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Anpanman

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Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox animanga/Header Template:Infobox animanga/Print Template:Infobox animanga/Video Template:Infobox animanga/Footer

Template:Nihongo is a Japanese children's superhero picture book series written by Takashi Yanase, running from 1973 until the author's death in 2013. The series has been adapted into an anime entitled Template:Nihongo, which is one of the most popular anime series among young children in Japan. The series follows the adventures of Anpanman, a superhero with an anpan (a red bean paste filled pastry) for a head, who protects the world from an evil anthropomorphic germ named Baikinman.

Heavily merchandised, the Anpanman characters appear on virtually every imaginable children's product in Japan, ranging from clothes[1] and video games to toys[2] and snack foods.[3] The series spawned a short-lived spin-off show featuring one of the popular recurring characters on the show, Omusubiman. Anpanman overtook Hello Kitty as Japan's top-grossing character in 2002,[4] and has remained the country's top-grossing character Template:As of.[5][6] Anpanman has sold over 80Template:Nbspmillion books as of February 2019, and the franchise generated Template:JPY in total retail sales revenue by 2013. Works inspired by Anpanman include the manga and anime series One-Punch Man, and the K-pop song "Anpanman" by BTS.

An English dub, produced for Turner International aired on Pogo in India alongside a Hindi dub.[7]

Development

During the Second World War, Takashi Yanase faced starvation countless times, which made him dream about eating an anpan. This inspired the creation of Anpanman.[8]

Characters

In each episode, Anpanman fights with Baikinman and saves the day. He goes on daily patrols around the house of Uncle Jam. He is a symbol of justice, fighting for good every day. Anpanman has a long history, and new characters are frequently introduced, keeping the series fresh. In 2009, Anpanman was verified as a Guinness World Record Holder for the highest number of characters in an animated franchise, with a total of 1,768 characters appearing in the first 980 episodes of the TV series and the first 20 films.[9]

Heroes

Anpan
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
The main character of the anime, whose head is an Anpan made by Uncle Jam. His name comes from his being a man whose head is made of bread (Japanese: pan) that is filled with red bean paste (Japanese: anko) called an anpan. When translated into English, Anpanman means "Bean Bun Man." He doesn't need to eat or drink to sustain himself and has never been seen eating, as it is believed the bean jam in his head allows him to sustain himself in this manner. His weaknesses are water and anything else that makes his head dirty. In order to prevent his head from getting wet when underwater or in wet weather, he wears a bubble-like helmet to protect it. He regains his health and strength when Uncle Jam bakes him a new head and replaces the old head. Anpanman's damaged head, with his eyes turning into X's, flies off his shoulders once a new baked head replaces it. Anpanman was born when a shooting star landed in Uncle Jam's oven while he was baking an anpan. In movies and other media, the shooting stars that brought Anpanman to life were called “the stars of life”. Anpanman has two special attacks; An-punch and An-kick (with stronger variations of both). When Anpanman comes across a starving character, he lets them eat a part of his head. This can also make him weaker and causes him to replace his head to regain his strength. He also has super hearing, which allows him to respond to anyone who calls his name out in distress, anywhere in the world.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by (1988–2019), Kōichi Yamadera (2019–present), Barry J Tarallo (English)
The creator of Anpanman and a very kind baker. He is a skilled cook with knowledge of nearly everything in the world.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
Assistant to Uncle Jam. She is dedicated and hard-working but prone to forgetting things. Her name literally translates to "Butter Girl." She makes and mends the capes of Anpanman and the other heroes in the story.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
A dog that lives in Uncle Jam's bakery. In the manga, he became Anpanman's loyal friend after he saved his life. In the anime, a young Anpanman finds Cheese starving during his very first patrol, and gives him a part of his head to eat. Cheese tends to be an effective sidekick when he's around.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
Another of Anpanman's friends. His head is made from currypan, a pastry filled with red-hot curry. He is quick-tempered and hot-headed on the surface but gives way to a kind and sentimental interior. Tends to be the strongman of the trio. Wields the Curry-punch and Curry-kick, which are similar to the fighting techniques of Anpanman's other sidekicks. However, he can also use the hot curry concealed in his head as a weapon, using it to burn villains. He first appeared in episode 2b.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
A friend of Anpanman. His head is made from sliced white bread (Japanese: shoku pan). He is handsome and level-headed and kind, but narcissistic. Tends to be the thinker of the trio. His job when not helping Anpanman is serving lunch to the schoolchildren. Dokin-chan has a crush on him. Wields the Shoku-punch and Shoku-kick, which are similar to Anpanman's fighting techniques. He also has a multi-functional delivery van known as the Shokupanman-go with many implements to help avoid trouble. He first appeared in episode 3b. In the Tubi Dub, he is called Bread Head Man.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
Anpanman's friend. Her head is made from melon bread. She is extremely softhearted, being caring and sensitive, and is sometimes clever. When she's in trouble, she usually needs Anpanman or somebody else to save her, or if there is no one available, she calls out for her sister, Rollpanna. Sometimes she likes hanging out with Cheese. Her special attack, the Melo-Melo Punch, makes bad guys woozy with affection or awakens others from a deep sleep. She first appeared in episode 200.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
Melonpanna's older sister who has two hearts: A red one of goodness, and thanks to Baikinman, a blue one of evil. The sight of Anpanman can trigger her evil heart while the sight of Melonpanna can trigger her good one. She started out in the series as a loner at Baikinman's beck and call, but she broke from his power and wanders the world doing good deeds, but stays away from others for fear of what she would do if her blue heart is triggered. Her nickname is "The tragic heroine". Her weapon is a gymnastics ribbon, which she can use to wrap up her enemies or cause tornadoes. She first appeared in episode 300.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
The youngest of Anpanman's friends and the foster brother of Melonpanna and Rollpanna. He is 6 years old. His head is made from a cream bun and his eyes look like those of a panda's. Despite his immaturity and relative weakness as compared to Anpanman and his hero friends, he is courageous, protective of his friends, and has a "never give up" attitude. He has an immature character causes him to sometimes get into petty squabbles and competitions of one-upmanship with the other younger characters on the show. Because his head resembles a hand, he has a special headbutt attack called the "Guu-Choki-Punch" (Guu-Choki-Pa means Rock, Scissors, Paper in Japanese). Relatively powerful when it connects, it fails to connect more often than not. He first appeared in episode 469.

