More famous? I don't know. What I do know is that Bomberman has been around for a lot longer - since the NES - and there are a lot of Japan-only Bomberman games, and tournaments and stuff have gone on in Japan in the past. I also know that most people outside of Japan, when you mention Bomberman, seem to have only played Super Bomberman 2, Bomberman 64, Bomberman Hero, or one of the GameCube games. And then there's the fact that this is the largest English-speaking Bomberman Board on the net.

I don't really know anything about Monster Hunter... to be honest, the first time it was mentioned around me I mistook it for Monster RANCHER, which I know equally little about but was surprised by the more realistic graphics and stuff at first (   ).

But, I don't keep up on very many video game series that didn't start before the 2000s. I do, though, know how annoying it is when things enjoy huge success in Japan and then little to none of it gets exported.