is a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Momoko Sakura , known professionally as (May 8, 1965 – August 15, 2018) was a Japanese people, Japanese mangaka, manga artist. She was best known as the creator of the long-running manga ''Chibi Maruko-chan''. Biography Sakura was born on May 8, 1965. She ...

. The series depicts the simple, everyday life of Momoko Sakura, a young girl everyone calls ''Maruko'', and her family in

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in the year 1974. Maruko is a troublemaker, and every episode recounts Maruko's trouble and how she and her friends succeed in resolving the situation. The series is set in the former of Irie

District A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

(入江町), Shimizu, now part of Shizuoka City, birthplace of its author. The first story under the title "Chibi Maruko-chan" was published in the August 1986 edition of the manga magazine ''

Ribon is a monthly Japanese manga magazine published by Shueisha on the third of each month. First issued in August 1955, its rivals are '' Nakayoshi'' and '' Ciao''. It is one of the best-selling manga magazines, having sold over 590million c ...

''. Other semi-autobiographical stories by the author had appeared in ''Ribon'' and '' Ribon Original'' in 1984 and 1985, and were included in the first "Chibi Maruko-chan" ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' in 1987. The author first began writing and submitting strips in her final year of senior high school, although

Shueisha is a Japanese publishing company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Shueisha is the largest publishing company in Japan. It was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The ...

(the publisher of ''Ribon'' and ''Ribon Original'') did not decide to run them until over a year later. The author's intent was to write "essays in manga form";"夢の音色" ''Chibi Maruko-chan'', January 18, 1989, volume 4, page 135. many stories are inspired by incidents from her own life, and some characters are based on her family and friends. The nostalgic, honest and thoughtful tone of the strip led to its becoming popular among a wider audience. ''Chibi Maruko-chan'' was adapted into an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series by

Nippon Animation is a Japanese animation studio. The company is headquartered in Tokyo, with its headquarters in their Tama, Tokyo, Tama City studio and an administrative office in the Ginza district of Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō. Nippon Animation is known for prod ...

, which originally aired on

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

and affiliated TV stations from January 7, 1990, to September 27, 1992. It has also spawned numerous games, animated films and

merchandising Merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of Product (business), products ("merch" colloquially) to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to displaying products that are for sale in a creative w ...

, 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 tied to receive the

Kodansha Manga Award is one of Japan's major manga awards. The event is sponsored by publisher Kodansha. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga in its third iteration since 1977. Categories The award was originally called the until 1968. In 1970, it was ...

for the '' shōjo'' category. As of 2006, the collected volumes of the manga had sold more than 31 million copies in Japan, making it one of the best-selling manga series. On April 25, 2020, it was announced that the second series would be suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On June 14, 2020, it was announced that it would resume on June 21, 2020.

Themes

The trademark face fault of this series, in reaction to an awkward "don't know what to say" situation (or sometimes, embarrassment) is the sudden appearance of on a character's face, sometimes with an unexplained gust of wind blowing above that character's head.

Characters

The series has a large number and variety of secondary and recurring characters, some inspired by people who Sakura met. Some of them debuted in the anime and others derive from the original manga. Following are descriptions of the main characters and family members that appear frequently in all chapters and episodes.

Sakura family

; : :Portrayed by: Ei Morisako (2006 special), Ayaka Ito (2007 show) :The title character, Maruko (born May 8, 1965), is a nine-year-old third-grade student raised in a modest family of six. It is implied that the show is drawn by Maruko herself. ; : :Portrayed by: Mayuko Fukuda (2006 special), Maaya Murasaki (2007 show) :Maruko's older sister. Her birthday is March 21, 1962, making her 12 in the series. ; : :Portrayed by: Katsumi Takahashi (2006 special), Masakazu Mimura (2007 show) :Maruko's father. He was introduced to Maruko's mother by her friend. His birthday is June 20, 1934, making him 40 years old during the series. ; : :Portrayed by: Michiko Shimizu (2006 special), Noriko Sakai (2007 show) :Maruko's mother. Her birthdate is May 25, 1934. It is revealed in one episode that her maiden name is Kobayashi. ; : :Portrayed by: Fuyuki Moto :Maruko's kind but absent-minded paternal grandfather, Hiroshi's father, and Sumire's father-in-law. 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. ; : :Portrayed by: Yoshie Ichige (2006 special), Yoshiko Miyazaki (2007 show) :Maruko's paternal grandmother, Hiroshi's mother, and Sumire's mother-in-law. She's wise and knows what's good for the human body and wears a traditional

Kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...

