Scrapped Princess

The story takes place in a fantasy world and revolves around a 15-year-old girl named Pacifica Casull, who is the sister in a set of twins born to the royal family of a kingdom called Leinwan and then, literally, thrown away. The 5111th Grendel Prophecy predicts that she will be the "poison that will destroy the world" if she reaches her sixteenth birthday. To prevent this she is dropped off a cliff as an infant. Believed to be dead, her survival remains no more than a rumour until she is already 15 years old.

Pacifica is rescued by a court wizard and adopted by the commoner Casull family. Her foster siblings: Shannon, a swordsman, and Raquel, a wizard, become her protectors. Both siblings are extremely powerful, and more often than not they easily break out of whatever difficult situation they face.

Her siblings travel with her throughout most of the story, protecting her from the numerous attempts on her life by people who fear the outcome of the prophecy. Both siblings' skills see constant use. By contrast, Pacifica is mostly a typical fifteen-year-old, and her inability to defend herself is a recurring source of self-doubt for her, as is the constantly re-iterated insistence that she will destroy the world. As the series progresses, the truth about the prophecy slowly comes to light, but even as more of the truth is revealed, more questions arise. Pacifica must discover her hidden destiny, even as powerful beings called Peacemakers, who are worshipped in this world as demi-gods, continually manoeuvre to have her destroyed, and, at the same time, another mysterious being called a Dragoon comes to the assistance of Pacifica and her guardians, offsetting to some extent the attack of the Peacemakers. It turns out that Pacifica is not only not "the poison that will destroy the world" but, in reality, mankind's last hope, and all part of a plan that was set in motion 5000 years before by scientists among the human resistance to aliens during what were called the Genesis Wars.

Before the Genesis Wars, the Peacemakers were created by humans as weapons against mankind's alien foes, but, determining to protect their human creators and prevent them from destroying themselves, the Peacemakers switched sides and assisted the aliens by imprisoning the survivors of the war in an artificial environment, and at the same time backing up their cultural development to the Middle Ages. The Peacemakers were able to do this with the help of a gifted psychic named Celia Mauser, whom they encouraged to leak information to them in exchange for the lives of her brother and sister. (Celia and her siblings bear a noticeable resemblance to Pacifica, Shannon, and Raquel). She was too late, her siblings died. Celia Mauser's treason was for nothing. Celia was then kept in an area of phase space in a sort of virtual reality for 5000 years while mankind continued to live on unknowingly in a cage. Her powerful mind was programmed into the artificial environment's control system, and the religion concocted by the aliens to control humanity worships her as a god.

The Peacemakers have watched over mankind, occasionally wiping out much of the population to keep the level of civilization down so mankind would not find out that they were trapped. As the Peacemakers put it, "You don't know you are trapped if all you've ever known is your cage." Humans are completely incapable of resisting the will of the Peacemakers. Just looking a Peacemaker in the eye renders a human obedient - even Shannon and Raquel are not immune to this. Pacifica Casull is the only human being in 5000 years who is immune to this control, and her ability will become communicable to others once she reaches her sixteenth birthday. This is why the Peacemakers are determined to destroy her, and why they have used the Grendel Prophecies to induce anyone who can to do the job for them. (Pacifica cannot be directly attacked by the Peacemakers. She must be attacked indirectly by a controlled human or group of humans). As things turn out, Pacifica's real brother, Prince Forsythe, who has seen the suffering inflicted on his people by the Peacemakers in their attempts to eliminate Pacifica, asks to meet her, and when her guardians allow it, he stabs her in the back, ten hours before she turns sixteen. This causes her to be removed to the phase sphere, where she meets Celia Mauser, who allows her to choose whether mankind will remain in their prison or not. Pacifica chooses freedom.

Elfen Lied

Elfen Lied (エルフェンリート, Erufen Rīto) is a Japanese manga series created by manga author Lynn Okamoto. A thirteen-episode anime television series adaptation based on the manga was produced by the studio ARMS and broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to October 2004; the anime was later licensed in North America on DVD by ADV Films. The anime started before the manga was complete; as a result, the plot differed between the two, especially towards the ending of the story. In 2005, a special original video animation, written to occur between the tenth and eleventh episodes of the series, was released. The title is literally German for "Elven Song" and takes its name from the poem Elfenlied and the German word lied, a classical-romantic poem or musical work.

Elfen Lied revolves around the interactions, views, emotions, and discrimination between humans and the Diclonius, a mutant species similar to humans in build but distinguishable by two horns on their head and "vectors", transparent telekinetically controlled arms that have the power to manipulate and cut objects within their reach. The series is centered around the teenage Diclonius girl "Lucy" who was rejected by humans and subsequently wreaks a murderous vengeance upon them.

Elfen Lied involves themes of social alienation, identity, revenge, child abuse, jealousy and the value of humanity. The series employs graphic violence and nudity, especially the graphic opening sequence of the first episode. So far, only the thirteen-episode anime series has been licensed in the United States, by ADV Films and in Australia, by Madman Entertainment. ADV Films said the series was one of their bestselling and "most notorious" releases of 2005.

