The series was produced by J.C.Staff and aired in Japan on Fuji TV between April 2001 and January 2002, running for thirty episodes.

The series focuses on PaRappa, a cute and happy dog who enjoys music, dancing and spending time with his friends PJ Berri, Katy Kat, and his love interest, Sunny Funny.

It also introduces several new characters who are exclusive to the TV series, such as Matt Major, an athletic, popular dog, Paula Fox, Katy's rival, but Sunny's friend, Pinto, PaRappa's little sister, and Gaster and Groober, a villainous duo who cause all sorts of mischief.

Rodney Greenblat, the art director for the PaRappa games, was asked to design new characters who would appear in the anime.

But [Sony] wanted to sell toys, so [the show's producers] made a little kids version of PaRappa.