is a Japanese
anime
is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...
series created by Rin Inumaru, produced by NHK Enterprises, and animated by
Gallop
The canter and gallop are variations on the fastest gait that can be performed by a horse or other equine. The canter is a controlled three-beat gait, while the gallop is a faster, four-beat variation of the same gait. It is a natural gait pos ...
.
The series has aired on
NHK E-Tele since October 1998, making it the second longest-running anime on NHK behind ''
Nintama Rantaro'', and
the third longest-running anime series to date. The series focuses on a 5-year-old
Heian-era
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
named Ojarumaru Sakanoue who accidentally time-warps to modern Japan and has adventures there while dodging a trio of young
oni
An is a kind of ''yōkai'', demon, orc, ogre, or troll in Japanese folklore. Oni are mostly known for their fierce and evil nature manifested in their propensity for murder and cannibalism. Notwithstanding their evil reputation, oni possess ...
who try to get back a
scepter that he stole from
Great King Enma. The series has been dubbed in many languages. It was the first NHK anime series to be animated using the
digital ink-and-paint process instead of
cels.
It received an "Excellence Award" for animation at the 1999
Japan Media Arts Festival
The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition.
Based on judging by a ...
.
Premise
Around 1,000 years ago in Fairy World (妖精界 ''Yōsei-kai'') in the
Heian era
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
, a young prince from a noble family named Ojarumaru Sakanoue is bored of his life of privilege. He is later lured into Enma World (エンマ界 ''Enma-kai'') by the sound of a ukulele played by Great King Enma. Upon arriving, he steals Great King Enma's powerful
scepter, which he uses in order to judge the dead. While getting chased by Great King Enma, he accidentally falls into the Moon Hole (月の穴 ''Tsuki no Ana''), which time-warps him to modern Japan via the Full Moon Road (満月ロード ''Mangetsu Rōdo''). The furious Great King Enma sends his three adopted oni children, Aobei, Kisuke, and Akane, who are known as the "Little Child Trio" (子鬼トリオ ''Kooni Trio''), to pursue Ojarumaru and get the scepter back. At the present time, Ojarumaru falls from the moon to the roof of Sakata Apartment (坂田マンション ''Sakata Manshon'') where he befriends a boy named Kazuma Tamura and his grandfather Tommy. Fascinated with the prince, Tommy helps Kazuma convince his parents Ai and Makoto into letting Ojarumaru stay with the family, to which they accept. Denbo, Ojarumaru's anthropomorphic firefly caretaker who witnessed the latter falling into the Moon Hole, eventually finds and takes care of him at the request of his parents. While making many new friends and rivals, as well as dodging the Oni Child Trio's efforts to retrieve the scepter, Ojarumaru has many adventures in Moonlight Town (月光町 ''Gekkō-chō'') and encounters new things he has never seen before in his time period.
Later episodes tend to center around other characters, including Princess Okame, Ojarumaru's young fiancé who desperately tries to win over his heart; Okorinbō and Nikorinbō, two anthropomorphic
komainu
, often called lion-dogs in English, are statue pairs of lion-like creatures either guarding the entrance or the ''honden'', or inner shrine of many Japanese Shinto shrines or kept inside the inner shrine itself, where they are not visible to the ...
who try numerous get-rich-quick methods in a bid to get their
shinto shrine out of poverty; Ken, a
freeter
In Japan, a is a person who is unemployed or lacks full-time employment, excluding housewives and students. Freeters average 15 to 34 years of age.
Freeters may also be described as '' underemployed''. These people do not start a career after ...
who keeps changing jobs; Kazuma's classmates, big eater Kintarō Sakata, beauty-obsessed Komachi Ono, and the judgmental but well-intentioned Kentarō Iwashimizu; Icchoku Honda, Kazuma's energetic homeroom teacher; the Hoshino Family, three aliens from another planet who want to invade earth and have a strange aversion to Ojarumaru; and Sachiyo Usui, an eccentric manga artist who is notorious for her creepy, highly detailed drawings.
Some episodes place the characters in parodies of notable fairy tales, fables, novels, and TV shows from Japan and other countries. These include
Momotarō
is a popular hero of Japanese folklore. His name is often translated as ''Peach Boy'', but is directly translated as ''Peach + Tarō'', a common Japanese given name. ''Momotarō'' is also the title of various books, films and other works that p ...
,
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
, ''
Ikkyū-san'', ''
Journey to the West
''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the greatest Classic Chinese Novels, and has been described as arguably the most popul ...
'', ''
Columbo'',
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
, ''
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 210 in the Perry Index. From it is derived the English idiom "to cry wolf", defined as "to give a false alarm" in e''Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'' and glossed by the ''Oxford ...
'', ''
Attack on Titan'' and
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
.
Broadcast
Seven television specials have aired on NHK E-Tele. The first special entitled aired on January 1, 2000. The second special entitled aired on May 3, 2007. The third special entitled aired on March 20, 2012. The fourth special entitled aired on August 14, 2015. The fifth special entitled aired in 2 parts on November 1 and 2, 2017. The sixth special entitled aired on November 3, 2017. The seventh special was scheduled to premiere on March 28, 2022, and was later delayed to March 30 due to a high school baseball tournament preempting the special's initial 9:00 AM timeslot on March 28.
The series has aired daily on
Kids Station Kids Station ( Japanese: キッズステーション, ''Kizzu Sutēshon'') is a Japanese children's television channel showing anime and other cartoon material. Kids Station also airs some anime aimed at teens and adults during the night, such as '' ...
since November 5, 2018.
Soundtrack
Opening Themes
Ending Themes
Other media
Manga
A manga adaptation of the anime series, written and illustrated by
Tatsuma Ejiri
is a Japanese manga artist from Kyoto Prefecture. After graduating from Kanazawa University he worked as a manga assistant for, among others, Eiichiro Oda and Jin Kobayashi.
His first professionally published work was ''CHILDS'' published i ...
, was serialized in
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''
Saikyo Jump'' magazine from January 2012 to September 2014. The first and only
tankōbon
is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...
volume, which compiles select stories from the ''Saikyo Jump'' serialization, was published in Japan on July 4, 2014.
Video games
See also
*''
Gag Manga Biyori
, or simply known as ''Gag Manga Biyori'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kosuke Masuda. It started in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'' in the January 2000 issue. The magazine ceased ...
''
*''
Nintama Rantaro''
*''
Doraemon
''Doraemon'' ( ja, ドラえもん ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. The manga was first serialized in December 1969, with its 1,345 individual chapters compiled into 45 ''tankōbon'' volumes and ...
''
*''
Sazae-san
is a Japanese yonkoma manga series written and illustrated by Machiko Hasegawa. It was first published in Hasegawa's local paper, the , on April 22, 1946. When the ''Asahi Shimbun'' wished to have Hasegawa draw the four-panel comic for the ...
''
Notes
References
External links
Official anime websiteNHK Anime World ''Ojarumaru'' Enoki Films ''Prince Mackaroo'' Website*
''Ojarumaru''via
Kids Station Kids Station ( Japanese: キッズステーション, ''Kizzu Sutēshon'') is a Japanese children's television channel showing anime and other cartoon material. Kids Station also airs some anime aimed at teens and adults during the night, such as '' ...
's official website
''Ojarumaru'' nep NHK Enterprises Character PagePeril at the Full Moon Road ~A 'Rare' Adventure of Our Prince~ Official site
{{Gallop (studio)
1998 anime television series debuts
1998 Japanese television series debuts
2000 anime films
2007 anime films
2012 manga
2012 anime films
Gallop (studio)
Anime television films
Fantasy anime and manga
Fictional princes
NHK original programming