1990s Japanese TV Shows

The son of a world famous mystery writer, Jimmy Kudo, has achieved his own notoriety by assisting the local police as a student detective. He has always been able to solve the most difficult of criminal cases using his wits and power of reason.

A high-tech squadron protects Earth from evil monsters and aliens with the help of a giant super-being named Ultraman Tiga.

Join Ash accompanied by his partner Pikachu, as he travels through many regions, meets new friends and faces new challenges on his quest to become a Pokémon Master.

Shin-chan, the boy next door, is a walking disaster, creating chaos wherever he goes. With the body of a child and the mind of an adult, Shinchan is wreaking more havoc than any child before. Shin-chan is carefree, optimistic and gets excited about everything. This 5 year-old likes to do things his way.

Rantarō, Shinbei and Kirimaru are ninja apprentices in the Ninja Gakuen, where first grade ones are called "Nintamas". They must learn everything a ninja must know, but as for our heroes, money, food or playing are more interesting. The series show the everyday adventures of our heroes.

Years ago, the fearsome Pirate King, Gol D. Roger was executed leaving a huge pile of treasure and the famous "One Piece" behind. Whoever claims the "One Piece" will be named the new King of the Pirates. Monkey D. Luffy, a boy who consumed a "Devil Fruit," decides to follow in the footsteps of his idol, the pirate Shanks, and find the One Piece. It helps, of course, that his body has the properties of rubber and that he's surrounded by a bevy of skilled fighters and thieves to help him along the way. Luffy will do anything to get the One Piece and become King of the Pirates!

Meet Maruko, a sweet schoolgirl with a hefty dose of curiosity (and occasional laziness!). She sails through life in a cozy town alongside her loving parents, grandparents, and sister. Maruko has a band of loyal friends, including her closest pal, Tama-chan, but her playful and doting grandpa is at the heart of it all. Life is never dull in this charming series.

One day, Usagi Tsukino, clumsy 2nd-year middle school student, stumbles upon a talking cat named Luna. Luna tells her that she is destined to be Sailor Moon, "champion of love and justice", and she must search for the fabled Moon Princess. Usagi finds friends that turn out to be destined senshi as well, and together they fight to save the world from the certain doom brought upon by the Dark Kingdom.

Takumi’s job as a tofu delivery boy has turned him into one of the most formidable drivers around. Behind the wheel of his Eight-Six, he’s one with the road—and his life shifts into high gear when the underground street racing world takes notice. Drivers from across the region are lining up for a shot at the new guy. Takumi’s not just focused on winning—he’s out to prove he’s the best.

Keiko Himuro, Chairman of the Kisuragi School, puts together an all-girl baseball team led by Ryo Hayakawa, daughter of a legendary pitcher, in hopes of proving that girls can compete just as well as boys. Their goal: Koshien stadium, where only the best teams get the opportunity to play.

How do you like Wednesday? was a Japanese television variety series that aired on the HTB network in Hokkaidō, Japan, and on other regional television networks in Japan. The program debuted on HTB on October 9, 1996. The series was one of the first local variety programs to be produced on Hokkaido; prior to this series' launch, local variety programs in Hokkaidō were virtually non-existent. The program also had a significant influence on other local programs in other regions in Japan, most notably Kwangaku! in Kansai and Nobunaga in Tokai. The series achieved a record 18.6% viewing share on December 8, 1999, the highest share for a late-night program on a local TV station. Production of the weekly regular series ended in September 2002, though new limited-run series were produced on average of every 18 months; the latest series was shown on HTB in late 2005, eight episodes in length. Most of the series have been rerun under the names of Dōdeshō Returns and Suiyō Dōdeshō Classic.

Sakura Kinomoto, an elementary school student who discovers that she possesses magical powers after accidentally freeing a set of magical cards from the book they had been sealed in for years. She is then tasked with retrieving those cards in order to avoid an unknown catastrophe from befalling the world.

Gon Freecss discovers that the father he had always been told was dead was actually alive the whole time. Ging is a famous Hunter: an individual who has proven themself an elite member of humanity. Gon becomes determined to follow in his father's footsteps, pass the rigorous Hunter Examination.