. She was born on April 4, 1902. Her name of Kotake was never known in the series until it appeared in a 4-panel manga (

Yonkoma is a comic strip format that generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom. They also sometimes run right-to-left horizontally or use a hybrid 2×2 style, depending on the layout requiremen ...

) on July 1, 2007.

Media

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. In 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 The is a Japanese daily "broadsheet" newspaper published in mostly Aichi Prefecture and neighboring regions by Based in Nagoya, one of the three major Japanese metropolitan areas, it boasts the third highest circulation after the group newspa ...

. The 16th volume of the manga was published on April 15, 2009, and 17th volume was issued on Dec 25, 2018, four months after

's death. The 18th volume was issued on Oct 25, 2022. The new manga was produced by Sakura's long-time assistant Botan Kohagi and other assistants at Sakura Production due to Sakura's death in 2018. The volume contains seven new chapters, and are based on stories that Sakura originally created for the ''Chibi Maruko-chan'' television anime.

Spin-offs

A spin-off manga by Momoko Sakura titled focuses on the character Kimio Nagasawa on High School, was published on the magazine Shogakkan's '' Big Comic Spirits'' from January 1993 and May 1995. It was made into a live-action drama, premiering on

Tokyo Broadcasting System Television JORX-DTV (channel 6), branded as , is the flagship station of the Japan News Network in the Kantō region. It is owned-and-operated by , a subsidiary of TBS Holdings. TBS Television is one of the "five private broadcasters based in Tokyo." ...

on April 1, 2013. A square-headed parody version of manga Chibi Maruko-chan titled was published on Shueisha's

Grand Jump is a Japanese biweekly seinen manga magazine published by Shueisha under their '' Jump'' line of magazines. Launched in November 2011 as a merging of '' Business Jump'' and '' Super Jump'', it carried over nine series from the former and three ...

magazine from October 19, 2016.

Anime

First series

''Chibi Maruko-chan'' originally aired on

and affiliated TV stations. 142 episodes were broadcast, from January 1990 to September 1992. Maruko was

voiced Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds (usually consonants). Speech sounds can be described as either voiceless (otherwise known as ''unvoiced'') or voiced. The term, however, is used to refe ...

by Tarako; other voice actors included

Kappei Yamaguchi , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and '' rakugoka'' affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.Doi, Hitoshi"Yamaguchi Kappei" ''Seiyuu Database''. January 11, 2011. Retrieved January 10, 2011. After making his ...

and Hideki Saijo. Original manga author Momoko Sakura wrote the

teleplay A teleplay is a screenplay or script used in the production of a scripted television program or series. In general usage, the term is most commonly seen in reference to a standalone production, such as a television film, a television play, or a ...

for most episodes. The first series was directed by Yumiko Suda, animated by Masaaki Yuasa (who later directed '' Mind Game'' in 2004), while the music was composed by Nobuyuki Nakamura. The series attained a TV viewer rating of 39.9% on October 28, 1990, the highest rating ever attained by an animated TV series in Japan. The outro song '' Odoru Ponpokorin'' became a hit and was interpreted by several artists including the

KinKi Kids is a Japanese duo consisting of Koichi Domoto and Tsuyoshi Domoto under the talent agency Starto Entertainment (formerly of Johnny & Associates). Domoto was formed in 1993 as Kinki Kids and officially debuted on July 21, 1997. With more than 30 m ...

and Captain Jack. The series was exported throughout Asia and was especially popular in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In addition, 65 episodes were dubbed into Arabic (called Maruko Assagheera, 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 and was broadcast by

RTL II RTL Zwei (stylised as RTLZWEI), formerly spelled RTL 2 and RTL II, is a German-language television channel that is operated by ''RTL2 Television GmbH & Co. KG''. RTL2 is a private general entertainment ''(Vollprogramm)'' tv channel on the bas ...

, Super RTL and

Jetix Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...

. It aired weekdays on Nick India in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

.
To celebrate the franchise's 10th anniversary in 1996, Pony Canyon released a special LaserDisc in Japan. One of the segments was a compilation of international opening and ending themes from the original series. Both the LaserDisc sleeve and the ending of the segment credit the 1994 English production to

Ocean Studios Ocean Productions, Inc., is a Canadian media production and voice acting company based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that is part of the Ocean Group of businesses. Ocean Group is involved in intellectual property acquisition and development, ...

in Vancouver, Canada. This is the only footage from the dub to surface. Actress

Teryl Rothery Teryl Rothery is a Canadian actress of stage, television, and film. She is best known for portraying Dr. Janet Fraiser in the TV series ''Stargate SG-1''. She co-starred as Grace Sherman in '' Cedar Cove'', and has had major roles as Muriel in ...

