Anpanman
Anpanman (アンパンマン) 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 (それいけ!アンパンマン, Let's Go! 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 (a red bean paste filled pastry) for a head, who protects the world from an evil anthropomorphic germ named Baikinman.
| Anpanman | |
Cover of the first book, released under the "Kinder Ohanashi Ehon Masterpiece Selection" imprint | |
| アンパンマン | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy, superhero |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Takashi Yanase |
| Published by | Froebel-kan |
| Demographic | Kodomo |
| Original run | 1973 – 2013 |
| Anime television series | |
| Soreike! Anpanman | |
| Directed by | Akinori Nagaoka Shunji Ōga |
| Produced by | Hinta Fyumi |
| Written by | Sakura Uzamacki |
| Music by | Hiroaki Kondo Taku Izumi |
| Studio | TMS Entertainment |
| Original network | Nippon TV |
| English network |
|
| Original run | October 3, 1988 – present |
| Episodes | 1,640 (3,450 segments) |
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 2019. Anpanman has sold over 80 million books as of February 2019, and the franchise generated ¥4.5 trillion 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 "Anpanman" by BTS.