ANiMEmories

Memories of the mainstream, the licensed, the ones you saw on Cartoon Network, etc.
On
June 29, 2009
Anime

Not the best thing on TV, but it sure is great to watch. We've seen so much that it either took over our lives and we loved it, or ruined animation forever.

Anyways...what we have here is a sequel to my previous article. This time, I'll be focusing on series I have seen in my native home that have also been licensed stateside and may have ended up in the mainstream group, the "I've heard of it" 's, "I saw it on the TV" 's, or just became shelfwarmers at your local Best Buy.
So, expect a lot of the obvious as I'm going to assume you've read the 20+ articles about them. I'll TRY not to bore you.



It's a long article, you may want to bring some snacks.
---
So allow me to get this baby out of the way.

YOU KNOW WHAT THE TITLE IS



Air Date:
YOU KNOW WHEN IT STARTED - YOU KNOW IT'S STILL ON AS OF RIGHT NOW



Summary:
YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S ABOUT



Comments:
YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK ABOUT THIS SHOW



But seriously, this one has entertained me for a long time. It's the second reason why I'm into the whole thing. The first one was when my Mom and Dad came back from "the states" on a business trip. She asked me "Do you know anything about Pokemon?". I replied, "I have only seen it around the internet but not much". Then she gives me this thing:





Played with the dang ol' thing everyday, I tell you h'what. After many hours in days, I just got tired of it. Pikachu demanded too much from me and I couldn't provide. He got mad and stuff but I said "Ah screw it, get a job you slacker". Christmas would later help me get into it more. I got money, the BEST present ever. I eventually got these:



and more after that. I was collecting a lot of that stuff, and I still do to this very day. Thanks, Mom.



Anyway back to the thing I was talking about. It was all fun when I was watching the first few episodes and I was obsessed with it. I never had money to own the game, so I was thinking I could "Catch 'Em All" by recording all the episodes with my VCR and a lot of reusable tapes. It was a failure of course, got up to 8 episodes then we had to go out of town for the weekend, and who knew there'd be more episodes than there are pokemon? And as of today there are four hundred and ninety-three of those dudes crawling around. Wasn't that bad. I later discovered emulation and used that to play all the games. But I stopped all that, at least until Mother 3 was translated.



Anywayyyyyyyyyyyy, I appreciate the show for showing us our favorite monsters in animated form. Now we get to see what they sound like when they talk, and do a bunch of cute stuff, kick ass, and do all that funny crap that animals do. But that's it. Everything else is just, the gang walks around and discovers an inconvenience, that's when Team Rocket comes in and tries to capture Pikachu and the guest monster, then they blast off somewhere. The End. And a few other things...








---------------------------



February 26, 1986 - April 12, 1989

Good 'ol D-Ball. That's what we used to call it. No okay we didn't but what an awesome show it was. Before all the yelling, biceps and 9001 and up, we had the beginning adventures of all the characters you know and love and maybe hate. In the Philippines, they didn't always know what to censor back then. So I saw a lot of stuff and stuff y'know...and I was even surprised by all the violence that took place. I was ten when I watched this, so I was exposed to many things you wouldn't expect from a kid's cartoon.



Remember when that Native American character's father died? And when that guy killed that other guy with his tongue? And that awesome Three-against-one mech battle with Goku? OH OH and how that masked guy struggled to rip Goku's tail off? Ahh memories.



I only remember watching this part of the continuity. After many episodes, the show switched channels, timeslots and languages. Oh those dang TV guides we had. WHY???! WHY would you never update when you really needed to? Those slave children in the printing room not being supervised? YOU CUT OFF THEIR INSURANCE?! What's wrong with YOU?!! But after that I just couldn't catch up anymore, missing a lot of episodes, and moved on with my life.



The show was also dubbed in English, our English. Goku did have a similar voice to the US Dubs. It was pretty funny, and Bulma would always have this screechy-yell. If some guy on youtube would ever upload some episodes I'd put a link here right now. The dudes also did Akazukin Cha Cha and Hakushon Daimou among others...



