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 by , which ran in the children's

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

'' Kodomo no Hikari'' from April 1974 to July 1977. The manga was later made into an animated anthology television special which aired in 1987 on

Fuji Television JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

and its affiliates and a 331-episode

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 that ran on the same channel from 27 March 1988 to 9 June 1996.

Plot

The series is the story of a scientific inventor boy genius named Eiichi Kite, a descendant of an inventor named Kiteretsu Saisama, who has built a companion robot named Korosuke. His friends are Miyoko, a girl in his neighborhood who has a crush on him, Buta Gorira (Kumada Kaoru), a local bully, and Tongari, a rich boy. They all attend the same school and are in the same grade. Eiichi goes on frequent adventures with his friends and Korosuke in the time machine which he built.

Characters

; (a.k.a., ) : An 11-year-old 5th grader who lives 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 ...

. He is the city’s one of the smartest kids who’s also an excellent genius student and is quite the smarty pants, has a strong mechanical and inventive aptitude, but the only thing he is weak at is

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

. He can repair normal machines and invent variations of the Daihyakka gadgets. . ; : Kiteretsu's lazy robot assistant who usually ends his sentences with . He usually wears an artificial samurai sword. He is an invention in the encyclopedia. He was made by Kiteretsu himself. . ; (a.k.a., )) : A very intelligent girl who is one of Kiteretsu's best friends, and Kiteretsu's love interest. She is shown to be Kiteretsu's future wife in several time-travel episodes. She resembles Michiko Sawada from

Perman is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by about a clumsy boy, Mitsuo Suwa, who is chosen to become a powerful superhero to save the world along with other superheroes. The manga series was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Su ...

. . ; (a.k.a., ) : One of Kiteretsu's friends who is the son of a green grocer who loves vegetables. He is a typical bully, but is mostly comic relief. . ; (a.k.a., ) : A rich boy and one of Kiteretsu's friends. He is easily frightened, and a best friend of Butagorira, though is quite often bullied by him. . ; Benzō Karino : A friend and mentor of Kiteretsu and his friends, as well as a university student. He owns a car. . ; Kiterestu Saisama : Kiterestu Saisama is the great grand father of Eiatro Kite and the great great grandfather of Eichii Kite. In Eiichi Kite's dreams he mostly speaks to him. An ancestor respected by Eiichi Kite and an inventor of the

Edo Edo (), also romanized as Jedo, Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of Tokyo. Edo, formerly a (castle town) centered on Edo Castle located in Musashi Province, became the '' de facto'' capital of Japan from 1603 as the seat of the Tokugawa shogu ...

period.. ; Michiko Kite (木手美智子 Kite Michiko) : Kiteretsu's mother. . ; Eitarō Kite : Kiteretsu's father. . ; Kumahachi Kumada : Butagorira's father.He owns a vegetable shop . ; Sayuri Kumada : Butagorira's mother. . ; Kōichi Tongari : Tongari's father. . ; Takako Tongari : Tongari's mother. .

Media

Manga

*''Kiteretsu Daihyakka'' vol. 1–3 (Tentōmushi Comics,

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 ...

, 1977) *''Kiteretsu Daihyakka'' vol. 1–4 (Fujiko F. Fujio Land, Chūō Kōron Shinsha, 1984) *''Kiteretsu Daihyakka'' vol. 1–2 (Shogakukan Koro r Bunko, Shogakukan, 1984) *''My First BIG Kiteretsu'' vol. 1–2 (Shogakukan, 2003)

Anime

The manga was later adapted into an anime series, which aired on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

between March 27, 1988 and June 9, 1996.

Staff

*Planning: Taihei Ishikawa→Kenji Shimizu (

Yoshirō Kataoka , also known by the nickname Hagera, is an anime producer and production designer. He has worked for the Tōkyū Agency, Asatsu DK, and NAS, and he currently works as a full-time advisor at Marvelous Entertainment. His proactive approach to plan ...

