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Crayon Shin-chan

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Crayon Shin-chan (クレヨンしんちゃん Kureyon Shinchan) is a manga and anime series written by Yoshito Usui. The American version of the manga is titled "Crayon ShinChan", while the UK and Spanish version of the anime is titled Shin Chan. The series follows the antics of a five year-old boy and his father and mother. This story is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Crayon Shin-chan first appeared in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action (WEEKLY週間アクション), which is published by Futabasha Publishers.

Much of the humor in the series stems from Shin-chan's occasionally unnatural and inappropriate use of language, as well as from his inappropriate behavior. Much of this humor is untranslatable for non-Japanese speaking readers and viewers. In Japanese, certain set phrases almost always accompany certain actions; many of these phrases have standard responses. A typical gag involves Shin-chan confounding his parents by using the wrong phrase for the occasion. For example, Japanese usually announce that they are back when they have returned home. Shin chan would make the mistake of saying "you are back", instead of "I am back".

The storylines used in the anime series are based on those in the comic. Although the stories have been softened for television, there has been controversy about the program, primarily from parents who argue that the main character, Shin-chan (like Bart on the American animated series The Simpsons), sets a bad example for children. Although some westerners have called Shin-chan the "Bart Simpson of Japan," there are fewer similarities than differences between the two characters. In particular, Bart is older and apparently more intentionally mischievous than Shin-chan, many of whose misdeeds seem to stem more from simple ignorance of correct behavior due to his age. This provides the writers with ample opportunity to write gags based on age-inappropriate behavior, such as Shin-chan's occasional use of extremely formal language. Shin-chan has also been compared to the character Calvin, from the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes.

This show is not as child-friendly as normally expected of a children's show, as it involves the use of language and sexual content including Shin Chan exposing his penis which is clearly visible.

Most episodes have strange, hilarious twists that involving Shin-chan and his parents.

Several full-length movies of Crayon Shin-chan have been released in Japan:

  • Action Kamen vs Haigure Mao (アクション仮面VSハイグレ魔王)
  • Treasure of Buri Buri Kingdom (ブリブリ王国の秘宝)
  • Plot of Unkokusai (雲黒斎の野望)
  • Adventure in Hender Land (ヘンダ-ランドの大冒険)
  • Chase after the Dark Tama Tama (暗黒タマタマ大追跡)
  • Mission: Pig's Hoof (電撃!ブタのヒヅメ大作戦)
  • Showdown at the Onsen (爆発!温泉わくわく大決戦)
  • Rumble in the Jungle (嵐を呼ぶジャングル)
  • The Adult Empire Strikes Back (嵐を呼ぶモーレツ! オトナ帝国の逆襲)
  • Arashi wo Yobu Appare! Sengoku Daikassen (嵐を呼ぶアッパレ!戦国大合戦)
  • Arashi wo Yobu Eikou no Yakiniku Road (嵐を呼ぶ栄光のヤキニクロード)
  • Arashi wo Yobu Yuhi no Kasukabe Boys (嵐を呼ぶ! 夕陽のカスカベボーイズ)

English-language adaptations

English anime

The Shin-chan anime had an English dub produced by Phuuz Entertainment, Inc. in Universal City. The dub, with character names changed, ran on Fox Kids (now JETIX) in the United Kingdom, and on RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland. However, it should be noted that the dub is of American origin, with actors and actresses such as Kath Soucie, Russi Taylor, Grey DeLisle, and Pat Fraley playing major roles (Soucie plays Shin himself, and his mother). Despite this, it has never aired in North America, likely something to do with the large amount of content that would be considered questionable for children by American censors - although the dub is edited for content, many scenes including the frequent appearance of Shin's naked buttocks, humor relating to breast-size, transsexualism and other sexual concepts remain. RTÉ Two have not shown the series since 2003, and Jetix only usually show it as shorts in between programmes, with even more edits.

An English subtitled version of Crayon Shin-chan ran on KIKU-TV in Hawaii from April 1, 1992 to December 1, 2001. (1)

In February 2006, Funimation announced that they had secured the US rights to the Crayon Shinchan anime, and planned to begin releasing the series in late 2007.

English manga

ComicsOne has translated Shin-chan into English and released it in the United States. Many pop culture references familiar to Americans, such as Oreos, Pokémon, and Britney Spears were added to increase the appeal to American audiences. The comic is oriented to read left to right. Starting with the sixth volume, many of the names were changed to the ones used in the English version of the anime, even though the anime never appeared in North America.

Since then, DrMaster took the licenses of several manga series, including Crayon Shin-chan, from ComicsOne. However, as of January 2006, new volumes of Crayon Shin-chan has yet to be released under the DrMaster imprint.

Shin-chan in other countries

Crayon Shin-chan is popular in China, where he is called La Bi Xiao Xin (trad. 蠟筆小新, simpl. 蜡笔小新, làbǐ xiǎoxīn). His visage can be seen next to Garfield and Disney characters in video and toy stores.

