Hello Kitty’s Paradise: Pretty Kitty is the first volume of DVDs released for Hello Kitty’s Paradise. The back of the box claims that there are eight complete episodes included. However, it doesn’t explicitly state that the episodes are roughly ten to eleven minutes in length; two “episodes” actually make up one whole episode of Hello Kitty’s Paradise. In between the stories, and sometimes at the beginning of the show, there is a “Fun and Games” section using claymation, and the games include such things as “Guess the Shape” and “Nutty Numbers.” Personally, I didn’t care much for the claymation interstitials. I didn’t think they were very well-produced, and in some instances, it felt like these interstitials were written in a way to talk down to children.

The episodes included on this disc are: “A Blooming Good Morning,” “A Storybook Adventure,” “Kitty’s Clean Cuisine,” “A Day Out With Dad,” “Underground Kitty,” “Watch the Birdie,” “Minding Manners,” and “Streetwise.” Each episode works at teaching kids important lessons about life. Topics included on this disc are sharing, counting, safety, manners, and taking responsibility. As a parent, I appreciated that the English dub versions of the stories included on the DVD provided positive messages for their intended audience. I also appreciate that the English dubs of the actual stories were written in a way that the episodes didn’t talk down to the audience. The only real disappointment I had was the fact that different voice actors were hired to provide the voices for the characters than on the Hello Kitty & Friends DVD releases. Personally, I thought the voices on Hello Kitty & Friends were better than in Hello Kitty’s Paradise.

My 4-year-old daughter really enjoyed watching this DVD. She’s an active child, and is known for wiggling around while watching television. However, when this DVD was playing, she sat still the entire time it was playing. I believe it was a combination of the cute animation, the bright colors, and the stories that captivated my daughter’s attention.

Admittedly, this is a “low frills” DVD release. The main menu has options for Scene Selection and DVD Credits. The screenshot on the back of the box shows there are three menu options (an ADV Previews link is shown), but on the actual disc, the ADV Previews link is not included on the menu. The DVD Credits is a screen which shows who worked on this Hello Kitty DVD release.

The Hello Kitty’s Paradise DVD releases contain anime that’s very friendly to young children. However, girls will probably be more interested in these DVDs than boys, due to the “cuteness” of Hello Kitty. If you have a young child at home and are looking for kid-friendly anime, then I would recommend the Hello Kitty’s Paradise DVDs.