Creating Chibi Maruko-chan - Google Arts & Culture (2024)

"Chibi Maruko-Chan" is a nationally popular anime in Japan. How is the anime connected to the original manga, and what is so charming about the series? We explore this and more from the perspective of the anime’s producer.(July 2020 Interview).

From the “Chibi Maruko-Chan” animeOriginal Source: © Sakura Production

"Chibi Maruko-Chan" : manga and anime
"Chibi Maruko-Chan" [Little Maruko] was serialized in shōjo (girls’) manga magazine "Ribon" (Shueisha) beginning in 1986. Set in Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture (now Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ward), where the artist Momoko Sakura spent her days as a young girl, the story depicts the comical everyday antics of Maruko, the protagonist, who is modeled after the artist herself.

Volumes of "Chibi Maruko-Chan" the manga (Shueisha) along with the script and drawings for "Chibi Maruko-chan" the animeOriginal Source: © Sakura Production

In 1990, the manga was adapted into an anime by Nippon Animation, the studio known for the "Sekai Meisaku Gekijō"[World Masterpiece Theater] series.

It has become a nationally popular anime that is still being broadcast today, celebrating the 30th and 35th anniversaries of its broadcast and original works in 2020 and 2021 each.

Director Jun Takagi at a recording studio in Tokyo.Original Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

Director Jun Takagi of Nippon Animation has directed the "Chibi Maruko-Chan" anime for 15 years, as well as "Momoko Sakura’s Theater Coji-Coji" (1997–99), another anime by Momoko Sakura.

He explains the charm of the "Chibi Maruko-Chan" series, whose fan base has continued to expand beyond Japan and around the world, as well as what it was like to produce the anime alongside its original creator Momoko Sakura, who passed away in 2018.

From the “Chibi Maruko-Chan” animeOriginal Source: © Sakura Production /Nippon Animation

My encounter with "Chibi Maruko-Chan", an unusual shōjo manga
When the "Chibi Maruko-Chan" anime started, I was working as an assistant director for Nippon Animation. They told me, “This is the kind of story we are going to produce this time,” but—with all due respect—I knew nothing of the original work at the time.

Momoko Sakura“Chibi Maruko-Chan”, vol. 1Original Source: © Sakura Production

After that, I read the manga for the first time and was surprised at how different it was from other manga.

It’s an essay manga, as well as a shōjo manga, and it’s executed with a humorous touch. I had never encountered anything quite like it and I thought it was really interesting.

Scripts for episodes of "Momoko Sakura’s Theater Coji-Coji" and handwritten screenplays (copies) by Momoko SakuraOriginal Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

"Coji-Coji" and "Chibi Maruko-Chan"
The first time I talked with Momoko Sakura herself was when I was directing "Coji-Coji" (1997–99). I think those experiences of working on "Coji-Coji" really helped me to direct "Chibi Maruko-Chan" later on.

Of course, the two series differ from each other in style, but both have Sakura’s subtle “dark humor”—although it is more pronounced in "Coji-Coji" than in "Chibi Maruko-Chan"—that makes her work so appealing.

Going through the process of understanding the essence of that dark humor and injecting it into the anime helped me to deepen my understanding of Sakura’s worldview.

Handwritten screenplays (copies) by Momoko SakuraOriginal Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

Momoko Sakura (original artist) and the "Chibi Maruko-Chan" anime
Momoko Sakura began writing scenarios for the anime herself sometime in the middle of the first season. I suppose she became more interested in animation while watching the show.

During the second season, which started in 1995, there was a period of time when she was writing original scenarios for the anime nearly every week.

Director Jun Takagi at a recording studio in Tokyo.Original Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

Later on, after she became busier with her main job, she only participated in production of the anime at key points in the series, such as special episodes and projects. Even so, she continued to write screenplays intermittently up until the year before she passed. She rarely had anything to say about the contents of the animation other than that. I don’t mean to brag, but she trusted me as the director and let me handle the direction of the work.

From the “Chibi Maruko-Chan” animeOriginal Source: © Sakura Production /Nippon Animation

Maruko as a real character
As you already know, the character Maruko is like the alter-ego of Momoko Sakura herself, and Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture (now Shimizu Ward, Shizuoka City), the setting of "Chibi Maruko-Chan", is the exact location where she grew up. So Maruko is very much “real” in that sense.

