Digimon: The Birth of Guilmon

In this opener from the latest Digimon series (a Pokémon clone from the animators of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z), 13-year-old Digimon card player Takato's discovery of a mysterious card in his Digimon (Digital Monsters) collection sets off a chain of events that leads to his becoming the tamer of "Guilmon," a cute and cuddlesome Digimon that spits flames. Honing his skills, Takato eventually is joined by two other tamers--Rika (a hard-edged chick who threatens her Digimon Renomon constantly) and Henry (whose sassy little Digimon Terriermon is incredibly mouthy and funny)--and the trio and their creatures become involved in further adventures. Sporting many technical terms (well, basically a lot of words modified to begin with "Digi-"), as well as flashy and psychedelic Digimon transformation sequences, Digimon has a huge young audience. Although I'm still not sure I follow the whole Digimon concept, my 10-year-old brother can rattle off a ton of facts and pertinent Digimon information to anyone who asks--so I know that at least somebody gets it. Deficient comprehension (or appreciation) skills of this reviewer aside, this sure to be popular title is recommended. Aud: P. (J. Williams)