has listed her.
Voicebox Productions, a Canadian voice acting company also located in Vancouver, has listed a Chibi Maruko-chan pilot for Pioneer Entertainment and Studio B Productions on their website since the early 2000s. No other information on this project is known. As Voicebox only came into existence in 1999, it's likely this was unrelated to the aforementioned Ocean dub. Opening theme: #'' Yume Ippai'' (ゆめいっぱい "Full of Dreams") by Yumiko Seki (eps. 1–142) Ending themes: #'' Odoru Pompokolin'' (おどるポンポコリン) by B.B.Queens (eps. 1-66) #''Hashire Shoujiki-mono'' (走れ正直者 "Run, Honest Person") by Hideki Saijo (eps. 67-142)

Second series

A second series debuted on Fuji Television and affiliated TV stations in January 1995, airing on Sundays in the 6:00 pm time slot, before '' Sazae-san'' at 6:30 pm. The series is directed by Jun Takagi and Nobuyuki Nakamura, like the first series, composes the music. The majority of the voice actors from the first series reprised their roles. The first 219 episodes were written by Momoko Sakura, however, she had supervised the episode screenplays from episode 220 up until her death in 2018. In Spain, the show is available via VOD on the website of Neox's children's block, Neox Kidz. On TV Japan, which is available in the United States and Canada, the second series (starting with the episodes broadcast in 2009) now broadcasts weekly in Japanese. In

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, is distributed by The Japan Foundation, the dub was produced in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and broadcast on several local, public and other private television networks. As of 14 January 2024, Crunchyroll has started to stream the series from episode 1419 in the USA, Canada, the Philippines and Singapore.
Opening themes: #''Ureshii Yokan'' (うれしい予感 "Feeling Happy") by Marina Watanabe (eps. 1-73), Chibi Maruko-chan (Tarako) (ep. 28) #''Humming ga Kikoeru'' (ハミングがきこえる "Hear the Humming") by Kahimi Karie (eps. 74-179) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' (おどるポンポコリン) by ManaKana & Shigeru Izumiya (eps. 180–253) #''KinKi no Yaruki Man Man Song'' (KinKiのやる気まんまんソング) by

(eps. 254–294) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' (おどるポンポコリン) by B.B.Queens (eps. 295–746; 793–807; 888–953) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' (2010 Version) (おどるポンポコリン（2010年バージョン）) by Kaela Kimura (eps. 747-792) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' (25th Anniversary Version) (おどるポンポコリン（ちびまる子ちゃん誕生25周年バージョン）) by B.B. Queens (eps. 808–887) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' (2014 Version) (おどるポンポコリン（2014年バージョン）) by E-Girls (eps. 954–1046) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' by Sakurako Ohara (Special 19) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' by Golden Bomber (eps. 1047–1190) #''Odoru Ponpokorin'' by

Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese idol girl group, commonly abbreviated as MCZ or . The four members of MCZ are known for energetic performances, incorporating elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. MCZ is notable for being the first female group to ho ...

(eps. 1191-) Ending themes: #''Hari-kiri Jiisan no Rock 'n' Roll'' (針切じいさんのロケン・ロール) by Hitoshi Ueki (eps. 1-27, 29–73) #''Hari-kiri Jiisan no Rock 'n' Roll'' by Grandfather (Takeshi Aono) and the children (ep. 28) #''Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta'' (あっけにとられた時のうた) by Tama (eps. 74-130, 132–179) #''Yume Ippai Shin Version'' (ゆめいっぱい（新バージョン） "Full of Dream (New Version)") #''Jaga Buttercorn-san'' (じゃがバタコーンさん) by ManaKana (eps. 180–230) #''Chibi Maruko Ondo'' (ちびまる子音頭) by ManaKana (eps. 231–340) #''Kyuujitsu no Uta (Viva La Viva)'' (休日の歌（Viva La Vida）) by Delighted Mint (eps. 341–416) #''Uchū Dai Shuffle'' (宇宙大シャッフル "Big Shuffle in Outer Space") by Love Jets (eps. 417–481) #''Arara no Jumon'' (アララの呪文) by Chibi Maruko-chan with Bakuchu Mondai (eps. 482–850) #''Hyaku-man Nen no Shiawase!!'' (100万年の幸せ!! "100 Thousand Years of Happiness!!") by

Keisuke Kuwata is a Japanese multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and Lead vocalist, frontman for the Southern All Stars, as well of his own solo band, the Kuwata band. He has also done a significant amount of scoring music for films. He went to Aoyama Ga ...

