is a Japanese

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 ...

series written and illustrated by . It was serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's manga magazine '' Be Love Pair'', and later ''Be Love Parfait'', from 1991 to 2001, with its chapters collected in five volumes; the publisher first collected its chapters in two volumes. The series follows Kiko Ninomiya, a kindergarten student who has many features of a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

, but at the same time displays bizarre habits and an odd personality. A 51-episode (totalling 126 segments)

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, produced by Eiken and animated by

Magic Bus Magic Bus may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Magic Bus" (song), a 1968 song by the Who * '' Magic Bus: The Who on Tour'', a 1968 album by the Who * "Magic Bus (Intro)", a 2002 song by Kottonmouth Kings from ''Rollin' Stoned'' * Magic Bus (stu ...

, was broadcast on TBS from 1996 to 1997.

Characters

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

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. She is capable of doing many things most four-year-olds are not capable of; these include cooking, unassisted grocery shopping, limited acrobatics. 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, playing video games and interfering with her teacher's love life. ; : (Makiko) and (Tarō) :Kiko's parents. Papa is a

salaryman The term is a Japanese word for salary, salaried workers. In Japanese popular culture, it is portrayed as a white-collar worker who shows unwavering loyalty and commitment to his employer, prioritizing work over anything else, including family. ...

, Mama is a housewife, and both find their daughter a source of much puzzlement and frustration. Still they are devoted parents. ; : :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 carrots, 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. ; : :An angel who has come to Earth in the form of a black cat on a mission to spread happiness throughout the world. He is unable to communicate with humans (who hear his speech as cat noises), and 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. ; : :A devil who is the Tenshi's rival and has come to Earth in the form of a

Siamese cat The Siamese cat (; แมวสยาม, Maeo Sayam; แมววิเชียรมาศ, Maeo Wichien Maat) is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Asian cat. It derives from the Wichianmat landrace. The Siamese cat is one ...

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.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by , ''Kiko-chan's Smile'' was serialized in

's manga magazine '' Be Love Pair'', and later ''Be Love Parfait'', from 1991 to 2001. Kodansha first collected its chapters in two volumes, released on October 5, 1993, and March 7, 1995; it later collected its chapters in five volumes, released from February 9, 1996, to February 9, 2001.

Anime

A 51-episode (totalling 126 segments)

television series, produced by Eiken and animated by

, was broadcast on TBS from October 5, 1996, to September 27, 1997.

References

External links

* {{Magic Bus Animated television series about children Anime and manga set in schools Comedy anime and manga Eiken (studio) Josei manga Kodansha manga Magic Bus (studio) TBS Television (Japan) original programming