''Kira Kira Happy ★ Hirake! Cocotama'' is a Japanese

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 animated by

OLM, Inc. , formerly Oriental Light and Magic, is a Japanese animation and film studio headquartered in Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan, founded on October 3, 1990. Establishment OLM was founded as Oriental Light & Magic, Inc. on October 3rd, 1990 by Toshiaki Ok ...

and a sequel to '' Kamisama Minarai: Himitsu no Cocotama'', based on both the series of toys and Media Franchise created by

Bandai Namco Holdings also known as the Bandai Namco Group and generally Bandai Namco, is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, formed from the merger of Bandai and Namco on S ...

. The series was directed by Norio Nitta and written by Michihiro Tsuchiya (''

Mirmo De Pon! is a manga series written by Hiromu Shinozuka and serialized in ''Ciao'' magazine from July 2001 through December 2005. It was also published in twelve collected volumes by Shogakukan. The manga series was awarded in the 2003 Kodansha Manga ...

'', '' PriPara'', ''

Cross Game is a Japanese baseball-themed manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Adachi. It was serialized in Shogakukan ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from April 2005 to February 2010, with its chapters collected in 17 ' ...

'') with character designs by Shinobu Ookawa. The series aired on all TXN stations in Japan on September 6, 2018 to September 26, 2019, replacing ''Himitsu no Cocotama'' on its initial timeslot. An

original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...

spinoff, titled ''Mono no Kamisama Cocotama'' began airing online at September 26, 2019 on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

Story

Long time ago, Haruka Hoshinogawa made a wish with the town's old

cherry blossom A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of genus ''Prunus'' or ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especially in Japan. They generally ...

tree with her grandfather while receiving a present from him: a cherry blossom ribbon. As she grew up, she treasured the gift that was given to her while starting fifth grade in her school. One day, upon noting that the old cherry blossom tree is wilting, her grandfather decided to leave the shop to explore the world and let Haruka take care of the store in his absence. The next day while sleeping, her treasured ribbon sprouted a strange egg, revealing a Cocotama, a god born from an object that has been cherished with love and care. Haruka woke up and accidentally saw the Cocotama on the table, retreated to her Hiding Egg. As Haruka picked it up, it has changed into a mysterious key. Left with some questions, the Cocotama introduced herself as Ribbon and Haruka learned about the existence of her kind and the mysteries behind the strange key she had. Ribbon realized that the key is actually the Key of Wonders, and that Haruka was chosen by it to be the Legendary Contractor to the Cocotamas. Now, both of them try to run the shop and meet new Cocotama friends, while discovering the mysteries and powers behind the Key of Wonders.

Production

The sequel series was first teased back on June 6, 2018 before the 2018 Tokyo Toy Fair. The series was fully revealed on the franchise's official Twitter page and livestream on June 7, 2018, which reveals the basic premise, characters and the new set of toys that would be released in Fall 2018. Part of the attendants of the livestream were the voice actors of the new characters:

Minami Takahashi is a Japanese idol, singer, tarento and a former member of the Japanese girl idol group AKB48. She is in Team A of AKB48. She became the first of AKB48 and its sister groups. In an interview with Nippon Television in June 2010, AKB48 produce ...

Inori Minase is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Axl One. In March 2016, she won the Best Lead Actress Award in the 10th Seiyu Awards for her leading roles as Jun Naruse in the box office hit ''The Anthem of the Heart'' and as Yuki Tak ...

and

Mariya Ise Mariya is a variation of the feminine given name Maria. People * Mariya Abakumova (born 1986), Russian Olympic javelin thrower * Mariya Agapova (born 1997), Kazakhstani mixed martial arts fighter * Mariya Alyokhina (born 1988), Russian politica ...

. They confirmed in stage that they would voice the new characters in the show, with Ise saying that she loved her role in the first series after 3 years, and that she will do her best in the sequel. Later on, on August 24, Manga artist Yuka Fujiwara is confirmed to be the character concept designer for the series.

Media

Merchandise

The , released in September 2018. It retains the same concept as the previous dollhouse set but with a new feature of interactivity. Unlike the first series, the Cocotama Figures each has a special pin on the bottom, on which connected to a compatible set will activate special lights and sounds depending on each figure. Aside from the figures, certain parts of the new dollhouse set can also be activated and opened using a key which is included with the first figure of the series or the deluxe edition of the Cocotama Music Box Castle Dollhouse set.

Anime

The anime based on the toyline, produced by

OLM The olm or proteus (''Proteus anguinus'') is an aquatic salamander in the family Proteidae, the only exclusively cave-dwelling chordate species found in Europe. In contrast to most amphibians, it is entirely aquatic, eating, sleeping, and br ...

, aired From September 6, 2018 to September 26, 2019. Norio Nitta and Michihiro Tsuchiya returns as both director and writer for the series, with character design drafts from Yuka Fujiwara and character designs from Shinobu Ookawa and Shouji Yasukazu. The series's opening theme is titled by

and Emiri Iwai while the first ending song is titled by Kaoru Masaki on episode 1 to 29. The music for the sequel is composed by Ken Itō (''

Handa-Kun is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Satsuki Yoshino. It started serialization in Square Enix's ''Gangan Online'' February 2009 issue. The story follows Seishu Handa, a calligrapher who moves to the remote Goto Islands off ...

'') and Kenichi Kuroda. Later, replaced by second ending song is titled by Kaoru Masaki and Erika starting episode 30 onwards. TV Tokyo officially streams the series in Japan as part of the Ani.TV Lineup on September 6, 2018.

Bandai Channel is a distributor and broadcaster of anime by broadband access. It was established on March 1, 2002, by Bandai in coordination with Sunrise, Bandai Visual was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution enterprise, established by Ba ...

also starts streaming the series in Japan as well in the video site Nico Nico Douga and in NTT DoCoMo's video streaming service

Docomo Anime Store is a Japanese company owned by NTT Docomo; it operates "d-anime store", a video on demand service specializing in anime. Overview The service was established first in May 2012 as a result of strategic alliance between NTT Docomo and Kadokawa ...

Original Net Animation

Original net animation An original net animation (ONA), known in Japan as , is an anime that is directly released onto the Internet. ONAs may also have been aired on television if they were first directly released on the Internet. The name mirrors original video animati ...

series titled ''Mono no Kamisama Cocotama'' began airing in YouTube on September 26, 2019, uniting the main characters of both the original series and the sequel. Unlike the TV series, this web series never include Kokoro Yotsuba and Haruka Hoshinogawa.

Notes

References

External links

*
Official anime website (Series 2)
(TV Tokyo) * {{OLM OVAs 2010s toys Animated television series about children Anime with original screenplays Bandai Namco franchises Mass media franchises OLM, Inc. TV Tokyo original programming Toy brands Toy figurines