Crayon Shin-chan

is a Japanese manga and anime series written by Yoshito Usui 臼井儀人. Usui was reported missing by his family on September 12, 2009, in his hometown of Kasukabe when he did not return from hiking in nearby Gunma Prefecture. On September 20, 2009, a body, found at the bottom of a cliff at Mount Arafune in Gunma a day earlier, with clothes matching those described in the missing person's report, was identified by dental records and family members as being that of Usui.

Crayon Shin-chan follows the adventures of five-year-old Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara and his parents, neighbors, and friends and is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Crayon Shin-chan first appeared in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action, which is published by Futabasha. The anime Crayon Shin-chan has been on TV Asahi since April 13, 1992, airing every Friday during the 'golden hours' from 1930 hours onwards.

Many of the jokes in the series stem from Shin-chan's occasionally weird, unnatural and inappropriate use of his native language, as well as from his inappropriate behavior. Consequently, non-Japanese readers and viewers may find it difficult to understand his jokes. During the beginning of the series, the TV show was mostly based on the storyline in the original manga. As the show progressed, more and more episodes became anime-original.

Plot
Being episodic in nature, the series has no main plot, but instead focuses on the events surrounding Shin-chan (full name Shinnosuke Nohara 野原 しんのすけ), his family, relatives and friends. Cameo appearances of author Yoshito Usui sometimes appear in the movie or anime version.

Official

 * Shin-ei Animation
 * Futabasha Publishers Ltd.
 * Official Shin-chan movie web site
 * Bandai Visual web site