Anpanman


Anpanman is a Japanese children's superhero picture book series written by Takashi Yanase, running from 1973 until the author's death in 2013. The series has been adapted into an anime entitled Soreike! Anpanman, which is one of the most popular anime series among young children in Japan. The series follows the adventures of Anpanman, a superhero with an anpan for a head, who protects the world from an evil anthropomorphic germ named Baikinman.
Heavily merchandised, the Anpanman characters appear on virtually every imaginable children's product in Japan, ranging from clothes and video games to toys and snack foods. The series spawned a short-lived spin-off show featuring one of the popular recurring characters on the show, Omusubiman. Anpanman overtook Hello Kitty as Japan's top-grossing character in 2002, and has remained the country's top-grossing character as of 2018. Anpanman has sold over 80million books as of February 2019, and the franchise generated in total retail sales revenue by 2013. Works inspired by Anpanman include the manga and anime series One-Punch Man, and the K-pop song "" by BTS.

Production

During the Second World War, Takashi Yanase faced starvation countless times, which made him dream about eating anpan. This inspired the creation of Anpanman.

Characters

In each episode, Anpanman fights with Baikinman and saves people. He goes on daily patrols around the house of Uncle Jam. He is a symbol of justice, fighting for good every day. Anpanman has a long history, and new characters are frequently introduced, keeping the series fresh. In 2009, Anpanman was verified as a Guinness World Record Holder for the highest number of characters in an animated franchise, with a total of 1,768 characters appearing in the first 980 episodes of the TV series and the first 20 films.

Heroes

;Anpanman
;Uncle Jam
;Batako-san
;Cheese
;Currypanman
;Shokupanman
;Melonpanna
;Rollpanna
;Creampanda

Villains

;Baikinman
;Moldyrunrun
;Dokin-chan
;Horrorman

Media

Picture books

The Anpanman picture book series debuted in October 1973. Froebel-kan has published over 150 picture books under different series labels consisting of a varying amount of picture books. Takashi Yanase wrote and illustrated the picture books until 2013, following his retirement from his career and eventual death.

Manga

Takashi Yanase created three different manga series based on the character.
The first anime adaptation of Anpanman, consisting of a single episode, aired during Spring Break Children's Hiroba - Picture Book on NHK General TV on March 13, 1979. Like the early picture books, Anpanman's name in the title was written in hiragana instead of katakana. The anime was narrated by Meiko Nakamura. Although the character designs were closer to the picture books released under the Kinder Picture Books label, the story and the world view were almost the same as the second anime adaptation.
The second anime adaptation of Anpanman, entitled Soreike! Anpanman, is produced by TMS Entertainment. Over 1300 episodes have aired on NTV since October 3, 1988. On April 2020, it was reported the voice recordings have been put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 2020, it was announced that the 31st Anpanman film Eiga Soreike! Anpanman Fuwafuwa Fuwari to Kumo no Kuni has been delayed due to COVID-19. The film was slated to be released on June 26, 2020. On June 2020, it was announced that the film will be delayed to 2021. As of June 22, 2020, TMS Entertainment will dub Six Anpanman Movies in English and Spanish exclusively for Tubi.

Full length movies

There are currently a total of 30 full-length films based on the Soreike! Anpanman anime series. The films are also produced by TMS Entertainment and have been released in Japanese theaters every year since 1989. Since at least 1995, the films have been released concurrently with storybook versions written and illustrated by Takashi Yanase himself. Each movie has the same general plot - A person comes from a foreign land. Baikinman unlocks some dark secret and controls a weapon or monster able to polymorph people. And with the help of the aforementioned person, Anpanman defeats the said weapon or monster. Sometimes the person dies, but is brought back to life by a tearful song from the characters.
In 1990, Tokyo Movie Shinsha started producing short subject Anpanman movies. These are around 24 minutes that were shown in conjunction with the full-length movies seen above. The shorts made in 1989 and 1993 are not included as they do not involve the world of Anpanman.
In December 1988 Tokyo Movie Shinsha started making Anpanman Christmas specials. A total of 32 Christmas Specials have been made.
There are currently a total of 42 video games on this list based on the Soreike! Anpanman anime series, ranging from adventure games to educational games. With the exception of Soreike! Anpanman Eigo to Nakayoshi 2 Tanoshii Carnival, the video games were released only in Japan.
;Famicom
;PlayStation
;Nintendo DS
;Nintendo 3DS
;Game Boy Color
;Wii
;Sega Pico
;Advanced Pico Beena
;Arcade
;Playdia

Openings

  1. "Anpanman's March"

    Endings

  2. "Courage Rin-Rin"
  3. "Christmas Valley"
  4. "Anpanman Gymnastics"
  5. "Anpanman Gymnastics: Dreaming Version"
  6. "Sun-Sun Gymnastics"
  7. "Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Anpanman"

    Reception

In 2011, research by Bandai found Anpanman to be the most popular fictional character among people ages 0 to 12 in Japan in 10 consecutive years.
By 2006, the Anpanman books had sold over 50million copies in Japan. By the time Takashi Yanase passed away in 2013, the Anpanman picture books had sold 68million copies. As of February 2019, Anpanman has sold more than 80million books.
Retail sales of Anpanman related products grossed an annual revenue of at least consecutively for 30 years, generating up until 2013. Anpanman overtook Hello Kitty as Japan's top-grossing character in 2002, and remained Japan's top-grossing character as of 2018. Anpanman licensed merchandise in Japan later sold in 2014, and during 20152016. From April 2017 to December 2019, the toy licensee Bandai Namco Holdings received a net income of from Anpanman merchandise sales. This adds up to in total retail sales revenue as of 2019.

Controversy

Episode 3 of Mr. Osomatsu featured regular series character Dekapan as "Dekapan-Man", a parody of Anpanman. However, the parody was considered "disrespectful" and shortly removed from the episode and all releases of it due to Japan's lack of parody exception in its copyright law that makes parodies of copyrighted works illegal. TV Tokyo head Yūichi Takahashi apologized for the episode and explained that "Anpanman an important anime for children. This was disrespectful to it."

Legacy

There are 5 museums across Japan that are dedicated to Anpanman, such as the Yokohama Anpanman Children's Museum & Mall. There is also the Yanase Takashi Memorial Hall, a museum dedicated to Takashi Yanase himself.
The Anpanman Official Shop Taipei, the first overseas Anpanman shop specializing in products related to the series, opened at the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi shopping mall in Taipei on September 10, 2015.
Anpanman inspired the manga and anime series One-Punch Man. It is a webcomic/manga series created by One, with the title a play on the titular character.
The K-pop group BTS released a song in their hit album under the name "Anpanman" with many references to the series.

International versions

The Anpanman anime series has aired under the following names in other countries: