A tale of intrigue that surrounds an abandoned child, Jiro, who was supposedly orphaned. After being chased from his adoptive parents' home for a crime he did not commit, he is taken in by the sinister priest, Tenkai, taught the craft of the shinobi and given a number of clues as to his real identity. During his adventures, he discovers the truth behind his abandonment, his parents and, importantly, his mentor Tenkai who proves to be far more sinister than just another buddhist monk as Jiro runs inexorably toward his destiny, guided by his past and a mysterious dagger. Released subtitled by AnimEigo in 1993.
[Entry by Chika]
Zen-Zen! Dame-Dame! Turning the roles of the animal kingdom on thier heads, Damekko Doubutsu tells the story of Uruno the cowardly wolf, who moves into the forest of misfit animals. Befriended by Usahara (a delinquent bunny who smokes), and Chiiko (a clumsy and slow cheetah), Uruno fits in perfectly with his not-quite-right neighbors.
Cute and funny, Damekko Dobutsu's five-minute episodes are perfect for comedy fans trying to squeeze in a quick fix.
[Entry by Abraham Evangelista]
A year ago, an alien spacecraft crashed just off the Japanese coast. The (humanoid) survivors, calling themselves "DearS", started to integrate themselves into human society. Now, xenophobic high-school student Takeya discovers and takes pity on a nearly-naked girl, and lets her follow him home before he discovers that she's a DearS with no knowledge of Earth's customs who has decided to become his property ...
Starting from a cliched and explotative premise, DearS tells a story of tolerance, understanding, and finally acceptance of other people's feelings and lifestyles. The series does spend a lot of time on the various possible relationships between men and women, and many of the DearS are depicted as physically desirable, but these parts of the story are a "bedroom farce" in the style of the old Carry On movies rather than a sex romp. (However, since it is a bedroom farce, you probably don't want to show the series to your pre-teen children unless your family is very open about sex.)
DearS is a 13-episode series, available in R1 from Geneon.
[Entry by Rob Kelk]
see Meitantei Conan
Mano Yohko is your average Japanese High-School girl. However, what she doesn't know is that she's 108th in the line of Devil Hunters, women who must battle supernatural demons to keep the world safe. Silly more than scary, and not without the ecchi (sexual) overtones and occasional violence, this is a fun but fluffy series. No grand concepts, just silly, occasionally dramatic fun. However, the sex and violence prevent it from being ideal for the kiddies. 5 episodes plus one tape of music videos. Subbed. From ADV Films.
[Entry by Ben Cantrick]
[Parental Advisory: The first OAV almost qualifies for inclusion in the Anime Hentai Primer, because of one scene that is inappropriate for younger viewers. - Rob Kelk]
Seven children are suddenly ripped from summer camp to a strange land which is in danger from the domination of an evil creature. Coming to their aid are seven creatures that, upon suitable stimulus, grow and change and gain all sorts of powers. These are the Digimon (or Digital Monsters). The series is a little drawn as each enemy defeated reveals another and, in the course of fighting one particular enemy, an eighth member is added to the group. This series was dubbed in a number of languages and is shown on TV in the US, UK and mainland Europe.
[Entry by Chika]
Humanity has abandoned Earth and spread across the galaxy, but that doesn't mean there aren't any problems any more. One of the most successful troubleshooting teams is the "Lovely Angels", two teenaged girls who have a near-perfect success record. However, they also have a reputation of blowing up everything they touch (which isn't fair - only about a third of their missions end with something being destroyed, and it's never their fault), which has lead to their unofficial and hated nickname of the "Dirty Pair". Two action series (the original Dirty Pair and the remake Dirty Pair Flash) and a North American comic series exist, based on the novels by Takachiho Haruka.
More information about the Dirty Pair is available at the website Tea Time in Elenore City.
The North American rights to the OAVs, the movies, and Flash are now owned by ADV Films. The comics are available from Dark Horse.
[Entry by Rob Kelk]
Series based on Masakazu Katsura's manga of the same name. Earth is overpopulated in the future, and that's all because of one guy - the Mega-Playboy, who was irresistible to women, and was the father of one hundred children, each of them also was a father/mother of another hundred... you get the picture. But Karin Aoi, a DNA operator sent to the past to eliminate that threat, found that the Mega-Playboy, usual Japanese high-school student Junta Momonari, isn't a Mega-Playboy, moreover, he throws up every time when he see a women in any state close to nakedness (bikinis and aerobic leotards included), except for his childhood friend Ami Kurimoto. But Karin discovers this after she shot Junta with DNA Control Medicine... the wrong one. So she turned Junta to Mega-Playboy with her own hands and should convert him back... but has fallen to his charm too. Only Ami can resist that charm. Classical romantic comedy, which Katsura is well known for. But I didn't recommend seeing the last three eps. Because of low rating show was stopped and those three episodes were released only on video to end the story and did it so badly...
