Crayon Shin-chan

Crayon Shin-chan (クレヨンしんちゃん, Kureyon Shinchan?) is a Japanese manga and anime series written by Yoshito Usui. The title is commonly translated as either "Crayon Shin Chan" or "Crayon Shin-Chan" and is sold worldwide. The series follows the antics of five-year-old Shinnosuke Nohara and his parents, neighbors, friends, dog and many others. The series is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. It is called "Crayon Shin-chan" because "crayon" signifies the fact that Shin-chan goes to kindergarten, and that the unique coloration makes it appear as if the characters are drawn with crayons. "Shin-chan" is the affectionate name for the main character. Basic information Crayon Shin-chan first appeared in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action, which is published by Futabasha. Crayon Shin-chan began broadcasting on TV Asahi on April 13, 1992, and has also been aired by the anime television network, Animax across Japan and Latin America. Starting in April 2006, Crayon Shin-chan celebrated its 15th anniversary by starting each broadcast announcing the fact that it is 15th anniversary no matter what season it is. This feature is expected to end in April 2007. Much of the humor in the series stems from Shin-chan's occasionally weird, unnatural and inappropriate use of language, as well as from his inappropriate behavior. Therefore much of this humor is untranslatable for Western readers and viewers, and a few jokes can't even be translated into other East Asian languages. 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, "welcome home!" when he arrives instead of "I'm home!" Theme Songs [edit] Opening Themes 1. April 13, 1992 - September 21, 1992: 動物園は大変だ (The Zoo Is A Nightmare) * Lyricist: Yoshito Usui / Composer: Tetsuro Oda / Arranger: Masao Akashi / Singers: TUNE'S 2. October 12, 1992 - July 5, 1993: 夢のENDはいつも目覚まし! (The End of a Dream Is Always An Eye-Opener) * Lyricist: Daiko Nagato / Composer: Tetsuro Oda / Arranger: Takeshi Hayama / Singers: B.B.QUEENS 3. July 12, 1993 - September 25, 1995: オラはにんきもの (I Am Super Popular) * Lyricist: Reo Rinozuka / Composer: Yasuo Kosugi / Arranger: Michiaki Kato / Singer: Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) 4. October 9, 1995 - September 27, 1996: パカッポでGO! (Let's Go With Pakapo!) * Lyricist: Poem-dan / Composer/Arranger: Takashi Kimura / Singer: Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) 5. September 11, 1996 - March 20, 1998: 年中夢中 - "I want you" (All Year Through Crazy For You - I Want You) * Lyricist: C's / Composer/Arranger: Satoru Sugawara / Singer: Puppy 6. April 10, 1998 - May 26, 2000: とべとべ おねいさん (Fly Fly Ladies) * Lyricist/Arranger/Composer: motsu / Singers: Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) and Action Mask (Tesshō Genda) 7. June 2, 2000 - January 11, 2003: ダメダメのうた (The Song of No's) * Lyricist/Composer: LADY Q / Arranger: Toshiya Mori / Singers: LADY Q and Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) and Misae Nohara (Miki Narahashi) 8. January 18, 2003 - October 16, 2004: PLEASURE * Lyricist: Chihiro Kurosu / Composer: Kaori Hosoi / Arranger: Nobuyuki Shimizu / Singer: Tomomi Kahala 9. October 22, 2004 - February 23, 2007: ユルユルで DE-O! (Leisurely De-o) * Lyricist: Yuji Muto / Composer/Arranger: Yasunari Nakamura / Singer: Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) 10. March 9, 2007 - : ユルユルで DE-O! 2007クレヨンフレンズVersion (Leisurely De-o Crayon Friends 2007 Version) * Lyricist: Yuji Muto / Composer: Yasunari Nakamura / Arranger: Takafumi Iwasaki / Singer: Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) and Crayon Friends from AKB48 [edit] Ending themes 1. April 13, 1992 - September 21, 1992: うたをうたおう (Sing a Song) * Lyricist/Composer: Toshiyuki Tachikawa / Arrangers/Singers: Daiji MAN Brothers Band 2. October 12, 1992 - July 5, 1993: 素直になりたい (I Want to Be