is a Japanese '' shōjo''

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a character ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series by Mayumi Muroyama. It was adapted into an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series and an anime film. The TV series was produced by

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...

a subsidiary of

Toei Company () (also styled TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by i ...

, and directed by Kazumi Fukushima. The anime follows Asari, a normal but stupid elementary school fourth-grade girl who does not get along with her family.

Manga

The manga was written by Mayumi Muroyama and serialized from the August 1978 issue to the March 2014 issue of

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

's ''Shogaku Ninensei'' magazine. During its serialization it was also published in several other Shogakukan magazines, including ''

CoroCoro Comic is a Japanese monthly manga magazine published by Shogakukan, established on May 15, 1977. Its main target is elementary school-aged boys, younger than the readers of shōnen manga. Several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the '' Poké ...

'', ''Pyonpyon'', ''

Ciao ''Ciao'' ( , ) is an informal salutation in the Italian language that is used for both "hello" and "goodbye". Originally from the Venetian language, it has entered the vocabulary of English and of many other languages around the world. Its du ...

'', ''Shogaku Ichinensei'', ''Shogaku Sannensei'', ''Shogaku Yonnensei'', and ''Shogaku Gonensei''.

Anime

The anime was produced by

a subsidiary of

and directed by Kazumi Fukushima. It was first broadcast in Japan on 25 January 1982, with the final episode broadcast on 28 February 1983. It was broadcast every Monday at 19:00 until 19:30 JST, with 54 episodes. The opening theme is ''Ano ko wa Asari-chan'' (あの子はあさりちゃん) by

Yoko Maekawa is a Japanese singer best known for various anime songs, particularly the opening for ''Cutie Honey''. She rerecorded the openings for ''Cutie Honey'' and ''Majokko Megu-chan'', titling them "21st century" versions, in 2008. The ''Cutie Honey'' ...

and the ending theme is ''Watashi wa Onna no ko'' (私は女の子) also by Maekawa.

Voice Cast

Katsue Miwa is a Japanese voice actress from Osaka affiliated with the studio Aoni Production. She began her career in 1960 and has since starred in a number of voice-over roles for various anime, video games, films, and television commercials. Works Anime ...

as Asari Hamano *

Chiyoko Kawashima is a former Japanese voice actress. She was born in Tokyo, and retired from voice acting in 2001; her final role was that of Maron Kusakabe's mother: Koron Kusakabe in '' Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne''. Filmography *'' Adieu Galaxy Express 999'' as ...

as Tatami Hamano *

Kei Tomiyama , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator born in Anshan, Manchukuo. Tomiyama was affiliated with Aoni Production and Production Baobab. Tomiyama is best known for his roles in ''Tiger Mask'' (Naoto Date/ ...

as Papa * Mariko Mukai as Mama *

Fuyumi Shiraishi was a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. Career Fuyumi was previously affiliated with Aoni Production and after she left Aoni and joined Ken Production founded by the late Kenji Utsumi until the time of her death. Death Shiraishi die ...

as Morino Kakesu *

Jouji Yanami Joji (じょうじ, 丈二, or 譲二, 城二, 譲治 multiple variants) is a Japanese masculine given name. It is also the Japanese pronunciation of the Western name "George" (ジョージ). It commonly refers to: * Jōji, an era in Japanese histo ...

as Shinigami (ep 8) *

Katsuji Mori is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. He is most known for the roles of Go Mifune (''Mach GoGoGo''), Joe Shimamura/009 (''Cyborg 009'' 960s, Ken the Eagle (''Science Ninja Team Gatchaman''), Jouji Minami ('' Tekkaman: The Space ...

as Jirou Morino *

Kouji Totani ''Kouji'' ({{zh, c=口技), which can be translated literally as "mouth skill" or "skill of mouth" is a Chinese vocal mimicry performance art which utilizes the human speech organs to mimic the sounds of everyday life. When this vocal mimicry is ...

as Dog Asari *

Noriko Tsukase was a Japanese voice actress and chanson singer active during the 1970s and 1980s. Her most popular roles included Spank in ''Ohayō! Spank'', Miss Alphonne in the original ''Cutie Honey'' TV series and Non (as well as Furu-Furu the cat) in ''Majo ...

(1st voice)

Michiko Nomura is a Japanese actress and voice actress. Career Nomura was previously affiliated with Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, then Aoni Production and now she is affiliated with Ken Production, an agency founded by the late Kenji Utsumi. ...

(2nd voice) as Ibara Yabunokouji *

Mugihito , better known by his stage name of , is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Musashino, Tokyo. Mugihito was formerly credited under his birth name and also . Filmography Television animation ;1976 *''Dokaben'' (Domon) ;1978 *''Future ...

as Hachirou Kanda *

Toshiko Fujita was a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and narrator. She was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Biography Since the age of 8 in 1958, Fujita worked in radio and television as an actress, singer and comedian. In ...

as Futoko (ep 15)

Reception

In 1985, ''Asari-chan'' won the 30th

Shogakukan Manga Award The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being ...

in the category Best Children's Manga. In 2014, it won the Judging Committee Special Award at the 59th

. The manga won the grand award at the 2014

Japan Cartoonists Association Award is an annual award for manga, sponsored by the Japan Cartoonists Association. The prize was first awarded in 1972. Prizes Recipients of the Grand Prize receive a gold plaque, a medal, and a cash prize of ¥500,000. Recipients of the Excellence P ...

References

External links

* * * 1982 anime films 1982 anime television series debuts 1980s animated short films Japanese children's animated comedy television series Anime series based on manga Anime short films Comedy anime and manga Manga adapted into films Manga adapted into television series Manga series Shogakukan manga Shogakukan franchises Shōjo manga Slice of life anime and manga Toei Animation television TV Asahi original programming {{anime-tv-prog-stub