---------------------------------------

Cardcaptor Sakura



April 7, 1998 - March 21, 2000

Probably the most adorably, huggably, cute series ever made during its time. For those who don't remember, it's about this elementary school girl who finds a book full of tarot-sized cards that are also magical. As she opens it, they all fly away into the universe and has to team up with Earth's mightiest heroes so that-*bonk* into various parts of her town causing mischief or doing the things they naturally do, like turning the classroom into chocolate, causing time loops, creating complicated mazes and a bunch of other things. She is then automatically assigned the role to catch 'em all.



If you're a man; the steak-eating, football-playing, SpikeTV-watching, propane salesman type person you will bwah at the sight of this. Otherwise you'll swoon over its total cuteness. The setting of the entire show is so peaceful, it's like the people in it don't know what "war" and "terrorists" are. There's no murder, no violence, no gangs, no theft, or people hiding in dark alleys. In this town, everyone knows your name, everyone is nice to everyone, and if you're nice you get a free piece of cake or something.



And the characters...we'll start with Sakura. She's the normal, modern day elementary schoolgirl. She can cook, do the laundry, clean the house, and roller-blades to school. And she never EVER falls down. Wow. Her friends and family are characters with questionable personalities. Her brother Touya can see dead people, his friend Yukito is a light-skinned, walking grin and a heavy appetite and isn't fat for some reason uh and her rival cardcaptor Li Syaoran who has what would be called a "guy crush" with whom Sakura also has a crush. Oh yeah, and her friend Tomoyo, who is rich and likes to make various outfits for Sakura and follows her with a video camera. And that flying mouse-thing named Kero-chan, who was the guardian of the book and the "Clow Cards" that escaped from it.

The episodes' stories are slice-of-life combined with magic and learning lessons at the end or a heartwarming resolution. The story and characters do develop as well within the show and the two movies that came with it. It begins with Sakura collecting all the 52 Clow cards, then turning them into Sakura cards. Then we realize certain characters are actually magical beings with mysterious backgrounds. And more...



Anyway, the show is an animated goody-two-shoes with every episode featuring cake or some other form of confection, some character with a high-pitched or appropriately cute voice, and all that. All's I know is that I had two fists under my chin and going, "Hnnnnnyuuuuuuuuuuuuushocute!" everytime I watched an episode. Yeah...eeeeeeeeeeeeee-yep.

Oh and the show was made by the all-female crew CLAMP, who also made Magic Knight Rayearth, Chobits, Angelic Layer... and helped make Code Geass. The show was one of their most popular works, that they ended up putting the characters into their latest crossover series, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle.



I'm currently not watching or reading that due to a lack of interest, and the fact that it's like an all-star celebrity movie where they play as someone else. Eh. It was also popular enough for people to have this stupid fetish and make gross doujin manga about her being naked and some people make gross fanfiction. Eww.



I never got to see the KidsWB version. All I know is that they turned some girls into valley girls, and Kero-chan is voiced by Matt Hill. You know...the guy who voiced Ed from Ed, Edd, and Eddy.


The hell is this piece o' crap?

If you type the website address seen on the pics above, you'll see a website that hasn't been updated since 2005. You'll a bunch of episode version comparisons followed by smart remarks by the webmaster/mistress.

Another thing I should mention, is that Sakura doesn't have a permanent magical girl uniform. Tomoyo makes a bunch of them for her in every episode. And there's always that key transformation sequence, and the animators are able to use the exact same frames of animation while she wears different clothes. Amazing.

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Ranma 1/2



Oops...wrong picture...



April 15, 1989 - September 25, 1992

Something farther away from the year 2000. WAAAAAAAY before Inuyasha was the hot topic at my local Hot Topic, this was the one that stole my ass everytime I laughed it off. A pure action/comedy featuring characters cursed by falling into magical springs that turned people into various animals during training and whatnots.

I used to consider this to be "The Simpsons" of anime. With all the cliche crap I've been seeing during that time, this was a breath of fresh air. It was just plain hilarious with some of its properly-timed gags, funny voices, ever-expanding cast of fun characters, ever-expanding styles of weird martial arts and challenges, with only a few cliches and annoying running jokes here and there.

