Hello Kitty & Friends: Let's Be Friends is the fourth volume of DVDs released for Hello Kitty & Friends. This disc features two stories starring Hello Kitty, two stories featuring Keroppi, and one story featuring Pochacco.

In "The Dream Thief," Hello Kitty, her twin sister Mimmy, and their friends are having problems with a creature "eating" their good dreams. They have to figure out who the creature is, and find a way to have the "Dream Thief" return their dreams. In "The Wonderful Sisters," Mimmy meets a new boy at school that she really likes, but she's shy and has a hard time talking to him. Kitty tries to pose as her sister to help her out... but does Kitty's plan work?

In "Let's Be Friends," Keroppi and his friends meet a baby snake named Wink. At first, they're afraid of Wink, but after the snake is hurt, Keroppi takes it home and helps take care of it. Can Keroppi convince his friends that Wink doesn't want to hurt them, and that all Wink wants to do is make new friends? In the mini-episode, "The Big Adventure," Keroppi and his friends must help a new friend find his missing belly button drum. Finally, in "Exciting Birthday," Pochacco is excited for his birthday the next day, but his friends seem to have forgotten. On his birthday, Pochacco has to try to save some eggs that are about to hatch.

This is a well-done series for its intended audience (children ages three through seven). From the moment this DVD started, my three-year-old daughter was mesmerized by it in a way I had never seen her mesmerized by another show. I think the combination of the cute animation style, the colors, and the music help to make the show accessible to young children.

Admittedly, this is a rather "low frills" DVD. When you put the DVD in, it goes straight into the first story after a trailer for another set of Hello Kitty DVDs, rather than going to a menu. Also, the only "special feature”" is the DVD credits. Normally, I would count the lack of special features as a mark against a DVD; however, since this DVD is being aimed at and marketed to young children, special features aren't nearly as important. Since younger children have shorter attention spans, they're not likely to sit still for special features. And I have to admit that, as an adult, even I enjoyed the episodes on this DVD. The writing for the English dub was done in such a way that it really wasn't talking down to the kids, which helped me to enjoy what I was watching.

These Hello Kitty DVDs contain anime that's very friendly to young children, although girls will probably be more interested in it than boys. If you have a young child at home and are looking for kid-friendly anime, then I would recommend the Hello Kitty & Friends DVDs.

I wrote this review after watching a copy of this DVD that I checked out through the King County Library System.

The Dream Thief The Wonderful Sisters Let's Be Friends The Big Adventure Exciting Birthday