Kozue is a middleschool girl and enthusiastic volleyball player. Her dream is to play in the Japanese national volleyball team. During the series she makes it from the school district league up to the Japanese volleyball finals, step by step till the international volleyball championship. But the faster and higher Kozue climbs the career ladder up, the more she gets confronted with the dark side of success: too high expectations, self-conceit and envy are progressing towards serious problems. (Source: ANN)
Tiger Mask (whose real name was Naoto Date) was a feared heel wrestler in America who was extremely vicious in the ring. However, he became a face after returning to Japan when a young boy said that he wanted to be a villain like Tiger Mask when he grew up. The boy resided in an orphanage, the same one that Tiger Mask grew up in during his childhood. Feeling that he did not want the boy to idolize a villain, Tiger was inspired to be a heroic wrestler. The main antagonist in the manga and anime was Tigers' Den, a mysterious organization that trained young people to be villainous heel wrestlers on the condition that they gave half of their earnings to the organization. Tiger Mask was once a member of Tigers' Den under the name "Yellow Devil", but no longer wanted anything to do with them, instead donating his money to the orphanage. This infuriated the leader of the organization and he sent numerous assassins, including other professional wrestlers, to punish him. (Source: Wikipedia)
The main character is a mother named Sazae-san. She lives in a house with her husband, her kids and her parents. The show is the ultimate family program and tends to follow traditional themes. Think of this show as the Japanese equivalent to "The Partridge Family" and you'll get a good feel for this show's atmosphere. Don't expect to see things like violence, swearing, kung-fu action or magical girls. The plots are more like "Today, Sazae-san goes to the new mall and gets lost". Such "boring" plotlines and the simplistic art are often a turn-off to non-Japanese audiences, but most Japanese find the show incredibly good. As a result, it continues to be one of the top ratings grabbers on TV and is one of the few anime that is considered "acceptable" by adults. (Source: AniDB)
Very loosely based upon the Moomin books by Finnish author Tove Jansson. Jansson, however, never really approved of the series due to dramatic changes in plot, atmosphere, character personality, appearance and names etc. The series was directed to adults rather than children. (Source: Wikipedia)
Atsuko "Akko-chan" Kagami (known variously as "Stilly," "Caroline," or "Julie" in Western versions of the anime) is an energetic elementary school girl who has an affinity for mirrors. One day, her favorite mirror which was given to Akko by her mother (or in some versions, by her father, as a present from India) is broken, and she prefers to bury it in her yard rather than throw it to the trash can. In her dreams, she is contacted by a spirit (or in some cases the Queen of the Mirror Kingdom) who is moved that the little girl would treat the mirror so respectfully and not simply throw it away. Akko-chan is then given the gift of a magical mirror and taught an enchantment that will allow her to transform into anything she wishes. (Source: Wikipedia)
The story is about Hyuma Hoshi, a promising young baseball pitcher who dreams of becoming a top star like his father Ittetsu Hoshi in the professional Japanese league. His father was once a 3rd baseman until he was injured in World War II and was forced to retire. The boy would join the ever popular Giants team, and soon he realized the difficulty of managing the high expectations. From the grueling training to battling the rival Mitsuru Hanagata on the Hanshin Tigers, he would have to take out his best pitching magic to step up to the challenge. (Source: Wikipedia)
One day Kan-chan finds a magic bottle in the attic. Whenever someone sneezes, a genie named Hakushon Daimaou is brought out and must grant any wish of whoever sneezed until he or she sneezes again. Sometimes, however, he accidentally fails and only causes trouble instead of granting any wishes.
TV anime adaptation of Motomiya Hiroshi's manga "Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daishou" about young gang leader and all the trouble and fights his gang gets into, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. (Source: AniDB)
Yet another expansion of the Marine Boy series. This time 65 episodes were added to the 1966 series and all 78 episodes were sold to the US. The broadcast history of the show in Japan was slightly more complicated, with only the first 36 episodes of the 78 shown at first but later on all 78 were shown, out of which 65 are contained in this entry and 13 in the Ganbare! Marine Kid series. Marine is now equipped with an underwater boomerang, a hydrojet, and the mermaid Neptuna/Neptina has become his girlfriend. Some previous episodes from Ganbare! Marine Kid had their footage recycled in part for this series. (Source: The Anime Encyclopedia)
Another continuation of Instant History with a new title. This time it was sponsored by Kirin, a brewery company in Japan. (Source: Cartoon Research)
Based on a manga of Akatsuka Fujio. Batsugoro was the owner of a grocery store, Yaobatsu. When he tried to take a balloon hanged caught on the branch for a little child, he fell on to the ground to die. His son, Ataro, succeeded to the store, but Batsugoro was worried about him, and he remained there being a ghost. Ataro managed the shop alone, but soon his follower, Dekoppachi, began to help him. Being surrounded by strange characters such as, Nyarome, Butamatsu, the heart-warming story develops. (Source: AnimeNfo)
A comedy about two goofy twins in the armed forces. (Source: AniDB)
The first recap film of Attack No.1 , it covers the first 6 episodes of the TV anime. Kozue is a high school girl and an enthusiastic volleyball player. Her dream is to play on the Japanese national volleyball team. Over the course of the series she makes it from the school district league up to the Japanese volleyball finals, step by step until the international volleyball championship. But the faster and higher Kozue climbs, the more she is confronted with the dark side of success: too-high expectations, self-conceit, and envy. (Source: ANN)
Based on Sans Famille by Hector Malot. This is a faithful if compressed adaptation, telling the story of Remi who is sold off to Vitalis the travelling musician and his band of performing animals. It has musical numbers typical this era of Toei films, some awkward slapstic, plenty of scenes tailored to pull on the heartstrings, and very smooth animation. Overall a pleasant film that's interesting to watch for the technical aspects; but the story leaves much to be desired, being on the melodramatic-maudlin side. The later Dezaki/Sugino version is very different, with 52 episodes for the story to breathe in and far more compelling storytelling. (Source: AniDB)
Re-edit of Episode 9&10.
This is an animated version of Yanase Takashi's picture book featuring the friendship between a mother dog, Muku-muku, who lost her puppy, and the baby lion Buru-buru, who lost her mother. Although Tezuka Osamu planned to create an entire musical animated series for this story focused on the feelings of the mother dog and baby lion, this animated production was the only one never completed. (Source: Official Tezuka site)
Third Kyojin no Hoshi movie.
Based on Aesop's Fables.
(No synopsis yet.)