The Diclonius are a species of evolved humans with two horns and vectors, transparent arms that have the power to manipulate and cut objects within their reach. The arms vibrate with such a high frequency, that they can cut through almost anything, and they are strong enough to lift heavy stones or lesser boats; depending on the strength of the individual Diclonius. Diclonius are being held in a special experimental facility off the coast of Kamakura in Kanagawa, south of the city of Yokohama, by the chief executive of the experimental facility. A teenage girl named by the staff as "Lucy," escapes, using her vectors to deflect gunfire and effortlessly kill security guards. As she makes her way out of the facility, a sniper shoots her, breaking her metal helmet and causing her to fall into the sea. The next morning, Kohta is moving to Kamakura to study in a university where he is reunited with his cousin Yuka. He encounters Lucy on a beach in the area, naked with her head bleeding from the bullet wound and only capable of saying theword "Nyu." Kohta and Yuka decide to take her with them, naming her "Nyu" as a result.

A Diclonius named Nana and a Special Assault Team task force, led by the violent soldier Bando, are sent to hunt down Lucy. However, Lucy and her cold characteristics have not yet faded away; whenever she hits her head or is confronted with violence, she reverts to her sadistic side and makes transitions between her two personalities throughout the series, the first of which is seen against Bando, who has his eyes poked out, and Nana, who has all her limbs ripped off by Lucy's vectors. Eventually, Kurama decides to repair the bodies of Bando and Nana and send Nana back to Kamakura, contrary to his orders to put her down. Nana and Mayu, a 14-year-old runaway youth who witnessed the confrontation between Nana and Lucy, as well as the result of Bando's encounter with Lucy, both end up living in Kohta's household.

Several developments in the story are made and explained in the latter end of the series regarding the pasts of the characters and the links between them. Mayu is revealed to have been molested by her stepfather, and Kurama is also revealed to be a carrier of Diclonius DNA. Professor Kakuzawa, Kurama's colleague and the son of his boss, is revealed to be a Diclonius just seconds before his head gets torn off by Lucy. Kurama's wife died as a result of complications after giving birth, and Kurama was almost forced to kill his newborn Diclonius daughter; however Kakuzawa's father, the head of the facility, agreed to let her live on the condition that explosives be planted inside her to be detonated if she escaped the facility and caused destruction in the human world. Lucy's past, why she turned sadistic, and her connections with Kohta are also revealed.

Toward the end of the series, Kurama is forced to unleash Mariko, his Diclonius daughter and disputedly the most powerful Diclonius, to kill Lucy and return the species into hiding forever. Lucy, Nana and Kohta encounter Mariko, accompanied by the staff at the facility, on a bridge, where Mariko almost kills them. As Lucy kills the search team accompanying Mariko in retrieving her, including the majority of the remaining staff at the facility, Kurama is cornered with the last three Diclonius left. He chooses instead to spend a final father-daughter moment and die with Mariko as the explosives in her detonate. Nana returns to the household with Kohta, Yuka and Mayu, and Lucy sees Kohta on the same set of steps as where they had their final conversation eight years earlier, telling him her true feelings, her remorse, and how she is in love with Kohta. Lucy leaves to face the remaining assault team deployed by the facility; her ultimate fate is unknown.

• Lucy(ルーシー , Rūshī) is a teenage Diclonius girl around eighteen years old. Lucy has developed strong emotions of hatred and vengeance towards regular humans mainly because of how she was treated by the majority of them as a child, making fun of her horns and giving her insulting nicknames such as freak. She seems to lack empathy, kills without much concern, and acts somewhat sadistically; however, towards the end of the series, she begins to show remorse for her actions, especially towards Kohta. Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)
• 

• Nyu (にゅう, Nyū) is a split personality of Lucy that developed after a .50 BMG round ricocheted off a metallic helmet encasing her head. Nyu has a childlike personality and infantile knowledge of the world, forgetting even that she is a Diclonius and how to use or manifest her vectors, leaving her as a human with horns. She initially lacks spoken language skills; however, she eventually learns a handful of words and phrases until (in the manga) she can finally speak properly despite the fact she still uses the nonsensical phrase nyu as her catchphrase. Nyu is innocent and incapable of violent acts, a foil to the normally cold and sadistic Lucy; she is the manifestation of her "good side". Whenever Nyu hits her head or when she is confronted with violence, she reverts to her sadistic side, Lucy. Voiced by: Sanae Kobayashi (Japanese), Kira Vincent-Davis (English)

