A new PV trailer and short promotional teaser video have been released for The Diary of Ochibi-san anime adaptation. The short animated series is set to premiere in Japan on October 7, 2023 and will consist of 24 5-minute episodes.
The 29-second promotional video previews the anime’s main theme “Romantic,” which is composed and performed by Japanese folk singer Naotarou Moriyama. Writer, singer, and actress Yayako Uchida composed the lyrics for the theme song.
Daisuke Onizuka (Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time CGI director) and Shogo Tsurii (Voyager visual director, Darling in the Franxx CG director) are serving as co-directors for the series. Naoki Yoshibe, Masaki Ishikawa, Satoshi Yamauchi, and You Kyuuda are the CG animation directors. Satoru Kousaki (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-) is composing the musical score. Studio Khara is in charge of the animation production and is supervising the series and writing the scripts.
Other staff include Seina Yaguchi as art director, Nozomi Hiratsuka as color key artist, Junko Sakai as compositing director of photography, and Haru Yamada (Skip and Loafer) as sound director.
Meanwhile, the voice cast includes Manami Hanawa as Ochibi-san, Nobuhiko Okamoto as Ozeni, Shiori Izawa as Pankui, Chafurin as Ojii, Misaki Kuno as Shiroppoi, Hiroki Gotou as Jack, Yui Ogura as Akame-chan, and Kousuke Echigoya as Hebi-kun.
The Diary of Ochibi-san is a slice of life manga series written and illustrated by Moyoco Anno, which ran in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper from April 2007 to March 2014. It was later transferred to Asahi Shimbun’s Aera magazine, running from April 28, 2014 until its conclusion on December 16, 2019. A total of ten tankoubon volumes were released, with Crunchyroll publishing the series online.
The manga also inspired a stop-motion ONA in 2015 that was part of Hideaki Anno‘s Japan Animator Expo project with Khara and Dwango.
A picture book based on the manga was published by Kodansha on May 28, 2014. It was illustrated by Anno and written by Motoko Matsuda.
Azuki is currently releasing the manga digitally in English, describing the story as:
“Even if I can make you smile, I can’t erase the tears you’ve cried.” In Mametsubu-cho, a little town somewhere in Japan’s ancient capital of Kamakura, the cheerful Ochibi lives a free and easy life. Together with his friends — the dog Nazeni, the mischievous cat Jack, and the ever-hungry pooch Pankui — he welcomes the new discoveries and acquaintances that come with the changing seasons.
The spring brings flowers and greenery; the summer, chances to swim in the cool sea. With autumn come the fiery red maples, and winter brings hot and hearty meals.
These events and shifts of season are drawn with a soft and tender touch, bringing out the warmth in the details of everyday life.
