Kodocha

It is recorded as the work of Miho Obana. Publication is recorded by Ribon Mascot Comics. It is associated with Japan. Recorded genres are school anime and manga and comedy anime and manga. The recorded subject matter is middle school student and elementary school student.

• Ja Kanji — こどものおもちゃ • Ja Romaji — Kodomo no Omocha • Genre — Comedy drama

• Type — manga • Author — Miho Obana • Publisher — Shueisha • Imprint — Ribon Mascot Comics • Magazine — Ribon • First — August 1994 • Last — November 1998 • Volumes — 10

• Type — ova • Director — Ibu Suzuki • Studio — J.C.Staff • Released — December 16, 1995 • Runtime — 30 minutes

• Type — tv series • Director — Akitaro Daichi • Producer — * Noriko Kobayashi (TV Tokyo) • Yoko Matsushita (NAS) • Writer — * Ryusuke Takahashi (episodes 1-82) • Miharu Hinami (episodes 83-102) • Music — * Keiichi Tomita • Jun Abe • Seiji Muto • Studio — Studio Gallop • Network — TXN (TV Tokyo) • First — April 5, 1996 • Last — March 27, 1998 • Episodes — 102 (104 segments) • Episode List — List of Kodocha episodes Kodocha is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Miho Obana. The series was adapted as an OVA by J.C. Staff and released on December 16, 1995, by Shueisha under their Ribon Video label. An anime television series was produced by NAS and TV Tokyo, animated by Studio Gallop, and broadcast on TV Tokyo every Friday from April 5, 1996, to March 27, 1998. In 2002, the manga was published in North America in English by Tokyopop as Kodocha: Sana's Stage. In 2006, Tokyopop lost the license to the manga, leaving it out of print. In 2005, the first half of the anime series was licensed for North American distribution by Funimation Entertainment and has been released on DVD. In 2012, Funimation announced that their Kodocha DVDs went out of print. In 2020, Discotek Media announced that they have rescue licensed the series for release on SD Blu-ray in 2021. Both the manga and anime have been well received by publications for different media for the character interactions and the comedy. The manga won the 1998 Kodansha Manga Award for manga. At the American Anime Awards held in 2007, it was nominated for best comedy anime.

Sana Kurata is a cheerful, popular, and energetic child actress who attends an elementary school that is plagued with chaos, led mainly by an aloof boy named Akito Hayama. At first, the two come in conflict with each other because of their opposing ideals, but as they get to know each other, they start supporting both each other and their classmates and peers. It's a story about kids dealing with adult issues. It showcases family struggles, communication gaps, and the challenges of growing up. Following them from sixth grade through their first year of secondary school.