Ryotsu Kankichi, or Ryo-san for short, is an unconventional cop working at the local police station who loves money. Together with famous celebrities like Nakagawa and Reiko, his strict boss Police Chief Ohara, and other wildly unique characters, he gets everyone caught up in all sorts of hijinks!

SMAP×SMAP was an ongoing weekly Japanese variety show on Kansai TV and Fuji TV starring the members of SMAP. The show began on April 15, 1996 and it aired from 22:00 to 22:54 every Monday. The show's usual ratings were higher than 20%, which is considered high since most variety shows range from 10-20%. Each episode begins a variety of skits, comedic performances, and/or games.  These are followed by Bistro SMAP, in which the SMAP members compete against each other to impress celebrity judges with their gourmet cooking.  Last is a musical performance by SMAP which may include celebrity guests, as well.

At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels would come back to finish the job. Fifteen years later, that day has come... but this time, humanity is ready to fight back with terrifying bio-mechanical weapons known as the Evangelions. Watch as Shinji, Rei, Asuka and the rest of the mysterious shadow agency Nerv battle to save earth from total annihilation.

In 2071, roughly fifty years after an accident with a hyperspace gateway made the Earth almost uninhabitable, humanity has colonized most of the rocky planets and moons of the Solar System. Amid a rising crime rate, the Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) set up a legalized contract system, in which registered bounty hunters, also referred to as "Cowboys", chase criminals and bring them in alive in return for a reward.

After dying to save a boy, delinquent tough guy Yusuke Urameshi is granted another chance at life by redeeming himself as a "Spirit Detective."

While at summer camp, seven kids come across seven Digivices and are transported to a strange digital world. In this new world they make friends with creatures that call themselves Digimon who were born to defend their world from various evil forces.

A family drama series that follows the lives of the Okakura family, focusing on the parents and their five daughters. It explores personal struggles, and societal issues through the interactions and conflicts among the family members.

Kindaichi Hajime may look dumb, but he is one of the smartest you will ever see. He encounters mysteries after mysteries with his good friend, Miyuki, and he swears to solve them in the name of his grandfather, which was a great detective.

Sakuragi Hanamichi is a junior high punk used to getting into fights and being rejected by girls but upon entering high school he meets the girl of his dreams, Haruko Akagi. He will do anything in order to win her heart including joining the school basketball team that is aiming to conquer the nation lead by Haruko's brother. The problem is that Sakuragi has never played basketball before and a freshman sensation is stealing the spotlight and Haruko's affection from him.

Ojamajo Doremi, known as Magical DoReMi internationally, is a magical girl anime television series created by Toei Animation in 1999. It focuses on elementary school students who become witch apprentices. Led by Doremi Harukaze, the girls must maintain their double lives in secret. Ojamajo Doremi has been followed up by three direct sequels, lasting until its end in 2003. During the television series' runtime, two companion films were released in theaters. The English dub, produced by 4Kids Entertainment, released a preview episode in the US airing on August 13, 2005, and the first episode on September 10, 2005.

The Meiji Era was one of great renewal for Japan, where swords and killing were outlawed. However, many survivors from the time of Revolution still live, lurking in the shadows and waiting for a chance to use their killing blades again. Only Kenshin Himura, formerly one of the most brutal of killers, hopes to keep his swordsman's honor and still live in the new era.

Eikichi Onizuka, former gang leader, becomes a teacher of a class of students who torment their teachers and fellow students. Of course they do not do this out of whim, they have their reasons. Onizuka is charged by the chairlady to help these troubled students into a more healthy adulthood, and help rehabilitate the teachers in the process as well.

As humanity begins migrating beyond Earth, a new Ultraman named Dyna arrives and bonds with defense organization GUTS' newest recruit, Shin Asuka, to protect a colony on Mars.

In the remote and mysterious Moominvalley live the Moomins, gentle and peaceful creatures. Young Moomintroll and his family experience many strange adventures, both magical and mundane.

Mariko is a forensic scientist working at the Kyoto PD Crime Lab. Her credo is “science never lies” and she delves into the truth of the case with her colleagues with their specialized skills and knowledge in forensic medicine, physics, chemistry etc. Mariko’s steadfast belief in science makes her stand against conventional institutional ethics of the police department, diehard detectives averse to scientific investigation and sometimes even with her own colleagues, but she stays faithful to her belief in science and continues to pursue the truth.

