Rumiko Takahashi Anthology

My Neighbors the Yamadas is a realistic, fun look at a typical (or are they?) Japanese family. The movie is presented in a series of shorts which illustrate how functional (or dysfunctional!) a family can truly be. Created by Studio Ghibli.

Alternate titles: Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran

Lady Ran is a self-described 'beautiful drifter': a samurai who travels Japan on a whim, always searching for good sake. Together with her good-hearted but somewhat dense sidekick Meow (master of the Iron Cat Fist style), they stumble into situations where they (usually unwillingly) confront bandits, corrupt officials and deceitful cults. But there's one enemy they can never defeat with their amazing sword and martial arts skills: their perpetual poverty!

At Count D's pet shop, you can acquire any form of animal, from an ordinary canary, to more.. "exotic" creatures. Made to sign a contract before purchase, Count D claims no "responsibility for actions incurred" if the purchaser does not follow its instructions completely, as results can be fatal. Patrons of this shop are able to get the rarest of creatures, but often, their purchases are coupled with demons from their past that won't go away easily.

Alternate titles: Hundred Stories, Kousetsu Hyaku Monogatari

Momosuke is a young man with a dream: to travel Japan and collect one hundred stories. He journeys from place to place, searching for tales of the paranormal and bizarre, hoping to collect tales to publish in his book. However, the calm of Momosuke's life soon is shattered by a chance meeting with three sinister beings: Mataichi the priest, Nagamimi the bird-caller, and the beautiful Ogin. Soon, Momosuke learns that there might be more to his newfound comrades than first meets the eye...

In the streets of Tokyo, a new menace has surfaced: Shounen Bat, a young boy who wears golden roller skates and a baseball cap, and likes to whack people on the head with a golden baseball bat. These seemingly unconnected and random attacks soon become a police investigation... but after all is said and done, is there a pattern to this chaos?

On a chilly December evening, Hana, a transvestite, Misaki, a teenage runaway, and Gin, a retired bike racer, found little Kiyoko in the trash. For three homeless people, finding an abandoned baby might not have been the best of luck, but with good intentions and two cents to chip in, the trio set out to find the parents of the child. But locating the mother will not be an easy task, and all they have to go on is a small key...

This is the story of a typical family in Japan and their typical lives. Made up of a father, a mother, a brother, and sister Mikan, the Tachibanas always finds themselves in the midst of various and wacky misadventures. Whether it's Mikan and her mother going on a frustrating shopping trip, debating the merits of a high-class bento, trying out new exercise devices or convincing mother to buy a new air conditioner, there's never a dull day in the life of the Tachibanas!