Looks I'm not the only one that's noticed this trend, and has decide to say something about it. Ever since pokemon debuted, the "collecable-catchable-battleable-insert object here" genre as I call it, has been seen to be the most profitable idea to dubbers. So what do they do? Leech off pokemon's success by dubbing over something that is similar (right even down to the character designs). Since '96, a great variety of anime has been aired in Japan, which include:
- Card Captor Sakura
- Ayashi no Ceres
- Shoujo Kakumei Utena
- Noir
- Cowboy Bebop*
- Detective Conan
- Slayers Next & Try
- Gundam Wing*, X, Turn A & Seed
- Inuyasha*
- Love Hina
- Chobits
- Mahoromatic
- Gravitation
- Kanon
- .hack//SIGN
- The Legend of Black Heaven
- Serial Experiments Lain
- Shin Seiki Evangelion
- Vandread
- Hamtaro*
- Escaflowne*
- DiGi Charat
- Initial D
- Furi Kuri
- Excel Saga
- Shoujo Chikyuu Arujuna
- Hand Maid May
- Trigun
And kids, this is all the stuff that I've seen and can think of off the top of my head right now as I'm typing. There's alot I haven't seen, heard of, or just forgot to list. And those asterisks mark what's been aired on TV over here (and no, I did not make a mistake with CCS. With dubbing that bad, I consider Card Captor Sakura and Cardcaptors to be two entirely different series).
What's my point? If you're restricted to whatever is shown on the major american networks (whether it be choice or circumstance), then sadly, you are missing out on the broad scope of this artform. Go outside the normal areas to get anime. Live in a major city? Take a look in the phone book for the numbers of video and comic stores that rent/sell anime (St. John's, pop. 100, 000, has three stores devoted to anime and manga, and almost every major video chain has a few anime titles). Got broadband? Pop open any p2p software, and every fansub made is available, just as long as you don't mind a bit of reading. What if you can't do any of this? Last spring, after about 30 minutes of web-browsing, 24 dollars, and 3 weeks of waiting, I had my hands on 3 fansubbed VHS tapes of Initial D and Lupin. All it takes is a small bit of effort to get what you want.