Adjusting the color settings of the “Chibi Maruko-Chan” animeOriginal Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

On top of that, because all of the events in the anime take place during a one-year period between 1974 and 1975, we try as much as possible not to contradict any of the previous content covered in the anime, such as by having Maruko do something else on a day already covered in a past episode.

This is more difficult than it sounds, and to tell the truth, we have not been perfect at it. It’s like drawing a spiral little by little, while doing our best to keep the spiral as small as we possibly can.

Storyboard for “the Chibi Maruko-Chan” animeOriginal Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

The importance of real-to-life drama
While the worldview of "Chibi Maruko-Chan" is very real, the characters, on the other hand, are quite deformed. This makes it difficult to use them to portray a real-to-life drama.

This realness, however, is the aspect I most want to emphasize when creating the anime. It’s something I try to maintain in all the works I direct, not only in "Chibi Maruko-Chan".

In fact, the reason I wanted to work at this company, Nippon Animation, is because the "Sekai Meisaku Gekijō" series was a work that depicted people by illustrating their everyday lives.

From the “Chibi Maruko-Chan” animeOriginal Source: © Sakura Production /Nippon Animation

The issue of how to depict Maruko
When we depict the character of Maruko, we really focus on not having her do or say things that are out of character, for example, lines that make us think, “Maruko wouldn’t say such a thing.”

Drawing pictures for the "Chibi Maruko-Chan" animeOriginal Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

She may be the main character, but she doesn’t have any particularly amazing abilities or even a high IQ. Perhaps Sakura would be mad if I said this (laughs), but she’s just average, or at worst slightly below average. I think of her as the kind of girl anyone could casually hang out with without having to put on airs, and that’s why I think viewers are also able to accept her with a sense of familiarity.

View of a drawing desk for the "Chibi Maruko-Chan" animeOriginal Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

Adapting the work of manga into an anime
When translating "Chibi Maruko-Chan" for the world of animation, we can’t spoil any of the interesting aspects of the original work, and at the same time, we need to add another unique and interesting dimension to it. If Maruko has a particular kind of cuteness in the original manga, I think that cuteness must also be expressed in the animation as much as possible.

This may come off as a cliché, but as the person responsible for creating the animation, what’s important is whether we are providing our customers with a “proper” adaptation. As for myself, I believe that taking responsibility for the “proper”-ness of the adaptation means “cherishing the original work.”

Editing the “Chibi Maruko-Chan" anime. Each finished cut of the anime is consolidated into a single episode.Original Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

Creating anime in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic
During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have been working from home whenever possible as a method of handling the situation. This is something we were able to do because it’s a digital creation. I don’t even want to think about how things would have turned out in the age of traditional cel animation… As for aspects of production that need to be handled on site, such as recording the audio and sound effects, we divide up the work and have staff come in on a staggered schedule.

Today we worked on re-recording the dialogue. Whereas before the entire crew would get together to record everything at once, now we record with three people at most, sometimes even just a single person at a time, repeating the process over and over, and have the sound team mix and finish the recordings. We’ve been doing our best to keep up with our regular broadcast schedule .

Director Jun Takagi at a recording studio in Tokyo.Original Source: Photo by Kohta Nunokawa

Continuing to create the anime after the original artist’s death
For me, Sakura’s passing has not changed my stance regarding her work. For Maruko, her passing is an extremely difficult thing. That doesn’t mean that Maruko will cease to exist or will lose any of the power or energy of the original work. What I mean by that is that the original work still contains power and energy for creating the animation.

From the “Chibi Maruko-Chan” animeOriginal Source: © Sakura Production /Nippon Animation

And that is what we will continue to provide to our customers. To say that it’s our mission for the work may be too strong of a statement, but I think that’s also what leads to “cherishing the original work.” I want to keep up that tradition. As long as Maruko is around, Sakura is still around with us—I think you could say that.

Credits: Story

Cooperation: NIPPON ANIMATION CO., LTD.
【OFFICIAL】COJI-COJI CHANNEL https://www.youtube.com/c/cojicojichannel

Text: Masayoshi Isobe
Photo: Kota Nunokawa
Edit: Yuka Miyazaki(BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA CO., LTD.)
Supervisor: Hirohito Miyamoto(Meiji University)
Production: BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA CO., LTD.
Written in 2020
Update in 2022/03

Credits: All media

The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

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