The Ham-Hams find Snoozer and try to rescue him, but lose him again. Meanwhile, Kana, Laura, and Oxnard are alone at Kana's house, and they hear a noise. Laura and Kana check out the attic to look for ghosts, while Oxnard is left alone downstairs. Oxnard hears someone, and thinks its a ghost. It turns out to be Omar that Oxnard hears. The Ham-Hams find Omar, and realize that he ran away because he wanted to see the world. The Ham-Hams find Snoozer, return home, and end another adventure-filled day.moreless - Ep 38The Flying Ham-Hams!6/27/02
Panda finds a picture of a flying ham-ham in a secret place in his attic. It's apparently a friend of one of Panda's great-great-great... grandfathers. It inspires him with the idea that maybe ham-hams can fly. In the Laura subplot, her class is participating in the annual school gardening contest. Laura is initially disappointed when she's picked to be the person to design her class's garden. She feels the job should have gone to someone who actually wanted it. Panda works with the ham-ham girls and Hamtaro to put the flying plan into action. The male ham-hams, however, are very skeptical. They don't think hamsters will ever fly and so while Hamtaro makes his attempts, they just laugh and have snacks. After some initial failures, Hamtaro comes up with a revised plan. He decides to try using feathers and also manages to talk the male ham-hams into giving flying a try. He does so by explaining the possible benefits: quick escape from an attacking animal, or fast transportation, which appeals to Stan: as he can see lots of female hamsters in one day. Hamtaro also draws a picture of the flying ham-ham in the dirt. As Laura walks by, she's inspired by the picture. She now knows what she's going to do for the garden design. Continuing in the ham-ham plotline, Panda finds a scroll which shows that the flying hamster used balloons to fly. Meanwhile, Laura proposes her design idea to her class. The class is skeptical at first, but her teacher loves it. He thinks it's unique and is sure to win first prize. The ham-hams, working to put their flying plan in action, decide to head into town to find balloons. It just so happens that there's a store that's giving out free balloons. The ham-hams, however, must first face a toy monkey, who they believe to be real. When the toy monkey goes wild, the balloons fly off and the ham-hams chase after them. Hamtaro chases them up a tree and realizes that this is the ticket to flying. He invites everyone to hop on board and, after some initial suspicion, everyone does and enjoys the view from above. They fly over Laura's school, where they get a birds-eye view of the garden design. Laura's flying hamster design won first-prize. Jingle, playing his guitar below, comes up with a rhyme about the flying hamsters. That evening, Laura's writing in her diary. She comments that her design won first-prize and she wishes Hamtaro could have seen. Hamtaro says to himself that he did see it, in fact, he got the best view of all.moreless - Ep 37Panda's Ham-Ham Fun Park!6/27/02
When Laura and her family go to the amusement park, Hamtaro shares the news with the Ham-Hams. Panda decides to build a Ham-Ham fun park, but Boss, Howdy, and Stan have their doubts about it. The rest of the Ham-Hams help Panda build his Ham-Ham fun park. Eventually, Boss, Howdy, and Stan realize that the fun park is actually working, and they come to help. Meanwhile, on the way to the amusement park, Laura's family's car breaks down, and Kana and her parents stop to help. While their parents work on the car, Laura and Kana find a small kiddie park and decide its much more fun than the big amusement park.moreless - Ep 36The Precious Letter!6/26/02
Mr. Haruna plans a business trip to their old town, and Laura hopes to reunite with her old friend, Melanie. Laura attempts to send Melanie a letter because she could not reach her by phone. The answering machine doesn't seem to be on and nobody picks up. As days go by, with no response to the letter and no still no success at reaching Melanie by phone, Laura begins to give up hope. She thinks that maybe after being apart for so long, Melanie doesn't remember her anymore. She remembers back when she left her old town, that Melanie promised to write her every day, or at least maybe other day. That sure didn't work out. Upset over Laura's being upset, Hamtaro decides it's time to take action. He decides that someone needs to get to the town that Melanie is in and get her that letter. It could have been lost in the mail. Just one question: who to do it? It's decided that Boss and Jingle will do it. As field hamsters, they're open. So Jingle takes Boss on a trip around the world, much to the disamusement of Boss, who just wants to get that letter to Melanie. During the journey, Jingle tries to impart wisdom to boss in the form of his 92 Rules of Self-Improvement to Make You a Better Ham. These Rules become a running gag throughout the episode, but only a few are actually heard. Despite Jingle's ridiculous journeying, they eventually arrive at the town to find that Melanie and her family are just returning from a vacation. The reason that Laura couldn't reach Melanie was because her Dad forgot to turn on the answering machine before they left. Melanie writes an excited response to Laura and asks her Dad to send it off. But when her Dad is on the way to work, some kids bump into him and he ends up losing the letter, unnoticed and thinks that he put it in the mailbox with his other mail. Boss grabs the letter and heads back home with Jingle. At the clubhouse, Hamtaro is discussing the bad situation regarding Laura and asking about when Boss will be back. Just as he's about to leave, Boss arrives. He gives Hamtaro Melanie's letter and charges him with the task of delivering it to Laura. Hamtaro heads to home, only to find that Laura is talking with her friend Kana. She's so upset about not getting a response from Melanie, that she's thinking of canceling her trip entirely. Hamtaro thinks this calls for drastic action. As Kana attempts to console Laura, Hamtaro tries to get the letter in the mailbox. But he can't reach it. So he finally finds a last-ditch method: he climbs up to the open window and drops the letter on the couch beside Laura. Laura soon turns around and sees the letter. She wonders how in the world it got there. Based on the letter, Laura realizes that her fears aren't true and decides to go through with her visit. She has a great time and brings Hamtaro along, at Melanie's request. Contemplating on the events at the end of the week, Laura says that she wonders how the letter got to her, given that it had no postmark. Hamtaro tells her to think outside the box, or rather, "outside the mailbox."moreless - Ep 35The Slipper Chase6/26/02
Laura has landed the starring role in the class presentation of "Cinderella" and is very excited. Her parents are happy for her too, in fact, they're ecstatic. Her Dad says that they should get her an agent. Laura goes upstairs and happily tells Hamtaro about her role. Hamtaro, however, has no idea what "Cinderella" is. Laura reads to him from "Cinderella," but he still doesn't get it. Laura gets to work practicing and Hamtaro voices over that for the next two weeks, Laura spent a lot of time talking to herself. Hamtaro sees that the "Cinderella" play is very important to Laura, so he decides to ask the ham-hams if they have any idea what a "Cinderella" is. He tells them all about it and Boss doesn't seem to know. Neither do Maxwell or Dexter. Howdy acts like he does, but it turns out to just be one of his jokes. Hamtaro talks about how he heard Laura mention a pumpkin and they get to thinking that maybe pie is also involved. Then the ham-hams come across Jingle and think that maybe he might know. But instead, he just rambles on about apples and pumpkins seeds and pumpkin coaches. At times, it seems like he's talking about "Snow White" or "Sleeping Beauty," or just about anything other than "Cinderella." In any case, after talking to him, the ham-ham still don't really know anything more about "Cinderella" than before. The time comes of the day of the play. And immediately something goes wrong: Laura gets up late. She looks at her clock and decides that if she rushes, then she should be able to get to school on time. She bolts out the door, making some kind of comment about how it's too bad Hamtaro can't see her. Hamtaro says to himself that she'll do great and shouldn't need her help. Then, he sees that she left one of her glass slippers behind and thinks twice. At she school, Mr. Yoshi is talking about how his life will be over if Laura messes up the play. Speaking of things that are messed up, in the audience, Laura's Dad realizes that he wore a sock for a tie! Laura's Mom is there with him, holding up a sign that says "Go Laura." Back on stage, Laura realizes that she's missing the glass slipper. She cries out "why me?!" Mr. Yoshi can't believe that she left it at home, but decides to take action. They'll just have to make her a new glass slipper. Unfortunately, his plan is as flimsy as what he wants to make the new slipper out of - a flip-flop / sandal. As he's working on that, Hamtaro is in action. He takes the glass slipper to the clubhouse and tells the ham-hams about the problem. They head off for the school, but when they get there, they can't figure out how to get in without being seen. They decide to follow Jingle, who has tagged along in search of the pumpkin coach. They take what Jingle thinks is a shortcut, but instead it leads them straight to the school's pet chickens. They end up in a wild chase to escape from the chickens. In the end, they finally escape, but then Jingle releases the latch to their pen, thinking that it'll lead him to the pumpkin coach. Instead, it sets the chickens on the loose. The chickens chase the ham-hams all throughout the school. The ham-hams finally manage to lose them, but now they themselves are lost. Jingle finds the pumpkin coach, but ends up falling into a box of costume material. He finds Hamtaro and the ham-hams and scares off the chickens. The ham-hams head for the stage. On stage, Mr. Yoshi gives Laura the modified sandal. But it ends up breaking and Mr. Yoshi is worried everything is ruined. Fortunately, the ham-hams manage to get the slipper to Laura in time. The play goes off without a hitch and the ham-hams finally learn what "Cinderella" is. That evening, Jingle sticks around checks out the pumpkin coach. Laura's parents are impressed with her performance. Her Dad says they should get her three agents. That evening, Laura says that she's not sure she wants to make a career out of acting, but it was fun.moreless - Ep 34Oxnard's Big Crush6/25/02
