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Chibi Maruko-chan Manga Gets 1st New Book in 4 Years from Former Assistant
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
Shueisha published the 18th compiled book volume of Momoko Sakura's Chibi Maruko-chan manga on Tuesday. The release is the first new compiled book volume for the manga in four years since the 17th volume shipped in December 2018. Sakura's long-time assistant Botan Kohagi and other assistants at Sakura Production produced the new volume.
The volume contains seven new chapters, and are based on stories that Sakura originally created for the Chibi Maruko-chan television anime.
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, which follows the everyday life of a third-grade schoolgirl, 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 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., 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.
Source: Comic Natalie