It was also another of those Harem-type shows. You know, where all these girls like the one guy but he can't handle more than one despite all their (sexual) advances. The twist is that there's also an opposite courtesy of Ranma's curse of turning into a girl when exposed to cold water. Not all the character's are totally aware of his curse, and in some cases, as with everyone else's. There's also a lot of jumping around as the escapee tries not to get caught, but not too many chase scenes.

The characters are pretty plentiful, a lot of regulars or "one-shots" that have made appearances in at least two episodes. Ranma Saotome is the guy who turns into a girl, he is unwillingly betrothed to Akane. Akane Nintendo...Akanintendo...Akanintendo Revolution 64 *whack* Tendo is the tomboy who's a skilled martial artist but a bad cook. Ranma's father, Genma is that guy who turns into this awesome panda. He helped train his son in the martial arts but is also a doofus sometimes. He is friends with Akane's father Sountendo Wii fjkdfsljfklfd Soun Tendo, owner of the Tendo Dojo and is a widower of three daughters.



Aside from Akane, there's Nabiki Tendo who is sometimes involved with the wacky world of the people in it if she's paid or has blackmailed well enough. And Kasumi, she's the cute one. She's the mother-figure who does all the house chores and probably the only normal character unphased by everything that's happening. Non-family members include Shampoo, the amazon from China who wanted to kill Ranma for beating her in a competition, then turned into a love interest and has been cursed by the spring of the drowned cat. Then there's the girl gymnast with the forced laughter, Kodachi Kuno who also loves Ranma. And my favorite girl in the bunch, Ukyo.



Ain't she cute? She can cook, you know? She makes those "okonomiyaki's" at the restaurant she owns, which are like pancakes except you put things that aren't just fruit, instead they put like shrimp, seawead, a variety of meats and some specific sauce...



These are good, I had one once at this place. Other cool things about her is she's also one of the recurring "fighting" characters, the least violent in her advances to Ranma, and isn't cursed. She's also treated as "one of the guys" (as seen in episode 63), so when she isn't courting Ranma, she's just hangin' out or managing business.



Then there are the other guys, Tatewaki Kuno is the captain of the kendo club and has feelings for Ranma.............'s girl half. Despite being a rich upperclassman, he's also a doofus. Then there's Ryoga, longtime rival of Ranma. They go way back, from the time they set up a one-on-one match but Ryoga never showed up, due to Ryoga's zero sense of direction. And the lecherous Happosai. He's a master martial artist and the ultimate panty raider if there ever was one. I just thought of something too:


=



If you can see the resemblance, click here to win a cookie and learn an ultimate truth.

There's a lot more in the roster, but I don't want to bore you further with spoilers and details.



The show also contains nudity at some points. HOWEVER, it's not used as backup just to gain an audience. There's only nudity at places where they just have to be, like in the bathroom, the hot springs and sometimes for comic relief. And not all characters will be seen with their shirts off, which is sad...but also cool. With a show as funny, violent and wacky altogether in quality and quantity, does it really need it?

One more thing, those who have seen this and Inuyasha will see certain similarities between the characters.

Example:


I'M GONNA GET IT DOWN WITH MY B'VOOMERANG

Can you guess the rest? Yeah, you can :)

NEXT.

---------------------------

Speaking of B'VOOMERANGS

Adventures of the Little Koala


HA! YEAH RIGHT! LOUSY PHOTOSHOP AMATEURS...

October 4, 1984 - March 28, 1985

You've seen this before on Nickelodeon, right? I have. Remember when Nick Jr. had anime, and it WASN'T the kind of anime that helped sell out by throwing out merchandise and card games? Ah, the simple times. Then again, I have no idea how fun Yu-Gi-Oh is, I just know that show dragged for 5 episodes just to solve one stupid problem. Anyway, I enjoyed every second of this, and luckily the show was removed years before I left for the Philippines. I remember being sad about leaving and complaining that, "There's no Nickelodeon in the Philippines!", and everyone laughed. Then I died inside. It was only a few years later when we did have Nickelodeon but it wasn't the same one I knew even though they had all the necessary Nicktoons, with only A FEW of the Ren and Stimpy's.



