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Crayon Shin-chan first appeared in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action (WEEKLY週間アクション), which is published by Futabasha Publishers .
Much of the humor in the series stems from Shin-chan's occasionally unnatural and inappropriate use of language , as well as from his inappropriate behavior. Much of this humor is untranslatable for non- Japanese speaking readers and viewers. In Japanese, certain set phrases almost always accompany certain actions; many of these phrases have standard responses. A typical gag involves Shin-chan confounding his parents by using the wrong phrase for the occasion.
The storylines used in the anime series are based on those in the comic. Although the stories have been softened for television, there has been controversy about the program, primarily from parents who argue that the main character, Shin-chan (like Bart on the American animated series The Simpsons ), sets a bad example for children. Although some westerners have called Shin-chan the "Bart Simpson of Japan," there are fewer similarities than differences between the two characters. In particular, Bart is older and apparently more intentionally mischievous than Shin-chan, many of whose misdeeds seem to stem more from simple ignorance of correct behavior due to his age. This provides the writers with ample opportunity to write gags based on age-inappropriate behavior, such as Shin-chan's occasional use of extremely formal language. Shin-chan has also been compared to the character Calvin, from the cartoon strip Calvin and Hobbes .
Most episodes have strange, hilarious twists that involving Shin-chan and his parents.
Several full-length movies of Crayon Shin-chan have been released in Japan:The Shin-chan anime, dubbed in English with character names changed, ran on Fox Kids (now JETIX ) in the United Kingdom , and on RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland . However, it should be noted that the dub is of American origin, with actors and actresses such as Kath Soucie , Russi Taylor , Grey DeLisle , and Pat Fraley playing major roles (Soucie plays Shin himself, and his mother). Despite this, it has never aired in North America , likely something to do with the large amount of content that would be considered questionable for children by American censors - including the frequent appearances of Shin's naked buttocks and penis, humor relating to breast -size, transsexual ism and other sexual concepts (though many scenes relating to these were edited). RTÉ Two have not shown the series since 2003 , and Jetix only usually show it as shorts in between programmes, with even more edits.
An English subtitled version of Crayon Shin-chan has run on one of the Japanese language channels in Hawaii .
Since then, DrMaster took the licenses of several manga series, including Crayon Shin-chan , from ComicsOne.
Crayon Shin-chan is popular in China , where he is called La Bi Xiao Xin (trad. 蝋筆小新, simpl. 蜡笔小新, làbǐ xiǎoxīn ). His visage can be seen next to Garfield and Disney characters in video and toy stores.
In South Korea , the show and comics, titled 짱구는 못말려 (Jjanggu the Unstoppable, literally), are also tremendously popular. Shin-chan's name is 신짱구 (Shin Jjanggu), which is coined with by his original Japanese name and the Korean word 짱구(jjanggu) for "protruding forehead." In Korean versions, scenes revealing Shin-Chan's genitals were all censored, and only few scenes with his buttocks shown were broadcasted.
Shin-chan is the one of the most popular anime characters in Indonesia . The Indonesian actor who dubbed Shin-chan's voice has released multiple records and is even said to resemble Shin-chan. Shin-chan has also found a devoted following in Spain .
Shin-chan is also very popular in the Netherlands, on the channel JETIX NL (former FOX KIDS NL). His name is spelled: Shin Chan. For more (Dutch) information, see: http://www.foxkids.nl/fktv/shows/0,6248,7224,00.html
In Malaysia, Shin Chan's comic is titled as Dik Cerdas, which roughly means energetic boy. Like South Korea, pictures revealing Shin-Chan's genitals were all censored.
Note: characters' names are given as they appear in the Japanese comic (family name first, followed by given name). The names used in the dub follow as they appear in that version, if applicable.
The first dubbed cast for the British Shin-Chan includes:
In December 2004, a new dubbed series of Shin-Chan began to air on Fox Kids UK (now JETIX UK), and it was immediately evident that the entire English cast had been replaced. While the actors are clearly still American, JETIX' habit of cutting the closing credits from many of its shows means that they are currently unidentified.