Bakugan Battle Brawlers (爆丸バトルブローラーズ, Bakugan Batoru Burōrāzu?), is a Japanese action adventure anime television series produced by TMS Entertainment and Japan Vistec under the direction of Mitsuo Hashimoto. The story centers on the lives of creatures called Bakugan and the battle brawlers who possess them. Consisting of fifty-one episodes, Bakugan Battle Brawlers debuted in Japan on TV Tokyo in 2007. Nelvana Limited produced the English language version and premiered the series on the Canadian network Teletoon later the same year. The English series differed in length from the Japanese version, consisting of 52 episodes compared with the Japanese 51. In February 2008 Cartoon Network began airing the series in the United States. In conjunction with the anime series, Sega Toys and Spin Master released a strategic game, called Bakugan, using metal cards and magnetic spring-loaded miniature figures.