Spring 2002 Anime

Ten year old child prodigy, Chiyo Mihama, is finding it tough fitting in at high school with the girls five years her elder: Osaka (dimwitted with a weird take on the world), Tomo (a powder keg that goes off at a moment’s notice), Kagura (the competitive athlete of the bunch), Yomi (the hothead), and Sakaki (timid and obsessed with a love of animals that isn’t reciprocated). Together with their teacher, they navigate the rough waters and fun times of high school.

(Source: Sentai Filmworks)

When computers start to look like humans, can love remain the same?

Hideki Motosuwa is a young country boy who is studying hard to get into college. Coming from a poor background, he can barely afford the expenses, let alone the newest fad: Persocoms, personal computers that look exactly like human beings. One evening while walking home, he finds an abandoned Persocom. After taking her home and managing to activate her, she seems to be defective, as she can only say one word, "Chii," which eventually becomes her name. Unlike other Persocoms, however, Chii cannot information onto her hard drive, so Hideki decides to teach her about the world the old-fashioned way, while studying for his college entrance exams at the same time.

Along with his friends, Hideki tries to unravel the mystery of Chii, who may be a "Chobit," an urban legend about special units that have real human emotions and thoughts, and love toward their owner. But can romance flourish between a Persocom and a human?

(Source: MAL Rewrite)

Youko Nakajima has only ever wanted to be normal. She does what she is asked, gets good grades, is the class president, and even helps her classmates whenever she can—but because of her red hair, she has never fit in. With her pushover attitude, Youko lets classmates take advantage of her, so she has nobody she can really call a friend.

But on an otherwise ordinary day, a man who claims to be from another world barges into Youko's classroom and bows before her. This elegant blond-haired man, Keiki, claims that Youko is his master and belongs on the throne of his kingdom. However, their first meeting is cut short as Keiki has been followed by otherworldly beasts called youma. He is able to escape with Youko into his own realm, but two other classmates—Ikuya Asano and Yuka Sugimoto—are caught up in the madness as well. Unfortunately, their troubles have only just begun, as the youma attack leaves them separated from Keiki. Alone in this strange new land, these ordinary students must learn to fend for themselves or die.

(Source: MAL Rewrite)

A young wavemaster, only known by the alias of Tsukasa, wakes up in an MMORPG called The World, with slight amnesia. He does not know what he has previously done before he woke up. In The World, he is suspected to be a hacker of the Crimson Knights, as he was seen accompanying a tweaked character in the form of a cat. Unable to log out from the game, he wanders around looking for answers, avoiding the knights and other players he meets along the way.

As Tsukasa explores The World, he stumbles upon a magical item that takes the form of a 'guardian', which promises him protection from all harm. Subaru, the leader of the Crimson Knights, along with several other players who became acquainted with Tsukasa, set out to investigate why Tsukasa is unable to log out, and attempt to get to the bottom of the problem before it gets out of hand.

(Source: MAL Rewrite)

Takuya Kanbara is an average city kid who receives a text message from an unknown source instructing him to "board a train towards his destiny". Taking up the Call to Adventure, he finds the train in question and is whisked off to the Digital World, which is currently under threat from the malevolent Cherubimon. Cherubimon and his minions are consuming the very building blocks of the Digital World (its "Fractal Code") to increase their own power, and if nothing is done then the entire Digital World will be devoured.

All is not lost, however. Takuya and the other "chosen" children who boarded the train inherit the power of the Ten Legendary Warriors that saved the Digital World in the distant past, allowing them to transform themselves into Digimon. With their new powers, they fight to take back the stolen Fractal Code and restore the fractured Digital World to its former glory.

(Source: TV Tropes)

Kaoru Hanabishi, a college student who lives alone, met a beautiful but bewildered girl dressed in a kimono at a train station. He volunteered to guide her way to the address she was looking for, which happened to be in his neighborhood, but turned out to be an empty lot. Not knowing what to do next, Kaoru invited the devastated girl to his apartment and asked for any additional clues to her destination. She supplied him with a photo of two children whom Kauru immediately identified as himself and Aoi Sakuraba, his childhood friend. It turned out that the girl in front of him is Aoi Sakuraba herself, his betrothed fiancee who came all the way to Tokyo to marry him. Her revelation was not only surprising but also reminded the deepest part of Kaoru's memory for why he left the Hanabishi family in the first place.

