A new summer themed visual has been revealed for the ongoing The Diary of Ochibi-san TV anime series, which premiered on October 7, 2023 as 24 five minute short episodes.
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 co-directing the short anime series. Naoki Yoshibe, Masaki Ishikawa, Satoshi Yamauchi, and You Kyuuda are serving as the CG animation directors, while Satoru Kousaki (Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song-) is the music composer. Studio Khara is handling the animation production and supervising the series and its scripts.
Other staff members 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 anime voice cast for The Diary of Ochibi-san 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
- • Kousuke Echigoya as Hebi-kun
The anime is based on the slice of life manga series written and illustrated by Moyoco Anno, which was serialized 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. Ten total tankoubon volumes were printed and released, while Crunchyroll digitally published the series online for its service.
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 synopsis 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.
