The second half of Magical Meow Meow Taruto starts with the third volume in the series.  A show aimed at younger girls, this program is a lot of fun for the young elementary school set, especially those who love animals.  In the three episodes on this disc, they manage to touch upon the main story line and set up things for the concluding volume.

The legendary land of Ganache that is located in a different dimension where cats are the rulers.  This land was ruled by the kindly House of Kinka, a family that had magical powers.  The House of Byoh, rivals who possessed powers of deception, wanted to rule and so they started a civil war and defeated the Kinka.  As King of Ganache's castle was about to fall, he gave his newborn daughter to a royal retainer and told him to flee the land with the royal heir.  The retainer, mortally wounded, sets the princess afloat in a basket on a river that led into an alternate dimension where Ganache is just a legend.

Years later, Iori, his sister, and his cat Taruto move into a new neighborhood.  Taruto, like the other cats in this world, looks human but with cat ears and a tail.  She stands about three feet tall, walks erect, and even wears clothes.  The special thing about Taruto though is the fact that she can use magic.  She's not very good, of course, and most of her spells backfire with comic results, but she tries to help Iori and his sister as much as she can.

The local cats notice that something is odd about Taruto.  They start to suspect that she may be the legendary missing princess from Ganache.  Together with her newfound friends, Taruto has many exciting and comical adventures.

The first episode has Taruto worried about Iori.  He has been searching for the perfect snow cone recipe, and is frustrated that he can't come up with the right combination of ingredients.  Searching for an example to base his recipe on, Iori travels to a nearby beach.  To get there though, he has to pass through an abandoned shopping arcade that is set up in a tunnel carved through a mountain.  The tunnel is supposed to be haunted though, and Taruto is determined to save her master from the clutches of a ghost.

Next is the best episode in the series so far.  Taruto and her friend Gallette go hiking in the mountains and get lost.  While roaming around they somehow get transported to Ganache, a very dangerous place for Taruto.  Luckily they stumble across a Kinka priestess who tells them how to return to their dimension, but not before a group of Byoh soldiers discover their presence.  Taruto is in a race for her life to get to the exit before the soldiers capture her.

The final episode is another stand alone program.  A rare Iriomate wild cat turns up in Okashina City.  He's been trying to get to the Big Candy Apple, a large city across the ocean, to find his lost love.  He's been traveling for years, and now he's old and tired but still has countless miles to go.  When he's spotted in the city several people decide that they want to find and keep this rare animal, so its up to Taruto and her pals to keep him safe until he can regain his strength.

Like the first volume, the only other disc I've seen, this volume contains three shows.  These are episodic in nature, with only a very slight amount of continuity.

This is a cute series, perfect for young children.  The shows have a good amount of humor, and there aren't any scary monsters or villains.  The closest the show comes to a villain is the pretty girl next door who thinks Taruto is a beautiful cat and wants to kidnap her.  Even though the first episode has a supernatural theme, it isn't scary.  The most spooky part is when Taruto is startled by her own shadow.  A great show for timid viewers.

Audio:

This disc offers a choice of an English dub or the original Japanese track both in stereo.  I viewed the show in both languages.  Both tracks are solid and work well.  A lot of the characters in the English track had high pitched voices that I didn't really care for, but younger viewers surely won't mind.  My eight year old didn't.  There wasn't any dropouts or hiss in either track, and they both fit the show well.  There are optional English subtitles.

Video:

The full frame video looks very good.  The image is a tad soft, but not much.  The show's bright colors are dynamic and vivid, and the detail is fine.  Digital defects were almost nonexistent.  A nice looking disc.

Extras:

This disc also contains a textless opening and the fourth sing-along-song that are a mixture of live action and animated clips.  There are also trailers to three other shows aimed at the younger set.

Final Thoughts:

Overall a fun light series perfect for early elementary kids and younger.  The plots have little actual danger or suspense, and the show is sure to be enjoyed by even the most timid children.  There is a little comedy in the show and every time Taruto preform a spell she gets a good laugh.  Older viewers (and I'm talking nine or ten and older) will likely find the program to be too calm and sedate for their tastes.  I'd say they should skip it, but this is Recommended for young viewers.