A young man who showed little promise while a high school student becomes a master detective, just like his grandfather.

Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle built around a specific theme ingredient. The series ended on September 24, 1999, although occasional specials were produced until 2002. The series aired 309 episodes. Repeats are regularly aired on the Cooking Channel in the United States and on Special Broadcasting Service in Australia. Fuji TV will air a new version of the show, titled Iron Chef, beginning in October 26, 2012.

Guts, a wandering mercenary, joins the Band of the Hawk after being defeated in a duel by Griffith, the group's leader and founder. Together, they dominate every battle, but something menacing lurks in the shadows.

Ultraman Gaia is a Japanese tokusatsu TV show and is the 13th show in the Ultra Series. Created by Chiaki J. Konaka and produced by Tsuburaya Productions and Mainichi Broadcasting System, Ultraman Gaia was aired on JNN TV stations from September 5, 1998 until August 28, 1999, with a total of 51 episodes.

Mini 4WD racing is an interesting hobby in where kids and adults compete using customized motorized miniature cars. Every year, competitions revolving around the hobby circulated around the world, with both kids and adults test out their spirit and passion in racing and companies developing new technologies and innovations for Mini 4WD. The story revolves around the competitive Seiba Brothers: Go and Retsu, who were once constantly arguing on each other to see who's the best racer. However one day after a community-sponsored race, they both met Dr. Tsuchiya, the head of the Tsuchiya Racing Factory who gave them two Mini 4WD Cars of the prototype Saber Series: Sonic Saber and Magnum Saber. With his advice on telling the twins to customize them for the upcoming race, they are now determined to win and race to victory and set off to their wildest race of their lives. While meeting both friends and enemies in the Mini 4WD Racing world.

Follows the exploits of the young sorceress Lina Inverse, whose life revolves around food, treasure, and fighting. After stealing treasure from a group of bandits, Lina is accosted by stragglers during her journey to the next town. She's not in any real danger, but a dim-witted but good-natured swordsman named Gourry Gabriev springs to her rescue anyways. The two team up, and head to Atlas City, fighting foes they encounter on the way. Unbeknownst to them, two mysterious figures are hot on their tail, and they are especially interested in the “treasure” Lina and Gourry have stolen.

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Inspired by American TV movies like "Hitchcock Theater" and "The Twilight Zone," the show features multiple works with Tamori as the storyteller and actors as the main characters. While horror and supernatural themes are predominant, a variety of genres like comedy and drama are also produced. Most episodes, however, have a bad ending.

Left at the altar after quitting her job to marry, Kaoru travels to the countryside to work at the Japanese inn and hot spring resort that her mother manages. With her daughter back, Kaoru’s mother decides to groom her to become the next manager, but this causes the woman previously in line for that position to become a jealous rival. On top of that, the rest of the staff don’t respect her and refuse to cooperate at every turn. Fighting to thwart the efforts of her rival, earning the respect of her co-workers, learning a new job and hopefully finding love along the way may be tough, but she is determined to make this her new home!

Set in the near future, Medabots revolves around the super charged battling adventures of a group of kids and their pet robots. Fueled with artificial intelligence and a specialized arsenal of high powered weapons, Medabots compete against each other in exciting Robattles, with the winners acquiring Medaparts from the defeated Medabot. With over 370 unique robots ready to Robattle, Medabots is filled with explosive adventures in a world where kids have the ultimate power. But more than anything else, these challenges are about courage and mind power, where the soul of the Medafighter and Medabot combine to emerge victorious.

A former gang member wants to be Japan's best teacher. When he's hired to supervise a class of hopeless cases, it's his chance to prove himself.

In ancient times, a great battle was waged between a master mage, Enno, and an evil demon goddess, Karuma. Enno didn't have the strength to defeat her alone and was forced to call upon Zenki, a powerful protector demon. After Karuma was defeated, Enno sealed Zenki away in a pillar located inside his temple. 1,200 years after this epic battle, Enno's descendant, Chiaki, unleashes her family's powers to summon Zenki.