I know there's a few of you out there in DA-land who like The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, and hopefully at least some of you are watching me and can help spread the word. [link] is the announcement of the release of the first US GR boxset, coming in May 2008!

For those of you who aren't fans (or just aren't old enough to remember it) it's a late 80s SF/Western cartoon which managed to avoid becoming a series of half-hour ads for toy companies. Four Galaxy Rangers (interstellar cops, basically) travel to a variety of worlds, many of which have a decided Western theme, investigating crime and thwarting the evil Queen of the Crowns' attempts at taking over the galaxy.

The characters include the team leader, a very by-the-book boy scout type... except when he isn't; a psychic who's down-to-earth, practical and not afraid to physically kick @$$ and carries a big gun; a genetically altered supersoldier with a dark past; and a smooth-talking hacker who's the prototype of all the cool-geek characters out there.

This is the series that people say to this day was "American anime" - the series was animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha, but the plot, voices etc were all American, the writing was done by professionals like Chris Rowley (Star Wars), and it was the brainchild of producer Robert Mandell. There was no talking down to the kiddies, no "upgrades" just to sell more toys, and there was a cohesive plot, strong characterizations, and even quite a bit of philosophy and ethics mixed in with a heck of a lot of fun!

I don't recommend a lot of things, but GR is one that's great for both kids AND adults.