Honest) * Lyricist/Composer/Singer: Hiromi Yonemura / Arranger: Itaru Watanabe 3. July 12, 1993 - May 30, 1994: DO-して (Why?) * Lyricist: Yui Nishiwaki / Composer: Hideo Saito / Arranger: Hiroshi Shinkawa / Singers: Sakurakko Club Sakura Gumi 4. June 6, 1994 - August 29, 1994: しんちゃん音頭 (Shin-chan Ondo) * Lyricist: Moichi Kato / Composers/Arrangers: Ozutairiku and Yasuhiko Hoshino / Singers: Yuko and Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) 5. September 5, 1994 - September 18, 1995: パリジョナ大作戦 (Parijona Military Maneuver) * Lyricist: Marron Koshaku / Composer/Arranger: Takashi Kimura / Singers: Marron Koshaku and Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) 6. October 9, 1995 - May 24, 1996: REGGAE * Lyricist/Singer: KOTONE / Composers: KEISUKE and Yoichi Yamazaki / Arranger: Yuzo Hayashi 7. June 7, 1996 - September 13, 1996: しんちゃん音頭～オラといっしょにおどろうよ!～ (Shin-chan Ondo - Dance With Me!) * Lyricist: Moichi Kato / Composers: Ozutairiku and Yasuhiko Hoshino / Arrangers: Daisaku Kume and Kiyohiko Semba / Singers: Haruo Minami and Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) 8. October 11, 1996 - September 26, 1997: BOYS BE BRAVE～少年よ勇気を持て～ (Boys Be Brave) * Lyricists: Aki Okui and Lemon Saito / Composer/Singer: Aki Okui / Arranger: Akitoshi Onodera 9. October 17, 1997 - November 20, 1998: 月灯りふんわり落ちてくる夜 (The Night of Gently Falling Moonlight) * Lyricist/Composer/Arranger: RYUZI / Singer: Nanami Ogawa 10. November 27, 1998 - March 2000: スキスキ♡マイガール (I Love My Girl) * Lyricist/Composer: KAORU / Arrangers: Tsuyoshi Yamanaka and L'luvia / Singers: L'luvia 11. June 2, 2000 - March 2001: 今日はデート (Today I've Got a Date) * Lyricist/Composer: Ke-chan / Singer: Kamaboko 12. June 1, 2001 - September 14, 2002: 全体的に大好きです。 (I Love All of You) * Lyricist/Composer: Tsunku / Arrangers: Yuichi Takahashi and Tsunku / Singers: Shekidoru 13. November 2, 2002 - September 27, 2003, October 16, 2004: ママとのお約束条項の歌 (The Song of My Contract with My Mother) * Lyricists: Yoshito Usui and Yuri Asada / Composer: Yasuo Kosugi / Arranger: Hideo Saito / Singers: Shinnosuke Nohara (Akiko Yajima) and Misae Nohara (Miki Narahashi) 14. October 22, 2004 - December, 16, 2005: ありの歌 (The Ant Song) * Lyricist/Composer: Rio / Arranger: Papa Daisuke / Singers: Yanawarabaa [edit] Movies * July 24, 1993: Action Kamen vs Haigure Devil (クレヨンしんちゃん アクション仮面VSハイグレ魔王) o Directed by Mitsuru Hongo o Theme Song 『僕は永遠のお子様』 Lyricist: Shizuru Ohtaka / Composer: Osamu Masaki / Arranger: Yuzo Hayashi / Singer: Mew (Miyuki Kajitani) * April 23, 1994: Treasure of Buri Buri Kingdom (クレヨンしんちゃん ブリブリ王国の秘宝) o Directed by Mitsuru Hongo o Theme Song 『約束See You!』 Lyricist: AIKO / Composer: Akira Shirakawa / Arranger: Mari Konishi / Singer: Kyoko Kishi * April 15, 1995: Plot of Unkokusai (クレヨンしんちゃん 雲黒斎の野望) o Directed by Mitsuru Hongo o Theme Song 『たすけてケスタ』 Lyricist: Nozomi Inoue / Composer: Yasuo Kosugi / Arranger: Yuzo Hayashi / Singer: Sachiko Sugimoto * April 13, 1996: Adventure in Henderland (クレヨンしんちゃん ヘンダーランドの大冒険) o Directed by Mitsuru Hongo o Theme Song 『SIX COLORS BOY』 Lyricist: Makoto Asakura / Composer/Arranger: Daisuke Asakura / Singer: Akiko Hinagata * April 19, 1997: Pursuit of the Dark Tama Tama (クレヨンしんちゃん 暗黒タマタマ大追跡) o Directed by Keiichi Hara o Theme Song 『ひまわりの家』 Lyricist/Composer/Arranger/Singer: Kazuo Zaitsu * April 18, 1998: Mission:1000bolts!! Pig's Hoof's secret mission!! (クレヨンしんちゃん 電撃!ブタのヒヅメ大作戦) o Directed by Keiichi Hara o Theme Song 『PURENESS』 Lyricists: IZAM, SAKA Chan / Composers: KUZUKI, SHAZNA / Arrangers: Nobuhiko Sato, Kazuhisa Yamaguchi, SHAZNA / Singers: SHAZNA * April 17, 1999: Exciting Battle at the Hot Spring / Kureshin Paradise! Made in Saitama (クレヨンしんちゃん 爆発!温泉わくわく大決戦 / クレしんパラダイス!