(eps. 851-special 21) #''Kimi o Wasurenai yo'' (キミを忘れないよ "I Won't Forget You") by Sakurako Ohara (special 19) # by PUFFY (eps. 1119–1216) # by Kazuyoshi Saito (eps. 1217–)

Live action

A live action series was shown on Fuji Television in 2006. The series was created to commemorate ''Chibi Maruko-chans 15th anniversary and had 3 episodes, each 2 hours. All costumes and hairstyles are faithful to the original manga. A Taiwanese live-action adaptation was also made begin airing on March 13, 2017. Both of the second television series and the live action series were broadcast in 1080i

HDTV High-definition television (HDTV) describes a television or video system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since at least 1933; in more recent times, it ref ...

Films

* ''Chibi Maruko-chan'' (

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

, 1990) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song'' (television film, 1992) * '' Chibi Maruko-chan: A Boy from Italy'' (2015) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: The Fantastic Notebook'' (2022) (Chinese 3DCG film)

Video games

All the Game Boy titles (which consists of

minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game, sometimes called a subgame or microgame) is a short game often contained within another video game. A minigame contains different gameplay elements and is often smaller or more simplistic than th ...

s) were developed by KID and published by

Takara was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy, Tomy Company, Ltd. to form Tomy, Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was("playing is culture"). The company focused on traditional toys and board games. They cr ...

. The other titles were published by different companies like

Namco was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company founded in 1955. It operated video arcades and amusement parks globally, and produced video games, films, toys, and arcade cabinets. Namco was one of the most influential c ...

Konami , commonly known as Konami, , is a Japanese multinational entertainment company and video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading card ...

Epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...

and

Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Ba ...

. * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Uki Uki Shopping'' (

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

, 1990) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Okozukai Daisakusen'' (

Game Boy The is a handheld game console developed by Nintendo, launched in the Japanese home market on April 21, 1989, followed by North America later that year and other territories from 1990 onwards. Following the success of the Game & Watch single-ga ...

, 1990) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan 2: Deluxe Maruko World'' (Game Boy, 1991) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Harikiri 365-Nichi no Maki'' (

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

, 1991) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan 3: Mezase! Game Taishou no Maki'' (Game Boy, 1992) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan 4: Korega Nihon Dayo Ouji Sama'' (Game Boy, 1992) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Quiz de Piihyara'' (

PC Engine The TurboGrafx-16, known in Japan as the , is a home video game console developed by Hudson Soft and manufactured by NEC. It was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1989. The first console of the fourth generation, it launched ...

, 1992) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Waku Waku Shopping'' (

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

, 1992) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Maruko Deluxe Quiz'' ( Arcade/Game Boy/ Neo-Geo, 1995) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Mezase! Minami no Island!!'' (Super Famicom, 1995) * '' Chibi Maruko-chan no Taisen Puzzle Dama'' (

Sega Saturn The is a home video game console developed by Sega and released on November 22, 1994, in Japan, May 11, 1995, in North America, and July 8, 1995, in Europe. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it is the successor to the succes ...

, 1995) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Maruko Enikki World'' (

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, 1995) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Go Chounai Minna de Game Dayo!'' (

Game Boy Color The (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

, 2001) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan DS Maru-chan no Machi'' (

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

, 2009) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan (

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

, 2016) * ''Chibi Maruko-chan: Dream Stage'' iOS/Android, 2016

Stage

As part of the project to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the original work, it was announced in October 2021 that the first stage of this work, "Chibi Maruko-chan The Stage", will be produced, scheduled to be performed at the end of 2022. Nelke Planning is in charge of planning and production. In August 2022, it was announced that the title would be "High School Days" and that it would be performed at the Galaxy Theatre from December 15 to December 25.

Reception

TV 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 ...

's poll of the Top 100 Anime, ''Chibi Maruko-chan'' came in 15th.

Notes

* Kenta Hasegawa (former Japanese international football player).

, the author of the manga, created a character called Kenta -kun who occasionally makes an appearance. He loves football and is a classmate of Chibi Maruko. This character was created after Hasegawa. Sakura and Hasegawa attended the same primary school during the same period.

References

External links

*
Official International website
* {{Nippon Animation films 1990 anime television series debuts 1992 anime films 1992 films 1992 Japanese television series endings 1995 anime television series debuts 1996 comics endings Japanese children's animated comedy television series Fiction set in 1974 Comics set in the 1970s Animated television series about children Television series about the Cold War Anime series based on manga Comedy anime and manga Fictional Japanese people in anime and manga Fuji Television original programming Japanese television dramas based on manga Manga adapted into films Nippon Animation Television shows written by Eriko Shinozaki Shōjo manga Shueisha franchises Shueisha manga Video games based on anime and manga Winner of Kodansha Manga Award (Shōjo) Animated children's television sitcoms Anime postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Anime productions suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic Animated films set in the 1970s Animated films set in Japan 1990 films