Villains

Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by
The villain from the "Germ Planet" and is the leader of the Viruses. His Japanese name means "Bacteria Man". His ambition is to destroy Anpanman and spread bacteria all over the latter's world, yet he is perfectly content to play tricks, steal, and bully those weaker than him. He and Anpanman were born at the same time, making them physical representations of moral dualism. He has a weakness to soap, which shrinks him to the size of a fly. He constructs machines and thinks of intricate plans to counteract Anpanman's strength. His two famous phrases are his battle cry, "Ha-hi-hu-he-ho!" (based on the h-row of Japanese kana); and "Bye-baikiiin!", which he utters out whenever he's sent flying by Anpanman or another character. On the English TMS Entertainment website, he was called Bacteriaman. In the English Tubi Dub, he keeps his original Japanese name. Anpanman and his main enemy Baikinman combine in the view of the media expert Thomas Hoeren elements of Milton's Paradise Lost, Frankenstein and Star Trek.[10] In Japanese his name sounds like "bikeinman".
Template:Nihongo
Baikinman's henchmen. They have the ability to rot Anpanman's head with mildew/mold (Japanese: kabi). They first appeared in episode 2a. In the English Tubi dub, they're called Rot-Rot.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by (1988–2017), Rei Sakuma (2017 Christmas Special), Miina Tominaga (2018–present),[11] Krystal Valdes (English)
Baikinman's female partner in crime. She is selfish, demanding, childish, and greedy, but sometimes shows kindness, as demonstrated by her crush on Shokupanman. Her Japanese name is a combination of "Doki", the Japanese onomatopoeia for a quickly beating heart, "baikin" (meaning "germ", also the case for Baikinman), and the diminutive/affectionate suffix "-chan". She first appeared in episode 13a. On the English TMS Entertainment website, she was called Spark, however in the English Tubi dub she is called Dokeen.
Template:Nihongo
Template:Voiced by (1991–2016), Kazuki Yao (2017–present), Rio Chavarro (English)
A skeleton who often works with Baikinman and Dokin-chan. Although he seems scary on the outside, he is very weak and often falls to pieces, and can magically put the pieces back. He is neither a hero nor a villain. His special attack is the Bone Boomerang, where he takes off one of his bones and throws it. He is also in love with Dokin-chan and often stalks her. He first appeared in Fly! Fly! Chibigon. In the English Tubi dub, he is called Horror.

Media

Picture books

The Anpanman picture book series debuted in October 1973.[12] Froebel-kan has published over 150 picture books under different series labels consisting of a varying amount of picture books. Takashi Yanase wrote and illustrated the picture books until 2013, following his retirement from his career and eventual death.

Manga

Takashi Yanase created three different manga series based on the character.