• Kohta (コウタ, Kōta) is around nineteen years old and enters the story when his cousin's family allows him to move in to their closed-down inn in exchange for maintenance while he goes to a local university. Kohta has repressed traumatic memories of his father's and sister's deaths during his childhood at Lucy's hands. Because of him repressing his memories, Kohta does not remember Lucy from when he met her earlier as a child. Due in part to his loss, he has a soft spot for girls in trouble and is extremely generous and protective to the girls around him. He is more forgiving in the anime, but in the manga when he gets his memories back he truly is unforgiving about Lucy killing his father and sister. Even so, he also remembers the happy memories, and even though she killed his father and sister, he still loves her. Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Adam Conlon (English)

• Yuka (ユカ) is Kohta's cousin. She is about the same age and attends the same university as Kohta (she attends the same class with him, so she should be around nineteen years old as well). She last saw Kohta when they were ten, parting ways with him on the same night in which Lucy killed Kohta's family, completely oblivious to the events following their last meeting. She moves in with him at the inn after having not seen him in many years. She has had a crush on Kohta since childhood, and is uncomfortable with Nyu's attachment to him. Voiced by: Mamiko Noto (Japanese), Nancy Novotny (English)

Diclonius, according to the Elfen Lied manga, are an evolutionary branch off of humans. Their bodies are very similar to humans, the only difference being the two horn-like temporal protrusions, which are said to relate to their telekinetic powers (hinted at when Lucy only released two vectors towards several soldiers when one of her two horns was chipped off). In the manga, it is mentioned that Diclonius would fall into a coma if they lose one of their horns, and would never return from their lethargic state if they lose both horns. Lucy's horns grow back though and manage to recover from this twice. In the anime, Lucy went into shock from losing one of her horns, and was temporarily rendered catatonic for a very brief period before recovering in time to save Nana. Their powers involve the usage of invisible arms, known as "vectors". They usually have a limited range of a few meters; Lucy's are able to extend to two meters in the manga). They also have the ability to detect the location of each other, such as when Kurama releases Nana from the offshore laboratory to search for and retrieve Lucy.

A key dispute throughout the series is the Diclonius propensity towards violence. Many have a vendetta against humans, and have ambitions to wipe out the human race and populate the world with their own species. Diclonius DNA is transferred to normal humans if the vectors of the Diclonius penetrate them. An incident involving the escape of a child Diclonius during Kurama's early years where the Diclonius' vectors penetrated him resulted in Mariko being born a Diclonius, and Kurama takes precautions against a recurrence by attempting to sterilize Bando.

It is disputed and contradicted during the series as to how Diclonius develop this behavior, whether it is part of their personality or whether it stems from abuse by humans, and both conclusions are supported by significant evidence. Kurama explains to Bando that Diclonius are born with the intention of populating the world, and Lucy has implied to be directed by Diclonii instincts when she kills humans. In the anime's final episode Lucy tells Kohta that "I was born to destroy humans." However, it is also shown that the Diclonius have usually been subjected to some type of severe psychological trauma; for example, Lucy was tormented by her human peers and witnessed the killing of her pet as a child, while Mariko was raised in neglect since her birth. They could therefore have developed their homicidal tendencies from abuse.

The researchers at the experimental facility believe the Diclonius to be nothing less than an existential threat. The Diclonius there are kept in isolation; where they are heavily restrained and fed through a tube. Lucy mentions the danger to the human race to Kohta in the final episode: "Given just five years, I can ensure that there are more babies of our kind born in the world than there are normal humans."

Mirmo!

The main protagonist, a love fairy named Mirmo (Mirumo) appears. Katie Minami (Kaede Minami in the original Japanese versions), is a cheerful and energetic eighth grader who is shy around her male classmates, making it difficult for her to date. One day, on her way home from school, she walks into a mysterious shop and buys a blue cocoa mug. When she arrives at home, she 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 Katie follows the directions and announces her wish to date Dylan Yuki (Setsu Yuuki in the Japanese versions), her crush. Arrive Mirmo. At first she was afraid of him but later understood that he was a muglox. Katie soon finds out that Mirmo prefers eating chocolate and creating mischief over helping Katie.

It turns out Mirmo is prince of the muglox world. Horrified at the prospect of having to marry Rima (Rirumu), his princess bride-to-be, Mirmo escaped the muglox world. Hot on his heels, however, are Rima, Yatch (Yashichi) the bounty hunter, Murumo (Mirmo's brother), and many other muglox as well.

The main characters of Mirmo! are four human teenagers and their mugloxes, or love fairies. The muglox Mirmo has been assigned the task of granting Katie Minami's wishes, though he spends most of his time eating chocolate and running away from Rima, a female muglox assigned to Dylan Yuki, the boy Katie is infatuated with. Yatch, Mirmo's muglox archrival, is assigned to by Azumi Hidaka, a girl who also loves Dylan and is jealous of Katie. Mirmo's brother, Murumo, is assigned to Kyle Matsutake, a boy who falls in love with Katie. The muglox fairies use musical instruments as their magical tools. Later on in the show two new characters, Koichi Sumita and Haruka Morishita, enter the race of love for Dylan and Katie's hearts. Then they get their very own muglox partners as well - Papii and Panta, respectively.

