#ducken

Been feeling nostalgic about the old Monster Rancher anime lately, and I remembered this guy, an odd little monster named Ducken.

I remember seeing this episode and instantly falling in love with him. He's just so adorable and there was something so strange about him that I became totally obsessed with him back then. I had never played the games (never owned a PS1, I was an N64 kid) so I didn't know the backstory for this type of monster at the time. Basically, a Ducken monster is a living wooden, duck-like toy. In hindsight, Ducken seems like a character that'd be more at home in the world of Winnie the Pooh than a shonen series about monsters. But I think the way he contrasts with the other types of monsters around him is part of why I like him so much. lol

Then later in the episode Ducken shows how surprisingly badass he can be, while also displaying just how strange of a creature he really is (again, I didn't know he was supposed to be a living toy back when I first saw this, lol) and that moment instantly cemented Ducken as my favorite monster in the series! ^^

モンスターファーム 2 ブリーダーズガイドブックII

1999年8月27日初版第1刷発行

¥1238

Monster Farm 2 Breeders Guidebook II

モンスターファーム 2 IMa公式 ブリーディングガイド

1999年3月16日 第1刷発行, 1999年5月30日 第5刷発行

¥1048

Monster Farm 2

IMa Official Breeding Guide (5th Edition)

March 16, 1999, 1st printing

DUCKEN[ダックン] aka DAKKUNG

BLOCKEN[ブロックン] BLOCK + DUCKEN (the original retained DUCKEN's rounder shapes, but I like how later games made him much blockier)

TICKEN[チックン] Like TICK-TOCK[チクタク] because his little data blurb mentions clockwork

SUIKAN[スイカン] from SUIKA[西瓜]: "watermelon" and DUCKEN

KAAKUN[カークン] from KAAKAA[カーカー] the sound of a crow

WAKKUN[ワックン] super unclear to me what this was meant as… WACK? WAKUWAKU, which is a kind of onomatopoeia for excitment? What do either of those have to do with I guess a beach theme?

KARA-KARAKKUN[カラカラックン] from KARA-KARA[からから] meaning "Parched/bonedry" because it's a mummy.

TOKUN-POKUN[トークンポークン] No idea what this is supposed to be... It could just be loosely racist gibberish in the vein of EekumBokum mockery of south pacific indigenous cultures considering the vague totempole or tiki sculpture.

DOKKUN[ドックン] weirdly I was expecting it to be from donguri[団栗]: "acorn" but it's not... Given that the -KKUN bit is just standard for the DUCKEN family, that really only gives me DO to work with, and that's too vague

KAZAMUKKUN[カザムックン] from I think either KAZAMA[風待]: "waiting on (a favorable) wind" or KAZAGURUMA[風車]: "windmill"

KOKEKKUN[コケックン] from KOKE~[コケッ] the sound a chicken makes, like a CLUCK.

DENKUN[デンクン] from ODEN[御田] a classic hotpot dish in Japan, recognizable for its larger chunks of food on a skewer

DARUMAKUN[ダルマックン] from DARUMA-OTOSHI[だるま落とし] the children's toy with the Daruma figure on top of a tower of smaller colored blocks that you have to knock out one at a time with a little mallet.

BUDOKUN[ブドークン] from BUDO[葡萄]: "Grapes"

MACHU-PICCHU[マチュピチュ] the famous Incan citadel in the mountains of Peru

KAMOCHA[カモチャ] From KAMO[鴨]:"duck" and KABOCHA[南瓜]: "Pumpkin"

KAN-TEESEEKUN[カンテーセークン] This one is super weird to me and I'm assuming from the design that whatever this is is a Japanese approximation of Chinese. I want to take a random stab and say the KAN[關] is GUAN from GUAN-YU[關羽] the famous mythic Chinese general from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as is fairly apparent from the design. But I'm not so certain about the TE~SE~ bit (The kanji on his chest is tori[鳥]:"bird")

BAKURETTSUN[バクレッツン] from BAKURETSU[爆裂]: "EXPLOSION/BOMB"

TUTANKHAMUN[ツタンカーメン] like the Egyptian pharaoh

PARADOKKUN[パラドックン] seemingly from PARADOX[パラドックス]

PIITAN[ピータン] from PIITAN[皮蛋] the preserved and aged egg dish known as a "Century Egg"

MAGAMOKKUN[マガモックン] from MAGAMO[真鴨]: "Mallard"

MIYABIYAKAN[ミヤピヤカン] from MIYABIYAKA[雅やか]: "elegant/graceful"​

RIKUU[リクウ] I have no idea what they were going for with this name in relation t the design... You'd think given the design that it would be some kind of reference to, like, canopic jars or Duamutef something, but no... Also this is the 3rd time there's been some kind of egyptian mummy duck in this series...

And then all the funky spares from the GBA games

PIIKAN[ピーカン] PIXIE + DUCKEN

KINKUN[キンクン] KIN[金]: "gold" and DUCKEN

MOCHIKUN[モチクン] just MOCHI + DUCKEN

HIKKUN[ヒックン] from HI[火]: "fire" and DUCKEN

ARROWKKUN[アロックン] ARROWHEAD + DUCKEN

YUZUKKUN[ユズックン] from YUZU[柚子] japanese name for a pomelo

KAMOMEKKUN[カモメックン] from KAMOME[鴎/鷗/鷖]: "seagull"

TAKKON[タッコン] from TAKOPI and DUCKEN, where TAKO[蛸]: "octopus"

CHAKKUN[チャックン] super unclear given how little is in here... Maybe it's CHA[茶]: "brown"?

SAIKUN[サイクン] from SAI-ROLLER and SAI[犀]: "Rhinoceros"

TORIKOKKUN[トリコックン] from TORIKO[虜]: "prisoner"??

BOUKUN[ボウクン] from BOUKUN[暴君]: "tyrant/despot"

LESSUN[レッスン] from LESIONE and DUCKEN

ZANNEN[ザンネン] from ZAN and DUCKEN

KYUUKAN[キューカン] Unclear... Obviously the KAN is the DUCKEN format, but with just the one syllable, KYUU I can't pinpoint a specific meaning

OREOKKUN[オレオックン] unclear??

DORAGGUN[ドラッグン] DRAGGON??? But it's not a dragon subtype??

DOKKUN[ドックン] from DOKU[毒]: "poison" and DUCKEN

UZURAKKUN[ウズラックン] from UZURA[鶉]: "quail"

LEOKKUN[レオックン] from LEO and DUCKEN

FANTASY-STAR[ファンタジスタ]

PIYOKKUN[ピヨックン] from PIYO-PIYO[ピヨピヨ] the sound of chirping birds.

O-FRANCE[オフランス]

KONGARII[コンガリー] from KONGARI[こんがり]: "well-cooked/browned"

NASUKKUN[ナスックン] from NASUBI[茄子]: "Eggplant" one of a few different monsters skinned as eggplants as a reference to the Japanese tradition of your first dream of the New Year being an indicator of luck in the year ahead, with eggplants being a prominent good luck indicator