he show also created new, previously non-existent backstories, as well as significantly different personalities for the characters, including, but not limited to, Penny Milfer's father (who has yet to appear in the series) being physically abusive toward both his wife and daughter, a running gag that the show uses for black humor. The Principal of Shin's school ("Super Happy Fun Time American School" in the dub) has also been substantially changed, becoming a half Gypsy, half Peruvian man with a complicated prior life that includes a stint as a magician, in which he accidentally killed/castrasted scores of audience members. Miss Polly, one of the teachers, has been rewritten as a kinky nymphomaniac, while Shin's schoolmate Georgie (Kazama in Japanese) has been turned into an absurdly hawkish conservative.

The use of modern American pop culture references to a show otherwise dated by the times was also used in Geneon's dub of the Lupin the 3rd 1977 series. Most episodes of the American dub have received a rating of TV-14, for its relatively strong suggestive dialogue (D) and coarse language (L). However, some episodes are rated TV-MA for more offensive language, stronger sexual dialogue, and objectionable humor/content deemed too strong for a TV-14 rating. Outlines of the episodes used by FUNimation can be found online.

Prior to August 1, 2009. FUNimation episodes were streamed online weekly at Adult Swim's free broadband service, Adult Swim Video. Also, the tenth episode that was dubbed used to be available at AdultSwim.com for free as an interactive video. In addition to watching the episode, one could watch video commentary from the FUNimation staff, booth recordings, script comparisons, bios, show artwork, and other special features. This feature however, has since been removed from the website.

English FUNimation version

FUNimation Entertainment acquired the license for the Shin-chan anime in the US as of 2005. As per all international licenses for the series, TV Asahi remained a licensing partner for North America. The new dub received a month-long test run on Adult Swim. Season 1 returned to Adult Swim on April 9, 2007, at a 12:30 am EDT time-slot.

The new dub features a Texas-based cast of voice actors, and English scripts written by television writers Jared Hedges, Joel Bergen, Alex Muniz, and a few part-time writers. Comic and television writers Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer also contributed to the early scripts (episodes 1-6 and 8) for polish/punch-up. The dub is directed by Zach Bolton, and occasionally Laura Bailey.

FUNimation's dubbing of "Shin Chan" takes many liberties with the source material. Since most episodes do not feature extensive continuity, FUNimation has chosen to take advantage of this by producing episodes of the series out of their original order. As a result, characters such as Ai are introduced much earlier than in the series' original Japanese run.

The FUNimation dub is adult-oriented, with many sexual references, dark humor, and references to current popular American culture, the latter of which makes the series appear to be set in the "present day" (2006), rather than in 1992 (the year the series was first broadcast in Japan). For example, in one scene, Ai and Penny argue over which one of them is Jessica Simpson (whose first album was not released until 1999) and which one is Ashlee Simpson (whose first album was not released until 2004), which is very different from the original Japanese script that dealt with many social issues within Japan at the time. At least two episodes reference Rudy Guliani and his unsuccessful bid for President.

English-language adaptations

The Shin-chan anime had an English dub produced by Vitello Productions in Burbank, California in 2002. The dub, with character names changed, ran on Fox Kids (now Disney XD) in the United Kingdom, and on RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland in the early 2000s. The dub is of American origin, with actors and actresses such as Kath Soucie, Russi Taylor, Grey DeLisle, and Pat Fraley playing major roles (Soucie plays Shin himself, and his mother). Despite the American origin, this dub was never licensed in North America. The dub is edited for content to some extent, but many scenes—including the frequent appearance of Shin's naked buttocks, humor relating to breast-size, transsexualism and other sexual concepts—remain in the finished product. RTÉ Two has not shown the series since 2003, and Jetix only usually shows it as shorts in between programs, with more edits. Vitello's dub was succeeded by Phuuz Entertainment inc. in 2003, which featured a new cast of voice artists.

Some other humorous themes which are repeated in the series are of a more universal nature, such as gags based on physical comedy (such as eating snow with chopsticks) or, as a child, unexpectedly using adult speech patterns or mannerisms. But even there, many of the gags may require an understanding of Japanese culture and/or language to be fully appreciated; for example, his infamous "Mr. Elephant" impression, while being transparently obvious as a physical gag, also has a deeper resonance with contemporary Japanese culture since it references the popular Japanese children's song "Zou-san" (ぞうさん). Shin-chan regularly becomes besotted with pretty female characters who are much older than him, and an additional source of humor is derived from his child-like attempts at wooing these characters, such as by asking them (inappropriately, on several levels) "Do you like green peppers ?" (ピーマン好き?). He continually displays a lack of tact when talking to adults asking such questions as "How many people have you killed?" to tough looking men or, "When are you going to die?" to elderly people.

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. The show works under a sliding timescale where the characters have maintained their ages throughout the course of the show. Though time has passed to allow for the rise and fall of several pop culture icons, marriages, pregnancies, and births of various characters, all the characters still maintain their age at the time of their introduction. For example, if the two major births in the series are taken into account (Shinnosuke's sister and his kindergarten teacher's child), Shinnosuke would be seven years old and in second grade, but he is not.

Yoshito Usui died on September 11, 2009 after a fall at Mount Arafune. After Usui died, Futabasha originally planned to end Crayon Shin-chan in November 2009. Upon discovery of new manuscripts, Futabasha decided to extend the comic's run until the March 2010 issue of the magazine, which shipped on February 5, 2010.

Basic information

Crayon Shin-chan first appeared in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action, which is published by Futabasha. The anime Crayon Shin-chan has been on TV Asahi since April 13, 1992, and on several television networks, worldwide.

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. Consequently, non-Japanese readers and viewers may find it difficult to understand his jokes. In fact, some of them cannot be translated into other languages. In Japanese, certain set phrases almost always accompany certain actions; many of these phrases have standard responses. A typical gag involves Shin-chan confounding his parents by using the wrong phrase for the occasion; for example, saying "Welcome back!" ("おかえりなさい" "okaeri nasai") instead of "I'm home!" ("ただいま" "Tadaima") when he comes home. Another difficulty in translation arises from the use of onomatopoeic Japanese words. In scolding Shin-chan and attempting to educate him in proper behaviour his parent or tutor may use such a phrase to indicate the correct action. Often through misinterpreting such a phrase as a different, though similar sounding phrase, or through interpreting it in one sense when another is intended, Shin-chan will embark on a course of action which, while it may be what he thinks is being requested of him, leads to bizarre acts which serve only to vex his parents or tutors even more. This is not restricted to onomatopoeic words, since almost any word can become a source of confusion for Shin-chan, including English loan-words, such as mistaking "cool" for "pool" ("That's pool!" or "プールだぞ！ (Pu-ru da zo!)" for "That's cool!").

Crayon Shin-chan

Crayon Shin-chan (クレヨンしんちゃん Kureyon Shin-chan^?, also known as Shin-chan) is a Japanese manga and anime series written byYoshito Usui.

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

Due to the death of author Usui, the manga in its current form ended on September 11, 2009, as announced in a broadcast of the anime on October 16, 2009. Although the series formally ended on February 5, 2010, it was announced on December 1, 2009 that a new manga would be published in the summer of 2010 by members of Usui's team.