• Sana Kurata: • At the start of the series, Sana is an exuberant child actress who has been having a hard time at school due to the antics of troublemaker Akito Hayama. Sana sets out to stop him and bring peace to her world; however, she soon learns that there is more to Akito than it seems. While she is energetic and always has a smile on her face, she also has a short temper and fierce determination. She never backs down from a fight, especially against Akito. • Sana was adopted by her mother Misako as an infant after Misako found her abandoned on a park bench. At her mother's behest, she began her acting career at the Komawari Theater Troupe when she was five years old, and now stars in a popular variety program called Child's Toy, as well as several commercials. During the course of the series, her career flourishes. She stars in multiple TV dramas and a feature film. Sana also deals with many ups-and-downs of show business, such as competitive co-stars, rabid fans, zealous paparazzi, false rumors in tabloids, ruthless talent managers who try to poach her, and in the anime, even an imposter. • From the beginning of the series, she developed a strong rivalry with Akito and gradually falls in love with him, although she doesn't realize it until after he starts dating Fuka. • In a 2009 one-shot called Deep Clear, Sana asks for help from a detective. In Deep Clear, Sana is separated from Akito because Akito told her to divorce him if she chooses to have the baby, but she longed to raise the baby with him. They reconcile when their daughter is born. Although they are married, Sana and Akito still argue. • Akito Hayama: • Akito is the troublemaker who is causing chaos in Sana's sixth grade class. A sullen boy of few words, he is physically strong, and has a powerful karate chop. At the beginning of the series, it is shown that Akito has acrophobia. Akito's mother died when giving birth to him, which leads to his older sister Natsumi resenting him, frequently becoming angry with Akito and calling him "devil boy." In addition, Akito has a distant relationship with his father, who works long hours. As a result, Akito is not home often and usually eats junk food for dinner. Akito is disrespectful towards most adults in general, but upon meeting Sana's formidable mother, he speaks to her with deference. Akito gets good grades despite being a troublemaker. • After he butts heads with Sana several times, Sana succeeds in subduing Akito after blackmailing him, the same way he was blackmailing their teacher. Once the initial blackmailing passes, Akito ends up regretting what he did, and his friendship with Sana continues to open his heart. Sana also helps him have a better relationship with his family, after which they become even closer. Although he has his moments, he has had to grow up fast due to his tough home life. Smiling rarely, and laughing almost never, several characters note that Akito's eyes are not that of a child. Akito has his own code of honor: Akito will never lie, and he refuses to pretend to be nice to anyone he doesn't like or respect. Akito's most effusive expression of love is "I don't hate it", which he reserves for sushi, dinosaurs, skiing, and Sana. As the story progresses Akito's love for Sana grows, but Sana is oblivious to this until much later. • Inspired in part by Sana's devotion to her acting career, Akito begins to take karate classes. In the manga, towards the end of the story, Akito is injured and unable to move his hand. He moves to America due to his father's job, and the resulting shock triggers Sana's illness. When he returns to Japan two years later in the final issue, Akito has become a champion child karate fighter, as well as being able to speak flawless English. • In a 2009 one-shot called Deep Clear, Sana asks for help from a detective. In Deep Clear, it is revealed that Akito is living separately from Sana as Sana's manager, Rei, asked a detective to investigate him to see if he cheated on Sana. From Sana's memories, it was shown that he threatened to leave her if she went through with the pregnancy. Later on, with the admission of Sana and the detective's own powers, she came to understand that Akito is scared about the risks of a premature birth due to his past and doesn't want to lose Sana. They are reunited when Sana goes into labor. • Rei Sagami: • Rei is Sana's manager. After being dumped by his girlfriend, dropping out of college, and his parents' death, he hits rock bottom and becomes a homeless person. While begging on the streets, Sana finds him and brings him home much like she does with stray dogs. Misako decided to keep him