Crayon Shin-chan
Crayon Shin-chan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshito Usui. Crayon Shin-chan made its first appearance in 1990 in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action, which was published by Futabasha. Due to the death of author Yoshito Usui, the manga in its original form ended on September 11, 2009. A new manga began in the summer of 2010 by members of Usui's team, titled New Crayon Shin-chan.
An animated television adaptation began airing on TV Asahi in 1992 and is still ongoing, with over 1200 episodes. The show has been dubbed in 30 languages which aired in 45 countries. As of 2023, both the Crayon Shin-Chan and New Crayon Shin-Chan series has over 148 million copies in circulation, making it among the best-selling manga series in history.
Synopsis
Set in the city of Kasukabe in Saitama Prefecture within the Greater Tokyo Area of Japan, the series follows the adventures of the five-year-old Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara and his parents, baby sister, dog, neighbours, and best friends. Most of the plot is about Shin-chan's daily life, but it is often interspersed with fantastic and incredible elements.Many of the jokes in the series stem from Shin-chan's occasionally weird, unnatural and inappropriate use of language, as well as from his mischievous behaviour. Consequently, non-Japanese readers and some viewers may find it difficult to understand his jokes. Some gags may require an understanding of Japanese culture and/or language to be fully appreciated; for example, his "Mr. Elephant" impression, while being transparently obvious as a physical gag, also has a deeper resonance with contemporary Japanese culture since it refers to the popular Japanese children's song "Zou-san". But after modest translation, it is popular in the rest of Asia due to cultural compatibility. It also contains many sarcastic jokes and stereotype humour.
The series is mainly of comedy style with a lot of sexual innuendo, leading to parents forbidding their children to watch it. However, due to its popularity, it's also stylistically as family-friendly as possible, although it may not apply everywhere. Most episodes are about the importance of family and friends. On rare occasions, it also has some darker episodes like Miss Matsuzaka's boyfriend dying in the manga, though it was not adapted into an anime episode. It also includes several horror adaptations, for example "The Line of no End", "The Horrible Elevator" and "The Kindergarten Stairs".
Abnormal for his age, Shin-chan regularly becomes besotted with pretty female characters in skimpy clothing who are much older than him, and an additional source of humour is derived from his childlike attempts at flirting with these characters, such as by asking them "Do you like green peppers?" . He continually displays a lack of tact when talking to adults, asking questions such as "Why can't you cook?" to his friend's mom or "How old are you?" to elderly people.
Media
Manga
Crayon Shin-chan, written and illustrated by Yoshito Usui, debuted in Futabasha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Manga Action in 1990. It started as a spin-off of the character Shinnosuke Nikaido of another series by Yoshito Usui, Darakuya Store Monogatari. The chapters were collected into 50 tankōbon volumes, which were published under Futabasha's Action Comics imprint, from April 11, 1992, to July 10, 2010.Yoshito Usui died on September 11, 2009, after a fall at Mount Arafune. After Usui died, Futabasha originally planned to end Crayon Shin-chan in November 2009. Upon discovering new manuscripts, Futabasha decided to extend the comic's run until the March 2010 issue of the magazine, which shipped on February 5, 2010. Although the series formally ended on February 5, 2010, it was announced on December 1, 2009, that a new manga would begin in the summer of 2010 by members of Usui's team, titled New Crayon Shin-chan. This manga moved to a dedicated website after the magazine it was serialized in ended publication in late 2023.
A series of four bilingual Japanese-English manga were released in 1996 in Japan as Shin-chan: The Little Horror!.
ComicsOne translated ten volumes of Crayon Shin-chan into English and released it in the United States of America. Occasional pop culture references familiar to Americans, such as Pokémon and Britney Spears, were added to increase the appeal to American audiences. The manga is mirrored from its original to read from left to right. Starting with the sixth volume, many of the names were changed to the ones used in the Vitello and Phuuz English version of the anime, even though the dub never aired in North America. This translation is rated Teen.
Since then, American publisher DrMaster took over the licenses of several manga series, including Crayon Shin-chan, from ComicsOne. No new volumes of Crayon Shin-chan were released under the DrMaster imprint.
On July 28, 2007, DC Comics' manga division CMX announced the acquisition of the Crayon Shin-chan manga. The CMX version is rated Mature instead of Teen from ComicsOne, because of nudity, sexual humor, dirty and bad language. The first volume was released on February 27, 2008, with uncensored art, and the style of jokes that frequent the Adult Swim dub with some throw backs to the original version, such as his original greeting. However, volume 10 omitted a gag which was in the ComicsOne version.