Laura, Kana and their families and hamsters are all together in the car, on the way to the country. Their visiting the Flower Ranch, where Kana's cousin Dylan lives. Hamtaro, in the back of the car, notes that this time he didn't have to sneak along to come on the ride. Oxnard seems extra-excited about going to the ranch. So Hamtaro tries to find out what it is that Oxnard isn't telling him, but Oxnard says that wild horses couldn't drag it out of him. Also, while in the car, Kana's Dad says that he has something special in store for Laura's Dad. When they finally arrive at the ranch, the girls discuss what to do with the hamsters. Kana explains that there's a special fenced in area where they can play. She doesn't think there's any chance they would try to escape. Laura reluctantly agrees. The girls meet up with Dylan and Laura learns about Dylan's hamster, Pepper. Kana explains that she's called "Pepper" because of her feistiness. Apparently, she nipped Dylan's finger once and it was a real struggle to get her off of him. Fortunately, that hasn't happened again. In the fenced-in area, Oxnard is explaining to Hamtaro about Pepper. Hamtaro realizes that Pepper is the big secret Oxnard has been keeping. He sees a cow and thinks that the cow and Pepper. He doesn't understand - the cow and Oxnard are so "udderly" different. Then, Pepper shows up and starts calling for Oxnard. Hamtaro thinks Oxnard must be really popular, until he realizes that it's the hamster that's Pepper and not the cow. Hamtaro ends up tumbling down a hill and Pepper makes a crack about "city slickers." Meanwhile, Oxnard is gushing over Pepper and Hamtaro starts thinking that Oxnard is acting kind of weird. Oxnard finally admits to Hamtaro that he likes Pepper. As in, like, a girlfriend. However, Pepper doesn't know this and Oxnard doesn't know how to tell her. Hamtaro suggests the straight approach, saying that if you have something to say, you have to shout it out loud. Oxnard, however, isn't too comfortable with this idea. Hamtaro tries again, suggesting that Oxnard make up some poetry on the spot. Yet when Oxnard tries this, he just ends up sputtering. While Hamtaro and Oxnard are involved with affairs of the heart, Laura is trying to enjoy the wonders of the ranch. She wants to try horseback riding, but she's kind of afraid, as she's never been on a horse before. When she gets on a horse, it neighs with irritation. Dylan tells Laura that the horse senses her fear. Laura tries to relax and is finally able to enjoy riding. Back with Oxnard and Hamtaro, they're whispering, trying to figure out a new strategy for Oxnard. This irritates Pepper, who thinks that the whispering is them making fun of her. They both deny this, but she's still suspicious because they won't tell her what they're whispering about. Hamtaro then sees a horse and thinks that its a dog. Pepper, surprised that Hamtaro doesn't even know what a horse is, says that she's going to make real hams out of him and Oxnard. While she sets about to that, we get to see Kana's Dad's special activity: bungee jumping off a bridge. It's a relatively tame descent, as far as bungee jumping goes, but Laura's Dad is scared. Pepper gets Hamtaro and Oxnard to climb a donkey and Hamtaro tries to think up some more ways for Oxnard to express his feelings for Pepper. He claims that Pepper rhymes with "Nester" and Oxnard argues that it most definitely doesn't. As Hamtaro argues back that it doesn't have to rhyme exactly, Pepper grows irritated again. She thinks that they dislike the smell of the ranch or something. Hamtaro decides that his efforts aren't working out. He decides to leave Oxnard by himself to come up with some poetry for Pepper. This pains him though, as Pepper is bringing out some ranch-flavored sunflower seeds and he's hungry. Still, he thinks it would be best for Oxnard. Back at the bungee jumping, Kana's Dad has jumped three times, but Laura's Dad still hasn't jumped at all. Kana's Dad begins begins to suspect that he's scared and starts giving him tips on "visualization." Oxnard continues to have trouble expressing his feelings for Pepper and then, things take a turn for the worse. Pepper thinks that he found another girl ham. She demands to know who she is and what her name is. Elsewhere at the ranch, Kana's Mom is picking strawberries and Laura and Kana are milking goats. Laura is having a hard time and makes the goat upset, until Dylan gets her to bond with it. She says that she can't think like a goat, but things go better, when Dylan draws a parallel with her being able to understand what Hamtaro is feeling. Oxnard tells Hamtaro about what happened with Pepper. Hamtaro goes back to the straightforward approach, saying that Oxnard doesn't need fancy words. He should just tell her how he feels, since she seems to really like him too. Then, the two notice Brandy being chased by a bunch of sheep. They nearly get trampled themselves, until Pepper saves them with a well-timed "bah, ram, ewe." Hamtaro once again encourages Oxnard to express his feelings, but he freezes up cold. Then, it comes time to leave. Things may not have gone well for Oxnard, but Laura's Dad finally gets up the courage to bungee jump. In the car on the way home, the window is rolled down and Hamtaro says that it's Oxnard's last chance. Oxnard finally shouts out his passion for Pepper. He wonders if Pepper heard him and Hamtaros says that he thinks she did. That evening, Laura writes in journal about how she can know what Hamtaro is feeling. Hamtaro says if that's so, then he wonders if she knows he wants another sunflower seed.moreless - Ep 33Hamtaro, the Super Sleuth!6/25/02
It's morning and Laura is searching for her favorite pencil case. It has a lot of cool stuff in it, but it's simply disappeared. Her Mom comes up, warning that she's going to be late for school. Laura explains about the pencil case and her Mom suggests that if she would clean her room, she might be able to find her stuff, since it's a mess. Laura says she'll do it that afternoon and heads off to school. Hamtaro gets out of his cage and decides that he'll find Laura's pencil case. He starts sniffing around ends up finding an old treat which he places in his cage. He still hasn't found the pencil case, but decides he has all day to search for it. He heads off for the clubhouse. He finds some of the ham-hams outside the clubhouse. It seems that Bijou has lost her jewelry box. It contains some of her favorite ribbons, among other important things. Howdy makes some comments about calculations he's made of the things she's lost, which get on the nerves of the other ham-hams. Boss just wants them to search and not talk so much. They're called inside the clubhouse by Panda, where they learn that Maxwell's books are gone, as well as Panda's carpentry tools. Hamtaro's really upset now. He wants to know what's going on. He starts trying to do some interviews, but Boss says that "he'll do the interviews around here." Stan comes in and at first is sort of cavalier about the thief. Then, he learns that his favorite maracas are gone and he's all for the search. At Laura's school, Laura finds out that she's not the only one who's had things gone missing. At the clubhouse, suspicion begins to fall on Hamtaro, who is the only who apparently doesn't have anything missing. Hamtaro claims his innocence and Boss gets irritated with the ham-hams, saying that Hamtaro, or any ham-ham for that matter, wouldn't do something like this. The ham-hams think that maybe since Snoozer had to be around when the thief took things that perhaps he heard something. But Snoozer tells them that he couldn't have heard anything because he's always sleeping. Stan suggests that perhaps the criminal will return to the scene of the crime. At school, Laura and Kana learn that Travis has also lost something. The ham-hams continue their search, Hamtaro calling himself a "supersleuth." At the clubhouse, Boss finds most of the missing items hidden under his mattress. He looks on and says that it's going to be hard to explain. Hamtaro starts digging in his yard. He ends up digging something up, but it turns out it's just one of Brandy's toys. He apologizes to Brandy. Then, Oxnard calls him back into the clubhouse. Boss shows them the stuff he found and the ham-hams think that they can close the case. Stan, however, isn't satisfied. He still wants to find the perpetrator of the crimes. In fact, he's suspicious of Boss and his suspicion soon spreads to the other ham-hams. Boss stomps off, saying that he knows when he's being unfairly accused. The ham-hams realize they've made a mistake. Maxwell says there's no way boss stole anything and Hamtaro says that since Boss stuck up for him, he'll have to stick up for Boss. They're back on the case and get a disturbing report from Snoozer, who says that his pillow has been stolen and without it, he can't sleep. Howdy retorts that Snoozer still is sleeping, but Snoozer doesn't answer him because, well, he's sleeping. The ham-hams end up chasing a "monster" throughout the tunnels connecting to the clubhouse, however, they can only see its shadow. They eventually lose track of it and it starts heading in Boss's direction. Hamtaro says that if anyone can take on the monster, it's Boss. Boss ends up coming face to face with the monster. It's... Penelope?! At Laura's school, Travis is up in a tree. He's found that it was a crow that took all of the stuff of the kids at school. He retrieves the stuff and returns it to its rightful owners. Laura ends up catching a test paper which belongs to Travis. Travis quickly snatches it away from her, saying that he'd let her use it as a study guide, but his marks might make her jealous. However, Laura has it long enough for him to see his score - 48%! Back at the clubhouse, Boss asks Penelope if she realizes how much trouble she's caused. But Penelope doesn't really understand. Pashmina explains - Penelope doesn't understand why they're upset with her. Maxwell further details that Penelope was simply imitating their behavior. She'd seen them all putting their stuff away and decided to copycat it. Hamtaro says that he knew it was Penelope all along. When Hamtaro arrives home, he wonders what happened to the treat he put in his cage that morning. After searching around some, he hears Laura talking about how she cleaned up her room. She says that she also cleaned out Hamtaro's cage - she didn't know he was such a packrat! Hamtaro's upset at her for tossing out the treat, but then she gives him a brand new fresh one and all is well again.moreless - Ep 32Farewell, Bijou!6/24/02
The owner of Bijou, Maria, decides to leave to go back to France to continue learning piano. The Hamsters are shocked to hear that Bijou would be leaving, and Boss became really depressed. As the day approaches, the Ham-Hams decide to be strong and have a memorable good-bye party for her. While the Hamsters are handing out presents to Bijou, Boss attempts to tell Bijou how he really feels but his message is told incredibly quickly, so Bijou did not understand. Maria persuades her parents to let her stay, and they agree. The next day, Bijou returns and everyone is happy.moreless - Ep 31Get Well, Laura6/24/02
