
is a fictional
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...
that serves as a
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
for a
Japanese brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...
of
Morinaga chocolate
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods.
Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...
, known as ChocoBall. He first appeared in 1967 in the anime television series ''Uchuu-shonen Soran'' (''
Space Boy Soran
is a Japanese black and white anime television series created by Kazuya Fukumoto and Yoshikatsu Miyakoshi. The show aired in the United States in 1966 as ''Zoran, Space Boy''. The series was released on DVD in 2015.
Plot
Dr. Tachibana once ...
''). Kyorochan also replaced the character Chappy in 1967, a space-themed
squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae (), a family that includes small or medium-sized rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrel ...
who was the original mascot, first appearing in 1965.
Kyorochan's popularity began to take off in 1987, when
TV commercial
A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
s starring Kyorochan, as well as commercial songs performed by famous artists were made. In 1991, the name "Kyorochan" was printed on the boxes of ChocoBall candies. That same year, the sales of
merchandise
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 ...
, such as
stuffed animal
A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys ...
s and related products exceeded the sales of the ChocoBall brand itself.
Anime
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 ...
adaptation starring Kyorochan, with the same name, was produced by
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.[NAS
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air (S ...]
, and
SPE Visual Works and animated by
Group TAC
was a Japanese animation and computer graphics studio located in Shibuya, Tokyo, and founded in 1968 from former Mushi Pro staff. They worked on movies, videos, TV shows, and commercials, and contributed to all stages of the process, including ...
. These focus on the adventures of Kyorochan, as he lives on Angel Island, a large village home to various other birds. The first theme song is "Halation Summer", performed by
Coconuts Musume, while the first ending theme was "''Tsuukagu Ro''", performed by
Whiteberry. These were replaced by original songs by episode 27.
The series was released in very limited amounts in the
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
format, with box-sets being rare. International releases of the anime include
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
(''Kukucska Kalandjai''),
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
(with the name intact),
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 ...
(''大嘴鳥''), the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
(''Červánek''), and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
(''왕부리 팅코''). The Indian television channel
Pogo began broadcasting ''Kyorochan'' from May 31, 2010, a decade after the original anime.
An obscure English dub appeared to have been made of the series, with Richie Campos only being the notable voice actor. Campos's name was curiously mentioned on its page in
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and ot ...
's encyclopedia, voicing Don Girori, Makumou, Dementon, Girosshu and the narrator. Other info and footage about this lost dub currently remain unknown.
Characters
* Kyoro-chan (voiced by Miyako Ito) - the titular character and a cute
parrot
Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
who lives on Angel Island and has adventures with his friends. He was hatched from an egg in a temple found by the scientist Dr. Matsugale. He has an orange beak, red head, and brown and yellow pattern on his body. His name comes from the Japanese onomatopoeia "kyorokyoro", meaning "to look around"/"restlessly" – the second opening theme may reference the former.
* Dr. Matsugale (voiced by Rokuro Naya) - a scientist and Kyoro-chan's "adoptive father" who found him in the temple and traveled through the world with him, until they got separated during a storm. He can be seen at the end of many episodes reading letters Kyoro-chan sent him.
* Pachikuri (voiced by
Takako Honda) - Kyoro-chan's first friend after returning to Angel Island, who introduced himself as "Mega Ultra Super Hot Pachikuri", but it was shortened to just Pachikuri because Kyoro-chan always got it wrong. Pachikuri is a dark blue and white penguin who is usually seen wearing a green cape and matching flippers on his feet. He is quite good at martial arts and never backs down from a challenge. His name means "blinking with surprise".
* Mikken (voiced by
Kurumi Mamiya
is a Japanese Voice acting in Japan, voice actress from Yasu, Shiga, Yasu, Shiga Prefecture. She is affiliated with 81 Produce. She is known for her roles as Hamtaro and Leo from One Piece.
Voice roles
*''Dream Animals: The Movie'' (2025) (Chic ...
) - a yellow chicken and another of Kyoro-chan's friends. He always has a rather angry-looking expression no matter his mood (though occasionally this changes if he is extremely sad or happy), and his beak is always on one side of his face or the other, causing an odd aspect. He wears a broken eggshell as trousers. His name comes from the word "miken", meaning "area between one's eyebrows", in a reference to his large forehead and eyebrows that slump and make him look gruffer.
* Kurin (voiced by Takako Uemura) - another of Kyoro-chan's friends, Kurin is a cute pink duck who runs Angel Island's bakery shop with her big sister. Her name comes from "kuri", or
chestnut
The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Description
...
, referring to the shape of her head.
* Masukara (voiced by Hinako Kanamaru) - a cute yellow duck and Kurin's big sister. She is Kurin's caretaker and they run the bakery shop together. Her name is
romaji
The romanization of Japanese is the use of Latin script to write the Japanese language. This method of writing is sometimes referred to in Japanese as .
Japanese is normally written in a combination of logogram, logographic characters borrowe ...
for "mascara".
* Girori - a blackbird who is often mean to Kyoro-chan and his friends. His parents are the richest birds on Angel Island, so he is rather stuck-up. He has a crush on Masukara.
* Konto and Takuto - a short green bird (likely either a hummingbird or kiwi bird) and pink duck who are Girori's henchmen. They are not very smart. Takuto wears a mask.
* Don Girori (voiced by
Hideyuki Umezu
was a Japanese actor who specialized in voice acting.