Toradora!

Toradora!'s story begins with the male protagonist Ryūji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent, so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryūji goes to school and is happy to find that he gets to be in the same class with his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura and a girl he has a crush on, Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into "the school's most dangerous animal of the highest risk level"—Taiga Aisaka—who just happens to also be in his class, and is a good friend of Minori.

Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and will not hesitate to snap at people. After meeting Ryūji, she takes an instant dislike of him. Taiga comes from a rich family, but she has moved out to live on her own due to family issues. She is coincidentally living in an apartment next to Ryūji's. When Ryūji discovers that Taiga has a crush on Yūsaku, and Taiga finds out about Ryūji's affections towards Minori, Ryūji suggests that they cooperate to win the objects of their affections. Taiga exploits the fact that Ryūji will do anything to get closer to Minori. She makes him her personal servant, getting him to do all her household chores (cooking and cleaning). Taiga spends a lot of her time over at his house, so much that she could almost be considered a member of his family. Since Ryūji spends a lot of time with Taiga, he has opened up to her world and to a side of her that most people do not see. The two also try to help each other improve the way people view them. However people they know from school start to become curious about their strange relationship and rumors begin to spread about them behind their backs.

Ryūji Takasu (高須 竜児, Takasu Ryūji)

Voiced by: Junji Majima

The series' main protagonist, Ryūji is a seventeen-year-old high school student in his second year, class 2-C. Due to biological inheritance, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent and causes many misunderstandings. He lives in a fatherless family with just his mother, and due to this, Ryūji has learned to be self-sufficient. He is good at cooking and keeping everything in his house clean (nearly to the point of obsession), and also excels at sewing. He holds a crush on Minori Kushieda, a girl his age in his class. He has a pet parakeet named "Inko-chan" ("inko" literally means "parakeet" in Japanese). Ryūji often helps Taiga with domestic chores which she is otherwise unable to perform. At school, he is known as "the only person able to stop the palmtop tiger", referring to Taiga's nickname. While initially seen as intimidating by most others, he makes more friends. His feelings and relationship to Taiga begin to change as he spends more time with her throughout the series.

Taiga Aisaka (逢坂 大河, Aisaka Taiga)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya

Taiga is a girl in Ryūji's class. She has a well-regulated and beautiful appearance though is unable to stomach company from others. Due to her often snapping at others in brutal ways and her short stature, she is given the nickname "Palmtop Tiger" (手乗りタイガー, Te Nori Taigā). Her under-developed body and the added nickname has given her a complex which in turn serves to give her a negative attitude and facial expression. Essentially, Taiga gets upset easily and is considerably clumsy. Due to her cute looks (described as a doll by Ryūji), she often gets confessions by boys her age, but she turns down every one of them. She comes from a rich family but due to bad family relations, she has taken to living on her own. However, since she came from a privileged household, she does not know how to do any domestic chores. When she meets Ryūji and learns of his domestic talents, she ends up relying on Ryūji to clean up after her. Aside from sleeping in her own house, and going to school, she spends most of her time at Ryūji's house; so much so that she is almost considered a member of his family. At the beginning of the story, she is infatuated with his best friend Yūsaku Kitamura and gets nervous every time he appears around her. Due to this, Taiga and Ryūji team up to help each other get into a relationship with each other's best friend. Though she treats Ryūji badly at first, her feelings begin to change as she spends more time with him.

Minori Kushieda (櫛枝 実乃梨, Kushieda Minori)

Voiced by: Yui Horie

Minori is a girl in Ryūji's class, and is a close friend to Taiga. She is also known by the pet name "Minorin" (as a form of friendly affection). In contrast to the violent nature of Taiga, Minori is always smiling and cheerful. She is very athletic and is the captain of the girl's softball club at school, though at the same time she holds many part time jobs. She is a glutton when it comes to food, but is also constantly combating with dieting, calling herself a 'diet warrior'. She gets a thrill out of being scared. Despite her air-headed tendencies, she is very perceptive, and is one of the few people to see Ryūji for the gentle person he is, and is also not fooled by Ami's act of innocence.

Yūsaku Kitamura (北村 祐作, Kitamura Yūsaku)

Voiced by: Hirofumi Nojima

Yūsaku is a male student in Ryūji's class, and is his best friend. He is the vice-president of the student council, the class representative, and captain of the boy's softball club at school. Yūsaku wears glasses, and has a diligent personality. He thinks he is poor at talking to girls, though Ryūji observes otherwise. At first, he has some feelings to Taiga and eventually confesses to her that he loves her, but Taiga herself rejects Yūsaku's confession of his feelings. During his time as the Vice President of the student council, he eventually falls in love with the student council president, Sumire Kanō. A running gag is that he will appear out of nowhere behind Taiga and Ryūji when they are discussing a "plan of attack" to get their crushes. Like Minori, he has an unusual personality, but oftentimes it is an expression of his friendship and appreciation.