It's morning and Laura's alarm clock is going off. Laura seems very tired. As the alarm continues going off, her Mom yells from downstairs about it. She sleepily punches the alarm clock off and goes back to sleep. The next thing she knows, her Mom is upstairs waking her up and showing her the alarm clock. More than thirty minutes have passed since she punched it off! She's going to be late for school. She gets ready and leaves the house in a hurry. Her Mom tries to get her to have some breakfast, but she says that there's no time. She quickly heads off to meet up with Kana to go to school. Laura's Mom complains that she'll be starved by lunchtime. At the clubhouse, Boss is complaining of a stomachache from eating too many sunflower seeds. Howdy, however, doesn't want to hear it. Boss has been doing this a lot lately and the ham-hams are starting to think it's a case of "the boy who cried wolf." Boss complains that nobody takes him seriously any more. Hamtaro arrives at the clubhouse and talks about Laura. She was up all night - and it's his fault! He says that he didn't mean to, but he just kept running around in his whiz wheel, full of energy. Maxwell tells him that he has to look out for Laura. Humans need an average of at least eight hours of sleep in order to function properly. Meanwhile, Boss is complaining about his stomachache. He says that he ate too many sunflower seeds. This causes Oxnard to comment that he wishes he could eat too many sunflower seeds. He says he's tried, but he can never eat enough. This causes Boss to wonder how anyone could envy him when he's feeling like he does. Maxwell and Hamtaro continue talking about Laura. He tells Hamtaro that he shouldn't have if he can't look after her. Hamtaro laments that he's a bad, bad hamster. At school, Laura has been having all sorts of problems. Most notably, when participating in a gym exercise, she seems to do okay, but then passes out after jumping over a hurdle. She's sent to the school nurse, who thinks that she might be getting a slight cold, but mostly she's just tired. She sends her home. Back at the clubhouse, Maxwell notes that Boss's coat has lost its normal shine and suggests that he might really be ill after all. Looking to help them, they decide that eating yogurt might be a good solution to calm his stomach. Both Hamtaro and Bijou agree that yogurt is good - they've seen their humans eating it. They keep talking about it, which finally causes Boss to demand some action. Oxnard says that he wants some yogurt, but is told that it's only for Boss since he's the one feeling ill. They head to Hamtaro's house, with foreshadowing casting its shadow as Hamtaro comments that he hopes nobody is home. At Laura's, they look around, but can't find the yogurt. It isn't in the normal place where it's kept. Then, Boss shows up, wondering why they haven't found it yet. They comment on his being up and about and Maxwell notices that the shine has returned to his coat. Howdy complains that he's lost his taste for yogurt. Boss calls himself a cured hamster. Then, Laura arrives home. Hamtaro is grilled on why she's home - isn't she normally in school? He says that she normally is. The ham-hams all scramble upstairs. Laura calls out that she was sent home from school early because she was sick. When nobody answers, she heads upstairs. Upstairs, she finds Hamtaro, who has returned to his cage. She lays down in bed, saying that she's dying for a nap. This comment causes the ham-hams to think that she has some kind of "nap disease." Hamtaro worries that he's made Laura terribly ill. Boss suggests that maybe they could get her some yogurt. But they still don't know how to get it, so that's out. They decide that maybe she has a fever and they should try cooling her down. They try fanning her, but that doesn't seem to help. Then, an ice-pack is suggested, but they're not sure how to get one. They decide to make one (well, a water pack at least) out of a leaf and water. They all head outside and have quite a time getting a nice leaf off of a tree. They finally succeed and create their "ice-pack." They place it on Laura's head and it seems to have an effect. She seems to be looking better. They're all gathered around watching her, then maybe decide that they'd better hide in case she wakes up. But then, she does wake up, just as they feared. They all quickly scurry off. Laura comments that she slept really well and feels like a million bucks. As she looks around, she finds some sunflower seeds of Oxnard's as well as the leaves on her head. She remembers "dreaming" about a bunch of hamsters all around her, but she figures it couldn't be real. She decides that maybe she herself put the leaf on her head, sleepwalking or something. That evening, Laura writes that she and Hamtaro were too busy sleeping to have any great adventures. Hamtaro, however, says that she can speak for herself and that he actually could use a good night's sleep.moreless - Ep 30Midnight Celebration (a.k.a. Yahoo! It's Girl's Day)6/21/02
Laura has a china doll collection, which she's getting out of storage to display in the living room. She hopes her Mom doesn't mind. Hamtaro sees all the dolls and thinks that even though they don't talk to Laura, maybe they'll talk to him. When he tries talking to them and they say nothing in response, he thinks that they're being rude. Laura, seeing him hopping around, wonders what's gotten into him. Hamtaro heads off to meet the ham-hams. He meets them in the park and tells them about how the dolls wouldn't talk to him. Oxnard says that Kana has dolls like them too and he's never been able to talk to them either. Dexter suggests that maybe he could get them to talk, saying that he's very persuasive. As they have this conversation, the girls are over in a group laughing. The boys may not understand dolls, but they do. They explain that the mouths aren't real - they're painted on! That's why the dolls can't talk. However, you can still have fun with them. Bijou explains how Maria likes to hold tea parties and have treats and such. However, since dolls don't have mouths, they can't eat the treats. The boy ham-hams, desiring of some treats, are converted and say that they want dolls. The ham-hams then see a little girl and end up following her to a structure with "Your Home Builder" on the front of it. There, they find Panda, who tells them that this is the little girl he stays with. Mimi says that it's her birthday and she hopes she gets a china doll. Then, she notices the rest of the ham-hams, who immediately panic until they realize that Mimi doesn't find anything odd about it. She thinks that Panda invited them over. Hamtaro realizes that Mimi is too young to know that hamsters aren't supposed to be running loose. Mimi's two brothers show up and Mimi learns that her Mom is in the hospital having a baby. Mimi tries to get her Dad's attention about her birthday, but her forgetful Dad thinks that Mimi's birthday isn't for a couple weeks. In any case, he's so busy making preparations for the baby that he does pay it any attention. This makes Mimi very unhappy and Hamtaro comments that it's no way to spend a birthday. Then, Elder Ham shows up. To help Mimi out, he suggests that the ham-hams dress up like china dolls. The ham-hams like the idea. While they head off to make preparations, Laura and Kana, who is Mimi's cousin, come over to visit Mimi. They see that Mimi is sad, but when they ask about it, she won't tell them why she's upset. Back at the clubhouse, Hamtaro is organizing the party plans. They'll create a special birthday song and they also have to decide who will dress up as who. Bijou dresses up as a queen, which makes Hamtaro want to dress up as a king. This draws great protest from Boss, but Elder Ham suggests that Boss dress up as "the great hero Puba." Boss doesn't like this at all, until Bijou says that Puba looks handsome. Then, Boss is all for it. Stan's working on organizing the band and he wants it to be really loud. The ham-hams all get into their costumes. Howdy tries to get in some humor, but ends up failing as usual and also severely irritating Boss, who yells for Howdy to leave him alone. Finally, everything is ready. That evening, the ham-hams all gather at Mimi's. There, they wait until midnight, at which time Panda wakes them up. They display themselves like the china dolls and then perform an upbeat number called "You've Got Friends." Mimi loves it and joins in, dancing with them. The next morning, Laura and Kana come over and give Mimi a belated birthday present. Mimi tells them that Panda and Oxnard and the rest of the hamsters threw her a party. Laura says that it must have been some dream. Later, Mimi's Mom and Dad arrive home with the new baby. They also give her the china doll collection that she wanted for her birthday and bring out her birthday cake. Mimi's happy - she's a big sister now and her baby sister has the same birthday as her.moreless - Ep 29Bijou's Favorite Ribbon6/21/02
Bijou is in her cage admiring her ribbons and making herself look nice. She's thinking about Hamtaro, she likes how he really notices her when she's wearing her beautiful ribbons. At Laura's, Laura is experimenting with a variety of different hairstyles. She finally decides that she'll wear her pink ribbons today. She goes to get one, only to fink that Hamtaro has gobbled it and stuffed it in his cheek pouches! She tries to pull at a bit that's sticking out of Hamtaro's mouth. Hamtaro tries to clamp on, saying that he's not letting go, but Laura eventually frees the ribbon. Laura tells Hamtaro to be good. Her class is going on a field trip today. Hamtaro hears this and thinks that the ham-hams should have a field trip too. He heads to the clubhouse, where he finds something of a commotion. The ham-hams are upset at Stan, who says that he knows a really great place with acorns. However, he doesn't want to tell them where it is. They'll just take all of the acorns. Howdy calls him stingy, causing Dexter to snit that he isn't any better. Boss tries to threaten Stan, but it doesn't work. Hamtaro tries to opt for a peaceful selection. He wants everyone to just forget about what Stan's doing and play a game. However, no one likes the tired games that he suggests, such as hide-and-seek and cards. While they're debating, Bijou is off on her own looking in a mirror and admiring herself. Cappy comes up to her, but all he sees is one of her ribbons. Thinking it's pretty neat and not noticing that it's tied onto Bijou, he removes it. At Laura's school, Travis comes up to Laura and says that there's going to be a field trip and it'll be fun. He then leaves, causing Kana to complain that he didn't even notice Laura's ribbons. Laura meekly bluffs that she wasn't wearing them just for Travis. Back at the clubhouse, Bijou finally notices that her ribbon is missing. We see that Hamtaro is using it as part of a game of "Blind Man's Bluff" with the other ham-hams. Bijou stops him and demands her ribbon back. Hamtaro says he didn't realize it was Bijou's, which gets Bijou very upset. Maxwell comes to Hamtaro's defense, with an elaborate presentation showing that he (and Cappy as well) was innocent. Bijou, however, doesn't think that's the point. That's not what she's upset about. She heads off into a room to be alone. Hamtaro tries to get her to come out, but Boss tells him to leave her alone and let her cool off. Stan tries to romance Bijou, saying he'll take her to "Acorn Mountain." In the process, he spills the location and the ham-hams decide to head there. They try to convince Bijou to come, but she won't. They tell her the location anyway, in case she wants to come later. Maxwell says that girls are so complicated. At the woods where the acorns