Jealous Hamtaro & Other Stories (とっとこハム太郎 あいしてるでちゅ♥ lit. Tottoko Hamtaro I Love You) is a book in the Hamtaro manga series, released in 2000 by Shogakukan. It was first serialized in Shogakukan's "Third Grade" Magazine under the name "Tokoton! Hamutaro" (とことん！ハム太郎). The story involves Hamtaro falling in love with his owner, Amy Andou, showing the struggles and heartbreak his love brings.
While it was the third (and final) Hamtaro manga released in North America, it was the fourth manga tankōbon released in Japan (following Gozaimachu! Vol.1).
Summary
The Hamtaro in this book lives with a 4th grader named Amy Andou. The beginning shows Hamtaro spending time with a hamster version of Amy and trying to impress her. However, Amy is actually a human girl.
Amy returns Hamtaro to his cage one day after playing. She calls him cute and says she loves him but Hamtaro knows she does not love him in the same way as he does. He claims to love only Amy. A boy named Timothy arrives. Hamtaro sees him as a rival and angrily wants him to stay away from Amy.
Another day, Amy has to get to school on time. Hamtaro wants to come too but Amy reminds him he cannot. Hamtaro is sad. He then brags that his heart is strong enough to take it and goes to see Amy's dog Scruffy. Scruffy reveals that Amy sees Timothy at school. Hamtaro is shocked and throws a tantrum.
Another time, he bites Timothy's hand and is scolded. He feels guilty about it despite his jealousy. It is then revealed that Hamtaro first met Amy when her dog Scruffy found him wet and unwell. He was lost and unable to return to his home so Amy takes him in and nurses him back to health. Back to present Amy tells Hamtaro not to bite people.
One summer vacation, Hamtaro is angry that Timothy is spending time with Amy at her house doing schoolwork. Hamtaro shows off that he can do schoolwork too but is still unable to do it with Amy. At last, Timothy leaves but forgets his notebook. Hamtaro is upset knowing that Amy is looking forward to seeing Timothy again and chews the page. Timothy forgives him and Amy asks Hamtaro if he now likes Timothy. Hamtaro is frustrated.
One night, Amy and Timothy light sparklers and Amy brings Hamtaro along. After some antics, Hamtaro almost falls in a bucket of water and Amy watches over him but he thinks she prefers him over Timothy.
One day, Amy has a cold. For some reason, Amy does not want to meet Timothy, and Hamtaro discovers a love note to Timothy. He drags it to Scruffy and they have a talk. It is shown that a girl named Kaya also likes Timothy and asked Amy to give the letter to him. Timothy comes along and picks up Hamtaro upon seeing him and sees the letter with his name on it and reads it silently. He then brings Amy handouts from the school. Timothy does not feel ready for a girlfriend and wants no love letters, much to Hamtaro's pleasure. He gloats about being being grown up and that Amy is his. He then tries to "impress" Amy by doing several antics like climbing above a curtain but Amy is only concerned about his safety. Thinking himself the victor, Hamtaro is no longer jealous of Timothy being with Amy and laughs at himm.
One day, Amy sets Hamtaro on a blind date with a female hamster named Blossom and gets along well with her. He is happy but feels guilty about loving Blossom given his love for Amy. Blossom later reveals that she likes someone else and Hamtaro understands. Amy feels bad for Hamtaro and he learns about being true to how you feel. Amy gives Hamtaro a stuffed turtle for consolation and to keep him company. Scruffy finds a female dog as a girlfriend. And Hamtaro is just happy to be with Amy.
One day, Amy goes to give Timothy a Christmas present. Hamtaro crawls in the bag containing the gift and is accidentally left at Timothy's place. He wakes up late that night. He sees Timothy as an enemy. He makes a mess on Timothy's floor. He later finds a pair of gloves and figures that they are Amy's gift. He flushes one down the toilet and Amy arrives looking for Hamtaro. He gloats and falls in the toilet and Timothy saves him much to his dismay. Hamtaro wonders how Amy would feel if she knew what he did.
Amy is later shown to be sad about Timothy having apparently lost the glove Hamtaro flushed down and thinks he does not like her. Hamtaro feels guilty about making her sad. However, Timothy is fine with just one glove much to Hamtaro's surprise. Hamtaro is happy that Amy is smiling.
One day, thinking that Timothy won and he now has to leave, Hamtaro goes to Scruffy's house being reluctant about being far from Amy as well as facing her. Amy is worried about him. He is sad and remembers the times he spent with her. Just then Timothy finds him and Hamtaro acknowledges that Timothy is good but still bites his hand. Timothy shake his hand in pain causing Hamtaro to fall. Amy sees it and thinks he threw Hamtaro down on purpose and has a falling out with Timothy. Amy angrily rants about what Timothy did and Hamtaro realizes he is only a little pet hamster. Amy thinks he got lost when he really ran away. He feels guilty of ruining their relationship and tries to get them to reconcile.
Amy still thinks of Timothy and writes his name on the corner of her notebook. Hamtaro decides to let Amy go and accept himself as a hamster. So he sneaks to school with her and runs up a tree so that Timothy has to save him. The two make up and walk together again. Hamtaro still loves Amy.
Characters
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Trivia
- The Japanese title of the book is a play on Amy's Japanese name which means love.
- The family tree at the back of the book reveals that Blossom married a hamster named Cocoa.