More Anime Summaries in Four Words Quiz

Answer: Cowboy Bebop

In the future, space bounty hunters are called cowboys. The series follows a disparate team of them, who travel in their ship called "Bebop". Jet's specialty dish is beef and bell peppers. Spike's last word in the show is "Bang."

Answer: Mushishi

Ginko, a Mushi Master, travels a land resembling Meiji Japan. Various creatures, which are are neither living nor dead, good nor evil, are called Mushi. Most people can't see them. Nevertheless, Mushi often have adverse effects on humans, like causing deafness, making one's dreams come true, stealing memories, or throwing a person's life into an infinitely-repeating loop. Ginko would rather not kill the creatures and instead tries to find ways to make the Mushi leave a person alone.

A straight translation of the title is "Bugmaster".

The show, based on a manga series, is also rendered "Mushi-Shi".

Answer: Kanon

"Kanon" takes place in the winter. The main character, Yuichi, comes back to the town he once visited as a child and reacquaints himself with various girls at his school. One of the girls, Ayu, constantly says "Uguu" in response to various situations. "Kanon" is considered Moe. Basically, Moe characters inspire affection and adoration in the viewer.

Answer: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann

A very popular anime, "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann" is about humans who are forced to live underground and drill. Simon and his friends Kamina and Yoko find a robot which is activated by his small drill; they use the robot to break through to the surface world and then reach the heavens. And that's only the beginning...

Answer: Baccano!

"Baccano" is an Italian word roughly meaning "ruckus" or "confusing noise". The show consists of three separate but related stories revolving around the same set of characters. A huge focus of the action is on the efforts to obtain the Grand Panacea, which bestows eternal life. In spite of the summary, not all the gangsters are immortal, and not all the immortals are gangsters.

Answer: Serial Experiments Lain

The Wired is the Internet. A classmate of Lain's commits suicide; she then writes her classmates emails saying that she simply abandoned her body and now lives in the Wired, where she claims a god lives. It's a very strange show--Lain seems to have a Wired personality, separate from her real life, that does things Lain is unaware of.

Answer: Princess Tutu

An author dies before finishing the story he was working on, so while dead, he finds a way for the story to continue. He chooses a duck to become a human who can turn into Princess Tutu, who tries to restore the emotions of a prince who shattered his heart to defeat a raven. Along the way, the characters discover that they're characters in a story and try to change the tragic fates the author has in store for them. "Princess Tutu" contains much ballet, classical, and romantic music, as well as subversions and deconstructions of famous fairy tales and ballets.

Answer: Black Lagoon

Rock is abducted by pirates while on a business trip. When his boss doesn't seem concerned about getting him back, and even declares him dead, Rock joins the team. Among other things, they investigate a sunken submarine, fight terrorists, deliver hostages, and battle an assassin maid. Said maid has her own OVA (anime first released on video rather than television or film) called "Roberta's Blood Trail".

Answer: Death Note

Bored student Light stumbles upon a notebook dropped by a Shinigami, or death spirit. Anyone whose name he writes in the book dies. He begins a killing spree of those he deems worthy of death, like criminals. The police quickly realize something is wrong and create a force to stop him.

Answer: Planetes

In "Planetes", humans have space stations orbiting the Earth and colonies on the Moon. Space debris is left behind from all the travel, so the main characters have to clean it up before it can cause serious accidents. One of them, Hachimaki, wants to be one of the astronauts to go on the first manned ship to Jupiter. "Planetes" is Greek for "wanderers".

Answer: Rurouni Kenshin

Kenshin is a swordsman who worked as an assassin during the Meiji Revolution in the 1800s. He seeks atonement for the killing he did and wanders Japan carrying a reverse-blade sword which he says can't be used to kill anyone.

Answer: Aria

Mars has been terraformed into an aquatic planet called Aqua. Protagonist Akari trains to be a gondolier to ferry customers down the watery streets, much like in Venice--the city is even called Neo-Venezia. "Aria" is a type of anime called iyashikei, which aims to induce a calming state of mind.

There is little conflict, and everyday little moments are emphasized. "Iyashikei" means "healing" in Japanese.

Answer: Pani Poni Dash!

The show's first line tells us that Rebecca is the youngest ever MIT graduate at ten years old. She soon becomes a high school mathematics teacher. Wackiness ensues.

Answer: Haibane Renmei

Haibane in "Haibane Renmei" are born from cocoons. They quickly grow small wings and are given halos that float above their heads. Instead of looking like babies, they all have bodies of children or young adults. They have no memories except of the one dream they had in the cocoon, but feel like they had a life somewhere else.

Despite the simplistic summary above, there are male as well as female Haibane.

Answer: Bartender

Pretty straight-forward title. Customers come into Ryu's bar and tell him their stories. He then mixes the perfect drink for each person: it fits the situation and helps the person reflect on his/her problems. The end of every episode gives a recipe for one for the drinks featured in that story.