Digimon Tamers (Japanese: デジモンテイマーズ, Hepburn: Dejimon Teimāzu) is a Japanese anime television series and the third installment in the Digimon franchise, produced by Toei Animation. The series takes place in a new setting separate from the preceding series, Digimon Adventure and Digimon Adventure 02, where the characters utilize cards from the collectible card games. The series aired in Japan from April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002.The series was originally licensed in North America by Saban Entertainment, aired in the US from September 1, 2001 to June 8, 2002 as the third season of Digimon: Digital Monsters. A manga adaptation of the series, by Yuen Wong Yu, was serialized from April to October 2004.