On April 11, 2012, One Peace Books announced their release of the manga, which is a reprint of the CMX version, in an omnibus format. Three omnibus volumes were released simultaneously on October 15, 2012. Volume 4 was released on November 13, 2013, and included the Japanese volume 12, marking the first time that particular volume has an English translation.
The Crayon Shin-chan manga spin-off, Action Mask, is currently available as read-only/print-only subscription from Crunchyroll and Futabasha. The main Shin-chan manga is also available from Crunchyroll using the CMX version, concurrently up to volume 10.
Anime
Television series
An anime adaptation of Crayon Shin-chan, produced by Shin-Ei Animation, has aired in Japan on TV Asahi since April 13, 1992. The series was originally directed by Mitsuru Hongo from 1992 to 1996, and was replaced by Keiichi Hara from 1996 to 2004. Since 2004, the series is directed by Yuji Muto. The music in the series is composed by Toshiyuki Arakawa. The series was originally going to end in 1994 and have its time-slot replaced by a remake of Umeboshi Denka. However, because the series was a huge hit on TV Asahi, the network decided not to replace it.An English subtitled version of Crayon Shin-chan ran on KIKU in Hawaii from December 18, 1993, until December 2001 when Lacey Entertainment acquired the rights. The episodes were translated by Karlton Tomomitsu.
Spin-offs
A Spin-off SHIN-MEN which is set in a parallel world consists of 13 episodes aired from November 26, 2010, to September 14, 2012.Another spin-off series called Crayon Shin-chan Gaiden consisting of four volumes is exclusively streaming on Amazon Prime Video worldwide with English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese subtitles.
An anime spin-off series titled Super Shiro was announced on February 3, 2019. The spin-off focuses on Shin-chan's dog Shiro. The series was directed by Masaaki Yuasa and animated at Science SARU. Kimiko Ueno handled series composition, while Tomohisa Shimoyama served as chief director. TV Asahi, Shin-Ei Animation, ADK EM, and Futabasha produced the anime. The series ran for 48 episodes, with each episode being five minutes long. The series premiered on October 14, 2019, on AbemaTV. An English dub premiered on Cartoon Network in Australia and Southeast Asia.
Another spin-off titled Nohara Hiroshi Hirumeshi no Ryūgi premiered in October 2025.
Crossovers
A special crossover series titledOn 23 November 2018, Arashi member Masaki Aiba appeared as his character Tatsuya Kōenji, from drama Boku to Shippo to Kagurazaka, in a short at the end of episode 983, called Ora to Shippo to Kagurazaka dazo, where he examines Shinnosuke's dog at the veterinary clinic.
International releases
The series was first dubbed into English by Vitello Productions in Burbank, California through 2001–2002, when TV Asahi and Lacey Entertainment decided to market the series worldwide. During the early 2000s, it ran on Fox Kids in the United Kingdom, on Fox Kids in Australia, on Channel i in Singapore and on RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland. Subtitled versions also aired on Stöd 2 in Iceland and on Arutz HaYeladim in Israel. RTÉ Two has not shown the series since 2005, and on Jetix UK, the series was eventually relegated to shorts in-between programs, as a slot-filler. The dub is of American origin, with veteran voice actors such as Kath Soucie, Russi Taylor, Grey DeLisle, Pat Fraley, Eric Loomis and Anndi McAfee playing the characters. Soucie voiced Shin and Misae.In 2003, Phuuz entertainment inc. was commissioned by Lacey Entertainment and TV Asahi to continue in a similar style as the Vitello dub. But their episodes featured a new cast of voice artists.
52 episodes have been produced of the Vitello dub and 52 episodes of the Phuuz dub. Vitello and Phuuz episodes lasted on an average 21 minutes and contained three segments of 5 to 7 minutes. Some of the dubs of the series used the Vitello dub as the source for the dubbing. Some dubs also dubbed the Phuuz dub afterwards.
Funimation acquired the Shin-chan North America license in 2006. As per all international licenses for the series, TV Asahi remained a licensing partner for North America.