around the house, and he has lived there ever since, working as Sana's manager. Sana declares him as her "pimp" after reading a book which included the word, although she does not understand what it really means. In addition, Sana thinks of Rei as her boyfriend. Later, Akito tells Sana that Rei is playing with her, and sees her simply as a little girl wanting to play. Misako also tells Sana that Rei cannot be her boyfriend. This leaves Sana devastated. But after she gets over her heartbreak, Rei remains her manager and her friend. Throughout the series, Sana looks up to Rei as a surrogate father as Rei looks up to her as his own child. • Tsuyoshi Ohki: • Tsuyoshi Ohki is Akito's soft-spoken and smart best friend, they've known each other since kindergarten. Although usually gentle, when Tsuyoshi gets extremely angry, he flies into a rage and begins to attack everything - and usually only Akito can calm him. Tsuyoshi plays a very background role in the manga, but at the beginning he is Akito's rival for Sana's love. Later, his parents divorce, and as Tsuyoshi Sasaki, he has to cope with being a father figure as well as a big brother to his little sister. • Aya Sugita: • Aya is one of Sana's friends, and later Tsuyoshi's girlfriend. She is a quiet and sweet girl, with a good deal of common sense, but when angry or jealous she can become very dangerous. Aya and Tsuyoshi become a sickeningly sweet "love-love" couple. • Fuka Matsui • Harumi Ikoma • Fuka is introduced as a classmate when Sana and her classmates begin junior high school. Fuka just moved back to Tokyo after living in Osaka, and she and Sana become best friends. They start to meet at the bathroom, where Fuka complains about cutting her hair too short. Fuka explains that some people thinks she looks like Sana. It is revealed that Akito went to kindergarten with Fuka, and kissed her when they were five years old. Although Fuka initially hates Akito for stealing her first kiss, after getting to know him better, she is impressed by his blunt honesty and logical point-of-view. Fuka's personality is very similar to Sana's, which is why Tsuyoshi probably thinks that she is Akito's type. Fuka dates Akito when Sana goes to shoot a movie. Eventually, Fuka realizes that Akito really loves Sana, so she breaks up with him. Asides from the fact that they dated, Fuka was also the other girl besides Sana to whom Akito has said "I don't hate you" to. Although their relationship did not work out, Akito and Fuka genuinely appreciated and respected each other. She was in love boy named Yuta Takaishi, but they broke up because Akito kissed Fuka. When they meet again after while she said that she won't want to start relationship with him, but later Sana and Akito found out Takaishi's phone number and called him and get his phone number and address up and gave it to Fuka. First she was angry and embarrassed, then when she was home she thinks that she could call him someday and wonders what was that fuzzy and warm feeling that she felt, and also that she would thank Sana for this someday. • Naozumi Kamura: • Naozumi is also a child actor, and another competitor for Sana's love. Naozumi has a history with Sana: when they were babies, they both spent time together at the Kamura orphanage. In the manga, when Sana's illness was triggered at a young age, Naozumi is the one who helped her recover (although Sana thought Naozumi was a girl due to his long hair). At the end of the series, Naozumi makes the painful decision to give up his love for Sana, but remains her loyal friend. In the final book of the manga, Naozumi leaves the country to film another movie and advance his career. • In the TV series, Naozumi is central to a major story arc in which he and Sana travel to New York City to be featured in a Broadway musical. During this trip, Naozumi unexpectedly encounters both of his birth parents. The trauma of these events bring him and Sana closer, and when they come back to Japan they start dating. • Asako Kurumi: • Asako is a popular actress. She was also Rei's girlfriend who dumped him to concentrate on her acting career, which partly triggered his downward spiral to homeless bum. She did not know that Rei would end up homeless. When she finds Rei again, she wants to get back together, but Rei says that he belongs to Sana now, and can't be with Asako until Sana grows up. When Sana realizes that Rei is not her "pimp" nor her boyfriend, Asako and Rei reunite. • Babitto: • A mascot character that is a cross between a bat and a rabbit. Appearing mainly in the anime television series, it provides commentary on some of the events of the episode.