メイド・イン・埼玉) o Directed by Keiichi Hara / Tsutomu Mizushima o Theme Song 『いい湯だな』 Lyricist: Rokusuke Ei / Composer: Taku Izumi / Arranger: Mumon Toyama / Singers: The Nohara Family & Onsen Wakuwaku '99 * April 22, 2000: Rumble in the Jungle (クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶジャングル) o Directed by Keiichi Hara o Theme Song 『さよならありがとう』 Lyricist: Takashi Matsumoto / Composer: Toshiaki Matsumoto / Arranger: Motoyoshi Iwasaki / Singer: Sachiko Kobayashi (Chorus: Otowa Yurikago-kai) * April 21, 2001: The Adult Empire Strikes Back (クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ モーレツ!オトナ帝国の逆襲) o Directed by Keiichi Hara o Theme Song 『元気でいてね』 Lyricist: Mitsuko Shiramine / Composer/Arranger: Motoyoshi Iwasaki / Singer: Sachiko Kobayashi * April 20, 2002: The Battle of the Warring States (クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ アッパレ!戦国大合戦) o Directed by Keiichi Hara o Theme Song 『二中のファンタジー～体育を休む女の子編～』 Lyricist/Composer/Singer: Dance☆Man * April 19, 2003: Glorious Grilled Meat Road (クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ 栄光のヤキニクロード) o Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima o Theme Song 『こんな時こそ焼肉がある』 Lyricist: Sayuri / Composer: Takafumi Iwasaki / Arranger: Hideo Saito / Singers: The Nohara Family All Stars (Akiko Yajima, Miki Narahashi, Keiji Fujiwara, Satomi Koorogi, Mari Mashiba) * April 17, 2004: The Kasukabe Boys of the Evening Sun (クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ!夕陽のカスカベボーイズ) o Directed by Tsutomu Mizushima o Theme Song 『○ (マル) あげよう』 Lyricists: Teruyoshi Uchimura with Boon Companions and Emi Makiho / Composer/Arranger: Yasumasa Sato / Singers: NO PLAN * April 16, 2005: Buri Buri 3 Minutes Charge (クレヨンしんちゃん 伝説を呼ぶブリブリ 3分ポッキリ大進撃) o Directed by Yuji Muto o Theme Song 『CraYon Beats』 Lyricist/Singer: AI / Composers: AI, Kenji Hino, DJ YUTAKA (813) / Arrangers: Kenji Hino, DJ YUTAKA (813) * April 15, 2006: Dance! Amigo! (クレヨンしんちゃん 伝説を呼ぶ 踊れ!アミーゴ!) o Directed by Yuji Muto o Theme Song 『GO WAY!!』 Lyricist/Singer: Kumi Koda / Composer/Arranger: Hiroshi Komatsu * April 21, 2007: The Singing Bomb (クレヨンしんちゃん 嵐を呼ぶ 歌うケツだけ爆弾!) o Directed by Yuji Muto o Theme Song 『Cry Baby』 Lyricist: Naoki Takada / Composers: Naoki Takada and Shintaro "Growth" Izutsu / Arranger: Shintaro "Growth" Izutsu / Singer: SEAMO There have been other specials in which feature-length movies were broadcast on television rather than in theaters. [edit] English-language adaptations [edit] English anime The Shin-chan anime had an English dub produced by Phuuz Entertainment Inc. (at the time known as Fuse Entertainment) in Universal City, California in 1994. 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 in the early 2000s. 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 the American origin, this dub was never licensed 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 in the finished product. RTÉ Two has not shown the series since 2003, and Jetix only usually shows it as shorts in between programs, 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) [edit] English adult-oriented version FUNimation Entertainment has acquired the license for the Shin-chan anime in the US as of 2006, with plans on releasing the series on DVD on September 18, 2007. [2] As per all international licenses for the series, TV Asahi remained a licensing partner for North America. The new dub received a month-long test run on Cartoon Network on the Adult Swim programming block. The show returned to Adult Swim on April 9th, at a 12:30 am EDT timeslot. [3] The new dub features a Texas-based cast of voice actors, and English scripts written by television writers Jared Hedges, Joel Bergen, Alex Muniz, and a few part-time writers. Comic and television writers Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer also contributed to the scripts for polish/punch-up. The dub is directed by Zach Bolton, and occasionally Laura Bailey. The dialogue and humor of FUNimation's dub are extremely adult-oriented, with many sexual references and references to popular American culture. For