Anpanman

Anpanman, written by Takashi Yanase, a Japanese writer of children's stories, is one of the most popular anime cartoon series in Japan. It is produced by Nippon Television Network Corporation. Each animated cartoon is approximately 24 minutes long split into 2 episodes of approximately 12 minutes each.

Yanase has been writing Anpanman since 1968. The television series called Soreike! Anpanman (それいけ！アンパンマン) has been on the air in Japan since 1988. In South Korean television, it is known as “Narara Hoppangmaen” (hangul: 날아라 호빵맨).

As of September 26, 2006, Anpanman's books have collectively sold over 50 million copies in Japan.

In 2005, according to research by Bandai, Anpanman is the most popular fictional character from age 0 to 12 years in Japan. He particularly appeals to the younger end of that age group.

Yanase became inspired by the idea of Anpanman while struggling to survive as a soldier in World War II. He many times became faced with the prospect of starvation which made him dream about eating a bean-jam filled pastry called Anpan.

Characters



 * Anpanman (アンパンマン, voiced by Keiko Toda): The hero of the story, whose head is a bun made by Jam Ojisan. His name comes from the fact that he is a man with a head made of bread (Japanese: pan, a loanword from the Portuguese word meaning "bread") that is filled with bean jam (Japanese: an) called an anpan.  His weakness is water or anything that makes his head dirty. He regains his health and strength when Jam Ojisan bakes him a new head and is placed on his shoulders. Anpanman's damaged head, with Xs in his eyes, flies off his shoulders once a new baked head lands. He was created when a shooting star landed in Jam Ojisan's oven while he was baking. He has two special attacks called: An-punch and An-kick. When Anpanman comes across a starving creature or person, he lets the unfortunate creature or person eat part of his head.


 * Jam Ojisan (ジャムおじさん, voiced by Hiroshi Masuoka): The father of Anpanman, and a very kind baker. His name means "Uncle Jam".


 * Batakosan (バタコさん, voiced by Rei Sakuma): Assistant to Jam Ojisan. She's dedicated and hard working, but sometimes forgetful. She also makes and mends the capes Anpanman and the other heroes use to fly with. Her name means "Butter Girl".


 * Baikinman (ばいきんまん, voiced by Ryusei Nakao): The villain in the story, coming from "Germ World" (ばいきん星), he is the leader of the Viruses.  His name means "Germ Man". His ambition is to destroy Anpanman and turn the planet into another "Germ World", yet he is perfectly content to play tricks, steal, and bully those weaker than him. He and Anpanman were born at the same time, which can be taken to mean that the two main characters embody the idea of good not being able to exist without evil.  He has a weakness to soap, which shrinks him to the size of a fly.


 * Dokinchan (ドキンちゃん, voiced by Hiromi Tsuru): Baikinman's female partner in crime. She is selfish, childish, and greedy, but sometimes shows kindness. She has a crush on Shokupanman.  Her name is a combination of the onomatopoeia for a quickly beating heart, "Doki", and the diminutive/affectionate suffix "-chan".


 * Kabirunrun (かびるんるん): These are Baikinman's little henchmen. Their main purpose is to rot Anpanman's head with mildew/mold (Japanese: kabi).


 * Cheese (チーズ, voiced by Koichi Yamadera): Jam Ojisan's dog. He became a loyal friend after Anpanman saved his life in the comics. In the cartoon series, a young Anpanman feeds Cheese, who is starving, a part of his head as a part of his very first patrol and became inseparable afterwards.


 * Shokupanman (しょくぱんまん, voiced by Sumi Shimamoto): A friend of Anpanman. His head is made from sliced white bread (Japanese: shoku pan). He is level-headed and kind, but narcissistic. His job when not helping Anpanman is serving lunch to the schoolchildren.


 * Currypanman (カレーパンマン, voiced by Michiyo Yanagisawa): Another of Anpanman's friends. His head is made from curry filled bread. He is quick tempered and hot-headed on the surface, but gives way to a kind and sentimental interior. He can use the hot curry concealed in his head as a weapon.


 * Melonpanna (メロンパンナ, voiced by Mika Kanai): Anpanman's friend. Her head is made from melon bread. Her special attack, the Melo-Melo Punch, makes bad guys woozy with affection.


 * Rollpanna (ロールパンナ, voiced by Miina Tominaga): Melonpanna's sister who has two hearts: A red one of goodness, and thanks to Baikinman, a black one of evil. The sight of Anpanman can trigger her evil heart while the sight of Melonpanna can trigger her good one.  She started out in the series as a loner at Baikinman's beck and call, but she broke from his power and wanders the world doing good deeds, but stays away from others for fear of what she would do if her black heart is triggered. Her nickname is "The tragic heroine".

In each episode Anpanman fights with Baikinman and helps the people of the town. He always goes on patrol in the area around the house of Jam Ojisan. He is a symbol of justice, fighting for the cause of justice every day. Anpanman has a long history and new characters are frequently introduced, keeping the series fresh. According to the 2005 Anpanman Large Catalog (アンパンマン大図鑑), there have been 1500 characters that are either unique or a variation of an existing character introduced up to this point.

