Chibi Maruko-chan

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Chibi Maruko-chan
ちびまる子ちゃん
Genre Slice of Life
Manga
Author Momoko Sakura
Publisher Flag of Japan Shueisha
Demographic Shōjo
Magazine Ribon
Original run August 1986 – June 1996
TV anime
Director Yumiko Suda
Tsutomu Shibayama
Studio Nippon Animation
Network Flag of Japan Fuji Television, Animax
Flag of Singapore Flag of the Philippines Flag of Malaysia Flag of Hong Kong Animax Asia
Flag of Malaysia NTV7
Flag of Indonesia RCTI
Original run July 1, 1990 – September 27, 1992
Episodes 142
Animated film: Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song
Released December 19, 1992
Runtime 93 minutes
TV anime: Chibi Maruko-chan TV 2
Studio Nippon Animation
Network Flag of Japan Fuji TV, Animax
Original run January 08, 1995 – ongoing
Episodes 667(currently)
TV drama: Chibi Maruko-chan (live-action special)
Network Flag of Japan Fuji TV
Original run April 18, 2006 April 19, 2007 – ongoing
Episodes 3

Chibi Maruko-chan (ちびまる子ちゃん?) is a shōjo manga series by Momoko Sakura, later adapted into an anime TV series by Nippon Animation, which originally aired on Fuji Television from July 1, 1990 to September 27, 1992. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of a little girl nicknamed Maruko in suburban late-seventies Japan.

Originally a shōjo manga series created to appeal to the childhood memories of young women, it has found a large audience among children who identified with the little heroine. Chibi Maruko-chan series has spawned numerous games, animated films and merchandising, as well as a second TV series running from 1995 to the present. Maruko's style and themes are sometimes compared to the classic comic Sazae-san. In 1989, the manga received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo.[1] As of 2006, the collected volumes of the manga had sold more than 31 million copies in Japan, making it the fifth best-selling shōjo manga ever.[2]

Contents

[edit] Characters

[edit] Sakura family

Momoko Sakura (さくらももこ Sakura Momoko?)
Voiced by: Tarako
The title character, Maruko (born May 8 1965) is a nine-year-old third-grade student raised in a relatively poor family of six. She is lazy, disorganized and usually late for school, in strong contrast with her neat, calm and tidy older sister (sixth-grader) who must share her room with her. Maruko, like many kids, tries to avoid homework and chores, and she takes advantage of her doting grandfather and squabbles with her sister. Nevertheless, she is a well-meaning child who tries to do good. She is similar to Calvin in Calvin and Hobbes in that she often uses adult-like language to express her child-like feelings. She has many food dislikes, including natto and tomatoes. She loves reading manga and is a good artist, and her stated goal is to become a manga artist when she grows up. It is implied that the show is drawn by Maruko herself.
Maruko's trademark face fault in reaction to an awkward "don't know what to say" situation (or sometimes, embarrassment) is the sudden appearance of vertical lines on her face, sometimes with an unexplained gust of wind blowing behind her head.
Hiroshi Sakura (さくらひろし Sakura Hiroshi?)
Voiced by: Yūsaku Yara
Maruko's father. He drinks every now and then but is a kind loving dad. His birthday is June 20, 1934, making him 40 years old during the series.
Sumire Sakura (さくらすみれ Sakura Sumire?)
Voiced by: Teiyū Ichiryūsai
Maruko's mother. She tends to scold Maruko a lot. She is a strict mother but a very plesant one. She's extremely focused on household finances, and shops mainly at department stores during bargain sales. Her birthdate is May 25, 1934, and her blood type is A.
Sakiko Sakura (さくらさきこ Sakura Sakiko?)
Voiced by: Yūko Mizutani
Maruko's older sister. She is clever and diligent, the exact opposite of the lazy Maruko. She and Maruko fight often but they get along fine. Her birthday is March 21, 1963, making her 12 in the series.
Tomozou Sakura (さくら友蔵 Sakura Tomozō?)
Voiced by: Kei Tomiyama (1990-1995), Takeshi Aono (1995-)
Maruko's kind but absent-minded grandfather. Naive and easily tricked, he keeps a pet turtle and loves watching TV with Maruko. When feeling distressed or nostalgic, he spontaneously retreats to a surreal inner world for a few seconds to improvise a sad yet comical haiku about his state of mind. His birthday is October 3, 1898, making him 76 in the series. The author has said that she used her own grandfather as the model for Tomozou, but that his personality is the opposite of Tomozou's.
Kotake Sakura (さくらこたけ Sakura Kotake?)
Voiced by: Yūko Sasaki
Maruko's grandmother. She's wise and knows what's good for the human body. She was born on April 4, 1904. Her name of Kotake was never known in the series until it appeared in a 4-panel manga (Yonkoma) on July 1, 2007.

[edit] Maruko's friends

Tamae Honami (穂波たまえ Honami Tamae?)
Voiced by: Naoko Watanabe

Maruko's best friend. Nicknamed Tama-chan.