Ami Kawashima (川嶋 亜美, Kawashima Ami)

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura

Ami is Yūsaku's childhood friend who transfers into his class midway through their second year of high school. She is very beautiful and even works as a model and is seen as the mature one of the group. Though after she transfers school, she temporarily stops modeling. However, she still continues to go to the gym readily and maintains a slim figure. She is always kind and generous towards others, though this is merely a deception. In truth, she is arrogant and will not hesitate to use abusive language towards others. During her first meeting with Taiga, Ami shows her true colors, but the tables are turned when Taiga counterattacks by slapping her. Since then, Ami and Taiga have been enemies, Taiga referring to her as Stupid Chihuahua, though Ami still sometimes envies Taiga since she can always be honest. Ami has a love interest in Ryūji, asking him if he would love her real self and give her a second chance. She has a deep understanding of the relationship situation going on between Minori, Ryūji, Taiga, and herself.

Yasuko Takasu (高須 泰子, Takasu Yasuko)

Voiced by: Sayaka Ōhara

Yasuko is Ryūji's thirty-three-year-old mother, though she refers to herself as eternally twenty-three; she has large, F-cup-sized breasts. Though she tells Ryūji his father died before he was born, the truth is they were never married; he left her before Ryūji was born, and she raised her son by herself. She works at a hostess bar named Bishamontengoku where she goes by the name "Mirano" (魅羅乃), and single-handedly supports her two-member family financially. However, she has a childish personality and since she works, she entrusts the household chores to Ryūji. She instantly takes a liking to Taiga and already regards her as a member of her family, getting depressed when Taiga will not appear for dinner. However, she does get angry when woken up early. Despite the childish behavior, Yasuko proves to have a rather good insight of other people.

Yuri Koigakubo (恋ヶ窪 ゆり, Koigakubo Yuri)

Voiced by: Rie Tanaka

Yuri is the twenty-nine-year-old homeroom teacher of Ryūji's class, though she turns thirty in the fifth volume of the light novels. She likes to do things at her own pace and is timid towards Taiga's way of speaking out. Since her twenties are almost over, Yuri is in a hurry to get married soon and she even tries to dress well so as to be able to get into a relationship quicker. After she becomes thirty without getting married, she develops a twisted and depressed personality, which does not help that when Taiga talks about her, she emphases her single status. She has an interest in real estate.

Sumire Kanō (狩野 すみれ, Kanō Sumire)

Voiced by: Yūko Kaida

Sumire is the student council president and always manages to get the top grades in school; she is in fact a scholarship student and has horrible eyesight. She has a strong-minded personality which she depends on to be a figure those will follow. Her younger sister is Sakura and her parents own a supermarket. Sumire likes Yūsaku and as a result is the object of a one-sided hostility from Taiga. She later studies abroad in America as she wants to become an astronaut, and because of this, she rejects Yūsaku's confession of his feelings.

Sakura Kanō (狩野 さくら, Kanō Sakura)

Voiced by: Kana Asumi

Sakura is Sumire's younger sister who attends the same high school as Sumire though her grades are horrible. She can unconsciously flirt with people, and like her sister, she hates snakes.

Kōta Tomiie (富家 幸太, Tomiie Kōta)

Voiced by: Nobuhiko Okamoto

Kōta is a first-year student who is the main character to Toradora Spin-off!. He is generally unhappy about his life. He works on the student council in general affairs, and gets good grades.

Hisamitsu Noto (能登 久光, Noto Hisamitsu)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu

Hisamitsu is a male student in Ryūji's class who wears glasses. He was also in Ryūji's class the previous year and is on good terms with him. Noto begins to develop feelings for Maya Kihara following an argument they had during the class winter ski trip.

Kōji Haruta (春田 浩次, Haruta Kōji)

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino

Kōji is a male student in Ryūji's class who has long hair and is on good terms with him. He is regarded as a class 'idiot' and that opinion is deepened by his poor school marks and overly energetic behavior. His childish pranks often target Taiga and he has been the victim of her violent outbursts.

Maya Kihara (木原 麻耶, Kihara Maya)

Voiced by: Ai Nonaka

Maya is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Nanako. She is a kogal. She has a crush on Yūsaku, and she circuitously opposes the idea of Taiga and Yūsaku being a couple, although she wants Taiga and Ryūji to be together.

Nanako Kashii (香椎 奈々子, Kashii Nanako)

Voiced by: Momoko Ishikawa

Nanako is a female student in Ryūji's class who often hangs out with Maya and Ami.

Kuroma (黒間)

Kuroma is the thirty-four-year-old unmarried gym teacher at Ryūji's school. He enjoys strength training and improving his muscle mass.

