Aim for the Ace!, known in Japan as Ace o Nerae! (Japanese: エースをねらえ! Hepburn: Ēsu o Nerae!?), is a manga series written and illustrated by Sumika Yamamoto. The series tells the story of Hiromi Oka, a high school student who wants to become a professional tennis player as she struggles against mental weakness, anxiety and thwarted love. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's shōjo magazine Margaret from January 1973 to February 1980. Later, Shueisha collected the chapters and published them in 18 tankōbon volumes.The manga was adapted into an anime television series in 1973 by Tokyo Movie which was originally broadcast on Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) between 1973 and 1974. Aim for the Ace! also spawned another television anime and an anime film in the 1970s, two original video animations (OVA) in the 1980s, a live-action Japanese television drama in 2004, and many types of Aim for the Ace!-related merchandise.The series is one of the best-selling shōjo manga series of all time, having sold approximately 15 million copies in Japan. It has been also popular among anime viewers, and become a hit in Japan, even among its non-target audience. It is considered a classic by anime and manga critics, and has been influential in anime industry.
This is a chronological list of games in the Alien, Predator and Alien vs. Predator science fiction horror franchises. There have been thirty-eight officially licensed video games, one trading card game, and one tabletop miniatures game released as tie-ins to the three franchises.The first video game connected to the Alien franchise was released in 1982, based on the 1979 film Alien. Subsequent games were based on that film and its sequels Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997). The first video game in the Predator franchise was released in 1987, the same year as the Predator film on which it was based. Subsequent Predator games were based on that film and its sequels Predator 2 (1990) and Predators (2010). The first game to cross the two franchises was Alien vs Predator, released in September 1993 and based on an earlier comic book series. Since then the characters and storylines of the two franchises have been officially crossed over in comic books, video games, and the feature films Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007). To date, there have been seventeen officially licensed video games released based on the Alien franchise, six based on the Predator franchise, and fourteen based on the Alien vs. Predator crossover imprint. These have been created by various developers and released for a variety of platforms including video game consoles, handheld game consoles, personal computers, and mobile phones. The Aliens vs. Predator Collectible Card Game published in 1997 and the Alien vs. Predator themed sets for HorrorClix released in 2006 are the only non-video games in the franchises.The stories of the games are set in a fictional universe in which alien races and species have dangerous conflicts with humans and with each other. The games pit human, Alien, and Predator characters against one other in various fights for survival. The settings of the games vary, with most of the stories taking place far in the future.
American Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired weekly in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own gladiators, in contests of strength and agility.The concept was created by Dan Carr and John C. Ferraro, who held the original competition at Erie Tech High School in Erie, Pennsylvania. They sold the show to The Samuel Goldwyn Company (later MGM) where the concept was enhanced and became American Gladiators.An effort in 2004 to launch a live American Gladiators show on the Las Vegas Strip became mired in a securities fraud prosecution. However, the television series was restarted in 2008. Episodes from the original series were played on ESPN Classic from 2007 to 2009. Several episodes are available for download on Apple's iTunes Service.