Adventures of the Little Koala was about these animals living the good modern life in what appears to be Australia. It featured Laura, Nick and Roo, Mimi and Floppy too,
waiting here for you. Brand new day, time to play, with Roo Bear and his fri-fjdfjdkfls having a buncha kiddy-type adventures or just experiencing life the way we sorta did.




They went into space, climbed a mountain, babysat those three mischievous penguins, made a giant jigsaw puzzle out of paintings...

One of the cool things about this show, was that it wasn't too educational which is something one would expect from a Nick Jr. show. And despite being on Nick Jr, there's no pretentious acting and there are a few dark scenes here and there. Like when Mimi fell into the rapids. Yikes. The show has enough content to please the 7 and up, but it doesn't have a place outside Nick Jr. because of it's kiddy nature.

SPOILEEEEERRR!!


In one episode, Kiwi kept trying to take pictures with this 100-year old camera, and would only be effective if everyone didn't move for like 5 minutes. Despite everyone's best efforts and because of some of their impatience, he eventually gave up, discouraged. Then all his friends would cheer him up by standing still just for him, to the best of their ability. Only to be stung by bees during the shoot.

Heh, it's almost like Happy Tree Friends sometimes. Except no one dies. Whoa...wouldn't want that to happen...




DUDE!

This was one of two Koala-based anime that were produced during the koala fad in Japan. According to Wikipedia:

In 1984, the Tama Zoo in western Tokyo welcomed its first koala, and the government of Australia sent six koalas to Japan as a token of goodwill. As a result, according to The Anime Encyclopedia by Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, Japan went into a koala frenzy and anything to do with koalas became very popular. It was during this "koala-mania" that The Adventures of the Little Koala was made, as was another anime on Fuji TV, Nippon Animation's Fushigi na Koala Blinky, which would later be broadcast alongside Little Koala on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block in 1988, as Noozles.
--------------------------

Yup the Noozles, let's talk about those guys.

The Noozles

Who the hell is that brown bear? There was no brown bear...I think...

July 7, 1984 - December 28, 1984

This series was different from the previous. This one had a story that eventually lead to teary ending, and not all episodes were stand-alone.



If you don't remember, Sandy's missing grandfather sends his granddaughter a stuffed koala bear. She thinks it's so adorable that she just had the idea to rub her nose against it, making the plushy come to life as Blinky. Later on, Pinky joins the two as a messenger to inform him that he has to return to Koala-Walla Land. BWAHAHAHAHAHA what a funny name that was ah...but things get in the way. So they stay for 26 episodes having fun, traveling the world with magic etc. and learning more about Sandy's grandfather and his connection with the koala's home world.

I don't exactly remember how it ends, but it does end with a sad farewell.

---------------------

Maaaaaaaaa-ya......
Maya the Bee



1975-83

(US RELEASE)
January 1, 1990 to December 31, 1992

Another Nick Jr. pickup featuring anthropomorphs. Insects, this time, and a lot of them don't have the complete set of legs. The backstory was about Maya being sent out for more pollen, and was soooo good at it she'd be assigned for places far away. She and her friend Willy, would go around gardens, forests and even houses meeting new friends, learning new things about other species.

I actually saw two different English versions of this show. One was in English, and the other was in English...you know...from England. Initially discovered on Nick Jr. then with much enthusiasm, in the Philippines, I saw the UK version of the show. Both had different theme songs as well. According to Wiki, only 65 episodes have been released on Jr.. As for the UK version, I am so very unsure.

I remember very little of the US version, even with the Youtube uploads (deleted), but remember the UK a lot more. I've noticed that the show featured and mentioned a lot of realistic facts about insects. Like the main defense mechanism of the Stink Bug, that Dragonflies eat Flies (one that Maya was acuainted with), what Earthworms do with the dirt they eat, what kids do to a dragonfly or any insect generally when caught, and that bees die if they use their one stinger.

I'm not sure if ALL of these were mentioned or even shown on Nick Jr., but it's possible. You can enlighten me by leaving comments below. It's aaaaaaaaall the way down there.

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That end's the small Nick Jr. segment. Now back to more stuff.

GTFO

NO WAIT! COME BACK! THAT WAS A TYPO! NO WAIT I WAS JUST KIDDING!!!!