Kazuhiko Hanawa (花輪和彦 Hanawa Kazuhiko?)
Voiced by: Masami Kikuchi

A really rich boy in Maruko's class who lives in a mansion. His mom always go everywhere so he doesn't really see her that often. He also has a butler who drives a limo and picks him up everyday from school.

Sueo Maruo (丸尾末男 Maruo Sueo?)
Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita

Maruo is one of Maruko’s classmates and serves as class president. He has very thick glasses because he is a very serious student and studies very hard everyday.

Noritaka Hamazaki (浜崎憲孝（はまじ） Hamazaki Noritaka?)
Voiced by: Ai Orikasa→Tsutomu Kashiwakura

Hamaji is the most mischievous student in Maruko’s class. Despite this he is the class representative.

Tarō Tomita (富田太郎（ブー太郎） Tomita Tarō?)
Voiced by: Kazuyo Aoki→Mami Matsui→Mizuki Ōtsuka→Naomi Nagasawa

A boy in Maruko's class with a piglike face and ends his sentences with "buu",a Japanese onomatopoeia for a pig snorting.

Hanako Migiwa (みぎわ花子 Migiwa Hanako?)
Voiced by: Miki Narahashi

She is crazy about Hanawa and does not like other girls being around with him.

[edit] Media

[edit] Manga

The original Chibi Maruko-chan manga was serialized in the shōjo-oriented Ribon Magazine. 14 volumes were published from July 1987 to December 1996, with a 15th volume published in February 2003. On July 2007, a 4-frame version of Chibi Maruko-chan was published in every morning edition of several Japanese newspapers such as the Tokyo Shimbun and the Chunichi Shimbun.

[edit] First TV series

Chibi Maruko-chan originally aired on Fuji Television. 142 episodes were broadcast, from January 1990 to September 1992. Maruko was voiced by Tarako; other voice actors included Kappei Yamaguchi and Hideki Saijo. Original manga author Momoko Sakura wrote the teleplay for most episodes. The first season was directed by Yumiko Suda and animated by Masaaki Yuasa (who later directed Mind Game in 2004). The series attained a TV viewer rating of 39.9%, the highest rating ever attained by an animated TV series in Japan at the time [1]. The theme song Odoru Ponpokorin became a hit and was interpreted by several artists including the Kinki Kids and Captain Jack. The series was exported throughout Asia and was especially popular in Taiwan. In addition, 64 episodes were dubbed into Arabic (called maruko-alsaghera, which means Little Maruko), where it garnered attention from people of all ages. It also aired in Germany with the same title as the original.

  • Opening Theme:
  1. "Yume Ippai" by Yumiko Seki (eps. 1-142)
  • Ending Themes:
  1. "Odoru Ponpokorin" by B.B. Queens (eps. 1-66)
  2. "Hashire Shoujiki-mono" by Hideki Saijou (eps. 67-142)

[edit] Second TV series

A second series debuted in January 1995, in the 6pm time slot before Sazae-san on Sunday evenings. This series was also dubbed into German and broadcast by RTL II, Super RTL and Jetix in Germany.

  • Opening Themes:
  1. "Ureshii Yokan" by Marina Watanabe (eps. 1-???)
  2. "Humming ga Kikoeru" by Kahimi Karie
  3. "Odoru Ponpokorin" by ManaKana & Shigeru Izumiya (eps. 180-253)
  4. "KinKi no Yaru Ki Man Man Song" by KinKi Kids (eps. 254-294)
  5. "Odoru Ponpokorin" by B.B.Queens (eps. 295-current)
  • Ending Themes:
  1. "Hari-kiri Jiisan no Rock 'n' Roll" by Hitoshi Ueki (eps. 1-???)
  2. "Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta" by Tama
  3. Jaga-Butter-Corn-san" by ManaKana
  4. "Chibi Maruko Ondo" by ManaKana (eps. 180-230, 239-340)
  5. "ちびまる子音頭" (eps. 231-238)
  6. "Kyuujitsu no Uta (Viva La Viva)" by DELiGHTED MINT (eps. 341-416)
  7. "Uchuu Dai Shuffle" by LOVE JETS (eps. 417-481)
  8. "Alala no Jumon" by Chibi Maruko-chan with Bakuchu Mondai (eps. 482-current)

[edit] Live action series

A live action series is currently airing on Fuji Television in the 7pm slot; it had its first broadcast on April 18, 2006. The series is being created to commemorate Chibi Maruko-chan's 15th anniversary and will have a total of 3 episodes. The episodes will air weekly, for 2 hours each. All costumes and hairstyles are extremely faithful to the original manga settings.

Both the second television series and the live action series are now broadcast in 1080i HDTV.

Due to its popularity the live action series is now regularly aired after Quiz$Millionare. Its title is Maru Maru Chibimaruko-chan.

[edit] Movies

  • Chibi Maruko-chan (Toho, 1990)
  • Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song (1992)

[edit] Games

(Released in Japan only)

A Chibi Maruko-Chan game for the Nintendo DS is scheduled for release in early 2008.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Joel Hahn. Kodansha Manga Awards. Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.
  2. ^ Historic Shōjo Manga Circulation Numbers (2006-05-24). Retrieved on 2008-01-06.

[edit] External links