Funimation's version features a Texas-based cast of voice actors. Funimation's dub takes many liberties with the source material and was heavily Americanized. Similar to the Vitello dub, episodes of the series were dubbed out of their original order, and segments were reordered. Additionally, many characters had their names changed to American-sounding ones. Many sexual references, dark humor, and references to current popular American culture were added. For example, in one scene, Ai and Penny argue over which one of them is Jessica Simpson and which one is Ashlee Simpson, which is very different from the original Japanese script that dealt with many social issues within Japan at the time. At least two episodes reference Rudy Giuliani and his unsuccessful bid for president.
New, previously non-existent backstories were created, as well as significantly different personalities for the characters. For instance, the unseen father of Nene was suggested to be physically abusive toward both his wife and daughter, and this was used as a source of black humor. Principal Enchou was rewritten as a half-Peruvian, half-Romani man with a complicated prior life that includes a stint as a magician, in which he accidentally injured scores of audience members. Ageo-sensei, Shinnosuke's teacher, was rewritten as a kinky nymphomaniac, while Shin's schoolmate, Kazama, was portrayed as a hawkish young Republican.
The first 52 episodes of the dub aired on Adult Swim. All three seasons, 26 episodes per season, have also been released on DVD. Season 3, released in 2011, culminated in the official finale, effectively ending the Funimation series.
On August 9, 2025, it was announced the FUNimation English dub will be released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media.
A fourth English dub of Crayon Shin-chan has been produced in Hong Kong by Red Angel Media in 2015 and was commissioned by LUK Internacional, the company that produces the Spanish, Portuguese, the second Italian and the second French dubs of Crayon Shin-chan and commissioned the Doraemon dub that aired on Boomerang UK. The dub was translated from LUK Internacional's Spanish dub, which is close to the Japanese original and has no censorship. The first three volumes of the dub were released in the European and South African Nintendo 3DS eShop on December 22, 2016, and the fourth and fifth volumes were released on December 29, 2016. The dub is separated into five volumes, with the first volume being free while the other four cost €1.99/£1.79. The first volume contains two episodes while the other four contain 6 episodes each which makes 26 episodes in total.
In India, Hindi dubs of the anime started airing on Hungama TV on June 19, 2006. Later, it also began airing in Tamil and Telugu dubs. In 2024, Sony YAY! also started airing the Hindi dub, also providing dubbed versions in Bengali, Tamil & Telugu. As of September 2025, all films have been dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, and have aired on Hungama TV and Sony YAY!.
In the Philippines, IBC 13 aired a Filipino dub of the anime in the early 2000s with Shinnosuke being voiced by Filipino rapper Andrew E, and later by Richie Padilla.
Music
Openings
- "Dōbutsuen wa Taihen da"
Episode Range: 1–21
- "Yume no END wa Itsumo Mezamashi!"
Episode Range: 22–57
- "Ora wa Ninki Mono"
Episode Range: SPECIAL 3–161
- "Pakappo de GO!"
Episode Range: 162–SPECIAL 13
- "Nenjū Muchū 'I want you'"
Episode Range: 203–SPECIAL 20
- "Tobe Tobe Oneisan"
Episode Range: 270–352
- "Dame Dame no Uta"
Episode Range: 353–458
- "PLEASURE"
Episode Range: 459–SPECIAL 43
- "Yuruyuru de DE-O!"
Episode Range: 509–594, 604–681
- "Yuruyuru de DE-O! Crayon Friends 2007 Version"
Episode Range: 595–603
- "Kokoro Komete
Episode Range: 682–708
- "HEY BABY"
Episode Range: 709–724
- "T.W.L."
Episode Range: 725–747
- "Kibou Sanmyaku"
Episode Range: 748–SPECIAL 64
Singer: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
Episode Range: 784–937, 943–969
- "Ora wa Ninki Mono - 25th MIX -"
Episode Range: 938–942
- "Masukatto"
Episode Range: 970–1050
- "Supasuta"
Episode Range: 1051–1303
- "Wa chame chawacha raifu!"
Episode Range: 1304-now
Endings
- "Uta wo Utaō"
Episode Range: 1–21
- "Sunao ni Naritai"
Episode Range: 22–57
- "DO-shite"
Episode Range: SPECIAL 3–99
- "Shin-chan Ondo
Episode Range: 100–112
- "Parijona Daisakusen"
Episode Range: 113–161
- "REGGAE"
Episode Range: 162–192
- "Shinchan Ondo ~Ora to Issho ni Odorou yo!~"
Episode Range: 193–SPECIAL 13
- "BOYS BE BRAVE ~Shōnen yo Yūki o Mote~"
Episode Range: 203–SPECIAL 17
- "Tsukiakari Funwari Ochitekuru Yoru"
Episode Range: 249–297
- "Sukisuki My Girl"
Episode Range: 298–352
- "Kyō wa Date"
Episode Range: 353–397
- "Zentaiteki ni Daisuki desu."