(

Asatsu d/b/a ADK, formerly known as Asatsu-DK, is a Japanese advertising agency. Headquartered in the Toranomon Hills building complex in Minato, Tokyo since June 2014 (previously in Tsukiji, Chūō, Tokyo), the firm is Japan's third largest adver ...

) *Producers: **Kenji Shimizu→Minoru Wada→

Yoshihiro Suzuki Yoshihiro Suzuki (鈴木義広, born January 5, 1983, in Mannō, Kagawa Prefecture) is a Japanese retired professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball ...

(Fuji TV) **Yoshio Kataoka→Kazuhiko Ishikawa→Tateshi Yamazaki→Yutaka Sugiyama (Asatsu) **Akio Wakana (

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 po ...

) ** Tetsuo Kanno (Staff 21) *Script:

Shun'ichi Yukimuro Shun'ichi Yukimuro (雪室俊一 ''Yukimuro Shun'ichi'', born January 11, 1941, in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa, Japan) is a Japanese screenwriter for anime television series. Yukimuro has had a career spanning four decades and written ...

, Takashi Yamada, Toshiyuki Aoshima, Satoshi Namiki, Tadaaki Yamazaki *General Animation Directors: Tsukasa Tannai, Kazuyuki Kobayashi, Hajime Watanabe, Nobuyuki Tokinaga, Shōjurō Yamauchi *Art director: Shichirō Kobayashi→Satoshi Shibata *Backgrounds: Kobayashi Production, Studio Kanon *Director of photography: Shigeo Sugimura (credited as Yasuhiro Shimizu for part of it)→Hiroaki Edamitsu *Music director: Nobuhiro Komatsu *Music:

Shunsuke Kikuchi was a Japanese composer who was active from the early 1960s until 2017. He specialized in incidental music for media such as television and film. Kikuchi was regarded as one of Japan's most highly demanded film and TV composers, working princi ...

*Director: Hiro Katsuoka→Keiji Hayakawa *Executive Producer: Mikio Wakana *Sound Producer:

Yōsuke Kuroda is a Japanese anime screenwriter from Mie Prefecture, Japan. He has his own studio, Studio Orphee. Kuroda is noted for his work on authoring the scenario, screenplay, and story composition of the anime series ''Excel Saga'', '' Please Teacher!'' ...

Theme songs

=Opening theme songs

= Listing includes the song title followed by the episodes and the singer in parentheses. *''Kiteretsu Daihyakka no Uta'' (キテレツ大百科のうた "The Song of Kiterestu Encyclopedia") (90-minute special on November 2, 1987,

Mitsuko Horie is a Japanese actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer from Yamato, Kanagawa. She is known as the . Horie has voiced several characters throughout her career, such as Shadow Galactica#Sailor Galaxia, Sailor Galaxia in ''Sailor ...

) #''Oyome-san ni Natte Agenaizo'' (お嫁さんになってあげないゾ "I won't be your bride") (ep. 1–24, Kaori Moritani) #''Body dake Lady'' (ボディーだけレディー "Only a body is a lady") (ep. 25–60, Junko Uchida) #''Yumemiru Jikan'' (夢みる時間 "Dreaming time") (ep. 61–86, Megumi Mori) #''Hajimete no Chū'' (はじめてのチュウ "My first kiss") (ep. 87–108, Anshin Papa) #''Suimin Busoku'' (スイミン不足 "Lack of sleep") (ep. 109–170, Chicks) #''Oryōri Kōshinkyoku'' (お料理行進曲 "Cooking march") (ep. 171–331,

Yuka Yuka may refer to: *Yuka (music), an Afro-Cuban style of music *Yuka (mammoth), mammoth specimen found in Yakutia, Russia *Manshu Yuka Kogyo K.K. Ssuningkai, a Japanese-German pre-WWII industrial co-operation People *Yuka (name), a Japanese pers ...