example, in one scene, Ai and Penny argue over which one of them is Jessica Simpson and which one is Ashlee Simpson, which is very different to the original Japanese script that dealt with many social issues within Japan at the time. The use of modern American pop culture references to a show otherwise dated by the times was also used in Geneon's dub of the popular Lupin the 3rd 1978 series. Most episodes of the American dub have received a rating of TV-14, for its relatively strong suggestive dialogue (D) and coarse language (L). However, some episodes are rated TV-MA for more offensive language, stronger sexual dialogue, and objectionable humor/content deemed too strong for a TV-14 rating. Outlines of the episodes used by FUNimation can be found here. FUNimation episodes are streamed online weekly at Adult Swim's free broadband service, Adult Swim Video, which is available worldwide. Also, the tenth episode that was dubbed is available at AdultSwim.com for free as an interactive video. In addition to watching the episode, one can watch video commentary from the FUNimation staff, booth recordings, script comparisons, bios, show artwork, and other special features. The episode can be viewed here. [edit] 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 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 Phuuz English version of the anime, even though the anime never appeared in North America. Since then, American publisher DrMaster took over the licenses of several manga series, including Crayon Shin-chan, from ComicsOne. No new volumes of Crayon Shin-chan were released under the DrMaster imprint. [edit] Shin-chan in other countries Crayon Shin-chan is also very popular in many other countries, especially East Asian countries where much of the jokes can be translated (that is, if they aren't censored.) In China, the show and title La Bi Xiao Xin (trad. 蠟筆小新, simpl. 蜡笔小新, làbǐ xiǎoxīn) can be viewed on local channels mostly uncensored and well translated. Despite the fact that legal DVD sets and comics are published, most manga/videos bought in China are counterfeits as with Shinchan merchandise. Shinchan merchandise are especially popular among teenagers who often have them as accessories. (eg. cell phone straps) His visage can also be seen next to Garfield, Doraemon and Disney characters in video and toy stores. In Taiwan, the publisher of Crayon Shin-chan is Tong Li Comics. In South Korea, the show and comics, titled 짱구는 못말려 (Jjanggu the Unstoppable, literally), are also tremendously popular. Shin-chan's name is changed into "Shin Jjanggu"(신짱구), which is coined by his original Japanese name and the Korean word "jjanggu"(짱구) for "protruding forehead." In Korea, the animated version is severely censored - compared to the original Japanese version. Scenes revealing Shin-Chan's genitals are mostly censored, with exception to few scenes in which exposure is inevitable, and only few scenes with his buttocks shown remain. Some episodes explicitly displaying adult material are all censored, and all mature-themed jokes in the original Japanese version are dubbed into rated-G jokes in Korean to make the series more suitable for children, who were considered the main audience for the show in Korea. 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 a genetic 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 (An Indonesian equivalent to the United States rating "PG"). All the dubbers of the anime found success thanks to the show. Shin-chan found a devoted following in Spain, where the show is broadcast through Cartoon Network, Antena 3 and several autonomic channels in five different languages: Catalan, Valencian, Euskara, Galician and Castilian. It has proved so successful that several Shin-chan movies have seen a theatrical release nationwide. Also, Spain is the only country outside Japan where a Game Boy Advance game [4] based in the character was released (in 2005 by publisher Atari), with a sequel to follow in Q3 2006 [5]. Despite its success, some TV channels had to move the show to night programming or drop it completely after complaints by parents associations who claimed Shin-chan was not appropriate for children, the biggest followers of the show. Yoshito Usui visited Barcelona in 2004 in order to promote the Spanish release of the manga, when the show was already airing on Catalonia's public television channel TV3. Usui was so impressed by Shin-Chan's popularity he decided to thank his Spanish followers [6] by making an episode that takes place in Barcelona. Shin-chan is also very popular in the Netherlands, on JETIX. His name is spelled: Shin Chan. In Malaysia, Shin Chan's comic is titled as Dik Cerdas, which roughly means "brilliant kid". Shin Chan's voice in the Bahasa Melayu version of the anime happens to be voiced by a 15-year-old. Like in South Korea, pictures revealing Shin-Chan's genitals were all censored. Mandarin versions however, are not as heavily censored. They are rarer, however and can only be found in places with high Chinese speaking populations. The cartoon was broadcast in the Philippines, uncensored and dubbed in Filipino. Shin-Chan was voiced by Andrew E., a local rapper notorious for his suggestive lyrics. For some reason, his mother was called "Carmen". In Latin America, Shin-chan was originally shown on Fox Kids / JETIX in 2003, but was later moved to a new channel at the time, Animax, in mid 2005. There the episodes are shown weekdays, 3 to 4 times a day, and are dubbed over the English edited versions of the cartoon. In India Shin Chan is aired on Hungama TV. Shin Chan is growing its fame rapidly in India. Bō is renamed to Suzuki for some reason. For promoting other shows on Hungama TV, the show parodies other shows like Doraemon, which airs just before Crayon Shin-chan. Because it is dubbed in Hindi, the Japanese songs are changed into popular Bollywood numbers. Hungama TV has started airing new episodes from 21st April. [edit] Voice actors [edit] Japanese version (seiyū) * Akiko Yajima - Shinnosuke "Shin-chan" Nohara * Keiji Fujiwara - Hiroshi Nohara * Miki Narahashi - Misae Nohara * Satomi Koorogi - Himawari Nohara * Mari Mashiba - Tooru Kazama, Shiro * Chie Satō - Bo * Teiyū Ichiryūsai - Masao Sato * Yumi Takada - Midori Yoshinaga * Tamao Hayashi - Nene Sakurada * Michie Tomizawa - Ume Matsuzaka * Tesshō Genda - Action Kamen * Kaneto Shiozawa - Buriburizaemon (Until 2000) [edit] English version The first dubbed cast (produced by Fuse) included: * Kath Soucie - Shin-Chan Nohara, Mitsy Nohara * Eric Loomis - Harry Nohara, Bo * Russi Taylor - Daisy Nohara, Max, Shin's Grandmother * Grey DeLisle - Cosmo, Miss Uma * Anndi McAfee - Nini, Miss Dori * Pat Fraley - Principal Enzo, Masked Muchacho, Shin's Grandfather In December 2004, a second 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, Some companies like JETIX' habit of cutting the closing credits from many of its shows means that they are unidentified. The Second dubbed cast (now under the name Phuuz) includes: * Diane Michelle - Shin-Chan Nohara * Julie Maddalena - Mitsy Nohara * Peter Doyle - Harry Nohara * Hope Levy - Cosmo * Barbara Goodson - Max * Michelle Ruff - Nini * Richard Cansino - Bo * Michael Sorich - Lucky The third dubbed cast (produced by FUNimation) includes: * Laura Bailey - Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara * Cynthia Cranz - Mitzi Nohara * Chuck Huber - Hiro Nohara * Monica Rial - Ai * Colleen Clinkenbeard - Hima Nohara, Maso * Brina Palencia - Georgie * Carrie Savage - Penny * Chris Cason - Boo * Troy Baker - Action Bastard * Jason Liebrecht - Principal Ench * Christopher Sabat - Mr. K., Yonrou, Narrator * Jerry Jewell - Happiness Bunny [edit] Galician version * Ana Lemos - Shinnosuke "Shin-chan" Nohara