• Misako Kurata: • Misako is Sana's adoptive mother. Misako is a beautiful, intelligent, indomitable and goofy woman. She married a no-good gambling addict at age 18, and divorced him at 20. After her divorce, she decided that being normal just was not "her", and began wearing kimono, wearing her hair in odd ways, and felt liberated by being eccentric. She found Sana on a park bench and took her to the Kamura orphanage until she officially adopted her. When Sana was only five, Misako vows to be a famous author, and asks Sana to become better known than the average girl by becoming a small-time actress, so that they could find Sana's real mother one day. Misako and Sana are successful in their efforts beyond their original goals: Misako becomes an award-winning novelist, and Sana becomes one of the most popular child stars of her day. Misako then writes a controversial book named "My Daughter and I", hoping to find Sana's real mother. • Misako loves Sana deeply, and raises Sana with a balance between discipline and letting her be independent, thereby teaching her not to be a spoiled child. While Misako lets Sana make much of her own decisions, she will also not let Sana avoid the consequences of her actions. And when it comes time for Sana to realize that Rei is not her boyfriend, Misako holds nothing back, despite knowing that Sana will be hurt and humiliated. Misako also takes a liking to Akito: after learning that Akito kissed Sana, Misako tells him, "Do it as much as possible. It's fun!" • Natsumi Hayama: • Akito's older sister. Natsumi is an avid Sana-fan. As a result of grief and stress from growing up without a mother and having to take care of a younger brother, Natsumi is pretty mean to Akito and accuses him of causing their mother's death. She often yells at him and calls him a "devil." (She calls him "Monster" in the American version of the anime and "Demon" in the Japanese version of the anime.) After Sana scolds her and her father, and Natsumi watches a TV drama that Sana filmed, Natsumi realizes that they are mistreating Akito, and starts being nicer to him. Also showing the fact that she becomes overprotective of him which shows in the last episode when she freaks out when she sees him in bandages. Like her brother, she has a difficult personality but she's also very intelligent. • Fuyuki Hayama: • Akito's father is a business executive who works long hours and is seldom home. Although it seems in the beginning that he is a bad father, Mr. Hayama turns out to be a good father who was simply unaware of the bad relationship between his children because he was working too hard. After realizing Akito's suffering, and also becoming ill due to working too hard, he begins to spend more time at home. When Akito gets into various scrapes during the series, Mr. Hayama always believes in his son and supports him, even when no one else does. This could partially be attributed to the fact that he and Akito's mother were troublemakers in their younger years. • Mr. Hayama is very mellow and soft-spoken, but the few moments he breaks out of his quiet mode are very funny. He takes a great liking to Sana and develops a goofy habit of talking to the TV whenever she appears. • Koharu Hayama: • Akito's mother who died giving birth to him, an event which had a serious negative effect on the relationship between Akito and his family. Although she has been dead for more than ten years by the beginning of the series: she "appears" sporadically throughout the manga in memories, photos, and flashbacks. In volume 8, when Akito is needing surgery, Koharu appears and tells him that he is too young to die and that he can be strong. When Akito realizes that she is his mother, Koharu tells Akito that she loves him and that he must live for both of them. • Aono Ohki: • Tsuyoshi's adorable younger sister. She is a fan of Sana. Aono carries around a store-bought egg in the hope that one day it will hatch into a chicken. One day, Sana buys a chick, and swaps it with Aono's egg when she isn't looking. Akito calls Sana an idiot for doing this because someday, Aono will realize what happened, and will feel stupid and humiliated. But Sana insists that as a child you should have dreams, and that the happiness it will bring Aono will be worth the small amount of grief later, because grief goes away, but happy memories are forever. • Keiko Sakai: • Sana's biological mother, a very shy and insecure young woman who gave birth to Sana when she was only 14. In the manga it is revealed that her uncle made her pregnant, and she gave birth in a bathtub. Keiko says that she was very much in love with Sana's birth father, but that he has died. When Misako finally meets her, after Keiko offers proof about her bond to Sana, she slaps Keiko and says that even animals know they have to take care of their offspring. She also arranges Sana to meet her. Sana was worried about meeting Keiko, because she was afraid that Misako would give her up; she finds out that Misako had the same worry, that Sana would leave with Keiko. After meeting Keiko, Sana and Misako conclude that it's what in the heart that defines your family, and that they are truly mother and daughter. After meeting Sana, Keiko asks if it is possible that one day Sana would come to live with her. Sana gently but firmly says that she considers Misako as her mom, although she's grateful to Keiko for bringing her to the world. • Mariko Sakai: • Sana's younger half-sister, who is Keiko's daughter. She appears in a total of four pages, but also on the cover of the final book. She is a fan of Sana, not knowing that Sana is her older half-sister. After meeting Keiko, Sana spends one day having fun at a theme park with Akito, Tsuyoshi and Mariko. Although Sana enjoys her day with Mariko, she realizes that she doesn't feel a familial bond with her or Keiko. Episode 023 of the anime is dedicated to Mariko, where she wanders off to see Sana when a remote for Child's Toy is shot right by her house. She then gets on the channel 108 bus, unbeknownst to everyone but Zenjiro, and then wanders around the studio. Keiko ends up calling Misako for help in finding her "lost" daughter.