Biography
Graduated from Tokyo Medical and Dental University, he said that if he hadn't become an actor, he would have become a dentist.
The catalyst for starting acting was when a friend ...
) - Girori's dad and a millionaire who presides over Angel Island's economy. He is also the president of the toy company where Mikken's dad works at.
* Memeritcho (voiced by Rin Mizuhara) - Girori's mother and Don Girori's wife who loves him very much.
* Meguro (voiced by
Kiyomitsu Mizuuchi) - Pachikuri's uncle and a light blue penguin with a pink hat. He is the primary caretaker of Pachikuri.
* Manajiri (voiced by
Kōzō Shioya) - Mikken's dad and a yellow chicken with a very square head. He works as a designer at a toy factory.
* Rinkuru - Mikken's grandma. Her name literally means "wrinkle".
* Makumo (voiced by
Hiroshi Ōtake) - an elderly greyish-blue bird with a beard and a hat. He often hangs out with Mikken's grandma.
* Ms. Metori - an old lady bird who seems to like Kyoro-chan, and he sometimes goes shopping with her. She calls him "Kyorobo" (combination of "Kyoro" and "dorobo", or thief) for unknown reasons. She is also the town gossip.
* Inspector Guriguri (voiced by
Junpei Morita) - a condor who is Angel Island's private investigator. He wears a gray trench coat and glasses with swirls on them. His name is a reference to this because "guriguri" means "googly eyes" or "rolling one's eyes".
* Phantom Thief Girosshu (voiced by Junpei Morita) - a mysterious thief and Inspector Guriguri's alter ego. Though he is a thief, he is still kind and saved Kyoro-chan from falling off his balcony one night. It is rather ironic that a detective would have a thief alter ego, but since he saves people and doesn't hurt them, he's sort of a heroic criminal, so to speak.
* Shibashiba - large hairy black monster bird who everyone on Angel Island is afraid of (though Kyoro-chan himself sometimes isn't). It can shapeshift and reproduce itself, and it can turn someone else into a Shibashiba (as once happened to Mikken). There seems to be some religious connection to the Shibashiba, as the townspeople once sacrificed Kyoro-chan to it (actually, he volunteered, but ended up making friends with the Shibashiba anyway).
The only thing that it can say is "shibashiba", hence its name - if one were turned into a Shibashiba, it would also affect their speech pattern. Mikken's grandma seemed to be able to recognize Mikken even when he was turned into a Shibashiba. Somehow this recognition turned him back, so it's possible that if someone realizes one's true self, they will change back. The name Shibashiba has two meanings: "often"/"frequently"/"again and again" and blinking repeatedly. The series itself may intentionally allude to both of these meanings.
* Mayu - a cute female penguin who Kyoro-chan once played with. Pachikuri has a crush on her.
* Pafu (Puff) - a cloud/cat like creature who Kyoro-chan keeps as a pet in the second season. It is unknown where he came from. The only sound he can make is a whistle-like sound, which kind of sounds like "pafu", hence his name. His name also might come from the fact that he looks like a cloud, which are puffy in appearance.
* Dementon (voiced by Toru Ohkawa) - a toucan who was kind to Kyoro-chan early in the series. The "deme" part of his name means "protruding eyes".
Legacy
"Kyorosk"
The "Kyorosk" is a
kiosk
Historically, a kiosk () was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Iran, Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist ...
constructed in the
JR East
The is a major passenger railway company in Japan and the largest of the seven Japan Railways Group companies. The company name is officially abbreviated as JR-EAST or JR East in English, and as in Japanese. The company's headquarters are in ...
train station at
Tamachi
is the informal name for the area surrounding Tamachi Station in Minato, Tokyo, generally referring to the districts of Shiba, Shibaura, and Mita.
History
During the Edo period Tamachi was a ''hatamoto'' residential quarter. Rice cultivation ...
,
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, in 2003. The store features Morinaga products, focusing especially on Kyoro-chan. Since the Morinaga corporate headquarters are located near Tamachi-eki Station, this store was devised as a joint venture between the company and JR East.
Video games
There are a couple licensed
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
games, along with a
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 ...
sequel, but they are not related to the anime:
*
''KyoroChan Land'', an adapted conversion of ''
Nebulus'' (also known as ''Castelian'', ''Subline'' and ''Tower Toppler'') was released for the
NES and Game Boy (by The Sales Curve/HIRO).
* ''Pocket KyoroChan'', a (Super)
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 ...
game, with a sequel (by
Tomy
(trade name, trading as Takara Tomy in Asia and Tomy elsewhere) is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as , became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pi ...
and Jupiter).
* ''KyoroChan's
Purikura
A photo booth is a vending machine or modern kiosk that contains an automated, usually currency detector, coin-operated, camera and film processor. Today, the vast majority of photo booths are digital.
History
The patent for the first autom ...
Daisakusen'' (''Kyoro-chan's Photo Sticker Booth Adventure'') - a sequel of the
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 ...
game above for
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 ...
(by
Tomy
(trade name, trading as Takara Tomy in Asia and Tomy elsewhere) is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as , became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pi ...
).
References
External links
Official site
Anime website
{{Group TAC
Bird mascots
Cartoon mascots
Fictional parrots
Anthropomorphic parrots
Japanese mascots
Food advertising characters
Mascots introduced in 1967
Group TAC
Tomy games
Morinaga & Company
TV Tokyo original programming