Danny Phantom

Danny Phantom centers on the life and adventures of 14-year-old Danny Fenton, an unpopular boy attending Casper High. He lives with eccentric ghost hunting parents and an overbearing older sister, Jazz. Upon pressure of his best friends, Sam and Tucker, he wanders inside his parent's Ghost Portal. He accidentally presses a button that zaps his entire body, infusing his DNA with ectoplasm, transforming him into a half ghost boy. Danny, who calls himself 'Danny Phantom' in ghost form, develops the ability to fly, become invisible, and turn his body intangible. Over time Danny becomes more powerful and develops other powers which he has to learn to control.

Danny panics over his ghost powers at first, but he soon realizes that he can use his powers to protect his town from ill-meaning ghosts. After the defeat of a Lunch Lady Ghost, Danny turns to the life of a superhero, using his powers to rid his hometown of Amity Park from the various ghosts (either entities/monsters or spirits of the deceased from another dimension) that plague it. Danny's best friends, technophile Tucker Foley and goth-minded ultra-recyclo vegetarian Samantha (Sam) Manson support Danny and help him with his ghost fighting. Aside from a variety of ghosts, Danny faces threats of many calibers, including vengeful ghost hunter Valerie Gray, other half ghost/rival Vlad Masters/Plasmius, and even his own parents--being ghost hunters, they view Danny Phantom (and any ghosts) as a menace to society. In addition, Danny tries to keep his secret safe from his classmates, teachers, and family. Throughout it all, Danny slowly realizes his own potential and his purpose, while his worlds - both the Ghost Zone and Earth - slowly begin to accept him as their defender.

• Daniel "Danny" Fenton a.k.a. "Danny Phantom" (voiced by David Kaufman) The titular character of the show. Danny is a shy 14-year-old boy who gained ghost powers from a lab accident. He later chooses to use these powers to fight against malevolent ghosts, which have begun to regularly escape the mysterious Ghost Zone and plague his hometown of Amity Park.

• Tucker Foley (voiced by Rickey D'Shon Collins): Also known as Tuck, he is a lighthearted teenager obsessed with technology and meat. One of Danny's best friends along with Sam. When not obsessing over gadgets, he obsesses over girls. Like Sam, he shares in Danny's secret and often helps battle ghosts back into the Ghost Zone. He generally provides comic relief.

• Samantha "Sam" Manson (voiced by Grey DeLisle): Danny's other best friend. Though wealthy, she chooses to hide her family's monetary success (for quite some time), in favor of being liked for who she is. A strident individualist, Sam is a practitioner of an overly dramatized fictional form of vegetarianism called "Ultra Recyclo-Vegetarianism", a frequent protester for such things as animal rights, and a self-proclaimed goth. She has a secret crush on Danny.

• Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton (voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessey): Danny's know-it-all (and somewhat overprotective and perhaps overly helpful) older sister; a smart and highly sociable overachiever who also thinks herself as an adult. Jazz considers her parents' obsession with ghosts as a sign of needing psychological help. She discovers that Danny has ghost powers in the episode "My Brother's Keeper", but she does not reveal her knowledge of it (until "The Ultimate Enemy"), in favor of waiting until he is ready to talk about it with her.

• Jack Fenton (voiced by Rob Paulsen): Jazz and Danny's father. Maddie's husband. Jack has an obsession with destroying ghosts and expresses hate for them. He blindly goes by the belief that all ghosts are evil and not worth living, even Danny Phantom. He is generally incompetent in nature, but when provoked, can be an effective fighter. Jack cares about his family but is oblivious to Danny's powers. He also spends his time inventing gadgets that do not always work and is almost never seen without his orange jumpsuit.

• Maddie Fenton (voiced by Kath Soucie) is Jazz and Danny's mother. She is extremely smart and like her husband, finds all ghosts evil. Instead of destroying ghosts, however, she usually aims to dissect them. She is an excellent fighter.

• Vladimir "Vlad" Masters/Vlad Plasmius (voiced by Martin Mull): Danny's arch-enemy and a multi-billionaire. An old acquaintance of Jack and Maddie Fenton and one other known human-ghost hybrid like Danny. Vlad's ghost powers were thrust upon him by an accident with a Ghost Zone Portal prototype, which hospitalized him for many years with ecto-acne. He blames Jack and is resentful that his old "friend" married the love of his life, Maddie. Unlike Danny, his ghost powers are considerably more developed, and he has used them for personal gain.
• Daniel "Dan" Phantom: Danny and Vlad's mixed ghost halves due to an unfortunate choice on Danny's part. He is ten years older than 14 year old Danny and was put away in a Fenton Thermos at the end of "Ultimate Enemy". He is currently in this thermos in Clockwork's Tower.