Episode Range: 398–SPECIAL 33
- "Mama to no Oyakusoku Jōkō no Uta"
Episode Range: 452–SPECIAL 38・SPECIAL 43
- "Ari no Uta"
Episode Range: 509–SPECIAL 46
#
Episode Range: 938–942
Vitello and Phuuz dubs
Opening
- "Say hey! HEY! Shin-chan"
Ending
- Say hey! HEY! Shin-chan" Instrumental
Funimation dub
Opening
- "Shin-chan Theme"
Ending
- "Party Join Us"
Originally the fifth ending theme.
LUK Internacional dub
Opening
- Footage from Japanese opening 8 but with completely different lyrics, to the melody of a techno remix of Japanese opening 3.
Ending
- Footage from Japanese ending 3 and at the end Japanese opening 9 but with completely different lyrics to the melody of "DO-shite".
Films
Video games
Console and handheld
Many video games were only released in Japan, but there were others released in South Korea, Italy and Spain.| Title | System | Release date |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Ora to Shiro wa Otomodachi da yo | Game Boy | April 9, 1993 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Enji | Super Famicom and Mega Drive | July 30, 1993 March 11, 1994 |
| Crayon Shin-Chan: Ora to Poi Poi | Famicom | August 27, 1993 |
| Quiz Crayon Shin-chan | Arcade | August 1993 |
| Crayon Shin-chan 2: Ora to Wanpaku Gokko da zo | Game Boy | October 22, 1993 |
| Crayon Shin-chan Ora to Asobo | Arcade | December 1993 |
| Crayon Shin-chan no Ora to Issho ni Asobou yo! | Sega Pico | March 1994 |
| Crayon Shin-chan 3: Ora no Gokigen Athletic | Game Boy | March 26, 1994 |
| Crayon Shin-chan 2: Dai Maou no Gyakushuu | Super Famicom | May 27, 1994 |
| Crayon Shin-chan 4: Ora no Itazura Dai Henshin | Game Boy | August 26, 1994 |
| Crayon Shin-chan no Oekaki Note | Sega Pico | January 1995 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Taiketsu! Quantum Panic!! | Game Gear | February 24, 1995 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Puzzle Daimaou no Nazo | 3DO Company|3DO] | March 10, 1995 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Nagagutsu Dobon | Super Famicom | September 27, 1996 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Gokigen Collection | Game Boy | December 20, 1996 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Ora no Honto no Kaa-chan Ya~i | PC | 1997 |
| 짱구는 못말려 | PC | 1997 |
| 짱구는 못말려 2 | PC | 1999 |
| Jjanggu the Unhelpable 3 | PC/Nuon | 2000 |
| 짱구는 못말려 4 -부리부리왕국의 비밀 | PC | 2001 |
| 짱구는 못말려 5 -짱구가 줄었어요! | PC | 2002 |
| 짱구는 못말려 6 -원시시대 짱구 | PC | 2002 |
| 짱구는 못말려 7 -흰둥이 구출작전 | PC | 2003 |
| 짱구 스프링스 | PC | |
| Kids Station: Crayon Shin-Chan | PlayStation | November 29, 2001 |
| パソコンやろうよ!マウスでジグソーパズル クレヨンしんちゃん | PC | January 18, 2002 |
| クレヨンしんちゃん オラと一緒に英語する? | PC | August 30, 2002 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi no Yobu Adventures in Cinemaland! Shin chan: Aventuras en Cineland | Game Boy Advance | April 16, 2004 December 25, 2005 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Densetsu o Yobu Omake no To Shukkugaan! Shin chan contra los muñecos de Shock Gahn | Game Boy Advance | March 23, 2006 September 18, 2006 |
| Kasukabe King Wii">Kasukabe, Saitama">Kasukabe King Wii Shin chan: Las nuevas aventuras para Wii | Wii | December 2, 2006 April 25, 2008 |
| Crayon Shin-chan DS: Arashi wo Yobu Nutte Crayoon Daisakusen! ¡Shin chan flipa en colores! 짱구는 못말려 DS 알쏭달쏭 크레용 대작전 Shin chan e i colori magici! | Nintendo DS | March 21, 2007 November 16, 2007 April 5, 2008 September 12, 2008 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu Cinema Land Shin chan: ¡Aventuras de cine! 짱구는 못말려 시네마랜드 찰칵찰칵 대소동! | Nintendo DS | March 20, 2008 December 5, 2008 September 15, 2009 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi o Yobu – Nendororon Daihenshin ¡Shin chan contra los plastas! 짱구는 못말려 말랑말랑 고무찰흙 대변신! | Nintendo DS | March 19, 2009 December 4, 2009 December 3, 2010 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Obaka Daininden – Susume! Kasukabe Ninja Tai! 짱구는 못말려 부리부리 떡잎마을 대모험! | Nintendo DS | March 18, 2010 October 19, 2012 |