(Source: MAL)

Imamiya Satoshi, "Sasshi" to his friends, has grown up in the Abenobashi Shopping Arcade in Osaka, along with his childhood friend, Asahina Arumi. Now, all that was stable in his life is in ruins. His family's bath house has closed and been torn down, and Arumi's family is moving to Hokkaido - and taking her with them. In the midst of all this, something happens to the framework of reality, and Sasshi and Arumi slip into a weird parallel world. It's still Abenobashi, but not their Abenobashi. Strange things are afoot, and Sasshi must find out their meaning, in order to reach a goal that he barely understands.

(Source: AniList.co)

On her first date with the cutest boy in school, Ichigo is zapped by a mysterious ray that scrambles her DNA with that of the endangered Iriomote wildcat. The next day, Ichigo discovers that she has developed the agility (and occasionally the ears and tail) of a cat, as well as the power to transform into a pink-haired superheroine, Mew Ichigo. She and four other girls, each endowed with the genes of a different "Red Data" animal, have been selected for the top-secret Mew Project, which aims to protect the Earth from an alien menace known as Deep Blue.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Two years ago, Mitsuki Kouyama's friend, Eichi Sakurai, moved to America before she could confess her feelings to him. Though she cannot him, they made a promise to fulfill their respective dreams: Mitsuki wants to become a professional singer, and Eichi an astronomer. She hopes that one day her music will reach him across the world with a brilliance like that of the full moon.

There is just one catch: Mitsuki suffers from throat cancer, which makes her voice quiet and singing strenuous. Her grandmother, who has a hatred of music, insists that Mitsuki undergo surgery to remove the cancer, but she refuses due to the risk of losing her voice. One day, two shinigami—Meroko Yui and Takuto Kira—appear to tell her that she only has one year left to live. This sudden revelation spurs Mitsuki into action, and she decides that with Meroko and Takuto's help, she will become a professional singer in the time she has left.

Full Moon wo Sagashite follows the emotional story of Mitsuki and her shinigami friends as they discover what it means to sing—and ultimately, what it means to live.

(Source: MAL Rewrite)

Jing may appear to be a young boy, but his remarkable skills make him one of the most feared thieves on the planet. Along with his feathered partner Kir, Jing travels from town to town, stealing anything of value regardless of the amount of security. But when he's in a pinch, he has one more trick up his sleeve: Kir bonds with Jing's right arm to perform the effectively deadly "Kir Royale" attack. And because of all this, Jing is infamously known by many as the "King of Bandits."

(Source: AniList.co)

Megumi-chan is a girl with a secret past. She used to be a boy until she met a person she thought was a magic . This person gave him/her a magical book from which a genie appears to grant one wish when blood is applied to it. Megumi made the wish to be a man in a man's body but the genie has a twist: he grants wishes backwards so he turns Megumi-kun aged 9 to Megumi-chan. Years and Megumi enters High School where she immediately beats up the school bully who of course falls in love with her. She is looking for that book again to be able to reverse the spell placed upon her.

(Source: Anime News Network)

From crashing his bike to falling in lakes, Seina Yamada just cannot shake the bad luck that follows him. But his fortune begins to change when he is forcibly recruited into the Galaxy Police and ends up capturing the most pirates in the force.

Now, Seina is no longer just the unfortunate boy from Earth; he is a man that pirates have come to fear. Despite his reputation, Seina is still the same clumsy guy, but at least he has Amane Kaunaq, a former model, and Kiriko Masaki, his long time friend, to keep him together. With their help, Seina sets out on an adventure in the hopes of becoming a great Galaxy Police Officer.

(Source: MAL Rewrite)

Hitotose Chitose was always alone and untrusting of people but when 5 female teachers appear and started living together with him in his family's house as his mothers, things started to change and pick up, together with Hazuki-nee and Minazuki (his 2 sisters) everyday is a lesson.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Iwaki Tomonori is an average 15-year-old boy who likes older women. He happens to have a crush on his teacher, but soon thereafter, learns she has become engaged. He heads home brokenhearted, only to find a 12-year-old girl named Rizel at his home, who he learns the Japanese government has married him to against his will. Furthermore, he learns Rizel is no ordinary girl; she is a biochemically engineered human, and her creators (her "papa"s, as they are often referred to) promise to waive multiple bills of Iwaki's parents in exchange to be allowed to stay at their house, and thus Iwaki's life with Rizel begins.

Under the capital city of Tokyo, Japan, there exists a large, vast, and unknown world known as Underground. There, people known as Elemental s exist; people who have the ability to control the elements: Fire, Water, Lightning, Magnetism, Freeze, etc. Meet Rumina Asagi and his best friend Ginnosuke Isuzu, two average high school freshmen who reside in Tokyo. When they meets Gravity , Chelsea Rorec, and the Miko of Life, Ruri Sarasa, their whole life changes into one big adventure.

(Source: Anime News Network)

It is a harsh and barren wasteland, where the weak aren't allowed to dream. It is also a sacred land for true men, for there is no place a man can feel more alive. This is the Gun Frontier. Sea Pirate Captain Harlock and the errant samurai, Tochiro arrive in the United States on the Western Frontier. Along with a mysterious woman they meet along the way, the two friends challenge sex rings, bandits, and corrupt sheriff. They are searching for a lost clan of Japanese immigrants, and they will tear Gun Frontier from end to end until they find it.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Kotarou was pretty much supposed to be your average boy, worried about the pressures of education while enjoying a simple life with his friends. Much to his despair, he one day finds the overly cheerful Misha at his door, asking to be friends out of nowhere. Even more shocking is that Misha is an apprentice angel, yet she does more bad then good. Along with Kotarou's school friends Takashi and Koboshi and the so called devil Shia (once again being able to do more good then bad), the group of friends spend their days getting into all sorts of adventures and troubles. Based on the manga by Koge-Donbo.

Kaede is a cheerful and energetic eighth grader. When it comes to boys, however, she is hopelessly shy.

One day, on her way home from school, Kaede walks into a mysterious shop and buys a colorful cocoa mug. When she reaches home, she casually peeks into the bottom of the mug and discovers an engraved note, which says, "If you read this message aloud while pouring hot cocoa into the mug, a love fairy ("muglox") will appear and grant your every wish." The skeptical but curious Kaede follows the directions and announces her wish to date Yuuki, the class heartthrob. Suddenly, the adorable blue Mirumo appears! We soon find out, however, that this cute little muglox would rather eat chocolate and create mischief than help Kaede.

Mirumo, it seems, is prince of the muglox world. Horrified at the prospect of having to marry Rirumu, his princess bride-to-be, Mirumo has escaped the muglox world. Hot on his heels, however, are Rirumu, Yashichi the bounty hunter, and a cast of hundreds of muglox ranging from the good to the bad to the nutty. This gang of adorable troublemakers will see to it that school life for Kaede and her friends is never the same...

(Source: mirmo-zibang)

Kazamatsuri Shou's dream has always been to become a professional soccer player, but he has one problem: he's not very good at the game. He was accepted to the prestigious Musashi no Mori Junior High, known for its top rate soccer team, but he was never able to rise beyond the rank of third stringer. After transferring to Sakura Jousui Junior High, he can finally play soccer. And, with the of his new friends and teammates, his strong determination, and lots of hard work, his soccer skills are developing rapidly and setting Shou well on his way to achieving his dream.

(Source: Anime News Network)

The second season of Chou Tokkyuu Hikarian.

Outrageous misadventures of an almost normal family with a housewife, her husband, and their two kids Yuusuke and Mikan. Wacky humor about this weird family's daily life.

(Source: AniDB)

A soccer anime with a cast of wacky animals in sports getup seems far out of its time in the early 21st century, but it was the year of the World Cup in Japan and South Korea, and the very young audience sees these tropes with fresh eyes. Hidemaru is a feisty fox; his friends include bunnies, dogs, horses, and a couple of hefty hippo girls.