G.T.O.
Great Teacher Onizuka




June 30, 1999 - September 24, 2000

An unemployed, 22-year old, single man discovers the power of the school teacher...to get girls. His training leads first leads him to a classroom full of delinquents. One of the girls in his class shows interest in him and eventually the story leads to a love hotel. As things start to get...sexy, a bunch of the guys from the class take pictures and attempt to use the photos for blackmail. Eikichi Onizuka takes the matter into his own hands, and a few of his connections. He is able to get back to all the students through a hilarious torture (I can't recall) that scares the crap out of them enough drop the whole blackmail scheme. He is later hired by a private academy, then fired, then re-hired after the Principal discovers his awesome characteristics and his own unique ways of dealing with students. With his street smarts, connections and a different view of the system, he is able to prevent a student into suicide (twice), makes the class doofus an idol, and a bunch of other stuff that makes him great, all while the faculty and students try to get rid of him for their own selfish needs.

All I can say about this show, is that it is AWESOME. L-like, like Egoraptor Awesome....

http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/awesome.html

Without the unleashed swearing insanity of course.



Let's just say that whenever the students or faculty try to hurt him in anyway, he fights back. Broken bond with your family? He'll break the wall that seperates the room and theirs with a sledgehammer. Bullied by girls? He'll go to their hangout and dominate them with some rope and a camera. It isn't always easy, but he isn't always alone, a few students appreciate his work, become his friends and support his causes. He did sorta reform them after all.



Yeah, he's THAT extreme. And he gets away with it. What justice. And everyone else gives up and goes on with their lives with a grudge that'll last a long time. Seeing as the show is sooo awesome and I haven't seen it in years, I cannot say anymore about this. I suggest renting a copy and watch the Japanese version. Steve Blum ain't THAT great as Onizuka, in my opinion. The voices don't add up, is all. The stories will not only make you laugh, they'll leave you on the edge of your seat and maybe even warm your heart.

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Fushigi Yugi



April 6, 1995 – March 28, 1996

(Remember children, always proofread your articles. Or you're hyphens will end up like that "–" see? That's bad. And also check you're spelling. Speling is VERY important.)

Two girls go into the local library to study for entrance exams. They both want to go to the same High School together because they're friends and I'm sure you'd have that same reason. They enter a restricted part of the library as one of them are led to a book titled "Universe of the Four Gods". As they open it, they are sucked into a world unlike theirs. After a while in the book, they become involved in a war between regions of ancient China. Two of the regions, Suzaku and Seiryuu, are the focus of the story, and the girls becoming the priestess of each. During their seperate adventures, they gather seven sacred warriors each marked with a celestial name to help defend their respective kingdoms. As well as help summon a god that will bring peace and grant wishes to the priestess, so that she can go back to her own world and fulfill her own wishes.



*Sigh* Now what can I say about this one...hmm...it's a story full of fun, laughs, violence, love, friendship and betrayal . The story also focuses on the relationship of Miaka (one of the girls) and Tamahome (one of the seven warriors) being a nuisance to each other, to falling in love with each other. They do fall in love, but of course bad stuff interferes and they end up seperating themselves despite being right next to each other, as love will just get in the way of their quest. It's annoying, but that only makes it more interesting. The other focus is Miaka's friend Yui. Who entered, left and switched places between worlds with Miaka during these events. Her experiences after the switch have caused a change in her personality and became a friend-turned-enemy, giving Miaka and the warriors a harder time in their quest. Oh and she also has seven warriors of her own.

Like I said, it's a fun, violent, dramatic romance. People get raped, killed (even the main characters), and betrayed in ways that might surprise and infuriate you. There's not a lot of nudity here, though. The show was great enough to get 2 Original Video Animation series, as well as a prequel manga of the book's origins. I haven't seen this show in a long time, but it's a good show to add to your list of shows I can tell you that.