  • January 1975 – May 1976: Nekketsu Märchen Kaiketsu Anpanman (熱血メルヘン 怪傑アンパンマン)
    • Serialized in Sanrio's monthly poetry magazine Shi to Märchen (詩とメルヘン) for which Yanase was the editor-in-chief. Unlike all other iterations, this one is aimed at adults. The entire series is included in the box-set Yanase Takashi Taizen (やなせたかし大全), published in 2013 by Froebel-kan.
  • September 1976 – July 1982: Anpanman (あんぱんまん / アンパンマン)
    • Serialized in Sanrio's monthly youth magazine Gekkan Ichigoehon (月刊いちごえほん). The series changed its title spelling from hiragana to katakana in January 1981 and ended when the magazine folded in July 1982. It remained commercially unavailable until 2016 when it was collected in its entirety into the volume Dare mo shiranai Anpanman (だれも知らないアンパンマン) by Fukkatsu Dotcom.
  • January 1, 1990 – May 29, 1994: Tobe! Anpanman (とべ!アンパンマン)
    • A full color comic strip serialized in the Sunday edition of Yomiuri Shinbun. In 1991 Froebel-kan published a selection of strips into three bilingual volumes, marketing them as English learning tools for children age 3+.[13] Unlike traditional tankoubon, these volumes are presented in a vertical "Garfield Format". The rest of the series run is currently commercially unavailable.

Anime

The first anime adaptation of Anpanman, consisting of a single episode, aired during Spring Break Children's Hiroba - Picture Book on NHK General TV on March 13, 1979. Like the early picture books, Anpanman's name in the title was written in hiragana (あんぱんまん) instead of katakana. The anime was narrated by Meiko Nakamura. Although the character designs were closer to the picture books released under the Kinder Picture Books label, the story and the worldview were almost the same as the second anime adaptation.

The second anime adaptation of Anpanman, entitled Soreike! Anpanman (それいけ!アンパンマン, Let's Go! Anpanman), is produced by TMS Entertainment. Over 1300 episodes have aired on NTV since October 3, 1988. In April 2020, it was reported the voice recordings have had been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[14] On October 2, 2020, it was announced that the voice actors will now be recording lines in separate booths in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19. They will also be taking shifts.[15]

The anime series received at least 3 English dubs, the first one is obscure and doesn't have much known information about it other than that it allegedly premiered in 1998 on Animax Asia and was dubbed into Thai, Uzbek and Sinhala, and the only surviving audio of the dub are the English-dubbed versions of the opening and ending songs that were used in the Thai dub and the only surving footage exclusive to the English dub are the opening and ending songs used in the Uzbek dub, which includes the English lyrics and credits, it is evident that the character Baikinman, was referred to both as Baikinman and Meany-Man in this dub, because in the English-dubbed ending song he is referred to as Baikinman, but in the subtitled lyrics, he is referred to as Meany-Man.

Anpanman also received an English dub in India (along with other regional languages) which was aired on Pogo TV in 2009.[16]

Full-length movies

There are currently a total of 33 full-length films based on the Soreike! Anpanman anime series. The films are also produced by TMS Entertainment and have been released in Japanese theaters every year since 1989. Since at least 1993, the films have been released concurrently with storybook versions written and illustrated by Takashi Yanase himself. Each movie has the same general plot - A person (usually a princess) comes from a foreign land. Baikinman unlocks some dark secret and controls a weapon or monster able to polymorph people. And with the help of the aforementioned person, Anpanman defeats the said weapon or monster. Sometimes the person dies but is brought back to life by a tearful song from the characters.

In May 2020, it was announced that production on the thirty-first Anpanman film Soreike! Anpanman: Fuwafuwa Fuwari to Kumo no Kuni (それいけ! アンパンマン ふわふわフワリーと雲の国, Let's Go! Anpanman: Fluffy Fuwari and the Cloud Country) had also been delayed due to the pandemic. The film was slated to be released on June 26, 2020.[17] In June 2020, the film was delayed to 2021.

In 2021, TMS Entertainment dubbed ten Anpanman movies into English and Spanish exclusively for Tubi.[18][19] The first movie, Apple Boy and Everyone's Hope, was released on April 15, 2021 (which was the first Takashi Yanase anime production since Ringing Bell to be presented in an English dub).[20][21][22] The second movie Anpanman: Purun, the Soap Bubble was released on July 23, 2021. Seven other films were released on September 10, 2021. The tenth movie Anpanman: Twinkle! Princess Vanilla of Ice Cream Land was released on November 12, 2021. It was also announced on January 19, 2024, that two new Anpanman films would be dubbed and released on Tubi in February of the same year. But these films got delayed until May.