Based on a manga Hidemaru the Soccer Boy by Makoto Mizobuchi, serialized in CoroCoro Comics.

(Source: AnimeVice)

Akira Akebono, a young boy who is competing in a robot tournament where many of the robots are capable of transforming into animal forms. Akira wants to win the ultimate prize, the Titan Belt, with the help of his group of robots, all of which are capable of forming into the robot Daigunder. Daigunder is the creation of Akira's father, Professor Hajime Akebono. Together with a girl named Haruka, they compete under the name of Team Akira. However, Team Akira faces opposition from not only their competition, but a robot named Ginzan who is under the control of the evil Professor Maelstrom.

(Source: Anime News Network)

A big transatlantic ship, full of rich and important people for international business, has been taken by a group of terrorists. The only hope for their rescue is in the hands of a Japanese man known as Japa, but first, he must hire seven companions to help him, and together they will be the Wild Seven. The main plot occurs in the waters of Nicaragua's Canal.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Amika is a elementary school student who dreams of becoming an idol. Her grandmother is a harsh yet wealthy woman who lives on a remote island that she owns. When her grandmother ed away, Amika's life begins to appear subtle changes. Not long after the ing of her grandmother, Amika's mother gave birth to a baby girl. Ironically, Amika's little sister looks and behaves exactly like her grandmother.

(Source: Anime News Network)

The monkeys are up to no good again, but this time they're on the "heroes" side. Performing no good magic shows, cloning themselves with a ninja Jutsu and filling UFO catchers with themselves are just a few of the tricks they're pulling, while at the same time trying to adapt themselves to the human lifestyle.

Conan was invited to a party with many other guests. They were there to test a new virtual game system, when a murder mystery occured. Now Conan must go into the game system to figure out who the murderer is with the help of the famous book character Sherlock Holmes. The lives of 49 kids testing the game are in his hands.

(Source: Anime News Network)

A full-scale historical drama set in the last days (the year 1574) of the Sengoku Era of feudal Japan. It is the story of the Nohara family, who has been transferred into the Sengoku Era by time warp, and a tragic love between a princess Ren Kasuga (a daughter of the feudal lord Kasuga at the Province of Musashi) and a samurai warrior Matabei Ijiri (a retainer of the Lord Kasuga).

(Source: Manabu Tsuribe)

When the level of Labor accidents begin to escalate around Tokyo Bay, police detectives Kusumi and Hata are assigned to investigate. What they discover leads to a series of government cover-ups, conspiracy concerning a new biological weapon entitled WXIII-Wasted Thirteen and a tragic, personal connection to Hata. The only hope to stop this threat is to cooperate with the military and lead WXIII into a showdown with the Labors of Special Vehicle Division 2.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Note: This movie is a side story that takes place in between Patlabor Movie 1 and 2

After winning domestic preliminary round, Lisa, Lorna, and Soichi advance to ex-Driver world race competition held in Los Angeles as representative team from Japan. Like a bad omen, they encountered a reckless AI car the first night they arrived at Los Angeles. Although they successfully stopped the car, the local police department is not very happy about that and insists to examine their car overnight.

However, the problem did not stop just there. The daughter of the United States team`s sponsor, Angela, has gone missing. Lorna realized that Angela was on the reckless AI car before. Soichi who guessed that Angel could be in danger then start looking for her. But Soichi got captured by a mysterious man, and he shocked to find Angela is also there.

During the confinement inside a warehouse, Soichi finds out that apparently there is a connection between the series of incident and illegal gambling on the ex-Driver world race competition. Now Soichi must escape from the warehouse with Angela...

(Source: AniDB)

Palme is a puppet created by a man to care for his sickly wife. After her death Palme becomes paralyzed with sorrow, that is, until a woman being pursued happens to cross paths with Palme and his creator and asks them to deliver something precious to a sacred place called Tamas. Palme, mistaking her for his master's late wife, accepts the request. This becomes his first step to becoming more human in order to understand his own feelings.