are, Boss yells "acorns away!" The ham-hams have a good time searching for various nut delights. Penelope starts shouting "ookwee" - she found chestnuts! She can't reach them however, so Stan comes and says he'll go get them. He heads to the top of the tree and shakes several off. He tries to have lunch with Pashmina, but it's no go. Maxwell, however, is able to get Sandy to have lunch with him. Meanwhile, Hamtaro is out gathering acorns. He wants to get a lot of acorns to make up to Bijou. He and Boss both see one and both go after it. Boss agrees to give the acorn to Hamtaro because it's not worth fighting over just one acorn. However, when Hamtaro starts shining it, Boss asks why and Hamtaro explains about Bijou. Boss makes him give it back. At the clubhouse, Bijou is still upset with Hamtaro. She voices her frustration out loud, causing Snoozer to come to Hamtaro's defense. She finally leaves her seclusion and comes out and finds a map to the place with the acorns. Snoozer says everyone's waiting for her. Back at the acorn forest, Hamtaro has gathered a huge amount of acorns. However, they're weighing him down and he ends up tumbling down a hill. The ham-hams all find him and he seems to be hurt. Bijou arrives at the park, where Pashmina informs her that Hamtaro's been hurt. She comes to see Hamtaro, who tells her that it's just a scratch. She examines his leg and says that she'll use her ribbon to wrap it. Hamtaro protests, since it's her favorite ribbon. She thinks that he got hurt because he was being silly playing. However, she's informed that Hamtaro was out gathering acorns for her. The ham-hams decide to give Hamtaro and Bijou some privacy, but not before they have to drag Boss and Stan away from once again trying to win Bijou's affection. Elsewhere in the park, Laura's class is on their field trip. Travis passes by Laura who has wrapped up a bag of acorns for Hamtaro, using one of her ribbons. He asked her what happened to the ribbons that she was wearing in the morning. Kana's surprised - Travis did notice the ribbons after all. The ham-hams all start heading home, singing a song called "Together on the Way Home." Bijou and Hamtaro soon join them, everything having been made up. Boss complains that Hamtaro got the girl and wonders where he went wrong. When Hamtaro arrives home that evening, he gives Brandy an acorn, which Brandy just sort of ignores. Laura gives Hamtaro the acorns and reflects on how Travis noticed her ribbons. She thinks tomorrow is going to be a great day and Hamtaro says he'll make Bijou smile again tomorrow.moreless - Ep 28Watching Over Cute Penelope6/20/02
Dexter and Howdy volunteer to baby-sit Penelope to impress Pashmina, who was going to Panda's Fun Park by herself. The two competes against each other to become the best babysitter, which causes them to get into a brawl. The neglected Penelope wanders away, and Dexter and Howdy soon realizes that she is missing. They receive help from the other Ham-Ham's to search for her. After discovering Penelope in a hole, they rescue her.moreless - Ep 27The Search for Sandy's Brother6/20/02
The ham-hams have gathered in the clubhouse because Boss has called them together for an important meeting. They need to come up with a plan to try and find Sandy's brother, since they recently learned from Elder Ham that he is somewhere in town. Boss has been having everyone learn Sandy's "Twirling Whirling" song and he has Hamtaro recite it to prove that he knows it. The ham-hams are rather dubious as to their chances. They really don't have much to go on and they live in a large town. Plus, Howdy isn't really sure whether to trust Elder Ham's advice. They think that Sandy's owner, who is Kana's friend, may hold information that could help them, but they don't know what to do since they can't talk to humans. As for Sandy, she's not at the clubhouse, but she is at home and is full of hope that she'll find her brother. Her owner, Hillary, goes to a gymnastics class, where she meets up with Laura and Kana, who attend the same class. Also there is Noel, a friend of Hillary's who secretly likes her, but doesn't know how to express his affections. Hillary introduces Kana and Laura to him and he also shows them his hamster, who he calls Stan. They talk and learn that Stan is actually Sandy's brother. Hillary gave him to Noel, who was happy to have a hamster at first, but now he has a problem. Ever since then, it seems like he can only talk to Hillary about hamster toys. Laura and Kana agree to bring Hamtaro and Oxnard to meet him. Elsewhere, Sandy is out talking with Maxwell and Bijou. She tells them that she's been having dreams about finding her brother. Maxwell says that it's a premonition and that it must mean she'll find her brother soon. That evening, Laura tells Hamtaro all about meeting Noel's hamster. She tells flat out that this hamster is Sandy's brother, which gets Hamtaro kind of annoyed that she didn't tell him sooner. The next day, Kana and Laura bring Oxnard and Hamtaro to meet Stan as promised. Stan is sleeping, but he wakes up when Hamtaro performs the "twirling whirling" song. Stan tells Hamtaro that it's his song and he wants to know where Hamtaro heard it. Hamtaro tells him all about Sandy and the clubhouse. Stan describes himself as quite a master at romance. He says that he remembers Sandy, but it's been so long since he's seen her, he began to think that maybe she was only a dream. Hamtaro tells him that she's real and singing her heart out for him, so he agrees to come to the clubhouse. Once there, he's rather annoyed when it turns out Sandy isn't there yet. They tell him that he can surprise her when she comes. They'll make it into a surprise party. Meanwhile, he gets to work, trying to romance the girls of the clubhouse, starting with Bijou when she first comes in. He twirls her around and sweet-talks her, impressing everyone with his moves, but royally irritating Boss, who complains that Stan is with "his girl." While this is happening, Sandy shows up outside. Bijou and Hamtaro come out and whisk her aside and she says that she has something she wants to say. She tells them that she doesn't want to put them through the trouble of looking for her brother anymore. Just knowing that he's close by is enough for her. Back inside the clubhouse, Stan is talking about offering dance lessons to the guys. He says he'll teach them stuff like the "hamba" and even throw in some hip-hop moves for free. Maxwell doesn't understand the idea of "hip-hop" and thinks Stan said "hop-hop." Eventually, Sandy gets suspicious as to why she's being kept out of the clubhouse. She forces her way in, wondering if the ham-hams are hiding something for her. The ham-hams are forced to scramble and when she comes in, she sees decorations and wonders if they were going to throw a party without her. They all perform the "twirling whirling" song for her and then have her pull on a string, which opens a ball of confetti. Everyone is surprised because they all expected Stan to pop out of the ball or something like that. Then, to everyone's surprise, Stan comes riding in on an airboard and introduces himself. Sandy is glad she's finally found him. To top things off, Pashmina and Penelope come in, wondering if they've missed anything. Stan immediately tries to romance them, but Sandy twirls her ribbon and his tail and ties him up, saying that she's beginning to remember how big of a flirt her brother was. That evening, Laura reflects in her journal that people say that pets take after their owners, so Stan must be a very shy hamster. Hamtaro, of course, knows this not to be true at all. She says that since she's moved in, she's met lots of people with hamsters and figures it must be a new rage or something. She thinks that she and Hamtaro had fun today, but tomorrow will be even better.moreless - Ep 26Let's Cross the Rainbow!6/19/02
When the sky cleared after the storm, a beautiful rainbow appears in the sky. Too bad Kana is in the hospital and cannot join her friend, Laura to witness the magnificent sight. At the Ham-Ham Clubhouse, Everyone is able to view the rainbow except Bijou, who comes in late after the rainbow disappeared. To treat Bijou for another incredible rainbow, they search for one, but they are unable to find one. They refer to Elder Ham and he reveals that they should go on a roof of a green house.moreless - Ep 25Let's Dance, Sandy!6/19/02
Sandy is at the park practicing her ribbon twirling, and singing a song. She trips, and her ribbon falls out of her hand, but Maxwell is there to help her up. Maxwell complements her on her skills, (which makes her blush) and then he asks about the song she was singing. She tells him that it was a song that her twin brother used to sing to her. She tells Maxwell that they were separated a while ago, and Maxwell tells her that they will meet up again someday and she shouldn't lose hope. Maxwell leaves, and Sandy has hearts in her eyes, blushes, and her heart pitter-patters.
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''Hamtaro is in Laura's room, watching her & Kana play around with a gymnastic ribbon. She shows Hamtaro pictures of Hilary, her favorite gymnast. Hamtaro thinks about the festival Elder Ham is holding, and that Sandy is practicing a ribbon routine, while the boys are doing a play. Back at the clubhouse, Maxwell enters and asks if everyone is there. All the guys happen to be there, except for Hamtaro. They ponder on what play to perform to Elder Ham for the festival. They decide on the Shakespearean play Hamlet.
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''Hamtaro is running to the clubhouse to meet up with the guys. Suddenly a ribbon flies at him, being chased by Pashmina. They collide with each other hard, and the 3 other girls check to see if they are alright, which they are. They then show Hamtaro their ribbon routine, finishing with Sandy swooshing the ball, juggling clubs, the hoop, and ending with the skipping rope. Hamtaro remembers he has to go to the clubhouse and meet up with the guys, but is stopped by Sandy's ribbon catching his tail.
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''Laura and Kana are walking around town and notice Hilary walking past them. Laura calls out to Hilary pretty loudly, and she stops. The three of them walk together, and Laura tells Hilary how she and Kana are now into rhythmic gymnastics. Hilary asks them about their other hobbies, and they both say that they have hamsters. Hilary tells them she also has a hamster.
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''Back at the park, Sandy & the girls are talking to Hamtaro about Maxwell, seeing if they can pry some information out of him. Pashmina tells Hamtaro that Sandy likes Maxwell, and Hamtaro replies that he likes Maxwell too. Sandy asks Hamtaro to ask Maxwell if he likes her as well. Hamtaro promises to ask Maxwell, and Sandy says that Maxwell reminds her of her twin brother, and sings the song to Hamtaro and the girls. She tells them that Maxwell said she would find her brother someday, and starts fantasizing about Maxwell. The girls tell her to hang in there, and to tell them everything that happens. Meanwhile, Hamtaro is still clueless about the situation.
