is a line of wafer snacks produced by Lotte, made notable for the randomly assorted bonus stickers included inside each snack. First released in 1977, Bikkuriman (ビックリマン, "Surprise Man") became wildly popular in Japan with the introduction of the series of stickers, leading to a prolific number of media tie-ins.

History

Bikkuriman is a chocolate and peanut wafer snack made by Lotte that sold for 30 yen at the time of its introduction. Originally, the pack-in stickers were called "Dokkiri Seal" (どっきりシール, "Shocking Seal). Each Seal featured a realistic image on a clear background, with the intention of using them for pranks or gags (broken glass, clothing tears, fake wall switches, etc.) By the 1980s, the Seals began featuring individual gag-based characters with a theme that united a particular set of Seals. These style of stickers would remain for the first 9 sets of Seal releases. In August 1985, Lotte released the first of the Akuma vs Tenshi Seal series. While maintaining the same humorous art style of the earlier series, the Akuma vs Tenshi Seals featured characters based on assorted mythological, folklore, and even metaphorical sources engaging in an overarching story-line. Akin to the

Mars Attacks ''Mars Attacks'' is a science fiction-themed trading card series released in 1962 by Topps. The cards feature artwork by science fiction artists Wally Wood and Norman Saunders. The cards form a story arc, which tells of the invasion of Earth by ...

trading card series from America, the battle between the Tenshi and Akuma is told on the back of each sticker, with the plot progressing with each new set. Each set was divided into several themed tiers featuring a Tenshi, Akuma, and an Omamori (お守り, "Protector"), with an ultra-rare "Head" Seal that serves as the main character of its particular set. The Head Seals were typically printed with a prism or holographic holofoil to set them apart from the Tenshi's metallic silver or gold backing, the clear backgrounds of the Omamori and the multi-colored backgrounds of the Akuma. The rarity of the early Akuma vs Tenshi Seals were, in order: Head, Tenshi, Omamori, Akuma. Unfortunately, the popularity of the stickers led to trouble for the series. The zeal to try to obtain Head Seals would lead children to buy Bikkuriman in mass quantities, retrieve the stickers inside, and simply throw away the snack. This, along with the fact that children and collectors were willing to pay high amounts of money for the rarer cards, led to parent groups expressing concern of possible gambling implications for the stickers. This led to action by the Japanese Fair Trade Commission, and the number of Head Seals per pack was increased from the average 4 to 24 individual Seals.

Anime

These stickers were a huge success, leading to a multitude of media tie-ins. The original ''Bikkuriman'' anime series, created by

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

, aired from October 11, 1987, to April 2, 1989. Sequels include '' Shin Bikkuriman'', ''Super Bikkuriman'', ''Bikkuriman 2000'' and ''Happy Lucky Bikkuriman''.

''Bikkuri-Men''

A new anime project featuring original character designs by

Hiroyuki Takei is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the popular ''Shaman King''. Career Hiroyuki Takei started drawing manga with writer EXIAD on SD Département Store Series which they created for a fanzine. Early in his career, he becam ...

was announced on April 1, 2023. The project was later revealed to be a television series produced by

Shin-Ei Animation is a Japanese animation studio owned by TV Asahi and founded in Tokyo in 1965 as A Production by Daikichirō Kusube, who was previously an animator for Toei Animation. History Shin-Ei Animation's history begins in December 1965 as by Daiki ...

, animated by

Lesprit is a Japanese animation studio based in Nakano, Tokyo Nakano (, Latn, ja, Nakano-ku) is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The English translation of its Japanese self-designation is Nakano City ...

, and directed by Tomohiro Yamanashi, with

Yuniko Ayana is a Japanese anime screenwriter and manga author. After making her debut in '' The Tower of Druaga'', she began serving as a script supervisor for several anime series and franchises, including '' Kin-iro Mosaic'', '' Girls Beyond the Wastelan ...

in charge of series composition, Ayano Owada adapting Takei's original character designs for animation, and Yasuhiro Misawa composing the music. It aired from October 5 to December 21, 2023, on

Tokyo MX JOMX-DTV (channel 9), branded as Tokyo MX (officially stylized as TOKYO MX), is an independent station, independent television station in Tokyo, Japan, owned by the . It is the only television station that exclusively serves the city and parts ...

and

BS Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by Th ...

. The opening theme song, "Collection", is performed by Dannie May while the ending theme song, "Seishun☆Whatcha Gonna Do", is performed by Daishi Kajita,

Shuta Morishima is a Japanese voice actor and keyboardist affiliated with Hibiki. He is known for voicing Shin Nitta in ''Cardfight!! Vanguard'', Mitsunori Ishida in '' Ishida & Asakura'', Bat in '' DD Fist of the North Star'', Baku Omori in '' Future Card Budd ...

, and

Tatsumaru Tachibana is a Japanese actor who specializes in voice acting. Inspired by voice acting by Kappei Yamaguchi, Tachibana decided to become a voice actor himself, which he later accomplished through connections from his father's theater company. Some of his ...

Medialink Medialink Group Limited is a content distributor and licensor based in Kowloon, Hong Kong specializing in the distribution of Japanese anime and brand licensing. Its offices are located at Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Registered from Hong Ko ...

licensed the series in Asia-Pacific.

Characters

;Yamato : ;Ushiwaka : ;Jack : ;Phoenix : ;Hood : ;Peter : ;Maris : ;Ippontsuri : ;Shokoshi : ;Alibaba : ;Cross : ;Oasis : ;Khan : ;Takayan : ;Manseira Type-II : ;Super Devil :

Manga

*''Super Bikkuriman'', a series published by

Shōgakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are t ...

References

External links

2023 Anime - Bikkuri-Men
* {{Lesprit 1987 anime television series debuts 1988 anime films 1988 films 1989 anime television series debuts 1992 anime television series debuts 1999 anime television series debuts 2006 anime television series debuts 2023 anime television series debuts Asahi Broadcasting Corporation original programming CoroCoro Comic Inactive online games Lesprit Medialink Shin-Ei Animation Toei Animation television TV Asahi original programming TV Tokyo original programming