• Mikio Ono • Takeshi Matsuyama • Director of the Mizu no Yakata movie Naozumi & Sana starred in. He likes to take risks in his movies that put both himself & his crew in danger. He has long black hair & a huge scar on his face. • Mayu Tobita: • A young singer, about the same age as Sana herself. Tobita is a strict actress who takes her work seriously to the point of being stuck-up. She regards Sana as a rival and finds Sana's laid-back attitude extremely irritating. She also gets jealous when Naozumi talks to Sana. • Tomomi Ayanohanamarukoji: • She appears alongside Mayu. Tomomi is a very quiet girl, but can be persuasive if she wishes to be. She, Mayu, and Sana together form the singing group Sho-Roku-Tai. • Zenjiro: • A regular character in the anime television series, Zenjiro hosts the Child's Toy television series that Sana appears in. His character is a parody of hosts on Japanese television variety shows, and is voiced by the real-life television personality with the same name; he is also shown to have buck teeth. • Miho Obana • The author appears as herself in some of the quiz-show styled recap episodes in the anime. She doesn't say much, only the phrase: "Obana here."

• Ryousuke Kashima: • Misako's ex-husband. He is a gambling addict who kept showing up over and over again asking his ex-wife Misako for money. But in the end he is thrown out by Misako with some random gadget she had recently purchased. • Takeshi Gojo: • As famous male actor and is Sana's pretend-father in the Late Night Murder Mystery Theatre, and later revealed to be her biological father. Not long after they started working together, reporters started believing that they were actually father and daughter (they did not know they actually were yet) and Sana breezily declared that they were lovers which they later become. Takeshi is quite chilled usually. He is funny, and he shares a lot in common with Sana. He speaks slowly and can be very comforting. He enjoys surprising people in the wackiest ways possible; in the series he suffered from a chronic illness which is the reason why he doesn't get very large roles when it comes to his career. His illness catches up with him leading to his death in the anime. • Buraddo • Tatsuya Nakazaki • An American version of Hayama, who lives in New York at Gary Hamilton's mansion. He is the son of the Maid, Ramsey (who looks a lot like Shimura). He looks exactly like Hayama, but with different hair and eye color. He also has complete opposite personality from Hayama. Brad is also arrogant, mischievous and is always seen smiling. He has feelings for Sicil but Sicil likes Naozumi, so this drives Brad to try and scare Naozumi and Sana into returning to Japan. He knows the Hamilton secret. By the end of the New York episode, he begins to like Sana and Naozumi. • Shicheru Hamiruton • Satomi Koorogi • An American female actress who works along with Brad. She's not able to dance because of an accident when she was very young. Brad is love with her and she on the other hand had a crush on Naozomi, but then her feelings changed after she found out that they were blood related.

Some parts of the series are based on Obana's life.

Kodomo no Omocha was originally serialized by Shueisha in the magazine Ribon from August 1994 to November 1998. Shueisha collected the 51 chapters in ten tankōbon volumes from April 1995 to January 1999. The series was published in North America by Tokyopop under the title Kodocha: Sana's Stage from June 25, 2002, to November 11, 2003. In 2006, Tokyopop was not able to renew the license and the English edition became out of print. In 2010, Obana authored a crossover story called Deep Clear in which Sana and Akito interact with characters from Honey Bitter. In 2015, Obana authored a one-shot of Kodomo no Omocha for Ribon magazine's 60th anniversary issue in September. In 2025, she authored an 8-page promotional comic in collaboration with the beauty salon aggregate platform Hot Pepper Beauty.

The crossover story, Deep Clear, was published in 2010, and takes place ten years after the end of Kodocha. Shuri, the heroine of Honey Bitter, is hired by Rei to spy on Akito because he had separated from Sana earlier. At this point, Sana and Akito are married and expecting a child. As she follows Akito, Shuri becomes good friends with Sana. She eventually discovers that the reason Akito separated from Sana is because he is afraid that she will die giving birth. When Sana gives birth, Shuri convinces Akito to face his fears by going to the hospital and seeing Sana and the baby. Sana gives birth to a daughter whom she names Sari. After their daughter's birth, Sana and Akito reconcile and begin raising their daughter together.

