, also known as Dejiko or Digiko, is the main

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

of the

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 ...

and

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 ...

of the same name created by

Koge-Donbo is a Japanese manga artist. Koge-Donbo* started her career soon after college as a doujinshi artist. She got the idea of a unique pen-name, Kobe-Donbo* from Akira Toriyama's pet cat. She made her first official US appearance at Otakon 2004 in Ba ...

. Dejiko is a princess of a planet that is also called Di Gi Charat and she is also depicted as a

catgirl A or neko is a female character with feline traits, such as cat ears, a tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. As a type of '' kemonomimi'', catgirls are associated with Japanese anime and manga but may appear in oth ...

which is highlighted by her ending each sentence with the cat sound 'nyo'. Dejiko can be violent at times and will resort to using her special ability, eye-beams, to inflict damage on others. She is close friends with her sidekick Puchiko who has a contrasting personality to that of Dejiko's. Dejiko is the company mascot of

Gamers A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...

, a retail chain of

Broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

, the production company for ''Di Gi Charat''.

Concept

In an interview with Koge-Donbo, she says that of all her character creations Dejiko is most like her.

Appearances

Manga

Anime

Dejiko has appeared in each of the ''Di Gi Charat'' anime series. In ''

Di Gi Charat is a Japanese manga and anime series created by Koge-Donbo. The series follows a catgirl named Di Gi Charat " Dejiko" who was adopted as the mascot of Broccoli's retail chain store, Gamers. The original anime series and it ...

,'' she comes to Earth with hopes of becoming an idol singer. She has green eyes and green hair and her maid-like uniform consists of a white and navy blue dress with big cat bells tied to her hair with navy blue ribbons. On the very top of her head are her cat ears, which are white with pink inside and have a set of large, non-functional lime-coloured cat eyes. She always wears white gloves and boots (with the exception of her sleeping outfit) and she has a white tail. She is consistently seen in this costume in her various series with the exception of ''Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat'' where she wears a different costume in her chibi character design in that series.

Video games

She has appeared in two

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

games, the ''Di Gi Charat: Di Gi Communication'' series, and three computer games: ''

Glove on Fight is a doujin boxing video game released at the Comic Revolution 31 convention in May 2002 by Watanabe Seisakujo (now French-Bread). The name of the game is a take on "'' Groove on Fight''", which is a sequel of the '' Power Instinct'' series, tho ...

'', ''Moe Moe'' (as selectable character) and ''Kakuge Yaro'' (as cameo in one stage). She was the featured character in the

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 ...

game, Dejiko no Mahjong Party.

In other media

Dejiko has appeared in anime outside of the ''Di Gi Charat'' series in cameo roles in such anime as ''

Galaxy Angel is a ''bishōjo'' sci-fi metaseries composed of anime, manga and dating sim video games. It was created by Broccoli in July 2000, when it launched a multi-platformed project called ''Project G.A.'' The anime and ''Galaxy Angel Party'' ...

'', ''

Cromartie High School is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiji Nonaka. It was serialized in Kodansha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from August 2000 to May 2006, with its chapters collected in 18 volumes. It follows the everyd ...

'', '' Power Stone'', and ''

Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge is a Japanese anime series that combined episodes of two series, and . It was broadcast in 13 episodes between July 5, 2005 and September 27, 2005. Summary In ''Love Pheromones'', Aimi and Kaoruko are wannabe comedians and heroes of justice. ...

''. In the ''Galaxy Angel'' anime, she is a newscaster working with Puchiko and in one episode, she holds her co-worker for ransom in an endless circle of staged kidnappings that began with the theft of

Ranpha Franboise This is a list of characters from the game, anime and manga involved in BROCCOLI's ''Galaxy Angel'' and its sequel ''Galaxy Angel II''. Many of the character names are related to food, liquor, and desserts. ''Galaxy Angel'' Moon Angel Troupe ...

's ship. Dejiko face was as a mask in Koge Donbo's other work Kamichama Karin.

Reception

Carl Kimlinger from

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 ...

gave

Di Gi Charat Nyo! is a Japanese anime and an alternate version of ''Di Gi Charat''. The series features Dejiko, and Puchiko, two Catgirl (anime and manga), catgirls who travel to Earth, for princess training, where they are accidentally split up. An anime aire ...

's first DVD a review in which he describes Dejiko having a "mercenary personality and butt-scratching manners" with a "frilly-cute exterior". In the prequel

Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat is the prequel to the popular anime series ''Di Gi Charat''. It features Princess Dejiko and Puchiko as young children home at planet Di Gi Charat. The two and their friends Meek and Rinna set off to bring happiness to the citizens of planet D ...

, Carlo Santos from Anime News Network describes Dejiko having a temper that "adds some spice to her goody-goody nature". In contrast, in the alternate story Winter Garden where she is now twenty, Chris Beveridge from the Fandom Post describes Dejiko as a "normal young woman".

References

External links

Dejiko's Bio
at

Broccoli (company) is a Japanese media company that publishes manga, anime, video games and trading card games. It operated a chain of retailers in Japan called ''Gamers'' which carries similar products and accessories. Broccoli is best known for the franchises, ...

.
Dejiko's Bio
from the prequel

at Broccoli. {{Di Gi Charat series Anime and manga characters who can move at superhuman speeds Anime and manga characters with superhuman strength Child characters in anime and manga Anime and manga characters introduced in 1998 Di Gi Charat Female characters in anime and manga Female characters in advertising Fictional extraterrestrial characters Fictional princesses Kemonomimi Mascots introduced in 1998 Catgirls