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''Hamtaro finally arrives at the clubhouse, to find out everyone else has been getting ready for the play. Boss tosses him a black costume and tells him to put it on. Oxnard tells him they are doing Hamlet, and he will be a ghost. Hamtaro assumes he is playing something scary, but Maxwell tells him he will be doing props. Hamtaro thinks it is the biggest role of all, but is disappointed to find out it is a behind the scenes role, to help everyone else out. The others start to give Hamtaro a lot of commands, tiring him out. The girls peek into the clubhouse, and observe Hamtaro and Maxwell. Hamtaro remembers he was supposed to do ask someone something, but he forgets, disappointing the girls, especially Sandy.
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''At the park, Elder Ham starts off the Harvest Festival, with the others looking on as he sleeps. Boss asks Elder Ham if they should start the contest, but he tells them they have to give thanks for everything they are grateful for, but he falls asleep during that as well. The girls are setting up for their performance, getting good luck wishes from Hamtaro & Maxwell before they start. Panda raises the curtains and the girls perform their gymnastics routine. Hamtaro suddenly remembers what he was supposed to tell Maxwell. He is embarrassed to tell Maxwell, but tells him that Sandy likes him, all the while being embarrassed, and calling it goofy girl talk. Maxwell starts to blush, and starts to admire Sandy while she is on stage, and starts acting lovey-dovey. The others are also enjoying the girls' performance as well, especially Elder Ham, and they end their routine with confetti falling on stage.
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''Everyone is proud of the performance and applaudes them. The guys get ready for their play. Meanwhile, on stage, Penelope is so proud of the performance, she jumps on the confetti pile to celebrate, but slips and falls off stage. Sandy quickly reacts and tosses her ribbon, catching Penelope and pulling her up, but sends her flying. The boys quickly rush to catch her and form a pyramid, with Boss leaping from the top. He misses catching her, but Penelope lands on the pyramid of hamsters, and they get a good laugh about it. Maxwell complements Sandy on her quick thinking, making her blush. Meanwhile, Boss is at the bottom of the stage, looking hurt. Oxnard asks if it is time to get ready, and he grudgingly replies yes.
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''The boys never get their play started (maybe because of Penelope's flying act), but Elder Ham gives the prize of the contest to the girls. He reveals the prize to be a large pile of sunflower seeds, and urges them to share it all. He points to Sandy, telling her she deserves special praise. He says she looks familiar, and tells her that he knows of a ham that looks just like her. Sandy thinks it is her brother, and elder ham thinks on it for a while. She sings the song for Elder Ham, and he tells her that he knows of a boy ham that looks like her that sings that song, giving her more hope. Boss tells Elder Ham that he hasn't seen the play yet, but he is asleep.
''
''Back in town, Laura, Kana, and Hilary are having a snack and talking about their hamsters. Hilary tells them her hamster is Sandy, and tells them she had made toys for her because she had to give her brother away, and didn't want her to feel lonely. Back at the park, Hamtaro, Bijou, Sandy, and Maxwell are sitting on top of a tree, reassuring her that they will find her twin brother. Maxwell says he will keep an open ear on things as well, and reassures Sandy more. Sandy thanks Maxwell, and they cuddle.
moreless - Ep 24Valentine's Day!6/18/02
It's the morning of Valentine's Day and Laura has two boxes of chocolate. She tells her Mom that she's giving one to her Dad, but her Mom wonders who the other one is for. The answer is, of course, Travis, but Laura just tells her Mom that it's "nobody special." Nobody that she would know. Meanwhile, the female ham-hams are out and about in the park, talking about what kind of gifts they should make for Valentine's Day. Sandy thinks that Maxwell would like her gift no matter what she made. This leads to a little friendly "Sandy and Maxwell sitting in a tree" teasing. Then, Auntie Viv shows up. The female ham-hams hope she can help them make gifts, but she says she actually needs some help herself. She emphasizes the need for secrecy: she doesn't want the boy ham-hams to know about this and she's not telling the girls just who this gift is for either. In the clubhouse, the boys are also discussing Valentine's Day. Howdy says that he would waste his "hard-earned money" to give a present to a girl, a comment that quickly gets him busted by Dexter. Boss comments that there's more to Valentine's Day than just giving presents. Back outside, the female ham-hams are giving Auntie Viv a makeover. She wants to know if her eyebrows look okay and says that her present could use some "pizazz." Bijou thinks she can help out as she's an "expert on romance." Back in the clubhouse, the boys are trying to figure out how they can get the girls to give them presents. Hamtaro thinks it would be embarrassing if he didn't get a present. At Laura's school, Laura learns that just about everyone in the class is planning to give Travis a valentine. This only makes her even more nervous, but Kana tells her that if everyone's giving Travis presents, then hers will just be the best one of all. Back at the clubhouse, Bijou goes and gets Hamtaro's help with Auntie Viv's makeover. This shocks Boss, as he thinks Bijou has picked Hamtaro over him. Hamtaro thinks that he's getting a present and so he's rather surprised when he learns the reason Bijou pulled him out doesn't have anything to do with him. Then, he sees Auntie Viv's makeover. It's completely wild and he doesn't know what to make of it, so he just says that she looks good. Back at the clubhouse, he says he's going to have nightmares. The boy ham-hams then show up and grill him, thinking he got a present. To their disappointment, or perhaps relief, he explains that Auntie Viv has come. Boss says that his "good mood has returned with a vengeance." He goes out and starts chasing Auntie Viv, thinking that Auntie Viv's valentine is for him. Auntie Viv finally admits that the valentine is actually for Elder Ham. Elder Ham, however, hasn't shown up, so she's going to leave. They ask her not to leave, saying they'll search for Elder Ham. They finally find Elder Ham and bring him to Auntie Viv. They have to wake up first, but they finally get him to pay attention to Auntie Viv's gift. He says he's shocked to get a valentine at his age. He opens it --- and out comes a popup gag snake! Elder Ham isn't amused at all. He says he's too tired for this and that Auntie Viv has gone too far. He starts chasing after her. The ham-hams are all shocked. They thought that there was love between them. Then, they find that there was also a package of sunflower seeds in the box. Auntie Viv actually did get Elder Ham a gift. But, as Maxwell says, she's unique. She just had to get in some shock value. Then, to the boy ham-hams' surprise, the girls present them with a big gift of seeds. They say it's their gift to them, as long as they share. That evening, Laura gives her Dad dark chocolate, his favorite. But she never did get the courage to give her gift to Travis. Talking about it in her journal that evening, she says that it would be so embarrassing if Travis actually knew that she likes him. Hamtaro says that it's okay: he thinks that Travis likes her too.moreless - Ep 23Bijou's in Danger!6/18/02
When Laura and Kana go shopping, the Ham-Hams go along, but soon find danger in the shopping district. A large, mean cat lives in an alley in the district, and after Bijou goes down the alley, she doesn't return! ''The Ham-Hams go looking for her and find that Bijou has fainted among the alley-cat's kittens after being frightened by the protective mother cat. The Ham-Hams attempt a dramatic rescue, but Hamtaro and Boss are chased, and the others get trapped under a bucket. Unexpectedly, Laura and Kana show up and begin fawning over the baby kittens. The proud mother cat turns her attention away from the hamsters, and at last the Ham-Hams are able to make their escape.moreless - Ep 22Boss is a Mom!6/17/02
When Maxwell and Oxnard are out walking in the park, they find Boss fishing. This is confusing. They know that Boss likes fishing, but it's the middle of winter and they didn't think he was that dedicated. When Hamtaro shows up at the clubhouse that day, they tell him about it. Hamtaro is just as surprised as they are. They wonder if maybe he isn't changing is diet or something. Bijou says that she was out walking when she saw Boss. She asked him if he wanted to walk with her. Boss said that he couldn't, he had something important to do. Everyone agrees that Boss turning down a walk with Bijou is very odd. So the ham-hams decide to find out what Boss is up to. They eventually find him in a secluded area tending to a kitten. They're all shocked and try to pull him away, thinking that he's in danger. But Boss insists that they send him back in. He explains what happened. He was out walking one day with some swiss cheese. The kitten came up to him, begging for some and at first he was scared. He offered the kitten a little cheese to get it to go away and then saw that it had injured its paw. Seeing that it looked like the kitten hadn't eaten in quite a while, he decided to give it all the cheese. He's been tending to it ever since, catching for fish for it and such. Boss says the kitten seems to think he's its Mom and that cats normally give him the creeps, but this kitten is like family. While this is happening, Laura and Kana are at school. It just so happens that they're talking with the kitten's owner. She explains that what happened was that she just opened the door for a split second and the kitten got out. It happened faster than she could stop it. Laura recalls the time she lost Hamtaro. Kana says she doesn't know what she'd do if Oxnard ever went missing. To help Boss, the ham-hams decide to catch fish for the kitten. However, the ham-hams find that they have trouble relating to the kitten. When it even so much as mews, they run away in fear. Boss doesn't understand what's gotten into them. He reminds them of the time that they all helped Brandy with the dogsled race. Still, the ham-hams think it's different. Hamtaro says that if the kitten starts to get a little frisky, they should tiptoe out the door. Oxnard calls what they're doing "extreme." Boss gets really mad, saying that they all have families and have no idea what it's like to be alone. He sends them out, very disappointed with them. The ham-hams talk and decide that Boss has a point. The kitten really is like family to him. Otherwise, he only has Snoozer to talk to when the rest of the ham-hams aren't around and Snoozer isn't exactly the talkative sort. They go back and help Boss, who's happy