Anime like Chibi Maruko-chan

Crayon Shin-chan

Also known as Shin Chan.

Studio: TV Asahi , Funimation , Shin-Ei Animation
Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Ecchi , Slice of Life

Crayon Shin-chan follows the wacky antics and adventures of five-year-old Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara and his parents, neighbors, and friends and is set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan.

Many of the jokes in the series stem from Shin-chan's occasionally weird, unnatural and inappropriate use of language, as well as from his inappropriate behavior. A typical gag involves Shin-chan confounding his parents by using the wrong phrase for the occasion; for example, saying "Welcome back!" instead of "I am back!" when he comes home.

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.

Tags: Episodic , Family Life , Kids , Male Protagonist , School , Gangs , Acting

Sazae-san

Studio: Fuji TV , Eiken
Status: Releasing
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

The main character is a mother named Sazae-san. She lives in a house with her husband, her kids and her parents. The show is the ultimate family program and tends to follow traditional themes. Think of this show as the Japanese equivalent to "The Partridge Family" and you'll get a good feel for this show's atmosphere. Don't expect to see things like violence, swearing, kung-fu action or magical girls. The plots are more like "Today, Sazae-san goes to the new mall and gets lost". Such "boring" plotlines and the simplistic art are often a turn-off to non-Japanese audiences, but most Japanese find the show incredibly good. As a result, it continues to be one of the top ratings grabbers on TV and is one of the few anime that is considered "acceptable" by adults.

Tags: Educational , Family Life , Female Protagonist , Ensemble Cast , Josei

Ojamajo Doremi

Also known as Magical DoReMi.

Studio: Toei Animation , 4Kids Entertainment
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Fantasy , Mahou Shoujo , Slice of Life

Doremi Harukaze, 3rd grade student at Misora Elementary School, claims to be the world's unluckiest pretty girl. Fascinated by witchcraft, she is drawn into a mysterious shop where she meets Majo Rika and is able to deduce that this lady is in fact a real witch. Being exposed by a human triggers a curse that transforms witches into magical frogs. To regain her original body, Rika must turn Doremi into a witch by teaching her how to use magic. Thrilled by this odd development, Harukaze becomes a witch apprentice. Unfortunately, her two best friends, Hazuki Fujiwara and Aiko Senoo, discover that Doremi has become a magic user. Afraid that Harukaze might become a magical frog too, Majo Rika recruits both Hazuki and Aiko and makes them witch apprentices too. The trio has lots of adventures as they try to triumph the necessary trials to become real witches.



Tags: Magic , Witch , Primarily Female Cast , Female Protagonist , Primarily Child Cast , Henshin , Kids , Episodic , Chibi , Coming of Age , School , Cute Girls Doing Cute Things , Family Life , Ojou-sama , Fairy , Idol , Acting , Urban Fantasy

Atashin'chi

Studio: TV Asahi , Yumeta Company
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy

Outrageous misadventures of an almost normal family with a housewife, her husband, and their two kids Yuusuke and Mikan. Wacky humor about this weird family's daily life.



Tags: Female Protagonist , Seinen , Chibi , Family Life

Doraemon (1979)

Also known as Doraemon.

Studio: TV Asahi , Asatsu DK , Shin-Ei Animation , Oh! Production
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Sci-Fi

Nobi Nobita is a 4th-grade boy in Tokyo. One day, a round, blue cat-style robot (minus ears) pops up in his desk drawer. Nobita's great-great-grandson (or something) lives in the 22nd Century, but thanks to Nobita's mistakes, the entire family is living in poverty. To rectify this, Nobita's descendent is sent Doraemon back to the past, to help prevent Nobita from making mistakes. Of course this is a difficult task since Nobita is the weakest and least intelligent child in his class. Doraemon does, however, have a 4-dimensional pocket on his front, which contains cool gadgets from the future. With these toys, Doraemon will try to help Nobita. Unfortunately, Nobita also has the bad habit of misusing Doraemon's gadgets and landing himself in yet more trouble?



Tags: Episodic , Kids , Robots , Primarily Child Cast , Time Manipulation , Family Life , Bullying , School , Baseball

Coji-Coji

Also known as Coji-Coji.

Studio: Aniplex , Nippon Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy

The only thing that concerns Coji Coji is enjoying life and the wonders of nature. Coji Coji’s friends, on the other hand, are a varied bunch of colorful characters whose many idiosyncrasies have a tendency to create turmoil among one another. Coji Coji’s carefree ways and tendency to shirk responsibility are sometimes a source of frustration, but his childlike wisdom has a way of resolving all of their differences.

Tags: Surreal Comedy , Shoujo

Tokimeki Tonight

Studio: Group TAC , Toho
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Fantasy , Romance

The main character, Ranze, is a junior high girl with troubles: her father is a vampire and her mother is a werewolf. Ranze has yet to manifest her supernatural powers, and her parents are beginning to get worried she might be normal. So begins the fantasy romantic comedy story.



Tags: Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Vampire , Family Life , Love Triangle , Werewolf , Episodic , Boxing , Shapeshifting , Heterosexual , Body Swapping , Gender Bending , School , Yakuza , Time Manipulation , Slapstick , Urban Fantasy

Hoohokekyo Tonari no Yamada-kun

Also known as My Neighbors the Yamadas.

Studio: Studio Ghibli , Tokuma Shoten , Walt Disney Studios , GKIDS
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Slice of Life

Join in the adventures of the quirky Yamada family -- from the hilarious to the touching -- brilliantly presented in a unique, visually striking comic strip style. Takashi Yamada and his wacky wife Matsuko, who has no talent for housework, navigate their way through the ups and downs of work, marriage and family life with a sharp-tongued grandmother who lives with them, a teenage son who wishes he had cooler parents, and a pesky daughter whose loud voice is unusual for someone so small. Even the family dog has issues!



Tags: Episodic , Ensemble Cast , Family Life , Achronological Order , Surreal Comedy , Rotoscoping , Chibi , Kids , Baseball , School , Educational , Primarily Adult Cast , Elderly Protagonist

Kingyo Chuuihou!

Studio: Toei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy

The show starts with the tale of Chitose Fujinomiya, a girl who goes from riches to rags and back and remains a snob despite it all. When her wealthy father dies, remaining debts leave Chitose almost broke, and she is kicked out of the affluent Tokai no Gakuen, or City Academy. She is left with nothing in the world but the clothes on her back and one pink goldfish named Gyopi-chan, the only memento she has of her father. Wandering lost, she collapses on the grounds of the poor-but-happy Inaka no Chugakko (Country Jr. High School), where the students are rough if friendly, and farm animals regularly roam the school grounds and even attend class. Recovering, she enters into the school but is repelled by its air of poverty, to which she is unaccustomed.



Tags: Primarily Child Cast , Slapstick , Ojou-sama , Surreal Comedy , School , Shoujo , Female Protagonist , Chibi , Kids , Parody , Animals

Jarinko Chie

Studio: Tokyo Movie Shinsha , Toho , Kitty Film
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Slice of Life

Jarinko Chie is a movie directed by Takahata in 1981. Based on the very popular manga by Etsumi Haruki, it is about ten year old Chie, "the most unfortunate girl in Japan," who manages her family diner while her unemployed yakuza father and her mother are separated. This sounds really depressing, but it's actually a very funny comedy.

The story is set in Osaka, which has a totally different culture from Tokyo.

Tags: Family Life , Female Protagonist , Work , Food , Tsundere , Restaurant , School , Yakuza , Slapstick , Animals , Seinen , Mixed Media