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)
Based on the original comic BONO BONO by Mikio Igarashi that has seen over 9,000,000 total copies printed, this is the definitive animated version of the emotionally soothing character-driven series that will make you ask yourself the philosophical question, "What are living things?" while laughing at heartwarming gags and being entertained by the interactions of amusing forest friends Bonobono the young sea otter, Chipmunk, Fishing Cat, and more.
Enjoy the easygoing days and minor misadventures of Bonobono and his friends!
(Source: Fuji Creative)
The series "Once Upon a Time... Life" teaches about the human body and about the different systems in it with the same characters from the other "Once Upon a Time" seasons. "The good Characters" represent the body's defense mechanisms, whereas "the bad Characters" represent the viruses and bacteria that threaten to attack the human body.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Kitajima Maya, a 13-year old girl with a talent for acting, was discovered by the reclusive actress Tsukikage. The story follows Maya's growing up, intense training, overcoming challenges, and evolving into the foremost actress of her generation (she is about 20 so far).
Maya's greatest rival is Himekawa Ayumi, the beautiful daughter of a famous movie couple. They ultimately vied for the most sought-after role - the "Crimson Goddess". An equally important subplot Maya's relationship with the handsome and ruthless entertainment mogul Hayami Masumi, who secretly became her number one fan, but misunderstandings and bad-timing obstructed their romance...
(Source: Anime News Network)
The story of Mr. Araiwa and his family. He is a model employee in a large enterprise, but becomes a completely different character at home. He is very keen on cooking and lets pass no occasion to cook delicious dishes for his wife, who is frequently occupied by her work as a journalist, or his young son.
(Source: AniDB)
Musashi no Ken is the story of a boy named Musashi who aims to be the Kendo champion. Part of the anime is him as a child, and part is of him as an adult.
Dr.Haneda was developing experimental giant robot warriors to fight the allies during the Second World War, but before his creations could see action, Allied bombs destroyed the facility and killed him. A decade later criminals discovered two of the surviving prototypes, #26 and 27 in the series, and used the remote controlled robots to commit a number of crimes. Young Shotaro Haneda, the twelve year old son of Dr.Haneda, did some investigating and discovered that the mob were hunting for the twenty-eighth robot in the series, rumoured to be the most powerful of them all. Racing the villains, Shotaro discovers the robot first, along with Dr.Shikashima, a colleague of his father's who was also believed killed by the Allied bombing. Together the two prevent Tetusjin-28 (the robot's official designation) from falling into the hands of the bad guys, and decide to dedicate him to peace rather than war.
Shotaro fought crime for a long time, supported by Dr.Shikashima, who would repair Tetsujin-28 when he was damaged, and by police officer Otsuka. Shotaro even battled the alien Magmans, invaders from the planet Magma, who came to Earth late in his career, bringing their own giant robots, Magma X and Gold Wolf, with them.
(Source: AniDB)
Once Upon a Time... Space differs from the rest of the Once Upon a Time titles in the sense that the series revolve on a dramatic content rather than an educational premise. The series still has a handful of educational information (such as an episode discussing the rings of Planet Saturn).
The series succeeds Once Upon a Time... Man. It reprises almost the entire totality of the characters of the previous series and adapts them into a science-fiction context.
The story tells about the confrontation of many big galactic powers. Among them there is the Omega Confederation, of which Earth is a member of; the military republic of Cassiopée led by the general Le Teigneux; and a powerful supercomputer which controls an army of robots. Once Upon a Time... Space features the adventures of Pierrot (son of colonel Pierre and president Pierrette) and his friend Psi.
(Source: MAL)
Anime adaptation of the "Otoko wa Tsurai yo (It's tough being a man)" film series by Youji Yamada.
Kuruma Torajirou (or Tora-san), a traveling salesman whose sole possessions include only the contents of a small suitcase, the clothes on his back and some pocket money, wanders from town to town peddling his wares.
(Source: Wikipedia)
The original is an impressive sports manga featuring not heroes, but common boys, and the story depicts the growth of Sumiya 2 junior high school baseball team (the successive captains and players) in downtown Tokyo. Takao Taniguchi, who was a substitute player of the second team of Aoba Gakuin, a prestigious junior high school in the baseball world, but he transferred to Sumiya 2 and he became the captain of the baseball club. After steady training, the team try to do a final game in the regional preliminaries, against Aoba Gakuin.
(Source: MAL)
Tells the story of a member of the Universal Peace Corps from the Planet Radion coming to Earth on a mission to determine if this world meets standards for membership in the Galactic Union of Worlds and assist its inhabitants during his stay. While on his mission Prince Planet adopts the identity of an Earth boy named Bobby and gains comrades who work together alongside him combating evil forces both alien and terrestrial.
(Source: Wikipedia)
The series presents the adventures of Zoum, a white dolphin and his friends, two children who live with their sailor uncle. The cast includes several animals including a mynah bird (who understands the dolphin language in addition to the language of the other animals and the humans on the island and acts as a translator), a koala, and a sloth.
During their adventures, Zoum meets a beautiful female dolphin, called Za-za-zoom in the English version, with whom he has a baby.
(Source: Wikipedia)
Kiko-chan's Smile is an anime and manga series about a kindergarten student who has many of the features of a child prodigy but at the same time has many bizarre habits and an odd personailty.
A Family Travel special commemorating the 30th Anniversary of Sazae-san series.
Researcher Mutsugoro takes his family to a remote and uninhabited island near Hokkaido, to study the local population of wild bears. Nearby poachers make his life difficult, and he "inherits" an orphaned bear cub, whom the family call Donbe and raise as one of their own.
The ancient Chinese town of Taoyuan is populated exclusively by Taoist ascetics. The elder, Lao Shi, conducts research on magic and alchemy, while his pupil Zhi Huang is more interested in the pleasures of the flesh. He fell in love with three beautiful sisters who live close by.
Taniguchi Takao was a good baseball player when he was in junior high. But he broke his finger and couldn’t play baseball anymore. When he became a high school student, he always stood alone after school looking sadly at the baseball ground. Looking at him, Aiki, a captain of a soccer club invited him to his team. He hadn’t played soccer, but he was a good athlete and diligent, soon, he become so a good player as to be chosen a regular member. However, Aiki noticed that Takao couldn’t give up baseball and he made Takao join the baseball club. At first, he couldn’t adapt himself to the surroundings. Their easy-going attitude was far from what he used to do. However, being influenced by Takao’s earnestness, gradually, their attitude began to change. (from AniDB)