Full-Length Movies

 * Soreike! Anpanman: Shining Star's Tear (それいけ! アンパンマン キラキラ星の涙) 1989
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman's Counterattack (それいけ! アンパンマン ばいきんまんの逆襲) 1990
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Fly! Fly! Chibigon! (それいけ! アンパンマン とべ! とべ! ちびごん) 1991
 * Soreike! Anpanman: The Secret of Tsumiki Castle (それいけ! アンパンマン つみき城のひみつ) 1992
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Nosshi the Dinosaur's Big Adventure (恐竜ノッシーの大冒険) 1993
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Ririkaru - Magical Witch's School (リリカル☆マジカルまほうの学校) 1994
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Let's Defeat the Ghost Ship! (それいけ! アンパンマン ゆうれい船をやっつけろ!!) 1995
 * Soreike! Anpanman: The Flying Picture Book and the Glass Shoes (それいけ! アンパンマン 空とぶ絵本とガラスの靴) 1996
 * Soreike! Anpanman: The Pyramid of the Rainbow (それいけ! アンパンマン 虹のピラミッド) 1997
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Palm of the Hand to the Sun (それいけ! アンパンマン てのひらを太陽に) 1998
 * Soreike! Anpanman: When the Flower of Courage Opens (それいけ! アンパンマン 勇気の花がひらくとき) 1999
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Tears of the Mermaid Princess (それいけ! アンパンマン 人魚姫のなみだ) 2000
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Gomira's Star (それいけ! アンパンマン ゴミラの星) 2001
 * Soreike! Anpanman: The Secret of Roll and Roura's Floating Castle (それいけ! アンパンマン ロールとローラ うきぐも城のひみつ) 2002
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Rubii's Wish (ルビーの願い) 2003
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Nyanii of the Country of Dream Cats (夢猫の国のニャニイ) 2004
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Hapii's Big Adventure (ハピーの大冒険) 2005
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Dorii of the Star of Life (それいけ! アンパンマン いのちの星のドーリィ) 2006

Movie Shorts
''These shorts were shown with the above movies during its theatrical release respective to the release year. The only exceptions are 1989 and 1993 in which the pre-movie shorts were not about Anpanman.''
 * Robotan and Onegai Samia Don (ロボタン おねがい！サミアどん) 1989
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Omusubiman (それいけ! アンパンマン おむすびまん) 1990
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Dokinchan's Doki Doki Calendar (それいけ! アンパンマン ドキンちゃんのドキドキカレンダー) 1991
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman and His Funny Friends (それいけ! アンパンマン アンパンマンとゆかいな仲間たち) 1992
 * Kaiketsu Zorori: "The Wizard's Apprentice" and "Find the Great Pirate Treasure" (かいけつゾロリ まほう使いのでし 大かいぞくの宝さがし) 1993
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Everyone Get Together! Anpanman World (それいけ! アンパンマン みんな集まれ! アンパンマンワールド) 1994
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman and Hapii Birthday (それいけ! アンパンマン アンパンマンとハッピーおたんじょう日) 1995
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Baikinman and the San-"Bai" Punch (それいけ! アンパンマン ばいきんまんと3ばいパンチ) 1996
 * Soreike! Anpanman: We're Heroes (それいけ! アンパンマン ぼくらはヒーロー) 1997
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman and His Strange Friends (それいけ! アンパンマン アンパンマンとおかしな仲間) 1998
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Anpanman and His Fun Friends (それいけ! アンパンマン アンパンマンとたのしい仲間たち) 1999
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Yakisobapanman and Burakkusabotenman (それいけ! アンパンマン やきそばパンマンとブラックサボテンマン) 2000
 * Soreike! Anpanman: The Amazing Naganegiman and Yakisobapanman (それいけ! アンパンマン 怪傑ナガネギマンとやきそばパンマン) 2001
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Tekkanomakichan and Gold Kamameshidon (それいけ! アンパンマン 鉄火のマキちゃんと金のかまめしどん) 2002
 * Soreike! Anpanman: The Amazing Naganegiman and Princess Doremi (それいけ! アンパンマン 怪傑ナガネギマンとドレミ姫) 2003
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Tsukiko and Shiratama - Heartracing Dancing (それいけ! アンパンマン つきことしらたま～ときめきダンシング～) 2004
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Snow Black and Motemote Baikinman (それいけ! アンパンマン くろゆき姫とモテモテばいきんまん) 2005
 * Soreike! Anpanman: Kokinchan and the Blue Tears (それいけ! アンパンマン コキンちゃんとあおいなみだ) 2006

Notes of interest

 * Koichi Yamadera and Mika Kanai, the voice actors for Cheese and Melonpanna respectively, are married. This is also translated in a way to the cartoon as Cheese spends most of his time in Melonpanna's company in the episodes she's in. Yamadera also does voices for recurring characters in the show, such as Kamameshidon.
 * Spawned a short lived spin-off show after one of the more popular recurring characters on the show, Omusubiman.
 * Outer Space in Anpanman episodes and movies are breatheable and hospitable environments.
 * Anpanman, unlike the other characters, does not need food or drink to sustain himself and has never been seen eating. It is believed the bean jam in his head sustains him.
 * Anpanman movies usually follow the same general plotline - A person (usually a princess) comes from a foreign land or planet not previously mentioned, Baikinman unlocks some dark secret and controls a weapon or monster able to polymorph people, and with the help of the aforementioned person, Anpanman destroys said weapon/monster. Sometimes the person dies, but is brought back to life with a tearful song from the characters.