Fushigi Yūgi

Middle school student Miaka Yūki is under a lot of pressure to pass the entrance exam for the competitive Jonan Academy. Her friends do not believe she will get in, but she is determined to because her best friend, Yui Hongo, has applied for the same school and she wants them both to go to the school together. While at the library one day, Miaka and Yui come into contact with a strange book there, known as The Universe of the Four Gods. As a result of reading this book, they are then transported into the novel's universe. Inside the novel she discovers that she is the Priestess of Suzaku and destined to gather the seven Celestial Warriors of the god Suzaku in order to summon Suzaku and obtain three wishes. She falls in love with the Celestial Warrior Tamahome, who eventually reciprocates and Miaka's desire to use a wish to enter the high school of her choice begins to shift towards finding a way to be with Tamahome. Unfortunately, Yui, who is also drawn into the book, is quickly manipulated by the emperor of the land of Kutou into becoming the Priestess of Seiryuu and working against Miaka.

The series describes the various trials that teenagers Miaka and Yui face, both quest-driven and personal. Feeling betrayed, the two oppose one another as priestesses, bringing together their own respective warriors and vying for the chance to be granted three wishes by the gods whom they hope to summon.

Much of the story also revolves around the inability of the Universe of the Four Gods to grant the wish for Tamahome to become real. In the first OVA it is revealed that there are two major reasons why Tama cannot stay with Miaka. Even though Tamahome was made into an actual person in the real world (named Taka), the difference between the memories of the "real" Taka and Tamahome made it impossible for him to stay with her until the memories of Taka were restored and he was merged with Tamahome. In addition, Tenkou was interfering with the powers of the Universe of the Four Gods, and this wish could never be made while he existed.

The last part of the story, Eikoden, discusses a new priestess entering the Universe of the Four Gods, and seeking to undo everything Miaka and Tamahome have done together.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Ten-year-old fourth grader Sakura Kinomoto opens a mysterious book in her father's study and accidentally releases the magical Clow Cards. Created by the half-English half-Chinese sorcerer Clow Reed, the Clow Cards were sealed within the Clow Book upon his death and represent a combination of magic from Clow's mixed heritage. Each card has its own personality and characteristics and can assume alternate forms when activated.

Cerberus, the guardian Beast of the Seal, awakens and emerges from the book's cover. Upon learning the cards are gone, he tells Sakura that she must have special powers, and that it is now her responsibility to retrieve the missing cards. As she finds the cards, she must battle its magical personification and defeat it in order to seal it away. Cerberus acts as her guide and mentor throughout the quest, while her classmate and best friend Tomoyo Daidouji films her exploits and provides her with costumes, insisting that she must "wear special clothes for special occasions." Her older brother Toya Kinomoto watches over his sister while pretending that he is unaware of what is going on.

As the series progresses, a rival in the form of Syaoran Li appears. A descendant of the late Clow Reed, creator of the Clow Cards' and their guardians, Syaoran travels to Japan from Hong Kong to recapture the cards, but finds his goal complicated as he comes to respect Sakura and begins aiding her instead. Once Sakura has captured all of the cards, she must undergo the Final Judgement. Yukito Tsukishiro, Sakura's crush and the best friend of her brother, is revealed to be the false form of the card's second guardian Yue, who tests Sakura to determine if she is worthy of becoming the card's true master. Sakura is aided in the test by Kaho Mizuki, who is later revealed to have been sent by Clow to ensure Sakura is able to pass the test because he chose Sakura to be the new card's master when he knew he was going to die.

With Sakura as the new master of the Clow Cards, life initially is peaceful until the arrival of a new transfer student from England, Eriol Hiiragizawa, which coincides with new disturbances occurring in Tomoeda. Yue and Cerberus find themselves unable to aid Sakura during a magical attack, and Sakura is unable to use the Clow Cards. Sakura transforms her wand and creates a new activation spell for it, enabling her to then transform one of the Clow Cards into a Sakura Card. As the series progresses, she continues finding herself in situations which cause her to have to transfer the cards, unaware they are being caused by Eriol and two guardian-like creatures, Spinel Sun and Ruby Moon. Yue, who requires the support of another to generate his own energies, begins growing weaker as time passes, though he initially does not tell Sakura that it is because her magic is not yet strong enough. The problem does not effect Cerberus whose power, like the sun, regenerates on its own with no need to draw extra power from other sources.

During these events, Sakura finds herself having to deal with the pain of Yukito's gentle rejection of her feelings, as he instead loves her brother Toya. Toya, in turn, gives all of his magical abilities to Yue in order to ensure Yukito doesn't fade away, making Yue promise to protect Sakura in his place as his loss of powers prevents him from knowing when she may be in trouble. Syaoran helps her recover from the hurt, while finding himself falling in love with Sakura but unsure of how to tell her.

When there are only two cards left to be transformed, the Dark and Light which must be converted together, Eriol reveals himself to Sakura. Once she has successfully transformed the cards, he explains that he is half of the reincarnation of Clow Reed, with her father being the other half. Eriol has all of the memories and magic, enabling him to assist Sakura in converting the cards so that they would not lose their magical powers. With the task done, he asks Sakura to split his magic between himself and her father, so that he will no longer be the most powerful magician in the world. He then returns to England.

