Samurai Pizza Cats

in Japan, is an anime series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and Sotsu Agency. The series originally aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from February 1, 1990 to February 12, 1991, for a total of 54 episodes. Saban picked up the North American rights to the series in 1991, and produced an English dub that became a cult hit among anime fans due to its rapid-fire pop culture references and more farcical nature; their rights to the series expired in 2002. Discotek Media currently holds the North American license to the series.

Plot
The series is set in the mechanical city of Edoropolis (a portmanteau of "Edo" and "metropolis", called "Little Tokyo" in the dub), a mechanical city which fuses feudal Japanese culture with contemporary culture, and is populated by cybernetic anthropomorphic "animaloids", or animal androids. The city is notionally led by Shogun Iei-Iei Tokugawa ("Emperor Fred" in the dub), but as he is a doddering eccentric, the city's actual leadership lies in the hands of his daughter Tokugawa Usako (Princess Violet) and a council headed by the ambitious prime minister Kitsunezuka Ko'on-no-Kami (Seymour "The Big" Cheese; identified as a fox in the original, but a rat in the dub), who constantly plots to overthrow the Shogun with the help of his trusted advisor Karasu Gennarisai (Jerry Atric), and Karamaru (Bad Bird), the leader of an army of ninja crows.

Unknown to the prime minister, council member Inuyama Wanko-no-Kami (Big Al Dente), the commander of the Palace Guard, learns of his designs on leadership, but is unable to prosecute him for treason because of the plausible deniability he maintains. Instead, Inuyama enlists the services of Yattarou (Speedy Cerviche), Pururun (Polly Esther), Sukashii (Guido Anchovy), three cyborg cat ninjas who work in the city's pizzeria, along with their operator Otama (Francine). Known collectively as the Nyankī (or Samurai Pizza Cats), they are assigned to stop Ko'on-no-Kami and his evil henchmen's plans to take over Edoropolis.