(Source: Anime News Network)

It was on a rainy spring day that Chobi became a young woman's pet cat. Though he immediately fell in love with the beautiful and kind person who took him in, he can never hope to fully understand the complex world of humans. Over the course of their first year living in the same apartment, Chobi and his new owner live in their own separate worlds⁠—standing alone yet close together.

(Source: MAL Rewrite)

There are many street races in the Initial D Series. This OVA has no plot other than to collect all the street races into one stage. The dialog during the original races is left in.

Meet Chako and her friends from the Cosplay Association at East Oizuki Academy! They're the hottest new cosplay team in Japan...fresh from a winning streak of local battles, they're set to sweep the Cosplay World Series!

Yeah, right.

In reality, Chako and her friends are barely able to keep their club alive at all. Feeble club hip and a lack of sponsorship might be the end of their cosplay dreams before they can even start. But don't you dare underestimate this group of spunky girls! They'll survive a barrage of pervy newcomers, cosplay rivalries, costume disasters and dating mishaps in order to reach their ultimate goal of competing in the World Series. The clothing flies as the girls suit up (and strip down) for Cosplay Complex!

(Source: DVD Back Cover)

32 years have ed since the initial defeat of the Invaders. A.E.G.I.S is all but dismantled now and has become an underground organiziation consisting of only a few Gate Keepers left to save humanity. One of the , Ayane Isuzu, is sick of society as a whole, though she continues to defeat the Invaders out of spite for her father. Suddenly, she learns of the revival of Machine General (Kikai Shogun) and Devil Count (Akuma Hakushaku), but a mysterious ghost girl now accompanies them. It is up to Ayane and the remnants of A.E.G.I.S to stop them and save humanity once again.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Lupin steals an extraordinary gem from a Mediterranean party, only to be interrupted by Pycal, the trickster "magician" who had apparently died fighting Lupin early in his career. Pycal, now armed with real magical abilities, is determined to take revenge.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Mika Katagiri wants her band to perform at the local festival. However, complications arise. Their keyboardist, Jun, refuses to play, and their stage has been cancelled. Refusing to give up, Mika and her band strive to find a way to play at the festival, using any means necessary.

(Source: Anime News Network)

The story takes place on a world 100 years in the future, a few years before Lisa and Lorna ed eX-D organization. The world where people drives computer-controlled electrically powered "AI cars" which automatically take you where you want to go. However, one AI car mysteriously start to run amok. Now Nina and Rei, as the main driver for ex-D organization have to solve the mystery behind the AI car with evil plot and trap awaiting for them...

(Source: AniDB)

Nakoruru, finally returned to her home Kamuikotan after a long, fierce battle, receives a warm welcome from dear friends and the village children. Her spirit is uplifted by her reunion with companions Manari and Yantamuu. But as the trauma of battle falls away, Rela appears and challenges Nakoruru and the shadow of misfortune creeps closer... Nakoruru is a popular Ainu girl from SNK's Samurai Spirits fighting game (PC and Dreamcast), now she has her very own OVA series.

(Source: AniDB)

Prologue to the second game in the Generation of Chaos RPG series. Ellile is a knight-in-training in the Kingdom of Fredbarn in the Neverland World. He and Princess Roji are secretly in love, and plan to marry. Lifile, the head of the knights, finds out, and tells Ellile that he's not strong enough to protect Roji, let alone the Kingdom. Ellile becomes frustrated, and comtemplates what to do... During the OVA, there are a few animated shorts dealing with a fourth character, Poro, her robot friend, and the GOC Next cast.

(Source: Anime News Network)

As the title implies, this series features a pair of characters per episode. Each DVD has one music video for each character, plus one part of an eight part story. Annoyingly, the music videos are for the short versions of the songs, not the full versions... to get those, you had to buy the Twin Collection CDs.

(Source: Neo-Romance)

Whisked away to the land of Kyou, Akane learns that she is the Ryuujin no Miko, and meets the Hachiyou, her protectors. They must defeat Akuram, a demon who wants to destroy Kyou using the power of Azusa, a woman who has the power to absorb human energy. If Akane and the Hachiyou cannot defeat Akuram and bring peace to Kyou, Azusa'a power will destroy the humans.

