Hiroshi Nohara - Shin Chan's Father

Hiroshi Nohara (野原ひろし Nohara Hiroshi) / Harry Nohara (phuuz) / Hiro Nohara (FUNimation) - Shin-chan's father. A businessperson, he is the main (and only) income source of the family, with 32 years of mortgage payments left on the house. He is a stereotypical Japanese employee and frequently talks in his sleep, revealing that even in his dreams he is being scolded by his boss. Like his son, he is attracted to pretty women and often gets beat up by his wife Misae for it.

Misae Nohara

Misae Nohara (野原みさえ Nohara Misae) / Mitsy Nohara (phuuz) / Mitzi Nohara (FUNimation) - Shin-chan's mother. A homemaker who seems to be 29 all the time, she is angered when Shin-chan makes fun of her or mocks her by acting like her, usually about her wrinkles, breast size, butt size, or constipation. The standard retaliation is spanking, screwing fists into Shin-chan's head, pulling cheeks, and even striking his head to produce enormous, but temporary, lumps (sometimes more blows are delivered before the lumps completely disappear and so the lumps pile on top of another). There are special names for these punishments: "genkotsu" means striking the head to produce lumps; "guriguri" means screwing fists into the head. Sometimes these punishments are inflicted on her husband, too. She is sometimes attracted to handsome men like her daughter Himawari. She sets strict limits on her family's expenses but she sometimes splurges on herself.

Shinnosuke "Shin-chan" Nohara

The main character. Shin-chan is a small kindergarten-aged boy with Chuck Manson eyebrows and a very distinctive voice that will burn itself deep into your brain. The easiest way to explain the persona of this kid is to make a simile to a cross between Dennis the Menace and Freddy Kruger of Nightmare on Elm Street fame. He's not necessarily evil but wherever Shin-chan goes, chaos follows...
...and his mother probably isn't too far behind.

Crayon Shin-chan

Crayon Shin-chan (クレヨンしんちゃん, Kureyon Shinchan?) is a manga and anime series written by Yoshito Usui. The American version of the manga is titled "Crayon ShinChan" while the UK, Catalan, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, German, Hindi and American version of the anime is titled Shin-Chan. The series follows the antics of a five year-old boy Shinnosuke Nohara, his parent, neighbours and friends. This story is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. The show is called "Crayon Shin-chan" because "crayon" signifies the fact that it is a tool commonly used by kindergartners and that Shin-chan goes to kindergarten. "Shin-chan" is the affectionate name for the main character.

Crayon Shin-chan first appeared in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action, which is published by Futabasha. Crayon Shin-chan began broadcasting on TV Asahi on April 13, 1992, and has also been aired by the anime television network, Animax across Japan and Latin America. Starting in April 2006, Crayon Shin-chan celebrated its 15th anniversary by starting each broadcasts announcing the fact that it is 15th anniversary no matter what season it is. This feature is expected to end in April 2007.

Much of the humor in the series stems from Shin-chan's occasionally weird, unnatural and inappropriate use of language, as well as from his inappropriate behavior. Much of this humor is untranslatable for non-Japanese speaking readers and viewers. In Japanese, certain set phrases almost always accompany certain actions; many of these phrases have standard responses. A typical gag involves Shin-chan confounding his parents by using the wrong phrase for the occasion. For example, Japanese usually announce that they are back when they have returned home. Shin chan would make the mistake of saying "you are back", instead of "I am back".

The storylines used in the anime series are based on those in the comics most of the time. Although the stories have been softened for television, there has been controversy about the program, primarily from parents who argue that the main character, Shin-chan (like Bart on the American animated series The Simpsons), sets a bad example for children. Although some westerners have called Shin-chan the "Bart Simpson of Japan," there are fewer similarities than differences between the two characters. In particular, Bart is older and apparently more intentionally mischievous than Shin-chan, many of whose misdeeds seem to stem more from simple ignorance of correct behavior due to his age (however, this is less the case in Funimation's English translation of the anime, which frequently takes artistic license with the original dialogue). This provides the writers with ample opportunity to write gags based on age-inappropriate behavior, such as Shin-chan's occasional use of extremely formal language.

All about Shin Chan

Simple blog just for Shin Chan lovers.