to tears that they returned. The ham-hams help Boss to bandage the kitten's leg and otherwise take care of it. That evening, Laura is surprised to find that Hamtaro seems very tired. She talks about the girl in her class who lost the kitten. Hamtaro immediately makes the connection that the kitten Laura's talking about is the one that Boss has been taking care of. The next day, Hamtaro tells Boss about the kitten's owner. Boss, however, doesn't want to give the kitten up. He says that if the owner was careless enough to let the kitten get loose, then the kitten shouldn't have to go back. The ham-hams get irritated with Boss, saying that Boss claims he knows what it's like to be alone, but he doesn't understand the feelings of the kitten's owner. Meanwhile, as they're arguing with him, Oxnard has been left alone in the clubhouse to watch over the kitten. The kitten escapes the clubhouse and poor Oxnard is unable to stop it. At about the same time, a boy is in the park walking his dog. The dog, seeing the kitten, breaks loose and chases after it. While the ham-hams are busy berating Boss about not returning the kitten, Boss hears it crying out. He goes after it and ends up confronting the dog. Boss, however, nearly ends up becoming dog bait himself, until the kitten jumps down from the tree it was hiding in and gives the dog a few good swats. The dog just about turns its attention back to the cat, but the dog's owner finally arrives and stops it. The kitten's owner also shows up at that time, with Kana and Laura. She reclaims the kitten. Boss is sad to see the kitten go, but is glad to have looked after it. That evening, Laura reflects on the day's events. She's glad the kitten is back with its owner, but wonders about the bandage on its leg. She figures that someone must have been looking after it, but it escaped from them.moreless - Ep 21The Wise, Elder-Ham6/17/02
Laura's grandma visits and tells Laura about her long-lost friend and their identical clocks. Laura decides to search for grandma's friend. Hamtaro tells the ham-hams and they decide to help out. They go to elder-ham and he leads them to the spot that Laura's grandma and her friend vowed to meet each other again someday. Hamtaro sees grandma's friend and sees Laura going the wrong way. he goes down and turns on grandma's friend's clock, and Laura hears it. She goes to get her grandma. They run toward each other and they remember the day they made their promise.moreless - Ep 20Brandy's Big Race6/14/02
Laura and her family go to a dog sled race, and bring Brandy along. Hamtaro, Boss, Oxnard, and Bijou also tag along. Laura's family realize that Brandy isn't in such good shape. The hamsters decide to get Brandy to participate in the race to prove that Brandy's not useless. The hamsters run into some obstacle along the way, and eventually, they get lost. Brandy saves a bunny, and the bunny leads them to the front of the race. Brandy ends up neck and neck with the winner of last year's race, and starts to fall behind. Laura encourages Brandy, and Brandy wins the race for Laura.moreless - Ep 19Jingle, the Wanderer6/14/02
Laura's father asks her to deliver an important floppy disk to his office. While Laura packs her bag, Hamtaro gets trapped inside. On the way to Mr. Haruna's office, Hamtaro picks up two hitchhikers, Oxnard and Penelope, who have just escaped from an angry crow. When Oxnard's sunflower seed falls to the ground, Oxnard jumps out of Laura's bag to go after it, and Hamtaro and baby Penelope follow, not knowing that the yellow disk has slipped out of Laura's bag too.''The hamsters get lost in the park and run into Jingle, the wandering Ham-Poet, who plays them prophetic ballads on his guitar. Soon an upset Laura appears, retracing her steps with her father, and when the Ham-Hams overhear that she has lost the floppy disk, they feel they must help her find it (even though they are not sure what a 'flo-pee' disk is for). Soon they discover that the rambling Jingle has found the disk and plans to use it as his new, hard, square, yellow pillow. Knowing that it's more important than a pillow, the Ham-Hams persuade him to give it back to them, and they are able to return it to Laura's coat pocket.moreless - Ep 18The Search for Dad's Glasses!6/13/02
Laura's dad has lost his glasses, so they go to get a new pair from the optometrist. Hamtaro tags along, and finds Dexter, Boss, Oxnard, and Howdy. Laura's dad doesn't like any of the glasses designs, and decides he'll look for his glasses some more. When leaving, Hamtaro finds dad's glasses under a park bench. Hamtaro, Howdy, Dexter, Oxnard, and Boss try to take dad's glasses home, but they end up getting smashed. When the hamsters get to Laura's house, dad finds his glasses outside. The hamsters can't believe that there was another pair of glasses just like dad's, and realize they wasted their time and energy trying to get dad's glasses home safely. Afterward, Dexter makes glasses for all the Ham-Hams.moreless - Ep 17Much Ado about School!6/13/02
Summer's over, and its time for Laura to go back to school. Hamtaro overhears Laura talking about her new teacher, but he thinks she's talking about a hamster. Hamtaro, Boss, and Oxnard tag along with Laura to school to find this hamster, but then they find out that she was actually talking about her teacher. Back at the Ham-Ham clubhouse, the Ham-Hams decide to start their own school.moreless - Ep 16The Amazing Auntie Viv6/12/02
When a marathon race occurs at Laura's school, Elder Ham's friend arrives - Auntie Viv, and has come to town to participate in the race. Auntie Viv and the equally competitive Boss charge out of the starting gate when the race began. When Laura stumbles, all the Hamsters learn a lesson about good sportsmanship when Travis stopped to help Laura out.moreless - Ep 15The Sunflower Field6/12/02
Laura and her family are going on a trip to Grandma Willow's in the country. Grandma Willow lives in the country house that Laura's Dad used to live in. Laura's especially excited because there's a big sunflower field surrounding the area and she gets to take Hamtaro along. When Hamtaro hears about it, he tells the whole ham-ham gang. They all want to come, but they can't. It's an overnight trip and their owners would miss them. Oxnard really wishes he could go, as the idea of all those sunflowers holds great appeal for him. Finally, the day of the big trip comes. As they near Grandma's house, they can see the sunflower fields. Hamtaro is amazed by them. When they reach the house, Hamtaro can't wait to get out of his carrier. But he has to wait for Grandma Willow to get everyone settled in and stuff. Then, Boss shows up! He's a field hamster, so he doesn't have humans who would get upset. He snuck into the car and came along for the ride. Eventually, Laura gets Grandma Willow to lead her to the sunflower fields. She convinces her that she can wait for them, but Hamtaro is impatient and can't wait any longer. So they head to the field, crossing a small bridge spanning a river on the way. When they get there, Hamtaro can't wait to go exploring. Laura, however, has other plans. While Boss scurries off to the sunflowers, Grandma Willow does a photo shoot of Laura and Hamtaro. The shoot finally ends and Hamtaro is put back into his carrier. Hamtaro, tired of waiting, decides to sneak out. He joins Boss in the field and has a generally great time hopping up and down on the sunflowers. They end up breaking one off of its stem and Boss wants to take it as a present for Bijou, but it's way too heavy. Meanwhile, Laura decides to show something to Hamtaro, but finds that he's not in his carrier. Laura starts searching for Hamtaro and soon calls him the help of her parents. Boss and Hamtaro start thinking about heading back and end up getting lost. They try crossing the river, but using a rickety log instead of the bridge. Boss ends up falling off and Hamtaro saves him, but the log goes hurtling down a river. The two nearly fall off a waterfall, but grab onto a leaf and save themselves. Eventually, they find their way back and Hamtaro has a happy reunion with Laura. When they return home, they share sunflower seeds provided as a present by Grandma Willow. Boss even presents Bijou with a special package of them, which Bijou seems to quite like.moreless - Ep 14The Snowball Fight! (a.k.a. The Snow Storm)6/11/02
When the snowstorm ceased, Laura and Kana decide to ice skate, while Hamtaro recruits his Ham-Ham friends to venture outside into the cold to have some fun. Boss and Stan start a showdown to determine who is the "King Ham of the Snow" and soon all the Ham-Hams are engaged in a snowball fight.moreless - Ep 13A Summer Festival Adventure6/11/02
On a warm summer day, Laura and Kana dress in kimonos to go to the Summer Festival. Curious to know what a festival is, Hamtaro follows Laura, and meets up with Boss, Maxwell, and Pashmina. Maxwell explains that at such festivals, flowers bloom in the sky! What are these flowers in the sky? When Pashmina tries to find the answer, she gets lost from the group.''The Ham-Hams launch a search party for Pashmina. When they finally find her, she is in tears. But soon she is laughing again, when the Ham-Hams finally see the sparkling flowers of light blooming in the sky!moreless - Ep 12The Legend of the Courageous Hamtaro!6/10/02
Laura is just arriving home and Hamtaro couldn't be more happy. He's been waiting for her to play with him all day. He has all sorts of games in mind, but Laura brings out a book. Hamtaro says that he's game for a book. Laura's book is some kind of mythical tale about knights and stuff, but she's having trouble staying awake. Hamtaro suggests that she skip to the brave hamster part. The two of them both fall asleep and go into a dream sequence. In this dream, Laura is the ruler of a Ham Ham Kingdom. She's known as Princess Laura. She addresses her subjects and says that she'll her the daily news of the Kingdom. Stan, who is some sort of pompous knight, presents her with his glorified report. He calls himself her "most chivalrous knight," leading Dexter to make a snide comment. After this, Princess Laura sees a star in the sky. She makes a wish on it that the Ham Ham Kingdom will stay happy and bright. Oddly though, the star starts glowing a bright red. Elder Ham shows up and says that the star glowing red is a bad sign. He predicts all sorts of bad things happening to the kingdom. Stan says that the "Knights of the Ham Team" will "save the day." Elder Ham is pressed for more information, but he ends up dozing off as he is prone too. Elsewhere, Hamtaro is wandering lost. He says that he's lost Brandy and run out of water. Worse, his cape is too tight. He can't go on and is about to pass out. But then, Bijou and Oxnard show up and rescue him. They give him sunflower seeds, perking him back up. They take him to the Ham Ham Kingdom, thinking that he may be the brave knight who will save them from the oncoming calamity. Hamtaro tells them that he'll help, but he only has twenty minutes to do it. Any more and he'll have to charge overtime. He's presented before Princess Laura