Anime TV Series

In the Unites States, anime, sometimes referred to as anamation, is Japanese-style animation. Anime cartoons are easily recognized by their distinctive, colorful style. Often, anime characters have large eyes and elfish facial features. While anime TV series often depict characters in action-packed scenes, some anime series focus more on visual elements than on plot.

Popular Anime TV Series

There are a number of hot anime series on television. Whether you're looking for fantasy anime, ecchi or action anime, there's bound to be a cartoon series to meet your needs.

Here's a list of some of the more popular anime TV series. While some of these series are still airing on television networks, others have ceased production. Check your local listings to see when anime TV series are available in your viewing area:

• "Cowboy Bepop": This science-fiction/drama anime is set in the year 2071 and follows four bounty hunters as they travel through the solar system on their spaceship Bebop.
• "Dragon Ball": This action-adventure anime portrays the story of Son Goku, a boy who is training to become the strongest martial artist. Son Goku travels with a girl named Bulma in a quest to find seven dragon balls, magical spheres that are capable of granting wishes when they come together. Sequels of "Dragon Ball" include "Dragon Ball Z" and "Dragon Ball GT."
• "Future Boy Conan": This 26-episode science-fiction anime series is set in the future and follows a boy named Conan as he tries to help a girl named Lana, who was kidnapped and taken to a city called Industria.
• "Lupin III":This action anime focuses on Lupin III, grandson of a master thief, and his gang as they travel through the world stealing treasures and avoiding authorities. In 2003, 26 episodes of "Lupin III" aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
• "Mobile Suit Gundam": This 43-episode anime series focuses on a civil war that is occurring in the age of space colonization. In the cartoon, a 16-year-old boy named Amuro Ray pilots Gundam, a humanoid fighting vehicle.
• "Pokemon": This anime series follows Ask Ketchum as he attempts to become a Pokemon master.
• "Sailor Moon": This TV series follow five junior-high girls as they fight against the Dark Kingdom, an evil entity that is trying to conquer Earth.
• "Space Battleship Yamato": The science-fiction anime series, which originally aired from 1974 to 1975, comprises 26 episodes. In the series, the spaceship Yamato and its crew must travel to the planet of Iskandall to retrieve equipment that will allow them to remove the radiation that is threatening to end the human race.
• "Speed Racer": The first series of the car action anime, "Speed Racer" aired from 1967 to 1968. The hero of the cartoon is Go Mifune, a teenage boy who drives sports cars in races around the globe.
• "The Adventures of Gamba": This adventure anime follows Gamba and his team of mice as they journey overseas in order to prevent the slaughter of island mice by a group of weasels. There are 26 episodes in the TV series.
• "Lady Oscar: The Rose of Versailles": This historical drama/romance anime takes place in France on the eve of the French Revolution. The story focuses on Oscar Francoise de Jarjayes, a woman who worked as the head of the palace guard for Marie Antoinette but who eventually sided with the revolutionaries.
• "Zambot 3": Often called the starting point for realistic robot animes, "Zambot 3" focuses on the Jin family, who must protect themselves and others from the Gaizok invasion. This anime TV series lasted for 23 episodes.

This list of anime TV series is by no means all-inclusive. Look for more anime series at your local movie rental or electronics store.