A special one-shot was published in the September 2015 issue of Ribon in order to celebrate the magazine's 60th anniversary. The story takes place between February and March of Volume 4 of Kodocha, after Misako's first essay has been published but before Sana begins middle school. Gonta, one of Sana's dogs, narrates his daily life in the Kurata household leading up to Sana's twelfth birthday, during which he and the other dogs destroy a gift Akito meant to give to her as they mistrust his intentions. Shimura catches them in the act and informs Sana, leading her to find Akito and thank him for remembering her birthday regardless; she also assures him that she's going to Jinbou Middle School with the rest of their friends, to Akito's secret relief. At home, Sana chastises her dogs and asks Gonta to be a little kinder to Akito, as he is one of her precious friends. Gonta reluctantly agrees, because although he is still wary of Akito, he trusts Sana and wants to protect her happiness.

In March 2025, the beauty salon aggregate platform Hot Pepper Beauty commissioned an 8-page Kodocha promotional comic. It was not serialized in Ribon, but was instead published to Hot Pepper Beauty's Twitter and Instagram accounts. The story takes place during Sana's first year of high school. Sana has just been cast as the female lead in a film (produced by Ono Mikio, who directed Water Palace in the main series). As her first major role since the events of Kodocha, Sana is nervous and only becomes more so when Mikio claims she's lacking something. After discussing it with friends Aya and Fuka, Sana decides to change things up with a haircut, and books an appointment through the Hot Pepper Beauty website. Pleased with the result, she regains her confidence and resolves to work hard on the movie. As she is leaving, Sana runs into her now-boyfriend Akito, and then leaves with her manager Rei for work. Akito enters the same salon for a trim.

An original video animation was produced in 1995 to mark the 40th anniversary of Ribon. An anime adaption was later produced by TV Tokyo and NAS and animated by Studio Gallop, consisting of 102 TV episodes, airing on TV Tokyo and its affiliates from April 5, 1996, to March 27, 1998. The opening theme songs are "7 O'Clock News" by Tokio (episodes 1-44) and "Ultra Relax" by Tomoe Shinohara (episodes 45–102); the ending theme songs are "Panic" by Still Small Voice (episodes 1-39), "Daijo-bu" by Tomoko Hikita (episodes 40–74), and "Pinch (Love Me Deeper)" by Rina Chinen (episodes 75–102). The first 51 episodes covers the elementary school story arc, while the remaining 51 episodes cover the middle school story arc. The series was first licensed by Funimation from NAS, releasing the first 51 episodes on DVD. The series was partially broadcast on American TV in a syndicated Funimation Channel programming block airing on Colours TV and Los Angeles KSCI-DT channel 18.3. The first opening song, "7 O'Clock News", was replaced with "Ultra Relax" due to licensing issues via Johnny & Associates. Discotek Media announced that they had re-acquired the North American rights from ADK Emotions to the series during a live Twitch panel from December 14, 2020, mentioning that 7 O'Clock News would be restored on the upcoming SD Blu-ray release of the first arc in November 2021 as rights issues had been resolved following the death of Johnny Kitagawa. The second arc was released in 2022 as a sub-only release.

A stage play adaptation of Kodocha was announced in the March 2015 issue of Shueisha's Ribon magazine, to be written and directed by Akitaro Daichi, the director of the Kodocha television anime. Sana was portrayed by both Kokoro Okuda and Rio Ogura, and Akito by Yuga Aizawa and Rihito Itagaki. Additional cast members included Sogo Ito as Tsuyoshi Oki, Satsuki Usui and Mio Yoshimura as Natsumi Hayama, and Hiyori Arima, Masahiro Ezaki, Mari Kazama, Wakana Kawai, Keita Takahashi, Miu Takahashi, Mitsuki Nishida, Mirai, and Yumeka Yoshiwara as classmates. The play opened August 20, 2015 via Nelke Planning in Tokyo, and ran for ten days until the 30th.