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Flame of Recca



July 19, 1997 - July 10, 1998

Waaaaaaaaay before Naruto wanted to be a Hokage, there was this other...less annoying and more casually dressed teenager living in modern day Japan. He's completely obsessed with the whole ninja thing despite that they aren't even around anymore, and thinks he is one, so he thinks. People are always challenging him, accepting his offer to be a personal ninja to anyone who defeats him. So he goes out one day and buys a hotdog, and sees a very pretty girl caretaking a bunch of children from the school she works at. Later she and the children are lead to a construction site, and a bunch of those uh...cylinder things fall off the crane above her. He notices and pushes her away from the falling debris, thus injuring himself. He starts to have a dream about him standing in front of a princess thanking him for rescuing her, then he wakes up. He learns the girl he saved has healing powers, and after much thought, he decides to become her personal ninja. As soon as the word gets out, everyone gets angry and the really pissed ones confront him. Later on, as the story unfolds, a mysterious millionaire takes notice of her healing powers in the quest for eternal life, Recca's ninja-related past and his ability to create flames from his right hand, and a tournament that gathers all the greatest fighters in Japan.



You're probably aware of this Yu Yu Hakusho clone. In my opinion this is much better than that piece of crap. The character designs are better, the animation deserves more praise, the story is a little more straightforward, and the main character in YYH looks so dorky doing that gun-thing with his hand. It's terrible I tells ya. The rest of the show is mostly of the tournament-genre, which is one reason I can think of that makes it not as great, but all the great characters that makes up Recca's team will impress you. There's Domon "the big guy" who's the brawn over the brains, Tokiya "the straight-man of the group" who wields a weapon that uses water for a blade, Fuko "the one girl, who is awesome" and uses a weapon of the wind attribute, and Kaoru "the little dude who can still kick the guy-bigger-than-him's ass" and owns an Adamantium Blade that turns into six other things. Wow. I like the kid. As for Yanagi, she stays in the bleachers, she doesn't fight as she hates blood but is still a vital member being the team nurse and all. I fell in love with her once, she's such a sweet character. The cute ones always get to me, gotdang it.



See? Lookit how cute she is. You just want to give her a hug just for being right there. Mmm...yes.

I am so lonelyThe first part of the series does start outside the tournament, we are introduced to the characters, and there's the story where mystery rich man Mori Koran is the guy who planned to kidnap Yanagi for his eternal life goals. Unfortunately the anime ends after the tournament ends as well, which means you have to go out and buy the manga to see how the rest of the story goes. I have yet to finish it.

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No, this article isn't over yet! You should've brought a snack. As I was sayingHEEEEEEEEEY Dalmatianlover, good to see you here. So how are ya?
............Good, good, me too. You know, I just remembered you're a regular article reader around here, so I baked you this pie. I hope you like

WHA-WHA-WHOOOOAA!!!



Oh man! I am SO SORRY! I didn't mean...teehee...I didn't mean to do...Pfffffffffffffffffkkkkkkkkkk-kkk-kkk...AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHA!!!!!!!


Naw Naw Naw, really I'm sorry, I hope you like cherry.

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Here's a little something I forgot to mention in my previous article, it was never brought stateside nor was it even fansubbed. I think. I can't find episodes out here man...man the things we picked up.

Tonde Burin
(Super Pig)




September 9, 1994 - August 26, 1995

In brightest flame,
In blackest pan,
No evil shall add her to Spam


I made that up TEEHEE IM SO FUNNY YOUR LAUGHINGA girl named Karin Kokubu is late for school one day and finds a hungry yellow pig. She feeds him and later on she finds out that he can talk, fly and has something for her good deed. It's a pig nose that awkwardly gets attached to her face which will give her the ability to transform into a super hero when she utters "BA BI BU BE BOorin!". She hates the initial form that she happens to have, but will be given something more suitable if she does enough good deeds and gains 108 pearls for them. As most super heroes, she also has to keep her identity secret or remain in her pig form for all eternity. She learns the many responsibilities of being a hero and struggles to keep her identity thus ensuing all the hilarity each episode has.

I'm sad to say that I don't have a lot to say about this one. It's been MANY years since I've seen this. As much as I last saw Maya the Bee. And I never finished the dang series. The channel it aired on kept changing schedules after a while and stopped airing it after many reruns. But it was really good....................No wonder I forgot to add this to my last article. I have nothing else to tell.