(Source: Anime News Network)

A retelling of the TV series from the point of view of one of the Goddess Pilots.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Kazuki Mai, an elementary schoolgirl, wanted to be a magician but her skills weren't good enough for here to her grandparents' Magiccarat troupe. One day she sees a light enter a strange heart-shaped mirror. The light is actually a mirror fairy named Topo, who takes over her favourite stuffed toy, a flying squirrel and gives her a bracelet with the 4 card suits. The bracelet can turn into a bubble wand which transforms Mai into the 18 year old magician Magical Emi, who uses her magic to help people and participate in her grandparents' shows.

Comprised of 3 episodes that act simultaneously as a parody of other mecha anime and expand of the technology used in the Patlabor Series.



Episode 1 is a brief introduction to the weaponry carried by the Ingram, how it was designed and why it is the way it is.

Episode 2 looks at the design and maintenance of the Ingram 98 AV in SVU2 and takes a swipe at the marketing forces behind them (as in merchandising for the series).

Episode 3 is the only one to attempt to expand on a very minor point raised in the original TV show and just how SVU2 is actually funded.

(Source: AniList.co)

Kubota Makoto and Tokitoh Minoru (characters from Kazuya Minekura's manga Wild Adaptor -- though no reference is made to the darker storyline of WA in this light-hearted anime) are the muscle of their high school's all-powerful student council. They defend the student body from disorder -- generated by both humans and demons -- while avoiding their classes.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Six years have ed since Rion discovered his own identity as an artificial being, yet succeeded in destroying the genocidal Mother Computer, Dorothy, before perishing himself. Now reactivated by Lilia, Rion awakens to find that Dorothy managed to execute one final catastrophic program, rendering a new evil crew to finish her goal of human annihilation. It is a fully 3D CGI animated OVA based on the hit PlayStation game, called Galerians, released in August, 1999.

(Source: AniDB)

Mecha series based on Takara's videogames.

Episodes 5.5 and 13.

Insecure Ai Shiomi begins attending the prestigous Psychic Academy for psychically gifted students, following in the footsteps of his legendary older brother.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Kaoru and the girls have a picnic in Spring and talk about their dreams for the future.

Fresh from being transferred to the LAPD, Miyuki and Natsumi must investigate some unusual car theft incidents in their area. And when Miyuki's yellow 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 is "gone in 60 seconds" (literally), the situation gets more complicated when the thief turns out to be a former Japanese detective.

(Source: Anime News Network)

Three short bonus shorts featured with the movie, featuring Lisa, Lorna and Souichi in events set just before where the movie takes off. These bonus shorts are done in comedic style, mainly with camera pans and zooms on still images.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Forte suddenly asks for leave for the day, leaving the Angels, Ranpha in particular, thinking she's off for a date. Meanwhile, Forte meets up with an old acquaintance who wants to ask her opinion on a rather pressing matter of life and death.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Pilot movie of Umi no Triton, it was created in October 1971 for the intention of selling the series to international markets and features a more Western-style drawn Triton. The pilot was released to the public on the Umi no Triton: Original Gekijou-ban DVD release nearly 3 decades later.

A music video for the song by Mika Shinno that was featured on NHK's Minna no Uta program.

A song about preserving ecology. Kenjiro Imawano created this song along with a picture book to reach out to the hearts of children so that they can grow up knowing that they are in charge of environmental protection.

A music video for the song by Konishiki that was featured on NHK's Minna no Uta program.

A young girl sings about her mother's re-marriage and how happy she feels that her mom found love. Mama no Kekkon was featured on NHK's Minna no Uta program

Music video for the song Natsu Koibana by Japanese choral unit Kira that was featured on NHK's Minna no Uta program. The video was made by the Kageboushi Theater Company.

A happy husband and wife enjoy eachother's company and go for scenic drives in their car.

Music video for the song Shiawase Kyouryuu Ondo by Odoru♥11, a shuffle idol unit under the Hello! Project collective that was created in 2002 for their "shiawase" theme. The song was featured on NHK's Minna no Uta program and the accompanying video features animation by Youko Kinoshita.