Animated shorts

In 1990, Tokyo Movie Shinsha started producing short subject Anpanman movies. These are around 24 minutes (except the second which is a double-length short) that were shown in conjunction with the full-length movies seen above. The shorts made in 1989 and 1993 are not included as they do not involve the world of Anpanman.

Christmas specials

In December 1988, Tokyo Movie Shinsha started making Anpanman Christmas specials. A total of 32 Christmas Specials have been made.

Video games

Template:Incomplete list There are currently a total of 42 video games on this list based on the Soreike! Anpanman anime series, ranging from adventure games to educational games. With the exception of Soreike! Anpanman Eigo to Nakayoshi 2 Tanoshii Carnival, the video games were released only in Japan.

Famicom
  • Oeka Kids: Anpanman to Oekaki Shiyou!!
  • Oeka Kids: Anpanman no Hiragana Daisuki
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Minna de Hiking Game!
PlayStation
  • Kids Station: Soreike! Anpanman
  • Kids Station: Soreike! Anpanman 2: Anpanman to Daibouken
  • Kids Station: Soreike! Anpanman 3
  • Kids Station: Oshaberi Oekaki Soreike! Anpanman
Nintendo DS
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman no Daisakusen
  • Anpanman to Asobo: Aiueo Kyoushitsu
  • Anpanman to Asobo: ABC Kyoushitsu
  • Anpanman to Touch de Waku Waku Training
  • Anpanman to Asobu: Aiueo Kyoushitsu DX
Nintendo 3DS
  • Anpanman to Asobo: New Aiueo Kyoushitsu
Game Boy Color
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Fushigi na Nikoniko Album
  • Soreike! Anpanman: 5tsu no Tou no Ousama
Wii
  • Anpanman Niko Niko Party
Sega Pico
  • Soreike! Anpanman Eigo to Nakayoshi Youchiende ABC
  • Soreike! Anpanman no Game de Asobou Anpanman
  • Soreike! Anpanman no o-Hanashi Daisuki Anpanman
  • Soreike! Anpanman Eigo to Nakayoshi 2 Tanoshii Carnival
  • Soreike! Anpanman no Medalympic World
  • Soreike! Anpanman no Minna de Kyousou Anpanman!
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman to Denwa de Asobou!
  • Soreike! Anpanman Anpanman to Tanoshii Drive!
  • Soreike! Anpanman Anpanman to Kotoba Asobi
  • Soreike! Anpanman no Medalympic World 2
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman to Suuji Asobi
  • Anpanman Pico Waku Waku Pan Koujou
  • Anpanman to PC Renshuu!
  • Gakken Anpanman to Chinou Up!
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman no Chie no World
  • Soreike! Anpanman Hajimete Asobu Pico Soft: Anpanman no Iro-Kazu-Katachi Nurie mo Dekichau zo!
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman no Hitori de Dekichatta!
Advanced Pico Beena
  • Soreike! Anpanman Hajimete Kaketa yo! Oboeta yo! Hiragana Katakana ~Gojūon Board Kinō-tsuki~
  • Shoku Iku Series 1 Soreike! Anpanman: Sukikirainai Ko Genki na Ko!
  • Anpanman no Waku Waku Game Oekaki
  • Anpanman o Sagase!
  • Soreike! Anpanman Card de Tanoshiku ♪ ABC
  • Soreike! Anpanman Doki Doki! Rescue Drive ~Car Navi-tsuki~
  • Soreike! Anpanman o Mise ga Ippai! TV de o-Ryōri Tsukutchao
  • Soreike! Anpanman Waku Waku Eigo Game!
Arcade
  • Let's Go! Anpanman: Popcorn Factory
Playdia
  • Soreike! Anpanman: Picnic de Obenkyō

Theme music

Openings

  1. Template:Nihongo

Endings

  1. Template:Nihongo
  2. Template:Nihongo
  3. Template:Nihongo
  4. Template:Nihongo
  5. Template:Nihongo
  6. Template:Nihongo

Reception

In 2011, research by Bandai found Anpanman to be the most popular fictional character among people aged 0 to 12 in Japan for 10 consecutive years.[26] Anpanman overtook Hello Kitty as Japan's top-grossing character in 2002,[4] and was Japan's top-grossing character Template:As of.[5]

