anime
is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
television series. It was produced by
NAS
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air (S ...
and aired on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Enoki Films
is a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo.Company Profile ...
licensed the series as ''Forza! Mario'',Forza! Mario "
Enoki Films
is a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo.Company Profile ...
. Retrieved on March 23, 2014. and NAS refers to the series by that name on its English website.TV programs(by genre) " Archive . NAS. Retrieved on April 4, 2014. The series, about a boy who wants to play
soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
, aired in 2002, the year of the FIFA World Cup in Japan and Korea.
Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, the authors of ''The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised & Expanded Edition: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917'', wrote that the series "seems far out of its time in the early 21st century" but "the very young audience sees" the sports tropes "with fresh eyes." A
manga
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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
adaptation, ''Hidemaru The Soccer Boy'' by Makoto Mizobuchi, was serialized in
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan.
Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...
's ''
Corocoro Comic
is a Japanese children's manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was established in 1977 and several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the ''Pokémon'' series of games, have gone on to be cultural phenomena in Japan.
The name comes fr ...
''.Clements, Jonathan and Helen McCarthy. ''The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised & Expanded Edition: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917''.
Stone Bridge Press
Stone Bridge Press, Inc. is a publishing company distributed by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution and founded in 1989. Authors published include Donald Richie and Frederik L. Schodt. Stone Bridge publishes books related to Japan, having ...
Google Books
Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
PT 291)
Hidemaru appeared on the website nakata.net,
Hidetoshi Nakata
is a Japanese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Considered one of the best talents to come from an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) country in the early late 1990s and early 2000s, Nakata became ...
Metropolis
A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications.
A big city b ...
''. Retrieved on March 24, 2014. "The phenomenon continues to grow with nakata.net TV, a weekly soccer program on SkyPerfecTV; nakata.net Mobile, a mobile phone service that transmits voice and text messages from Nakata; nakata.net kids, the online home of soccer-playing cartoon dog Hidemaru; and club.nakata.net, a members-only site for Japanese fans with about 8,000 subscribers."
Characters
Clements and McCarthy stated that the cast consists of "wacky animals in sports getup" with a fox, two fat hippopotamus girls, dogs, horses, and rabbits.
* Hidemaru (ひでまる) / Mario - The main character, Hidemaru is a dog. His voice actress is
Mayumi Asano
is a Japanese voice actress who is currently part of Office Osawa.
Filmography Television
Video games
*'' Armored Core: Last Raven'' (2005) – Zinaida
*''Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2'' (2017) – Baiken
*''Samurai Shodown'' (2021) – Baiken
*' ...
.スタッフ＆キャスト (Staff & Cast) (). ''Forza! Hidemaru'' at
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as is a Japanese television station that serves as the flagship of the TX Network.Masaharu Satō.
* Nana (ナナ) - Sen-no-Joe's granddaughter and a dog.
Enoki Films
is a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo.Company Profile ...
described her as the "Madonna of the team." Her voice actress is
Sakura Nogawa
is a Japanese voice actress and singer. In August 2013, she took a break from voice acting and singing due to poor health and returned a year later. In February 2017, she announced that she had already changed the agency of Office Anemone.
Film ...
.
* Rey (レイ ''Rei'') - The team's cheerleader. Her voice actress is Masa Kimura ( 木村 美佐 ''Kimura Masa'').
* Joe (ジョー ''Jō'') - Described by ''Enoki Films'' as a "‘cool' and affected sportsman." Joe is a
Cheetah
The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large Felidae, cat and the Fastest animals, fastest land animal. It has a tawny to creamy white or pale buff fur that is marked with evenly spaced, solid black spots. The head is small and rounded, wit ...
and a fast runner, Flora is in love with him. His voice actor is
Daisuke Kishio
is a Japanese voice actor, singer and narrator from Matsusaka, Mie. He changed his given name from 大輔 to だいすけ on June 1, 2007 with the pronunciation and romanization remaining the same. He joined Aoni Production on April 1, 2014. H ...
.
* Kaizer (カイザー ''Kaizā'') - The son of the owner of Club No. 1 (クラブNO.1 ''Kurabu No. 1'') and the Wolf captain of that club. His voice actor is
Kentarō Itō
is a Japanese voice actor and stage actor who was born in Hachiōji. He is currently affiliated with Mausu Promotion and is representative of Theater Company K-Show. He has taken over some of the roles held by the late Kazuyuki Sogabe and Tak ...
Hidemaru Official Website. December 8, 2003. Retrieved on March 25, 2014.
* Miki (ミキ) and Mika (ミカ) - Two hippo girls
* Flora (フローラ ''Furōra'') - A rich wolf girl who is madly in love with Joe, and finances the team in order to be allowed to join as a cheerleader.
* Jūbei (十兵衛)
* Kiyoshirō (清四郎)
* Gengorō (源五郎) and Hanjirō (半次郎) - A mouse and bear whom are friends with Hidemaru.
* Ranmaru (蘭丸) - A little dog boy.
* Kyūtarō (キュータロウ) - An otter on Hidemaru's team.
* Dorufu (ドルフ) - A Dog.
* Inokuma (イノクマ) - A Boar boy.
* Kakunoshin (角の進) - A Ox boy.
* Kintarō (金太郎) - A Bear boy.
* Bison (バイソン ''Baison'') - A Bison on Kaizer's team.
* Yanosuke (八の助) and Kunosuke (九の助) - Two crows that are part of Kaizer's team.
Nihon Ad Systems
, NAS for short, is a Japanese anime production and character merchandising company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the advertising agency Asatsu-DK. The "Ad" in its title is an abbreviation for "Animation Development". Along with Sony Pictures ...