Kodocha
Kodomo no Omocha (Japanese: こどものおもちゃ, "Child's Toy"), also known as Kodocha for short, is a Japanese manga series by Miho Obana. The series was adapted as an OVA by J.C. Staff and released on December 16, 1995 by Shueisha under their Ribon Video label. An anime television series was produced by NAS and TV Tokyo, animated by Studio Gallop, and broadcast on TV Tokyo every Friday from April 5, 1996 to March 27, 1998.
| Kodomo no Omocha | |
Cover of the first manga volume | |
| こどものおもちゃ | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Romantic comedy |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Miho Obana |
| Published by | Shueisha |
| English publisher |
|
| Magazine | Ribon |
| Demographic | Shōjo |
| Original run | August 1994 – November 1998 |
| Volumes | 10 |
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Ibu Suzuki |
| Studio | J.C.Staff |
| Released | December 16, 1995 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Akitaro Daichi Hiroaki Sakurai Akira Suzuki |
| Produced by | Noriko Kobayashi Yoko Matsushita |
| Written by | Miho Maruo Ryusuke Takahashi Tomoko Konparu |
| Studio | Studio Gallop |
| Licensed by |
|
| Original network | TV Tokyo |
| English network |
|
| Original run | April 5, 1996 – March 27, 1998 |
| Episodes | 102 (104 segments) |
In 2002, the manga was published in North America in English by Tokyopop as Kodocha: Sana's Stage. In 2006, Tokyopop lost the license to the manga, leaving it out of print. In 2005, the first half of the anime series was licensed for North American distribution by Funimation Entertainment and has been released on DVD. In 2012, Funimation announced that their Kodocha DVDs went out of print.
In 2020, Discotek Media announced that they have rescue licensed the series for release on SD Blu-ray in 2021.
Both the manga and anime have been well received by publications for different media for the character interactions and the comedy. The manga won the 1998 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. At the American Anime Awards held in 2007, it was nominated for best comedy anime.