--------------------------------

Digimon: Digital Monsters



March 7, 1999 - March 25, 2007 (counting 3-yr hiatus)

I'll spare you the synopsis of each series and give the general info. A group of chosen humans are sent to the digital world, as they are the key to its peace as evil Digimon plan to take over the world, as well as our world. Teamed with their respective partners, they are able to "digivolve" into stronger beings as more threats try to achieve their plans of domination.



While you guys were watching your Power Rangers and your Gundams and all those non-canonical series that would last forever, I was watching this beautiful piece of work. It is still seen today as a Pokemon rip-off, but only to those ignorant to the series. It wasn't as popular, nor has it become as mainstream as other more pop-culture impacting shows like Yu-Gi-Oh, or Sailor Moon, probably due to its unfortunate name, but some fans can say they were ballsy enough to not change the name. I can say how it is completely different by comparing the theme of each, but then you'd think..."Oh he only wrote this WHOLE article just to drone on about why it's not a rip-off. Well IT IS. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to play Halo on my XBox while I go watch the Simpsons and not Family Guy."




I discovered this in the Philippines, which aired two months after a rival channel picked up Pokemon. We didn't pick up the US version, so we had to make due with our own English version, complete with Japanese footage so nothing was cut out. It was thanks to this I discovered the many false translations that were made into a lot of anime in America.



What entertained me in this show was the all the drama, the violence, the developing story and the relationship between the many characters in the show. Also not all series were the same, starting from the 3rd series (Tamers) where it started from the real world. Then Frontier, the fourth series, dropped the Digimon partner tradition and changed it into humans changing into Digimon. Savers/Data Squad, number 5, went back to partners but completely changed the character design to a more similar design used in other popular anime, so it would also feature some sexy things at some point.



But what REALLY made me fall in love, was the J-Pop. Almost every song you hear in this show is just so awesome. They play frequently during some scenes such as evolution sequences or at a happy end. Kouji Wada and Ai Maeda are the greatest with their mellow voices and have sung the themes for each series, except at the fifth series. Kouji Wada was able to sing the second theme for that series but Ai Maeda wasn't available for some reason. WHHHHHHHHHY...?

--------------------------
Please watch your step for the next one.



From the guys who brought you Tenchi Muyo, Tenchi in Tokyo, and Tenchi Scared Stupid:

El Hazard



May 26, 1995 - March 25, 1998

High school students Makoto Mizuhara, Katsuhiko Jinnai and Nanami Jinnai, and History teacher Masamichi Fujisawa are mysteriously transported into an alternate universe of magic and all that jazz. All four of them are seperated in different parts of the world. They are later involved in an upcoming war between the humans and the insectoid Bugroms, and also the search of a missing priestess who is need to unseal the ultimate weapon. The three ordinary beings aren't alone as they are joined by other priestesses to aide them in their journey. As for Katsuhiko Jinnai, he just happens to be the ego-maniacal psycho who ends up leading the enemy side to victory. Oh yeah, and the transportation has granted the earth-dwellers special powers as well. Awesome.



I'll start by saying that this show that went downhill from awesome. It spawned 3 OVA's and a non-canonical TV series in-between. But despite going down the tubes, it still had a few memorable moments. The worse only came at the third OVA series anyway. What we have here is another "quest" anime, where our protagonists are unnarratively setting into the outskirts of the kingdom to achieve their goal. The show has its share of memorable characters as well. My personal favorites include Katsuhiko Jinnai. Once an ego-maniacal jerk running for student-body president, now an ego-maniacal Bugrom commander thanks to his granted ability to speak with them. He also has this crazy, evil laugh. And Masamichi Fujisawa, the one with the coolest power ever: SUPER STRENGTH. He can throw a whale onto a sailbot floating far away in the ocean, but that's only when he's sober and not smoking...constantly. Also this show has lesbians. And nudity. The priestesses are pretty cool too as they can each wield fire, water and wind.



And yes, I did say that it's made by the same guys who made the Tenchi Muyo series.

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Power Stone



April 3, 1999 - September 25, 1999

Oh boy! Another video game-based cartoon! Except this one was made in Japan and isn't aimed at the same audience intended for Super Mario Bros. Super Show and the Legend of Zelda, and Captain N, and with more accurate character designs.



