Crayon Shin-chan
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Crayon Shin-chan (クレヨンしんちゃん Kureyon Shin-chan) 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.
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.
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 mischeivous 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.
Several full-length movies of Crayon Shin-chan have been released in Japan.
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English-language adaptations
English anime
The Shin-chan anime, dubbed in English with character names changed, ran on Fox Kids (now JETIX) in the United Kingdom, and on Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) 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 - including the frequent appearances of Shin's naked buttocks and penis, humor relating to breast-size, transsexualism and other sexual concepts.
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.
Since then, DrMaster took the licenses of several manga series, including Crayon Shin-chan, from ComicsOne.
Shin-chan in other countries
Crayon Shin-chan is popular in China, where he is called La Bi Xiao Xin (trad. 蝋筆小新, 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 짱구 (Jjanggu), are also tremendously popular. Shin-chan's name is 신짱구 (Shin Jjanggu), which is cleverly coined with by his original Japanese name and the Korean word for "protruding forehead."
Shin-chan is the one of the most popular anime characters in Indonesia. The Indonesian actor who dubbed Shin-chan's voice has released multiple records and is even said to resemble Shin-chan. Shin-chan has also found a devoted following in Spain.
Characters
Note: 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.
- Nohara Shinnosuke (野原しんのすけ Nohara Shinnosuke) / Shin Chan Nohara - Nohara Shinnosuke -- Shin-chan for short -- is the main character, a kindergarten-aged boy whose antics are the basis for the series.
- Nohara Misae (野原みさえ Nohara Misae) / Mitsy Nohara - Shin-chan's mother.
- Nohara Hiroshi (野原ひろし Nohara Hiroshi) / Harry Nohara - Shin-chan's father.
- Nohara Himawari (野原ひまわり Nohara Himawari) / Daisy Nohara - Shin-chan's younger sister. She is 0 years old and her name means sunflower.
- Kazama Tōru (風間トオル Kazama Tōru) / Cosmo - Kazama Tōru (Kazama-kun), Shin-chan's immaculately groomed and perfectly mannered best friend.
- Sakurada Nene (桜田ネネ Sakurada Nene) / Nini Sakurada - Sakurada Nene (Nene-chan), Shin-chan's female classmate.
- Satō Masao (佐藤マサオ Satō Masao) / Max - Satō Masao, one of Shin-chan's friends.
- Bō (ボー) - Another of Shin-chan's friends, he seems slow 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.
- Yoshinaga Midori (よしながみどり Yoshinaga Midori) / Miss Dori - Shin-chan's 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.
Voice Actors
Japanese version (seiyū)
- Akiko Yajima - Shin-chan
- Keiji Fujiwara - Hiroshi
- Miki Narahashi - Misae
- Mari Mashiba - Kazama-kun
- Chie Satou - Bo-chan
- Mie Suzuki - Masao-kun
- Yumi Takada - Yoshinaga-sensei
- Tamao Hayashi - Nene
- Michie Tomizawa - Matsuzaka-sensei
- Tesshō Genda - Action Kamen
English version
The first dubbed cast for the British Shin-Chan includes:
- 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
- Patrick Fraley - Principal Enzo, Masked Muchacho, Shin's Grandfather
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.
External link
- http://www.jetix.co.uk/fktv/shows/0,6248,2482,00.html - Website of JETIX UK Shin Chan anime releaseca:Shin-chan
de:Crayon Shin-chan eo:Crayon Shin-chan es:Shin-chan ja:クレヨンしんちゃん pl:Shin-chan sv:Crayon Shin-chan zh:蜡笔小新
Categories: Anime | Manga