This is the show that raised a generation of Japanese kids, and it does not care whether you think that is impressive. Seven hundred and twenty-six episodes of Shimajiro the tiger boy learning things at the pace an actual four year old learns them, which means nothing escalates, nobody powers up, and the stakes top out at being scared of something new. Mimirin, Torippii and Ramurin are not a party, they are the friends you have when your entire world is Challenge Island and that is more than enough world. The animation is soft, the palette is warm, the conflicts resolve in kindness, and there is not one ounce of irony in any of it. Watch it as an adult and the thing that gets you is how seriously it takes small feelings. Somebody's mom put this on every morning, and that person still remembers the theme song.

Shimajiro is a tiger boy of preschool age who lives on Challenge Island with his friends. Among them are Mimirin, a rabbit girl, Torippii, a parrot boy, Ramurin, a sheep girl, and Nyakki, and together they set off on adventures around their island home. Made as a children's television series, the show blends adventure, comedy and fantasy, and it ran for 726 episodes starting in 1994.