and is told by Elder Ham to pay his respects. He does, but also expresses that he's not really sure how to save the kingdom. Just then, Jingle shows up, in his usual form. His poetry impresses the ham-hams, including Elder Ham, who says that he's the chosen one. He decides that since Jingle is the hero, that must mean that Hamtaro is the villain. He throws Hamtaro in the dungeon. Outside, we see Boss as a giant menace threatening the kingdom. He says that he wants to take it over and claim for his own. Jingle ends up splitting out of the kingdom, while Hamtaro is in the dungeon. Oxnard and Bijou free him and they even get some advice from Snoozer. Back in the main floor of the palace, Elder Ham reports Jingle's leaving and shows a note that he left - "Good luck," signed Jingle. Hamtaro comes and prepares to face Boss. But Boss has evil wizard powers and is oblivous to Hamtaro's attacks. Hamtaro has Brandy on his side as a flying dog, but even this doesn't seem to be enough to help him. Boss uses some kind of ice breath to knock them both to the ground. In the end, Laura wishes on the star for help and Hamtaro receives a mythical sword (Excalibur?) which he uses to defeat Boss. Boss is reduced to his normal form, apologizing. Elder Ham cheers Hamtaro on, as do the ham-hams. Afterwards, Laura and Hamtaro wake up, just as Laura's Mom is coming into her room. In the dreamlike state, they both think she's the evil wizard Boss and say so, leading Laura's Mom to wonder what's wrong. She says Laura looks like she saw a ghost. That night, Laura reflects on the weird dream she had. She wishes Hamtaro good night and Hamtaro does the same, calling her "Princess Laura."moreless - Ep 11First Time at the Beach6/10/02
The Ham-Hams don't know what a beach is and they decide to go with Laura and Kana. Once they get there the Ham-Hams have fun in the sand and Hamtaro is just about to go into the water, and then a huge (from a hamster's perspective) tidal wave comes! Hamtaro gets away in time and is safe. Laura and Kana are in a rock pool and Kana is teaching Laura how to swim. Then a storm strikes and the Ham-Hams hide under a hat. Laura and Kana's parents are looking for them and the Ham-Hams go and get the adult's attention and lead them back to Laura and Kana. After some things happen, they go home.moreless - Ep 10Merry Christmas!6/7/02
Laura and Kana are out shopping for their parents. Laura, however, is talking about what she wants. The thing is, there's this nice new dollhouse in a shop window that she's admiring, but her Mom already got her this nice new coat for Christmas. It was so expensive that she figures her parents wouldn't have any money for the dollhouse. Kana tells her to ask Santa. She said last year she wrote a present that she wanted on a list to Santa. Santa never even got the list, yet somehow he knew he exactly what she wanted! She flashes back to she morning she excitedly opened that gift from Santa. She tells Laura they can go to her house and write their lists together. Laura's worried about the shopping, but Kana says they have plenty of time to finish that later. At the clubhouse, the ham-hams are just finishing decorating a tree for Christmas. They're dressed up too: Stan is decked out as a Santa with his maracas and Cappy has a Santa cap on. Hamtaro thinks it looks so magical. The ham-hams are all admiring it, but then Boss cuts in: he wants to know what the purpose of it is! Howdy gets all wild, saying that he doesn't understand why he always has to explain everything. He passes the question off to Oxnard, but Oxnard doesn't know the answer any better than Howdy. He thinks it's just fun to decorate. Howdy complains that he's starting to think that none of the ham-hams know what Christmas trees are for. For all they know, they're for putting gifts under on Christmas morning. He's informed that that's exactly what they're for and says that he was just kidding them. Bijou asks if anyone else has heard of Santa Claus. Maxwell explains that his research tells about Santa Claus, that he delivers gifts to those who have been good on Christmas morning. Hamtaro says that he's been good and so he'll get a gift. Cappy starts running around saying that he wants a new cap and everyone else gets excited about Santa Claus. All except Boss, who just sort of leaves the clubhouse. Hamtaro and the other ham-hams find him sitting unhappily at the end of a riverbank. He says that Santa doesn't come to field hamsters. Maxwell tells him that Christmas is about more than just Santa Claus. It says so in his book. They suggest that maybe Boss was just naughty last year, but he's been a lot nicer this year. So he's sure to get a present! Boss starts thinking that maybe he could be nice. That evening at dinner, Laura tries to ask her parents about the dollhouse. But when she starts to speak, her Dad interrupts, thinking that she's asking about what to get for him. He says that he'd like something she made herself, after all, it's the thought that counts. Laura sighs. The next day, the ham-hams arrive at the clubhouse to find Boss reading from a manners book. He reads something about holding the door open and when the ham-hams try to talk to him, he asks for some peace for his reading. Hamtaro does a kushi kushi and Boss asks him to stop: he just cleaned the clubhouse! He says that from now on, he's going to be a clean and mannered hamster. He leaves the clubhouse, saying that he wants some examples of how other people be nice. The ham-hams are confused at first, but then realize that it was the Santa story that got this started. Howdy says that if Boss doesn't get a gift, they're going to be in for a nasty New Year. But what to do? Elder Ham is shown wandering about at a mall. He sees a mall Santa Claus and commetns that his beard is much softer than the Santa's. He then notices a purple marble lying around and seems intersted in it. The ham-hams arrive at the same mall. They're searching for Santa, hoping to tell him about Boss. They see a girl dressed in white and red, but decide she can't be Santa, since Santa is male. They finally see the mall Santa that Elder Ham saw earlier. They all make a wish together for Santa to come to Boss. But the mall Santa doesn't seem to hear him. Then, to the shock of the ham-hams, the mall Santa takes off his cap and beard. They don't understand how it could be. Oxnard suggests that they stop for lunch before they keep searching. That evening, Christmas Eve, Laura comments that Dad'll be so impressed when he finds out she made the Christmas dessert. As she heads downstairs, Hamtaro sneaks out again. He's got to get the clubhouse because there isn't much time left to do something about the situation with Boss. At the clubhouse, Dexter complains that he saw lots of red hats, but no Santa. The ham-hams decide on a backup plan: they'll each bring a gift for Boss. Then, they realize that Snoozer is a field hamster too and so they'd best bring him a gift too. Oxnard says that he hopes he can remember and Snoozer says that he hopes so too. Boss comes up and says that he's leaving milk and cookies for Santa. He goes to bed early, saying that he can't wait for tomorrow. Scenes are shown of the ham-hams with their owners and various Christmas festivities as a Christmas song with lyrics such as "There's a magic in the air / That only comes at Christmas." As the song ends, Laura is sitting by her window. It's snowing and a snowflake falls and lands on Hamtaro's nose. Laura says that Hamtaro since Hamtaro caught the snowflake, he can make a wish. Hamtaro wishes for Boss and Snoozer to both get gifts from Santa. He says that he doesn't need anything, but they do. The next morning, Laura wakes up excitedly. She got her dollhouse! She looks over to Hamtaro - what's that? Did he get something too? He looks, it's a new whiz wheel! As Laura heads downstairs to celebrate, Hamtaro sneaks out. He wishes a Merry Christmas to Brandy and then meets the ham-hams by the clubhouse. He's the last one to arrive. They've all been waiting outside, too afraid to go in. Then, they here shouting from inside the clubhouse. They hurry in and find that Boss got a gift! And so did Snoozer! Boss shows them - it's a nice new blanket. He then shows off his gift --- it's the purple marble that Elder Ham found earlier! Hamtaro wonders what it's for and Boss says he doesn't know, but he's going to take care of it his whole life. The scene changes and Elder Ham is shown walking, shouting "Ho ho!" and "Merry Christmas!" That evening, Laura reflects about the day's events. Kana got a new computer for her birthday and a game from Santa! And Santa was so great, she never even sent her list, but he knew exactly what he wanted. Hamtaro is busy running in his new wheel. He says he's going to work off the Christmas treats.moreless - Ep 9Diamonds of Sugar6/7/02
Hamtaro listens to Laura and her friend talking about a BBQ while they are eating a candy called 'Diamonds Of Sugar'. Laura's mother comes in and tells Laura to go shopping for the BBQ. Apparently, Hamtaro wants some but they are put up high on a bookshelf and he goes to the Ham-Hams for help. Bijou is the only one, other than Hamtaro who has seen these candies. Maxwell claims to have read about them, but he was lying. Hamtaro and Bijou draw one on the chalkboard and Boss then says they are in the sky at night. Apparently, he means Stars, but Boss explains that hamsters call them 'Emeralds of Sugar' So they have a party waiting to catch some. They all see the first star of the night, and they think Boss is lying because there is only one. Later they see all the stars and try to catch some. Boss gets questioned on how to catch the 'Diamonds of Sugar' and he says you need to stack on top of each other. And they do that, with Boss on the bottom, and Penelope on top. Hamtaro is below Penelope and they both see a shooting star. This makes the stack to fall and Hamtaro tells the others that he saw a 'Diamond of Sugar' fall from the sky. Apparently the Ham-Hams can't catch any and they leave once it got late. But before they leave, Hamtaro vows that he will one day catch a 'Diamond of Sugar'. Once Oxnard and Hamtaro make it to Laura's house, the BBQ is over. Then Laura tells Hamtaro about her day and Hamtaro find out that you are supposed to wish on a shooting star, then he says to himself that he will wish that jars of 'Diamonds of Sugar' to fall from the sky.moreless - Ep 8Hamtaro, Please come Home!8/14/90
Hamtaro becomes fed up of his miss-treated life at Laura's and when she forces him to wear a decoration (Witch courses stranfgulation)Hamtaro takes advantage of a distaraction and dives into a near by truck while Laura show's off the decoration. Hamtaro travels along with the truck to the deep countryside, and the Hamsters try to find Hamtaro. Eventualy a Street Ham (Sabin)Show's Hamtaro a poster made by his Freinds He decides his home life is worth putting up with when he has friends like these and runs home. Meanwhile Laura has been depressed with guilt that Hamtaro ran away - So even she is kind when he gets back.''moreless - Ep 7Come Out, Bijou!6/6/02
