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Chibi Maruko-chan Anime Resumes New Episodes After COVID-19 Delay

posted on by Egan Loo
#3 TV anime returns with 10 weeks of new versions of scripts written by creator

The official website for the Chibi Maruko-chan anime announced on Sunday that the anime will resume airing new episodes on June 21. The anime had suspended the broadcast of new anime episodes on May 3 to prioritize the countermeasures against the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The anime follows the everyday life of a third-grade schoolgirl.

From June 21 until August 23 the anime will air an "Anime's 30th Anniversary! 10-Week Momoko Sakura Script Festival." Over these 10 upcoming weeks, the anime will air newly animated versions of scripts that original Chibi Maruko-chan manga creator Momoko Sakura had written for popular anime episodes in the past.

The original Chibi Maruko-chan manga inspired a television anime that is almost consistently the #3 rated television anime series after Sazae-san and Detective Conan. (Chibi Maruko-chan airs on Fuji TV on Sundays at 6:00 p.m., right before Sazae-san at 6:30 p.m.) The first anime series ran from 1990 to 1992, and the ongoing second series premiered in 1995.

The manga's creator Momoko Sakura passed away due to breast cancer at the age of 53 in August 2018. She serialized the manga in Shueisha's Ribon magazine from 1986 to 1996. The comedy manga has about 32 million copies in print. Sakura launched a four-panel version in a Japanese newspaper in 2007, and she ended that version in 2011.

The Chibi Maruko-chan manga is getting new chapters drawn by Sakura Production, which is staffed by long-time assistants of Sakura. The manga is running irregularly in Ribon. The first chapter, titled "Halloween Party o Yarō no Maki" ('Let's Throw a Halloween Party' Chapter), debuted on October 3 last year. The chapter is based on a script written by Sakura for the manga's television anime — thus honoring Sakura's wish to turn scripts she wrote for the anime into manga.

Sources: Chibi Maruko-chan anime's website, Comic Natalie


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