is 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 ...

and

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 about a

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...

student who has many of the features of a

child prodigy A child prodigy is defined in psychology research literature as a person under the age of ten who produces meaningful output in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to young people who are extraor ...

but at the same time displays many bizarre habits and an odd personality.

Characters

;Kiko Ninomiya : :Kiko is a four-year-old (five in the end of the series) girl who attends a private kindergarten in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. She is capable of doing many things most four-year-olds are not capable of; these include cooking, unassisted grocery shopping, limited

acrobatics Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

. Despite the title of the series, it is very rare to actually see Kiko smile and almost as rare for her to speak. Despite this, Kiko is quite popular with her classmates. She also has a wide variety of interests, including

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, learning

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, playing

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

s and interfering with her teacher's love life. ;Makiko and Tarou : (Mama) and (Papa) :Kiko's parents. Papa is a

salaryman In Japan, a is a salaried worker. In Japanese popular culture, this is embodied by a white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty and commitment to the corporation where he works. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, to put in addit ...

, Mama is a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

, and both find their daughter a source of much puzzlement and frustration. Still they are devoted parents. ;Megumi-

sensei Sensei, Seonsaeng, Tiên sinh or Xiansheng, corresponding to Chinese characters , is an East Asian honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese; it is literally translated as "person born before another" or "one who comes ...

: :Kiko's kindergarten teacher. She is twenty years old, and this is her first job out of teaching college. Kiko's eccentricities nearly make it her last, but Kiko is fond of her and turns her happiness into a personal project. Kiko also interferes with her love life, and helped her to find a boyfriend whom she married in the last episode. She hates

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...

s, to the point of fainting when she sees one. But carrots are her boyfriend's family's favorite food, so she often had to ask Kiko for help on the dates. She is extremely careless, even losing her

wedding ring A wedding ring or wedding band is a finger ring that indicates that its wearer is married. It is usually forged from metal, traditionally gold or another precious metal. Rings were used in ancient Rome during marriage, though the modern prac ...

. ;Tenshi : :An

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

who has come to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

in the form of a black cat on a mission to spread happiness throughout the world. Unfortunately he is unable to communicate with humans (who hear his speech as cat noises), and even more unfortunately for him Kiko adopts him. Even more problematically, he falls hopelessly in love with a vain female cat named Rosa, who eventually reciprocates his affection long enough to bear a litter of five kittens, who she leaves to his (and, without her knowledge, Kiko's) care. His nickname is Neko-chan. ;Tenshi's litters :They're named 'pa','pi','pu','pe',and 'po' by Kiko based on the only words that they can pronounce. They are also angels (even though Rosa, their mother, is just a regular cat), and they are able to use

supernatural powers Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multi ...

. Like normal kittens, they are mischievous and energetic, and they proved themselves to be smarter than Neko-chan, such as the time when Kiko wanted a

hippo The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

, Tenshi went to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

by holding onto a plane, while the kittens just went to the local

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

. They like

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

and are able to sing. ;Akuma : :A

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

who is the Tenshi's rival and has come to

in the form of a

Siamese cat The Siamese cat ( th, แมวไทย, Maeo Thai; แมวสยาม, Maeo Seeaam) is one of the first distinctly recognized breeds of Asian cat. Derived from the Wichianmat landrace, one of several varieties of cat native to Thailand (f ...

on a mission to spread chaos throughout the world. He carries a ball on his collar that causes bad things to happen. Unlike his rival, he was never adopted.

References

* http://www.technogirls.org/technogirls/kikochan.htm

External links

* {{Magic Bus 1996 anime television series debuts 1993 manga Comedy anime and manga Eiken (studio) Josei manga Kodansha manga Magic Bus (studio) School life in anime and manga TBS Television (Japan) original programming Animated television series about children