 "A kid-friendly anime release" | 2009-08-19 |
| - Reviewed By aeschtunes |
This is the first volume of DVDs released for Hello Kitty's Paradise. The back of the box claims that there are eight complete episodes included. However, it doesn't explicitly state that the episodes are roughly ten to eleven minutes in length; two "episodes" actually make up one whole episode of Hello Kitty's Paradise. In between the stories, and sometimes at the beginning of the show, there is a "Fun and Games" section using claymation, and the games include such things as "Guess the Shape" and "Nutty Numbers." Personally, I didn't care much for the claymation interstitials (in my opinion, they weren't very well-produced, and sometimes, it felt like these interstitials were talking down to children).
The episodes included on this disc are: "A Blooming Good Morning," "A Storybook Adventure," "Kitty's Clean Cuisine," "A Day Out With Dad," "Underground Kitty," "Watch the Birdie," "Minding Manners," and "Streetwise." Each episode works at teaching kids important lessons about life. Topics included on this disc are sharing, counting, safety, manners, and taking responsibility. As a parent, I appreciated that the English dub versions of the stories included on the DVD provided positive messages for their intended audience. I also appreciate that the English dubs of the actual stories were written in a way that the episodes didn't talk down to the audience.
My 4-year-old daughter really enjoyed watching this DVD. She's an active child, and is known for wiggling around while watching television. However, when this DVD was playing, she sat still the entire time it was playing. I believe it was a combination of the cute animation, the bright colors, and the stories that captivated my daughter's attention.
Admittedly, this is a "low frills" DVD release. The main menu has options for Scene Selection and DVD Credits. The screenshot on the back of the box shows there are three menu options (an ADV Previews link is shown), but on the actual disc, the ADV Previews link is not included on the menu. The DVD Credits is a screen which shows who worked on this Hello Kitty DVD release.
The Hello Kitty's Paradise DVD releases contain anime that's very friendly to young children. However, girls will probably be more interested in these DVDs than boys, due to the "cuteness" of Hello Kitty. If you have a young child at home and are looking for kid-friendly anime, then I would recommend the Hello Kitty's Paradise DVDs. |
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 "HELLO KITTY'S PARADISE - PRETTY KITTY (VOL. 1)" | 2008-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2DFFDS6X548QE |
| I LOVE ANYTHING HELLO KITTY, SO IT'S NOT HARD TO GET A GOOD REVIEW FROM ME ON ANY OF THEM! |
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 "Too Scary Kitty" | 2005-03-09 |
| - Reviewed By mama2ekids |
| I wish I had seen all of the reviews for this, before I purchased this video from Toys R' Us. This is the first video purchase I have been disappointed in buying. The other reviewer who noted the scary witch scene was right -- the witch sharpening the knife sequence was too scary!!! My daughter is still talking about how scary it was days later. While the other shorts on here were fine - the third one implied way too much violence for the age group that might normally purchase this -- I would not endorse this video for kids under six and/or kids who have not watched a lot of violence/scary scenes. The implied violence just seemed too inappropriate given the sweet, pleasant nature of the rest of the video. |
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 "Grating on the ears, yet strangely charming" | 2005-01-17 |
| - Reviewed By csseu |
Please note that this series is different from the 1980's "Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater" series, as well as the Japanese collection of short stories and fairy tale retellings with Megumi Hayashibara.
In this series, Hello Kitty and her sister Mimi have a series of short (~10 minute) adventures in which they explore their imaginations or learn a simple lesson about counting, hygiene, street signs, and other topics. The stories are mostly simple and lighthearted, with a few macabre exceptions such as the knife incident mentioned below.
Interspersed with the Hello Kitty stories are short, "educational" CG games which ask the viewer to guess a shape or animal, some of which have apparently nothing to do with Hello Kitty. These are advertised as a bonus, but I found them an annoying diversion from the HK material.
The voice acting can be grating to the point of unintended humor. In about every other episode, Kitty and Mimi sing an off-tune song about imagination that made me want to cry after a few episodes. The characters in the CG games giggle incessantly while talking. However, the overly enthusiastic "MIMI!! SHE'S MY SISTER!!!" in the opening sequence is so over the top that it makes up for all of this.
I have to admit that I am at least 15 years older than the target audience for this series. That said, I enjoyed the adventure stories more than the educational ones, if only for the expectation of seeing something very strange, such as the fact that the entire Kitty family wears the same cherry print nightgown, or the image of Kitty throwing herself against a hole in the wall to make it bigger.
Younger children (age 4-8) will probably enjoy this, but anyone else should probably stay away unless they like Kitty and are easily amused by things that aren't meant to be funny. |
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| "Great themes and the kids enjoy it" | 2004-01-26 |
| - Reviewed By victor_blake |
| Our three toddlers watched a couple of the short videos right before dinner. So during dinner I found my 2-year old surprisingly civil and polite. After some brief inquires (to my 10 year old daughter) I found out that Kitty had learned some lessons on the tape. Outstanding! Every little contribution to parenting helps. Think Veggietales for toddlers and you've got Hello Kitty. Have multiple short videos is also pleasant because we prefer not to have extended TV viewing for our toddlers. |
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| "Must-have for all little (or big) girls!" | 2003-12-01 |
| - Reviewed By ljdanner |
| My little girl, who will be four in 2 months, adores Hello Kitty. While the Sanrio licensed products are a bit steep in price, the Hello Kitty Paradise DVDs and videos are an excellent value. 190 minutes of non-stop Hello Kitty will entertain even the antsiest of children. The stories teach good values, usually have a "moral of the story" ending, and aren't too over-the-top saccharin sweet. I love watching these with my little one. Even though there are plenty of Hello Kitty DVDs and videos, stick with the Hello Kitty Paradise items. These items are orginally in Japanese, dubbed in English (no sub-titles). The writing and voice acting is so much better in this series than the American/English version (the one from the 80's). The American/English H.K. collection bores not only myself, but my little girl as well. We have watched all the episodes in all the videos a million times over, and I find it rather ridiculous that someone would find some of the episodes "scary" or "terrifying". I'd hate to see what the ghosts and goblins in Scooby Doo do to those kids... Overall, these Hello Kitty Paradise videos are an excellent gift for a child or an adult Hello Kitty collector. I HIGHLY recommend these Japanese treats for hours of fun, educational, and cute entertainment. |
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