In the aftermath, Syaoran confesses his love for her, but Sakura is unsure how to respond. When he tells her that he is returning to Hong Kong, Sakura finds herself hurting and upset. After running into several of her friends, she realizes that it is because she loves Syaoran too. She rushes to the airport to tell him and he promises to return when he has taken care of some things. At the end of the series, he meets Sakura a year later having moved to Tomoeda permanently.

Bleach

The story opens with the sudden appearance of Soul Reaper Rukia Kuchiki in Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. She is surprised at his ability to see her, but their conversation is interrupted by the appearance of a "hollow", an evil spirit. After Rukia is severely wounded while trying to protect Ichigo, she attempts to transfer half her powers to Ichigo in order to let him face the hollow on equal footing. Ichigo instead unintentionally absorbs almost all her energy, allowing him to defeat the hollow with ease. The next day Rukia appears in Ichigo's classroom as a seemingly normal human, and informs Ichigo that his absorption of her powers has left her stranded in the human world until she recovers her strength. In the meantime Ichigo shelters Rukia in his home and takes over her job as a Soul Reaper, battling hollows and guiding lost souls to the afterlife realm known as Soul Society.

After a few months of this arrangement, in the sixth volume of the series, Rukia's Soul Reaper superiors find out about her giving her powers away (which is illegal in Soul Society) and send a detachment to arrest her, and sentence her to death. Ichigo is unable to stop Rukia's capture, but with the help of several of his classmates who also possess spiritual abilities and ex-Soul Reaper Captain Kisuke Urahara, he sets off for the Soul Reaper base, located in Soul Society. Once there, Ichigo and company battle against the elites of the Soul Reaper military, and are ultimately successful in halting Rukia's execution.

It is then revealed that Rukia's execution and Ichigo's rescue attempt were both manipulated by Sōsuke Aizen, a high ranking Soul Reaper previously believed to be murdered, as part of a far-reaching plot to take control of Soul Society. Aizen betrays his fellow Soul Reapers and allies himself with the hollows, becoming the main antagonist of the series, and Ichigo teams up with his former enemies in Soul Society after learning that the next step in Aizen's plan involves the destruction of his hometown. At this point, Bleach chronicles the war between Aizen and the Soul Society, a plotline which has not yet been resolved. According to Tite Kubo, the ending of the series is not yet planned out or written.

Bleach contains a massive cast of characters designed by series creator Tite Kubo, which are divided into various factions and fictional races with distinct themes, and described using large amounts of invented jargon specific to the series. All significant characters in the series possess some degree of paranormal and superhuman abilities, and these are explained by their souls generating higher than usual levels of a paranormal energy called reiatsu (霊圧, lit. "spirit pressure"). The three predominant character types in Bleach are humans, Soul Reapers, and hollows.

The humans of Bleach are much like the residents of modern Japan. A normal human cannot see or sense spirits in any way unless that spirit possesses an artificial human body called a gigai, so humanity remains unaware of the existence of the spirit world. Very rarely a human like Ichigo Kurosaki is born who is able to see, interact, or fight with spirits, and others can gain these abilities by exposure to large amounts of spiritual energy, which happens to a number of Ichigo's friends during the course of the series.

The Soul Reapers (死神, shinigami, lit. "death god") are a military order of psychopomps based in Soul Society (尸魂界(ソウル・ソサエティ), Sōru Sosaeti), a sort of heaven. Soul Reapers escort the souls of the dead to Soul Society through the ritual of soul burial (魂葬, konsō). Their other major duties are protecting humans from hollows, and maintaining order in Soul Society. Soul Reapers all possess supernatural powers, which manifest through their zanpakutō swords, and kidō magic spells. Several factions of ex-Soul Reapers are featured in Bleach's story, most prominent among them the members of Sōsuke Aizen's rebellion and the Visoreds, former Soul Society elites who were exiled after obtaining hollow powers. Soul Society resembles feudal Japan, and consists of two major portions: eighty residential districts called the Rukongai (流魂街, Town of Wandering Spirits),which are inhabited by the souls of the dead, and the walled city Seireitei (瀞霊廷, Court of Pure Souls), the home and military base of the Soul Reapers. The Rukongai districts are ordinally ranked, with the lower-numbered districts being more peaceful. Soul Society is nominally ruled by a king, who resides in another realm within Soul Society, but in practice is controlled by the Soul Reapers.

The hollows are a race of evil spirits who feed on the souls of humans, both living and dead. Hollows are created when the soul of a dead human is neglected by the Soul Reapers until it is overcome by loneliness and/or rage, at which point it changes form into a monster with a white mask. By going through a procedure provided by Aizen, they become an arrancar, a hollow which regains the ability to reason, obtains a more humanoid form, and can gain access to Soul Reaper abilities such as the zanpakutō. As a group, the arrancar are the primary antagonists of the Bleach series. When not hunting humans or souls in the human world hollows reside in Hueco Mundo (虚圏(ウェコムンド), Weko Mundo), a dimension between the human world and Soul Society. Hollows are undetectable as long as they remain in Hueco Mundo.