Edward Falcon's father sends him a red diamond. Which turns out to be more than just a diamond. It's a Power Stone @.@ and it has the ability to transform the beholder into a powerful fighting machine. Other people take notice of his possession and try to take it from him. A few of the pursuers is the wandering samurai-in-training Ryoma and fortune teller Rouge. Later on they discover there are more stones out there to collect and each of them go on a quest to retrieve them in order to save their homes and the et ceteras. But other evil people have other plans.



I have hardly...enjoyed the game. It was too hard and I kept getting hit and couldn't really win, but that's because I played it with friends at their house so I couldn't really learn the ropes........................but I know that the anime is based on the first game. And I've noticed a few differences, like how each character in the show has a stone of their own which transforms them without having to collect three first. And the show takes place in a fictional Earth where they have countries like Sun Land, Soil Land, Gold Land etc. each based on the video game's different-named countries.



The show has good action scenes, and always have at least ONE transformation sequence which isn't used as a time filler. There is some comedy too, and a few anime-exclusive characters who provide it, like Ayame's effeminate brother.



The story also gives us a lot more insight on some of the characters, like why Jack wears bandages and why he is who he is. Being an anime based on a Capcom game, the anime isn't as crazy but still enjoyable for the Power Stone fan or the casual viewer.

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Hello Kitty
(and those other guys from Sanrio)

1991-199?

DON'T LOOK AT ME! DON'T LOOK AT MEEEEEEEEE!!!



I like Hello Kitty. But not to an extent that I would buy Hello Kitty brand no. 2 pencils, notebooks, bed covers, Band-Aids, fruit snacks, or this thing:



I'm different. When I say I like Hello Kitty, I'm talking about this:



This is from Hello Kitty and Friends (I think), and it was one of the various anime about the characters from Sanrio. They had episodes for Keroppi, Pochacco, and Pekkle. Most of the episodes were slice of life or storybook adaptations.



How were they? Well in Hello Kitty's case, they were like...a lollipop dipped in candy, wrapped in a whole fruit roll-up, dipped in sugar on a candy stick wrapped in cotton candy, especially if you heard her Japanese voice. Others were just heartwarming pieces of fluff or just plain fun like a Pokemon episode.

The translation in English was pretty good. Not too high pitched and she sounds sorta mature. Lotta funny moments though like this one scene I uploaded:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kA-WWguvmM

Later on I discovered something else that was more awesome than this.



Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater is the best Hello Kitty Cartoon ever made. And it was made in the Good ol' U.S. of A...next to the guys from the Land of the Rising Sun. As the title implies, it was about Hello Kitty, My Melody and Tuxedo Sam with some other characters acting in plays based on timeless fairy tales and...Popular movies of that time. And yes, they were as hilarious as the other 80's cartoons they were aired with.

It's not an anime by appearance or as a whole, so I won't discuss it any further. But I will show you this:





Yeah...take that. And that. Awesome. They also featured VA's Cree Summer (Penny, Inspector Gadget) and Tara Strong (Bubbles, Powerpuff Girls).

More Anime I Remember but I can't Put it in the article cuz i have very little info or I just dont like em no more maybe next article hmmmmmmmmmm?

-Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics-
(Saban)

This one was shown alongside the aforementioned Nick Jr. Anime. When I wasn't watching Disney's Fairy Tale movies, I was watching these. They were only a half hour long, yet I remember a lot of dark topics being brought up. In Snow White, we can see the witch in disguise attempting to suffocate her with a girdle. I felt kinda sad for the character but things were OK in the end.

-The Lil' Bits-
Uhhhhh its about these elves, one wore read the other wore blue.

-Samurai X / a.k.a. Rurouni Kenshin-
My Second Shounen Jump anime before I even knew the name Shounen Jump. I saw this in an old English version before they made the one you probably saw on TOONAMI one time. It was pretty good. Can't say much cuz it was just a bunch of stand offs, but there was a bunch of other stuff too. All I know I grew tired of it after seeing Samurai Jack and a bunch of other shows that were better.

Aaaaaand that's it. I know that there are a few more I haven't mentioned, but I either don't remember them or I just don't think they're worth mentioning. I believe I've mentioned everything I could and hope that you enjoyed skimming through this really long article.

Sea ewe a round fokes. Buy.
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