If you’re not already familiar with Bakugan then you’re probably just too old – this Cartoon Network series, spawned from a toy that appears to cross Marbles with Transformers, has now made its inevitable way into a graphic novel format.
Taking a manga size but limiting each book to about 100 pages, it’s the perfect package for the target market of between 6 and 11 years. Most disappointing is that the art seems to have been lifted directly from the anime-style TV series rather than being recreated especially for the book (though an original manga is promised for next year) but, if you know someone who already can’t get enough Bakugan this Christmas, Bakugan Battle Brawlers: The Battle Begins might be just the ticket.
The nice thing about the Bakugan TV anime series is that the producers — TMS Entertainment and Japan Vistec under the direction of Mitsuo Hashimoto — intended for Bakugan (the Game) to supplement the interest between the show and the game, and it has succeeded with flying colors. Now in its third season, the popularity of Bakugan has resulted in hosted sponsorship by a huge, major player: Toys ‘R’ Us. This has spawned a feeding frenzy for the game and the Bakugan starter pack products that contain the playing pieces (bakugan magnetic marble warriors and metal cards, among others) Game play is a little confusing at first but main Bakuzan website (www.bakuzan.com) provides Gameplay rules. That, along with a multitude of videos on Bakugan, which you can find on both Youtube and http://www.bakuganstarterpack-deals.com, should get the prospective game player up-to-speed. Once that happens, you’ll be addicted!