View source for Little Wansa

{{Short description|Japanese manga series}}
{{multiple issues|
{{notability|date=January 2014}}
{{refimprove|date=September 2020}}
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name = Wansa-kun
| image = Wansa.jpg
| image_size = 230px
| caption = Wansa and his friends (Wansa is second to the left).
| ja_kanji = ワンサくん
| ja_romaji = Little Wansa
| genre = [[Comedy]], [[drama]]
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = Manga
| author          = [[Osamu Tezuka]]
| publisher       = Mushi Production Commercial Firm
| demographic     =
| magazine        = Tezuka Magazine Leo
| first           = October 1971
| last            = February 1972
| volumes         = 1
| volume_list     =
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = TV series
| director        = [[Eiichi Yamamoto]]
| producer        = [[Yoshinobu Nishizaki]]
| writer          = Keisuke Fujikawa <br> [[Eiichi Yamamoto]]
| music           = Hiroshi Miyagawa
| studio          = [[Zuiyo|Zuiyo Eizo]] <br> [[Mushi Productions]]
| network         = [[Fuji Network System|FNS]] ([[Kansai Television|KTV]])
| first           = 2 April 1973
| last            = 24 September 1973
| episodes        = 26
| episode_list    = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}
{{nihongo|'''''Little Wansa'''''|ワンサくん|Wansa-kun}} is a [[mascot]] for [[Sanwa Bank]] designed by [[Osamu Tezuka]]. It was later turned into a manga series by Tezuka and an anime series from 1973.

The hero of ''Wansa-kun'' was Wansa, a puppy who is sold for a pittance, then escapes, and spends much of the rest of the series looking for his mother. Tezuka never completed the manga version of the series.

In 1973 an animated series based on the manga was made, produced by [[Yoshinobu Nishizaki]] and broadcast by [[Kansai Telecasting Corporation]]. As with the earlier ''[[Triton of the Sea]]'', Tezuka had little-to-no involvement in this series and ''Wansa-kun'' ultimately ended up being the last series produced by the original [[Mushi Production]] before its bankruptcy. The manga and the series was inspired by [[Walt Disney]]'s film ''[[Lady and the Tramp]]'' in America.

The anime series lasted 26 episodes. The first 21 episodes were comedic in nature, but the final five episodes took a more dramatic turn, when Wansa began his search for his mother. Unlike the manga version, which was never completed, he succeeded in the final episode of the anime series.

After the series finished production, Nishizaki and many of his production team on this series went to work on ''[[Space Battleship Yamato]]''.

In 2016 between 18th till 28 August Osamu Tezuka's "Little Wansa" stage play adaptation was announced.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://natalie.mu/comic/news/187882|title=手塚治虫原作のキッズミュージカル「ワンサくん」ビジュアル＆キャスト解禁|first=Natasha|last=Inc|website=コミックナタリー}}</ref>

==Cast==
* [[Noriko Ohara]] as Wansa
* [[Ichirô Nagai]] as Megane
* [[Jouji Yanami]] as Lupin
* [[Kaneta Kimotsuki]] as Gamble
* [[Kei Tomiyama]] as Kuma
* [[Masako Nozawa]] as Kouta

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{ann|anime|1481}}

{{Osamu Tezuka}}

[[Category:1971 manga]]
[[Category:1973 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:Fuji Television original programming]]
[[Category:Osamu Tezuka anime]]
[[Category:Osamu Tezuka manga]]
[[Category:Dog mascots]]
[[Category:Television mascots]]
[[Category:Japanese mascots]]
[[Category:Child characters in television]]
[[Category:Child characters in advertising]]
[[Category:Mascots introduced in 1971]]

{{mascot-stub}}