It's morning and Laura is getting ready for the day. Her Mom comes in and reminds her to feed the fish. Laura gets dressed and asks Hamtaro what he thinks of her outfit. She thinks that Hamtaro seems a little restless this morning. She heads outside to meet Kana. It's summer vacation, but they're going over to the school to feed the fish. Hamtaro heads to the clubhouse, where he meets up with Oxnard in the tunnel. They talk about summer vacation - Oxnard's not really sure what it is. Hamtaro thinks that it's a lot of work - Laura has to talk on the phone and be outside with Kana, and so on, and so on. He thinks that she has to do all of that. As they head for the clubhouse, they run into the other ham-hams. Boss just kicked everyone out of the clubhouse! Hamtaro goes down to find out what's going on. It turns out that Boss is getting things rearranged - he's going to invite Bijou over and wants everything to look nice. The ham-hams aren't so sure. Bijou seems like a refined hamsters, so what if she disapproves of their lack of manners? They wonder if she will even come at all. Howdy teases Boss about being in love with her. Boss is set on getting Bijou to come anyway. At school, Laura ends up stumbling while trying to feed the fish. Travis comes up to help her out and gives her his towel. Laura's so flustered, she can't even talk straight. At Bijou's, Boss tries to talk to Bijou. But he can't bring himself to say even one word. Hamtaro complains about this being exactly what happened last time and decides to do the talking. They learn that Bijou has never really gone outside before. She just recently moved into town, all the way from France. Everyone wonders where that is. They try to convince her to come out, but she's too scared. What if Maria finds that she's missing? She asks them to come again, though. Boss turns to stone and calls himself a "schmoe." Back at school, Laura thanks Travis for giving her hope, or rather, help. At the clubhouse, Maxwell reveals that France is country, with green fields and good cheese. The ham-hams decide that they should try to invite Bijou again, but Boss thinks that she'll never fall for someone like him. They think that it would work if they could just improve their manners. Howdy wonders what manners are. Snoozer offers advice in the form of a song title: "I've Got You Under My Skin." Dexter thinks that maybe he could show Bijou some of his magic tricks. Or maybe not. Maxwell suggests that they all have a party to cheer up Boss. They just need to convince Bijou to come first. So they all head over to Bijou's. Most of them, anyway. Bijou tells them that she's never left her house before and hasn't thought about what's on the outside. She's still reluctant, but Hamtaro coaxes her out, telling her that he'll have her back home before Maria can ever notice that she's gone. They head to the clubhouse and Bijou has a good time along the way. At the clubhouse, Cappy is joyed to meet Bijou and Snoozer welcomes her as well. Boss, too, is really glad to see her. Bijou's looking a little dirty. Hamtaro thinks that it adds some distinction to her and her ribbons. Now, she's a real ham-ham. That night, Laura reflects on how strange it is when she tries to talk to Travis. She gave him back his towel, although he told her that she didn't have to wash it. She wonders what big adventure will come tomorrow.moreless - Ep 6Maxwell's Big Scoop6/5/02
The Ham-Ham friends are excited about writing their own paper when Laura is assigned to write for the school paper. For the "Ham-Ham Times", Maxwell is appointed Chief Editor and the Hamsters all become reporters looking for the big scoop. In their search, Hamtaro and Oxnard discover a great story about the frozen lake in the park.moreless - Ep 5Calling all Ham-Hams!6/5/02
It's early morning, before school and Hamtaro can't wait for Laura to leave. It's not that he doesn't like her, it's just that there are so many new ham-hams at the clubhouse nowadays and he can't wait to get there and play with everyone. Laura finally leaves and Hamtaro makes his escape. Outside, he runs into Boss and Oxnard. Oxnard is upset because he's lost his sunflower seed again. He's afraid he'll never find another sunflower seed again, but Hamtaro finds it. He was just sitting on it. Hamtaro and Boss head to the clubhouse and find some new hamsters waiting outside, along with their old friends. They meet Maxwell, an intellectual type, Panda, a craftsman who lives with a family of carpenters, Sandy, and Cappy, a hamster who's hiding under a saucepan. Boss invites them all into the clubhouse, where more introductions are made. Howdy sings a silly song. He recommends tidying up the place. At school, Mr. Yoshi hands Laura a test. She's shocked to see her score: 10%! Mr. Yoshi tells her to look again. She finds that her thumb was covering another zero. She got a 100%. She yells that she's a genius. Travis comments that it was an open book test and so about half the class probably got an A. Laura looks embarrassed. At the clubhouse, Panda builds a desk. He's complimented on his craftsmanship. Meanwhile, Oxnard and Howdy are fighting. Oxnard has a toy cement truck, but doesn't want to share it with Howdy. Howdy grabs onto it and tries to take it. The two tug back and forth until it gets broken. Dexter scolds Howdy and Howdy starts chasing after him. They chase after each other, wrecking Panda's desk, Pashmina's scarf and more! Boss has a flower and is fantasizing about Bijou. Howdy and Dexter chase around wreck his flower. It's complete pandemonium, until Boss yells out for them to stop. He kicks them all out of the clubhouse, saying that he can't take it anymore. Outside, the ham-hams wonder if this means that they're out of the clubhouse forever. They head off and Hamtaro says to himself that he doesn't want to lose his new friends. After school, Laura and Kana are out walking. Laura's gushing over her test score. She says that she thinks maybe her parents should get one of those "smart kid" stickers to put on the car. She's sure they'll be excited about her perfect score and decides to go tell them right away. She first heads to her Mom's workplace. She works in floral design. Laura tries to talk to her. But she's so busy with a client, that she tells Laura she'll have to talk to her later. And she calls Laura "Hamtaro." Laura's disappointed, but she's not going to give up. She heads to her Dad's workplace next. But her Dad is very busy too and doesn't have time to talk with her. Laura complains that she thought her parents would be excited about her test score. Hamtaro's still trying to figure out what to do about the clubhouse situation. At the clubhouse, Boss tries to rationalize kicking out the ham-hams. He says that he likes being by himself. He gets some advice from Snoozer, in the form of a couple of song titles. He decides to go find the ham-hams. He calls to them from a high tree branch, but ends up putting himself in danger. At Hamtaro's, Laura arrives with Kana. They think at first that Hamtaro's asleep, but then Hamtaro pops up of his house within his cage. Laura shows him her perfect test paper. He's not sure what it means, but he sees that Laura's happy, so he decides that he should act happy too. He runs on his wheel excitedly. He wonders if Laura might feed the paper to him later. Laura and Kana leave. Hamtaro decides to take action. He heads off and finds the other ham-hams. They agree to try to apologize to Boss. They start to head for the clubhouse, but then hear Boss cry for help. Hamtaro rushes up the tree to rescue him. The trig snaps and they both go falling. But fortunately, the ham-hams break their fall with a mat of leaves designed by Panda. Hamtaro says that they do well when they work together. They try to apologize to Boss, but Boss doesn't want them to get serious. He just wants them to head back to the clubhouse and have fun. At the clubhouse, everyone settles in again. Howdy and Dexter are still arguing, but at least they're not chasing each other around anymore. Maxwell decides that it's probably too much to ask for quiet out of them, but they do have "a certain charm." That night, Laura shows the test paper to her parents. They're sorry they were too busy to talk to her before, but they're pleased with her score. They grant her request to stay up that night an extra thirty minutes. Before she goes to bed, she writes in her journal. She says that Travis acted like her test score was no big deal, but he was just jealous. Hamtaro still wonders if Laura is going to give him the paper to eat.moreless - Ep 4Pashmina's Present6/4/02
Laura is going to Travis's birthday party, but she isn't sure what to give Travis as a gift. She tells Hamtaro about it and he gets to thinking that it's some sort of competition. He takes the idea to the clubhouse, where the focus becomes giving Pashmina the perfect gift. Howdy and Dexter are both after Pashmina and want to give her a present, so they both turn to Hamtaro for advice, but he doesn't know what to tell them, other than to give her sunflower seeds. Then, when they each find out that Hamtaro gave the other one advice, they feel like he's betrayed them. After Laura suggests that showing the person you care might be more important than the present itself, Hamtaro has a new idea, but what he, Howdy and Dexter don't know is that another ham-ham has been secretly gathering the very best present the entire time.moreless - Ep 3The Ham-Ham Clubhouse6/4/02
It's Laura's first day of school. She's trying to pick out an outfit and is running late. She asks Hamtaro for advice, but Hamtaro can only stare. Her Mom comes up and suggests that she should have picked out an outfit the night before. - Ep 2Courage, Cappy! (a.k.a. Cappy's Courage)6/3/02
On a stormy day, Cappy tries to make his way to the clubhouse and is rescued from danger by Boss. Cappy has been beginning to think that his pampered life with his owners Kip and Sue is boring and when he sees the way Boss lives, he begins to think that he might enjoy the life of a field hamster. After missing the time at which he's supposed to go home, he's even more determined to become a field hamster, but the ham-hams try to talk him out of it, fearing that among other things his owners will be sad if he's gone. At Laura's school, Kana shows off a picture of Oxnard that she painted. Everyone loves it and it's so good that it almost looks like a photograph, but when Laura ends it accidentally ripping it in half in an attempt to keep it out of the hands of an overbearing classmate, she fears that Kana is mad at her and isn't talking to her. She's sure this is what happened when Kana leaves school early that day, but after spending some time with Hamtaro, she decides to go over to Kana's and apologize and then she learns the truth about what happened.moreless - Ep 1Hamtaro6/3/02
Hamtaro has just moved into a new house with his owner Laura. While Laura goes out, Hamtaro escapes from his cage and meets some new friends! He becomes pals with Oxnard and Boss, two neighborhood hamsters. He also helps Boss to try to charm a female hamster named Bijou.