)

=Ending theme songs

= Listing includes the song title followed by the episodes and the singer in parentheses. *''Korosuke Machi wo Yuku'' (コロ助まちをゆく) (90-minute special, Kyōko Yamada) #''Magical Boy Magical Heart'' (マジカルBoyマジカルHeart) (ep. 1–16, Kaori Moritani) #''Lace no Cardigan'' (レースのカーディガン) (ep. 17–24, Kaori Sakagami) #''Korosuke Rock'' (コロ助ROCK) (ep. 25–60, Junko Uchida) #''Felt no Pencase'' (フェルトのペンケース) (ep. 61–86, Megumi Mori) #''Merry ha tada no Tomodachi'' (メリーはただのトモダチ) (ep. 87–108,

Toshiko Fujita was a Japanese actress, singer and narrator. She was affiliated with Aoni Production at the time of her death. Biography At the age of eight, Fujita worked in radio and television as an actress, singer and comedian. She also sang theme son ...

) #''Hajimete no Chū'' (はじめてのチュウ) (ep. 109–170, 213–290, 311–331, Anshin Papa) #''Happy Birthday'' (ep. 171–212, Yuka) #''Uwasa Kiss'' (うわさのキッス) (ep. 291–310,

TOKIO Tokio may refer to: * , the capital of Japan, used primarily in non-English-speaking countries may also refer to: Music * Tokio (band), a Japanese pop/rock band ** ''Tokio'' (album), their debut album * Tokio Hotel, a German rock band * Tok ...

)

International broadcast

In Spain, The series was licensed for Spain by LUK Internacional under the title of "Kiteretsu, el primo más listo de Nobita" (English translation: ''Kiteretsu, Nobita's Smarter Cousin'').

Games

* On February 23, 1990,

Epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...

released an action game for the

Famicom The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

. * On July 15, 1994, another action game, ''Kiteretsu Daihyakka: Bouken Ouedo Juraki'', was released by Video System for the Game Boy. * A

board game A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...

titled ''Kiteretsu Daihyakka: Chōjikū Sugoroku'' was released on January 27, 1995 by Video System for the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

. * Another game was made for the

Sega Pico The Sega Pico, also known as is an educational video game console by Sega Toys. The Pico was released in June 1993 in Japan and November 1994 in North America and Europe, later reaching China in 2002. Marketed as "Educational entertainment, ...

Television drama

A 1 hour-15 minute one-shot live action

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

adaptation aired on

NHK Educational TV , abbreviated on-screen as NHK E, is the second television service of NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation). It is a sister service of NHK General TV, showing programs of a more educational, documentaries, cultural, children's or intellectual n ...

on January 1, 2002. The adaptation featured a CGI Korosuke voiced by

Mami Koyama is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator affiliated with Aoni Production. Her best-known voice roles include Ophiuchus Shaina in ''Saint Seiya'', Arale Norimaki in '' Dr. Slump'', Minky Momo in '' Magical Princess Minky Momo'', Lunc ...

Reception

The anime was ranked 31st on a list published by

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

in 2005 of the top 100 anime. The series was said to be "little more than a respray of the creators' earlier and far more successful ''

Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. First serialized in 1969, the manga's chapters were collected in 45 volumes published by Shogakukan from 1974 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic ...

''". The Review Geek indeed noted that, "In some instances, ''Kiteretsu Encyclopedia'' feels like a ''Doraemon'' clone. This series not only shares the same creator as ''Doraemon''; it follows a similar episodic premise involving a robot and a human. This show includes a cartoon-like art style and is an enjoyable series to watch when you feel stressed or worn out". The same media wrote that the series "relie on its charming family dynamics and varied humor to keep the audience entertained".

Notes

References

External links

Official Tokyo MX website
* {{Fujiko Fujio 1974 manga 1977 comics endings 1988 manga 1994 comics endings 1987 television films 1987 anime films Japanese children's animated comedy television series Animated children's television sitcoms Anime series based on manga Fuji Television original programming Gallop (studio) Children's manga CoroCoro Comic Fujiko F Fujio Shogakukan manga Shogakukan franchises Shunsuke Kikuchi