| クレヨンしんちゃんオラとカラオケ大パニック | CROSSO | April 12, 2010 |
| Crayon Shin-chan Shokkugan! Densetsu wo Yobu Omake Daiketsusen!! 짱구는 못말려 원 플러스 원! 쇼크성랜드 대결전!! | Nintendo DS | December 2, 2010 October 27, 2011 |
| クレヨンしんちゃん 恋する47（フォーティーセブン） | Mobage | April 5, 2011 |
| クレヨンしんちゃん シネマDEカード! | Mobage | November 9, 2011 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Uchu de Achoo!? Yujo no Obakarate 짱구는 못말려 판타스틱-! 우주별 대모험!! | Nintendo 3DS | December 1, 2011 2013 |
| 짱구는 못말려 온라인 | PC | 2012 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: Arashi wo Yobu Kasukabe Eiga Stars! | Nintendo 3DS | April 10, 2014 |
| Crayon Shin-Chan Gekiatsu! Oden wa Rudo Dai Konran!! | Nintendo 3DS | November 30, 2017 |
| Crayon Shin-chan: The Storm Called! Flaming Kasukabe Runner!! | Nintendo Switch | January 14, 2020 January 24, 2020 March 19, 2020 |
| Shin-chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation – The Endless Seven-Day Journey | Nintendo Switch and PC | July 15, 2021 August 31, 2022 |
| Shin-chan: Shiro and the Coal Town | Nintendo Switch and PC | February 22, 2024 October 24, 2024 |
Smartphone and tablet
Note: The last app isn't a game in itself, rather a Crayon Shin-chan hub with news, manga, and games.Reception
As of 2015, the original run of the Crayon Shin-chan manga has sold over 55 million copies, while the New Crayon Shin-chan manga has sold over 3 million copies, surpassing 58 million copies between both, making it one of the best-selling manga series. Including game books, encyclopedic books and other related material, the figure amounts to 148 million. As of 2023, both the Crayon Shin-Chan and New Crayon Shin-Chan series had over 148 million copies in circulation., Bandai Namco has sold Crayon Shin-chan Chocobi food packs.Controversies
A Hindi dub of the anime has aired on Hungama TV in India since June 19, 2006. There were complaints from parents over the main character's behavior and the attitudes exhibited towards elders on the show, both of which were seen as a negative influence on children. The series was banned in October 2008 by the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on account of heavy nudity. After many requests from fans, the show returned to Hungama TV in 2009, albeit censored; scenes containing nudity were cut, and there were several changes to the dialogue to remove adult humor and better appeal to Indian culture.A Portuguese dub of the anime has also aired on Biggs, with the segment of the 165th episode "Dad's Hospitalized Life" causing major controversy in December 2016, due to a scene where the nurses examine Shinnosuke's anus, and compliment it, all while he acts and looks uncomfortable. Due to complaints from parents over concerns that the show was promoting softcore child pornography, the Portuguese Media Regulatory Authority ordered that the show should only be aired after 10:30 PM. Eventually, the show was slowly faded out of Biggs' schedule, and from Portuguese television. Later, the show returned to television through Portugal's Fox Comedy in June 2021, though on a limited run, with the show being removed from Fox Comedy Portugal after a few months.
The same episode would later be uploaded to the officially run YouTube channel for the series' Portuguese dub, with the controversial scene completely cut out.
Regulators from Indonesia, Vietnam and South Korea have also described the show as 'borderline pornography'.