anime for kids

I got a call from my younger sister (12) today and apparently, Cartoon Network is having some profound effect on her television watching habits. Keep in mind, she has no idea I watch more than a passing amount of anime. I think it's just getting popular with the younger generations independent of the "comic book guy" personas/friends that traditionally served as the entry point for most of us.

She told me that she watched Inuyasha and the Cowboy Bebop movie at a friend's place and really liked both of them. She mentioned Rurouni Kenshin as well as being something she'd be more interested in.

Barnes and Noble pushing gigantic racks of translated manga also seems to be a part of it. She wants to see Escaflowne because her entry into the series was through graphic novels, then the movie... but still hasn't watched the tv series, which to me was quite shocking and completely backwards.

My question: For a young member of the Harry Potter generation -- which other titles would you recommend? Naturally, it's can't be anything too violent, perverted, or slow. From a social justice standpoint, shows with strong female characters (hey, she's already watching the right shows) are a plus.

Suggestions?

Samurai Pizza Cats, hm, the american name was Tokyo Pig, the older Digimon series, Hamtaro mwa hahaha hm...i cant think of any others off hand

ANYTHING Miyazaki/Ghibli.
Card Captor Sakura
Fushigi Yuugi

Those would be good starters...But the MIYAZAKI movies are a definate...

You can buy Tonari no Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Laputa, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away right now...On VHS or DVD. Hopefully they'll be coming out with Nausicaa(soon), Porco Rosso, Whispers of the Heart, & The Cat Returns.

I have one or two that might work as well.

First is Angelic Layer, this is done by Clamp and the DVD just came out about a 2 weeks ago and all of the manga out and complete. Also if she likes this one you might want to sugest Chobits it is loosely tied to Angelic Layer.

Second Nadia Secret of Blue Water would be good age wise. I have not seen a manga form of this yet but I could be mistaken

Third is another Clamp title Magic Knight Rayerth. A great story with strong female charactres. Also the manga is out and complete you can even get it in a box set.

Forth and final is Martain Successor Nadesico. A great story line and an awesom cast of characters. I am sure she will find some one who she can identify with among them.

I do have one other one that is one I love, Battle Athletes Victory. I ran track and cross country in high school and some of the stuff in the show reminded me of things from thet time.

I do have one sugestion with the Card Captor Sakura series. Get the subtitled version the one that was dubed for the WB network was choped up and the episodes are not in sequence. This is quite annoying and make it almost unwatchable.

I had to ask her what Hamtaro was about since I knew she had seen it before. She has no idea either. The adventures of some hamsters.

I hear Spongebob Squarepants is popular. I watched an episode. Admittedly, it looked pretty funny. It was an episode about Spongebob and an eraser that could vaporize other characters.

This isn't for me, specifically, because I've seen most of these things. Fushigi Yuugi and Angelic Layer are like lobotomies to me (yet I do have one FY cel due to my "must get one cel to commemorate long series" habit), but I'm sure she'll love them.

I was worried that Miyazaki might seem too "retro" for a girl who wasn't born when his best movies (imho) were made. Good idea though. I'd pick Nausicaa and Laputa from that list as my favorites.

Random thought to self: Grave of the Fireflies. Depressing though, and I'm not sure she knows about WW2.

In a stoke of humor, I'd thought of Secret of Cerulean Sand, because she does indeed have two older brothers... who try to take over the world. Hmm. Maybe not.

Rayearth she'd like. I remember what all the characters look like but I don't remember anything about the show. She seems to like these translated manga things and has most likely already more than I have. Manga box set you say? Guess I have a Christmas present picked out.

Nadesico is too in-joke for a younger person, no? I think it's genius, but mostly because of the snide remarks directly at the history of giant robot shows. The talent contest was a hilarious crack at an overused anime cliche.

Yes, I watched all 70+ episodes of CCS. It's cute. She may already be past the age where CCS is cool, though.

I'm trying to remember what kinds of things I thought were cool when I was 12, and this list helps a lot. Thanks.