is a name given to Bandai

Bandai

is a Japanese toy making and video game company, as well as the producer of a large number of plastic model kits. It is the world's third-largest producer of toys . Some ex-Bandai group companies produce anime and tokusatsu programs...

's card vending machine

Vending machine

A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....

s and, thus, a generic term given to the cards sold by these machines. The name comes from AMeDAS

AMeDAS

AMeDAS , commonly known in Japanese as "アメダス" , is a high-resolution surface observation network developed by Japan Meteorological Agency used for gathering regional weather data and verifying forecast performance...

 (Automated Meterological Data Acquisition System), a system in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 used for gathering weather data. The aim behind this naming is to make Carddas an information source for kids. Carddas is a registered trademark of Bandai.

The first Carddas, released in 1988, is based on the Saint Seiya

Saint Seiya

, also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac or simply Knights of the Zodiac, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada and serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1986 to 1991, and adapted into an anime TV series by Toei Animation from 1986 to 1989.The story follows...

anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series (also known as Knights of the Zodiac). In the past, Carddas was for trading and collection only. But since trading card games like Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...

have become popular in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, more and more Carddas is made in the form of trading card

Trading card

A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...

s that can be played in a game.

Apart from Saint Seiya, many popular anime, manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 and tokusatsu

Tokusatsu

is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....

 series has been made into Carddas, the most famous ones being Bleach

Bleach (manga)

is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Noriaki "Tite" Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a —a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki...

, Digimon

Digimon

, short for , is a Japanese media franchise encompassing digital toys, anime, manga and video games. The franchise's eponymous creatures are monsters of various forms living in a "Digital World", a parallel universe that originated from Earth's various communication networks.-Conception and...

, Dragon Ball, Fullmetal Alchemist

Fullmetal Alchemist

, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa. The world of Fullmetal Alchemist is styled after the European Industrial Revolution...

, Gundam

Gundam

The is a metaseries of anime created by Sunrise studios that features giant robots called "Mobile Suits" ; usually the protagonist's MS will carry the name Gundam....

, Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider

, is a weekly science fiction story created by Japanese manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. It debuted as a tokusatsu television series on April 3, 1971 and ran until February 10, 1973, airing on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and NET TV . A manga adaptation was also featured in Shōnen Magazine...

, Naruto

Naruto

is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...

, Neon Genesis Evangelion, One Piece

One Piece

is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump since August 4, 1997; the individual chapters are being published in tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on December 24, 1997, and the 64th volume released as...

, Revolutionary Girl Utena

Revolutionary Girl Utena

is a manga by Chiho Saito and anime directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The manga serial began in the June 1996 issue of Ciao and the anime was first broadcast in 1997. The anime and manga were created simultaneously, but, despite some similarities, they progressed in different directions. A movie, was...

, Ultraman

Ultraman

is Japanese television series that first aired in 1966. Ultraman, the first and best-known of the "Ultra-Crusaders," made his debut in the tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, , a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q...

, and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Yu-Gi-Oh!

is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...

(the Carddas game is based on the first series

Yu-Gi-Oh! (first series anime)

is the title of the first anime series based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga. It aired on TV Asahi.The series is loosely connected to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters series , which was made by Nihon Ad Systems and aired on TV Tokyo; both anime series are based on the same manga series...

 and is not to be confused with Konami

Konami

is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...

's version, the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game

Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game

The is a Japanese collectible card game developed and published by Konami. It is based on the fictional game of Duel Monsters created by manga artist Kazuki Takahashi, which is the main plot device during the majority of his popular manga franchise, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and its various anime adaptations...

).

In 2006, a Super Sentai

Super Sentai

The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...

-based trading card game, Rangers Strike

Rangers Strike

is a Japanese trading card game created by Carddas initially based upon Toei's Super Sentai Series television franchise. It was released in 2006 in commemoration of the Super Sentai series' 30th anniversary...

, was released in commemoration of the Super Sentai Series' 30th Anniversary.

In 2007, Carddas started to sell Top Trumps

Top Trumps

Top Trumps is a card game. Each card contains a list of numerical data, and the aim of the game is to compare these values in order to try to trump and win an opponent's card...

in Japan.