Kodocha

Kodomo no Omocha
Cover of the first manga volume
こどものおもちゃ
(Kodomo no Omocha)
GenreRomantic comedy[1]
Manga
Written byMiho Obana
Published byShueisha
English publisher
MagazineRibon
DemographicShōjo
Original runAugust 1994November 1998
Volumes10 (List of volumes)
Original video animation
Directed byIbu Suzuki
StudioJ.C.Staff
ReleasedDecember 16, 1995
Runtime30 minutes
Anime television series
Directed byAkitaro Daichi
Hiroaki Sakurai
Akira Suzuki
Produced byNoriko Kobayashi
Yoko Matsushita
Written byMiho Maruo
Ryusuke Takahashi
Tomoko Konparu
Music byKeiichi Tomita
Jun Abe
Seiji Muto
StudioStudio Gallop
Licensed by
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo)
English network
Original run April 5, 1996 March 27, 1998
Episodes102 (104 segments) (List of episodes)

Kodomo no Omocha (こどものおもちゃ, "Child's Toy"Kid's Toy"'), also known as Kodocha for short, is a Japanese manga series 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.[2] 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.[3]

In 2020, Discotek Media announced that they have rescue licensed the series for release on SD Blu-ray in 2021.[4]

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 shōjo.[5] At the American Anime Awards held in 2007, it was nominated for best comedy anime.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference dvd1review was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Tokyopop Out of Print". Archived from the original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2006.
  3. ^ "Funimation Discontinues 4 DVD, Blu-ray Titles". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  4. ^ @discotekmedia (December 15, 2020). "Kodocha! Coming to SD-BD next year!..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ "Kodansha Manga Award". Archived from the original on August 16, 2007. Retrieved August 24, 2007.
  6. ^ "American Anime Awards Finalists Announced". Anime News Network. Retrieved May 22, 2019.