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Chibi Maruko-chan Gets Movie Tie-In Manga
posted on by Karen Ressler
This year's September issue of Shueisha's Ribon magazine will announce on Monday that Momoko Sakura will begin a new Chibi Maruko-chan series in the October issue on September 3. The short manga series, Chibi Maruko-chan: Kimi o Wasurenai yo (I Won't Forget You), will be based on the upcoming anime film.
Sakura herself is in charge of the film's script. In the story, six children from around the world visit Maruko's town. One of them, an Italian boy, confesses his love to Maruko and tries to court her. The film will also follow Maruko and her classmates as they travel to Kyoto and Osaka.
The film will open on December 23, and it is commemorating the 25th anniversary of the television anime's broadcast.
The previous film in the franchise, Chibi Maruko-chan: Watashi no Suki na Uta (Chibi Maruko-chan: My Favorite Song) opened in Japan in December 1992.
Sakura serialized the original manga in Ribon from 1986 to 1996. She launched a four-panel version in a Japanese newspaper in 2007, and she ended that version in 2011.
The original manga inspired the Chibi Maruko-chan television anime that is consistently the #2 rated anime series after Sazae-san. The first anime series ran from 1990 to 1992, and the ongoing second series premiered in 1995. The 1,000th television anime episode aired in 2012.
The manga has also inspired several live-action specials and television series.
