Shiro: Yeah, this page tells you what it is and answers some questions about it that most people find confusing!
The anime is based upon the concept of Hudson's famous games character, Bomberman. The exception is that the characters in this anime aren't Bomberman, but are another generation of Bomberman, who don't use bombs as weapons.
Each character in the anime is a B-Daman [Da means 'marble' in Japanese, making each character a 'marbleman'] who can shoot out fireballs from the marble in each B-Daman's stomach. B-Damans only have this ability if they practice and train themselves in firing what is called light rays from their marble.
Being experienced in some kind of skill such as martial arts helps makes the light ray stronger, therefore more powerful.
Light rays can be used for destruction or for healing.
The anime title 'BB-Daman Bakugaiden' in English would be
'Bomberman Beadaman [Marbleman] Explosive Side Story'.
There is another series of the anime called BB-Daman Bakugaiden V [Victory] made in 1999, which is a sequel, but has a completely different storyline to the first series [BB-Daman Bakugaiden 'IV'].
An inventor, Dr. Gray Bom, builds the robots for the fighters, and upgrades them when they aren't powerful enough.
A mysterious black B-Daman called Kuro Bom, helps out Shiro Bom and the others in fighting the Dark Beings from time to time, and eventually becomes part of their group.
Each of the 5 B-Daman fighters have their own pet. Their pets however, aren't just their companions, but are very crucial in releasing the power in the 5 B-Damans to destroy the Dark Beings for good.
The anime series a mix of Sci-fi action and comedy genres.
Each B-Daman are usually named after their own colour, so Shiro Bom is white, Aka Bom is red etc..
Also, each B-Daman usually has 'Bom' at the end of their name.