Licenced by USMC in North America.
[Entry by Andrew V. Tupkalo]
1981-86 and 1997-99 series by Toei. It's all about a loony & pervy inventor named Senbe Norimaki and his creation Arale; a robot girl who's powerful enough to put a crack in the world and loves playing with turds. They live in the Penguin Village, a truly bizarre place populated by anthropomorpic animals, aliens, superheroes, and other odd characters. Arale gets into a lot of misadventures with her friends Akane, Taro, Psuke, and Ga-chan (a little angel that eats anything except rubber, and later duplicates itself). Based on the manga by Akira Toriyama.
Arale, Senbe, and the rest of the Penguin Village appears in Dragon Ball during the Red Ribbon storyline. Dr. Slump is highly recommended.
[Entry by Andrew Kieswetter]
See Hakkenden
See DNA²
Two OVA series (4-part Dominion, available from US Manga Corps, and 6-part New Dominion, previously available from Manga Video) tell us how hard the life of a SWAT team member in a big city in near-future Japan could be... especially if you're piloting huge battle tanks on the narrow streets of Newport City. Based on Masamune Shirow's manga of the same name, it is a lighthearted and sometimes twisted police comedy which is definitely worth seeing, even if the manga is mush better. Some people, however, says it's a bit too violent (and it's true: in the first episode, tank cops torture a drug dealer with hand grenades playing golf around him, and title of Captain Brenten's favourite book is "How to Kill".)
Note: This may be set in the same city and the same time as Shirow's Ghost in the Shell manga - the Puma sisters, two cyborg-babe villains in Dominion, have a cameo appearance in GitS where they fight with Motoko's fuchikoma.
[Entry by Andrew V. Tupkalo]
A robotic cat, Doraemon, travels back in time to help a lazy and weak 10-year-old schoolboy, Nobita Nobi. Doraemon features a dimensional pocket from where he can produce a great assortment of tools and gadgets, which he uses to help Nobita resolve his problems. Most of the time this causes more problems than the ones he tried to fix, usually originated by Nobita's misuse of the gadget, but sometimes caused by Nobita's friends.
This is a lovable and ongoing series that has more than 1090 episodes, and more are still being produced (now replaced with a new seiyuu cast after 25 years of being in the air), produced by TV Ahashi.
[Entry by Gerardo Campos]
The first series concerning the adventures of Son Goku, a strange child who, in his earliest days, possesses a tail. When he runs into Bulma (or "Bloomers"), he gets involved in the search for Dragon Balls, mystical stones that, when collected together, can be used to call forth a magical dragon who can then grant your hearts' desire. Heavily involved in martial arts, Goku's main part in all this is to fight off a variety of monsters and other opponents to gain these balls while learning his fighting skills. This series was dubbed into a number of languages and has been shown on TV in mainland Europe and the US.
Licenced in North America by FUNimation.
[Entry by Chika]
Moving on from the original Dragon Ball series, this series opens when Goku's long lost brother, Raditz, shows up on Earth during a reunion party and declares that he intends to destroy the planet. The ensuing battle is the first of many that Goku and his son Gohan have to deal with, including the discovery of Piccolo's home planet and the destructive battles with Freeza there as well as the intervention on Earth by future son Trunks, the android wars and so forth. Far more violent than the original series, and the Freeza war in particular is panned by some for being too long. Again, dubbed for TV in Europe and the US as well as UK, where it started Toonami on Cartoon Network there.
Licenced in North America by FUNimation.
[Entry by Chika]
Absolutely whacked comedy playing off everything from fairy tale world to "idol singers". Lots of visual gags, lots of nuttiness, lots of fun. Note: this is a very disorienting title to many viewers because the style of animation frequently shifts to punctuate the gags; some people even find it difficult to connect the character in one frame drawn in 'realistic' style to the same character in the next frame, drawn in a deliberately crude, cartoony style. If you want a hilarious hour of goofy humor, however, you really should check this out. Note: Only two OAVs were ever produced in Japan, and they are released domestically on a single tape or DVD. Available from ADV Films.
[Entry by Antaeus Feldspar]