In South Korea, the show and comics, titled 짱구는 못말려 (Jjanggu the Unstoppable, literally), are also tremendously popular. Shin-chan's name is 신짱구 (Shin Jjanggu), which is coined by his original Japanese name and the Korean word 짱구(jjanggu) for "protruding forehead." In Korea, the animated version is severely censored - compared to the original non-censored Japanese version. Scenes revealing Shin-Chan's genitals are mostly censored, and only few scenes with his buttocks shown remain. Other adult materials are all censored to make the series more suitable for children, who were considered the main audience for the show. However, the comic book version is mostly uncensored, labeled as "for 19 or above."

Shin-chan is one of the most popular anime characters in Indonesia. The Indonesian actor who dubbed Shin-chan's voice (a man aged about twenty but looks like a 12 year old kid because of genetical error) has released multiple records and is even said to resemble Shin-chan. The anime itself was extremely popular yet controversial. It is the first animated show to have a BO(PG in Indonesia). All the dubber of the anime has found success thanks to the show. Shin-chan has also found a devoted following in Spain.

Shin-chan is also very popular in the Netherlands, on the channel JETIX NL (former FOX KIDS NL). His name is spelled: Shin Chan. For more (Dutch) information, see: http://www.animewolken.nl/shinchan.php (biggest Dutch Shinchan fansite with all information about the Dutch Shin Chan dub)(replacement for the old Fox Kids link without information)

In Malaysia, Shin Chan's comic is titled as Dik Cerdas, which roughly means "energetic kid". Shin Chan's voice in the Bahasa Melayu version of the anime happens to be voiced by a 12-year-old. Like in South Korea, pictures revealing Shin-Chan's genitals were all censored.

Characters

Note: Below is an incomplete list of characters. Characters' names are given as they appear in the Japanese comic (family name first, followed by given name). The names used in the dub follow as they appear in that version, if applicable.

  • Shinnosuke Nohara (野原しんのすけ Nohara Shinnosuke) / Shin Chan Nohara - Shinnosuke Nohara -- Shin-chan for short -- is the main character, a kindergarten-aged boy whose antics are the basis for the series. It is always stated that he is 5 years old, and loves chocolate biscuits and an animated superhero. He is strangely attracted to young girls and women, considering his age. He shares this trait with his father and paternal grandfather, but this will often result in Misae's brutal punishment (see below). Some of his strange activities include dressing up as animals or plants (with appropriate costumes), and playing dead.
  • Misae Nohara (野原みさえ Nohara Misae) / Mitsy Nohara - Shin-chan's mother. A housewife who seems to be 29 all the time, she is angered when Shin-chan makes fun of her or mocks her by acting like her, usually about her wrinkles and weight. The standard retaliation is spanking, screwing fists into Shin-chan's head, pulling cheeks, and even striking his head to produce enormous, but temporary, lumps. Sometimes these punishments are inflicted on her husband, too. Although violent (in a humourous way from the perspective of the audience), she loves her son very much.
  • Hiroshi Nohara (野原ひろし Nohara Hiroshi) / Harry Nohara - Shin-chan's father. A tiring business man. He is the main (and only) income source of the family, with 32 installments (Shin-chan believes it is 32 years) of mortgage repayment on the house. He is a stereotypical Japanese employee.
  • Himawari Nohara (野原ひまわり Nohara Himawari) / Daisy Nohara - Shin-chan's younger sister. She is less than one year old and her name means "sunflower".
  • Toru Kazama (風間トオル Kazama Tōru) / Cosmo - Toru Kazama (Kazama-kun) is Shin-chan's immaculately groomed and perfectly mannered best friend.
  • Nene Sakurada (桜田ネネ Sakurada Nene) / Nini Sakurada - Nene Sakurada (Nene-chan) is Shin-chan's female classmate and friend. She loves to play 'real omamagoto', or 'real house', in which divorces and arguments are very common.
  • Masao Sato (佐藤マサオ Satō Masao) / Max - Masao Sato is one of Shin-chan's friends. He is known to be a scaredy cat, and a bit of a cry baby.
  • Bo (ボー ) - Another of Shin-chan's friends, he seems slow and expressionless, but is actually quite smart and has an interest in artistic, adult-oriented things. He always has a trail of snot running down his nose.
  • Midori Yoshinaga (よしながみどり Yoshinaga Midori) / Miss Dori - Shin-chan's teacher. She is always in bitter rivalry with another teacher.
  • Shiro (シロ) / Lucky - Shin-chan's dog. White and fluffy, he sometimes seems to be the only one intelligent enough to see the real situation. He has the ability to roll up to look like cotton candy.

Voice actors

Japanese version (seiyū)

English version

The first dubbed cast for the British Shin-Chan includes:

In December 2004, a new dubbed series of Shin-Chan began to air on Fox Kids UK (now JETIX UK), and it was immediately evident that the entire English cast had been replaced. While the actors are clearly still American, JETIX' habit of cutting the closing credits from many of its shows means that they are currently unidentified.