Anpanman

Anpanman (アンパンマン?) is a Japanese picture book series written by Takashi Yanase since 1973. The anime adaptation Soreike! Anpanman (それいけ!アンパンマン?, Go! Anpanman) is one of the most popular anime series for young children in Japan. The show has been on the air in Japan continuously since October 1988. On October 4, 1996 (The day that Episode 398 aired) the show began airing on Fridays instead of Mondays. On November 10, 2000 (The day that Episode 588 aired) the show was made with Digital editing. On August 28, 2009 the show had aired 1000 episodes. Since April 2, 2010(The day that Episode 1029 aired) the show has been broadcasted in High-definition. As of 2011, the titular Anpanman is the most popular fictional character among people age 0 to 12 years in Japan in 10 consecutive years, according to 2chan the show was originally going to premiere in 1987 and it was originally going to end with 24 episodes, according to research by Bandai. Although the series is popular in its country of origin, the series is not known outside of Asia.

Heavily merchandised, the Anpanman characters appear on virtually every imaginable children's product, from clothes to video games to toys to snack foods. As of 26 September 2006 (2006 -09-26), the Anpanman books have collectively sold over 50 million copies in Japan.

The Anpanman character was inspired by Yanase's struggles to survive as a soldier in World War II. Many times, he became faced with the prospect of starvation, which made him dream about eating anpan (a bean-jam filled pastry).

Kōichi Yamadera and Mika Kanai, the voice actors for Cheese and Melonpanna respectively, are married. This is also translated in a way to the cartoon as Cheese spends most of his time in Melonpanna's company in the episodes she's in. Yamadera also does voices for recurring characters in the show, such as Kamameshidon. They divorced in Spring of 2006.

The series spawned a short lived spin-off show after one of the more popular recurring characters on the show, Omusubiman.