Thursday, February 25, 2010

Naruto and Ben 10

This is Part 3 of a series about popular youth culture in Thailand
(see here for Part 1, and here for Part 2)

Naruto and Ben 10 are amongst the two most popular children's cartoons here in Thailand. Both are regularly shown on the Thai Cartoon Network satellite TV channel, and also sometimes on normal Thai terrestrial TV at weekends. My son loves to watch them, although to be honest he likes just about all cartoons, the same as most children. I have to say that even I like Ben 10, it is quite intelligent for a kid's cartoon series.

The original high-quality Naruto manga comicbooks from Japan, translated into Thai, are extremely popular with Thai children and even many adults, including myself - I prefer them to the Naruto cartoon show, which is not as good as the original manga in my opinion.

There are many shops all over Thailand that sell Naruto manga, but my personal favourite comicbook shop (for all Japanese manga and anime, not just Naruto) is "Oh! Anime" on the 6th floor of Central World in Bangkok. There is also an Oh! Anime shop on the 3rd floor, but the 6th floor shop is the biggest and best one. You can get there from either the "Chit Lom" or "Siam" BTS Skytrain stations.

Ben 10 toys can be seen for sale everywhere in Thailand now, even in local village markets, which shows just how popular that cartoon series has become. VCDs and DVDs of the Ben 10 cartoons and feature films can also be found pretty much everywhere now too. However, as is almost always the case with these things, the best place to find real Ben 10 collector's items is in Bangkok, especially on the top two floors of the MBK Center which is near the "National Stadium" BTS Skytrain station.

If you're a fan of Naruto or Ben 10, or both, here are some great free Naruto and Ben 10 online Flash games for you to play (from the Dan-Dare.org fun and games site):

  Naruto: Star Students

  Naruto: Star Students 2 - Ninja Survival

  Naruto: Battle for Leaf Village

  Naruto: Shadow Clone Battle

The above games also include some Naruto wallpaper for you to use as your computer background if you wish.


  Ben 10: Cannonbolt Pinball

  Ben 10: Alien Force - Forever Defense

  Ben 10: Power Splash

  Ben 10: Spore Attack

  Ben 10: Critical Impact

  Ben 10: Krakken Attack

  Ben 10: Underworld

As with the Naruto games, these Ben 10 games also include Ben 10 wallpaper pictures for you to use on your computer.

(See also here)

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