Retail sales

By 2006, the Anpanman books had sold over 50Template:Nbspmillion copies in Japan.[27] By the time Takashi Yanase passed away in 2013, the Anpanman picture books had sold 68Template:Nbspmillion copies.[28] As of February 2019, Anpanman has sold more than 80Template:Nbspmillion books.[29] Template:As of, Bandai Namco has sold 2.39 million Anpanman PC units since 1999, including tablet computers.[30]

Retail sales of Anpanman related products grossed an annual revenue of at least Template:JPY consecutively for nearly 30 years.[31]

Box office

Anpanman box office performance
Film Year Distributor rentals Gross receipts Ref
Kirakira Boshi no Namida 1989 Template:¥[32] Template:¥[33]
Baikinman no Gyakushū 1990 Template:¥[34] Template:¥[33][35]
Fly! Fly! Chibigon 1991 Template:¥[36] Template:¥+
The Secret of Building Block Castle 1992 Template:¥[37] Template:¥+
Shabondama no Purun 2007 Template:N/A Template:¥ [38]
Yōsei Rinrin no Himitsu 2008 Template:N/A Template:¥ [39]
Dadandan to Futago no Hoshi 2009 Template:N/A Template:¥ [40]
Burakku Nōzu to Mahō no Uta 2010 Template:N/A Template:¥ [40]
Sukue! Kokorin to Kiseki no Hoshi 2011 Template:N/A $4,080,957 [41]
Yomigaere Bananajima 2012 Template:N/A Template:¥ [42]
Tobase! Kibou no Handkerchief 2013 Template:N/A Template:¥ [43]
Ringo Bōya to Minna no Negai 2014 Template:N/A Template:¥ [44]
Mija to Mahō no Lamp 2015 Template:N/A Template:¥ [45]
Omocha no Hoshi no Nanda to Runda 2016 Template:N/A Template:¥ [46]
Buruburu no Takarasagashi Daibouken! 2017 Template:N/A Template:¥ [47]
Kagayake! Kurun to Inochi no Hoshi 2018 Template:N/A Template:¥ [35]

Legacy

There are five museums across Japan that are dedicated to Anpanman, such as the Yokohama Anpanman Children's Museum & Mall. There is also the Yanase Takashi Memorial Hall, a museum dedicated to Takashi Yanase himself.

Anpanman train livery is featured on some of JR Shikoku trains, such as the JR Shikoku 2000 series DMU and the JR Shikoku 8000 series EMU.

The Anpanman Official Shop Taipei, the first overseas Anpanman shop specializing in products related to the series, opened at the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi shopping mall in Taipei on September 10, 2015.[48]

Anpanman inspired the manga and anime series Template:Nihongo.[49] It is a webcomic/manga series created by One, with the title a play on the titular character.

The K-pop group BTS released a song in their hit album Love Yourself: Tear under the name "Anpanman" with many references to the series.[50]

See also

Notes

Template:Notelist

References

  1. ↑ Template:Cite web
  2. ↑ Template:Cite web
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  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Template:Cite news
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Template:Cite book
  6. ↑ Template:Cite news
  7. ↑ Template:Cite web
  8. ↑ Template:Cite news
  9. ↑ Template:Cite news
  10. ↑ Template:Cite web
  11. ↑ Template:Cite web
  12. ↑ Template:Cite web
  13. ↑ Template:Cite web
  14. ↑ Template:Cite web
  15. ↑ Template:Cite web
  16. ↑ Template:Cite web
  17. ↑ Template:Cite web
  18. ↑ Template:Cite web
  19. ↑ Template:Cite web
  20. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named animationmagazine.net
  21. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named ANN
  22. ↑ Template:Cite web
  23. ↑ Template:Cite web
  24. ↑ Template:Cite news
  25. ↑ Template:Cite web
  26. ↑ Template:Cite web
  27. ↑ Template:Cite web
  28. ↑ Template:Cite newsTemplate:Cbignore
  29. ↑ Template:Cite news
  30. ↑ Template:Cite book
  31. ↑ Template:Cite news
  32. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Template:Cite news
  34. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Template:Cite news
  36. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  37. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  38. ↑ Template:Cite web
  39. ↑ Template:Cite web
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Template:Cite news
  41. ↑ Template:Cite web
  42. ↑ Template:Cite news
  43. ↑ Template:Cite journal
  44. ↑ Template:Cite news
  45. ↑ Template:Citation
  46. ↑ Template:Citation
  47. ↑ Template:Citation
  48. ↑ Template:Cite news
  49. ↑ Template:Cite web
  50. ↑ Template:Cite news

External links

Template:Commons category

Template:TMS Entertainment Template:TMS Entertainment films

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