Chibi Maruko-chan

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. 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) 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 16th volume of the manga was published on April 15, 2009, and 17th volume was issued on Dec 25, 2018, four months after Momoko Sakura'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 on April 1, 2013. A square-headed parody version of manga Chibi Maruko-chan titled was published on Shueisha's Grand Jump magazine from October 19, 2016. Anime First series Chibi Maruko-chan originally aired on Fuji Television and affiliated TV stations. 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 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 and Captain Jack. The series was exported throughout Asia and was especially popular in Taiwan. 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, Super RTL and Jetix. It aired weekdays on Nick India in India.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 in Vancouver, Canada. This is the only footage from the dub to surface. Actress Teryl Rothery has listed her involvement with the show on her resume. 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, is distributed by The Japan Foundation, the dub was produced in Mexico and broadcast on several local, public and other private television networks. On April 25, 2020, it was announced that the second series would be suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 14, 2020, it was announced that it would resume on June 21, 2020. As of 14 January 2024, Crunchyroll has started to stream the series from episode 1419 in the US, 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 KinKi Kids (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 (eps. 1191–1511) • Odoru Ponpokorin by Ado (eps. 1512–) 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 (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-chan's 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. Films • Chibi Maruko-chan (Toho, 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 minigames) were developed by KID and published by Takara. The other titles were published by different companies like Namco, Konami, Epoch and Banpresto. • Chibi Maruko-chan: Uki Uki Shopping (Famicom, 1990) • Chibi Maruko-chan: Okozukai Daisakusen (Game Boy, 1990) • Chibi Maruko-chan 2: Deluxe Maruko World (Game Boy, 1991) • Chibi Maruko-chan: Harikiri 365-Nichi no Maki (Super Famicom, 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, 1992) • Chibi Maruko-chan: Waku Waku Shopping (Mega Drive, 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, 1995) • Chibi Maruko-chan: Maruko Enikki World (PlayStation, 1995) • Chibi Maruko-chan: Go Chounai Minna de Game Dayo! (Game Boy Color, 2001) • Chibi Maruko-chan DS Maru-chan no Machi (Nintendo DS, 2009) • Chibi Maruko-chan (Nintendo 3DS, 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==

In TV Asahi's poll of the Top 100 Anime, Chibi Maruko-chan came in 15th. ==Notes==