Atashin'chi

Atashin'chi (Japanese: あたしンち, Hepburn: Atashinchi, short for "atashi no uchi", literally my home or my family, in feminine and spoken form) is a comedy manga by Eiko Kera, and an anime adaptation that was produced from 2002 to 2009. It is an episode-based animated sitcom of the daily experiences of a family of four (the Tachibana family). The series won the 42nd Bungeishunjū Manga Award in 1996.

Characters

The Tachibanas

• Father (Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata)
  • A salaryman who works in Downtown Tokyo. He is the characteristic middle-aged Japanese working man who is a heavy beer drinker, smokes often, and frequents the pachinko parlors. However, he finds the time to be there for his family, and is often helpful on his Sundays off. He drives a blue hatchback coupe, but commutes to work by commuter train.
  • He is portrayed as a naïve, sometimes mischievous, yet thoughful person. He likes quiet surroundings and a clean house. He sometimes pines the days when his children were young, and has a way with babies. However, he is mostly a stoic person, and often shows no emotion and speaks mostly one-word phrases.
    • His mother died shortly before the birth of his son, Yuzuhiko. He was on an airplane bound for ÅŒita to visit her in the hospital while his mother died. He uncharacteristically shows emotion for the first time since he married Mother by crying at her butsudan.
  • He was born in ÅŒita Prefecture, and speaks in a "country" accent, despite his occupation.

• Mother (maiden name: Midori Imaji 今治 ç¿  Imaji Midori, see episode 99 on Mother's signature on her calligraphy; Voiced by: Kumiko Watanabe)
  • A modern-day Japanese housewife, who prides herself on a clean home, a balanced budget, and a frugal yet "tasty" dinner. Although at times she finds nifty tricks to multitask and consolidate household chores (like vacuuming the rug and waxing the wooden floor all at once), she is awfully clumsy and gets herself into sticky situations from losing control. Despite her hard work, she is also known for being somewhat lazy by taking copious afternoon naps, watching TV while eating senbei, and skimping out on shopping and/or cooking on rainy days.
  • She often steps out on shopping trips and afternoon teas with her good friends Mrs. Mizushima and Mrs. Toyama. Additionally, they often take part in activities with (the more affluent) Mrs. Misumi. They often envy Mrs. Misumi's "rich" lifestyle and try to find "affordable ways" to be more stylish and upbeat.
  • Her hobbies include shodou and cooking and eating chikuwa.
  • She was also born in ÅŒita Prefecture. Her childhood name was "Banban". Although she had a childhood friend (that she liked a lot and hoped to marry), she was placed into an Omiai arranged marriage and married Father.
  • She is also a very strict mother to her two children, and tries to have them waste less money/electricity/food, etc. Although she tries to make herself look more upbeat, she is very traditional in thinking when it comes to her daughter Mikan. (She won't allow pierced ears, staying out late for Karaoke, excessive fashions, and values housework over homework.) She is sweet on her younger son, however, and often lets him slide with things Mikan can't get away with.

• Mikan (立花 みかã‚" Mikan Tachibana, Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa)
  • A 17-year old high school student, and is the intended "main protagonist" of the series. (The "atashi" (me) in the title.) She goes to school in a public high school, which unfortunately is a long, stressful commute away. She is portrayed as an easy-going, relaxed girl who likes to have fun. Often very maiden-like, but other times very tomboyish, she goes through every day with some funny thing happening.
  • Her best friends in high school consist of the "adult"-like Shimi-chan (her last name Shimizu), who always stays calm and collected, and always has good advice from diets to dealing with parents; and Yukarin (her first name Yuka), who loves karaoke and introduces Mikan to the "cuter" things in life.
  • Mikan has a crush on the bishōnen-type Iwaki. Although she wants to confess her feelings to him, she is often foiled by his best friend, Yoshioka, whose wisecracks get under Mikan's skin.
    • What's worse is that Mikan and Yoshioka have attended the same academies since Elementary School, and people (including her own Mother) persuade her to date Yoshioka. At times, when she looks in the direction of Iwaki and Yoshioka, Shimi-chan gets the wrong idea and assumes Mikan is staring at Yoshioka, not Iwaki.
  • She "gets-by" in school, is horrible at taking notes, and is a heavy sleeper, which unfortunately makes her late to school. She also has a habit of falling asleep through homework assignments, causing her to have no choice but to submit incomplete assignments.
  • Her interests include karaoke, eating sweets (although she dislikes chocolate cake), and admiring/creating teddy bears.
    • She is part of her high school's "Bear Brigade" (composed of the wealthy, fashionable Rio; the geeky-yet-romantically-involved Nitta; and best friends Kajii and Asada), who create original teddy bears, perform teddy bear acts, and admire expensive teddy bear toys.
  • Her goal in life is to become a famous teddy bear and/or fashion designer. According to her mother, she taught herself how to sew on buttons (through observation) at the age of 3. She once fancied being a breadmaker, but lost interest soon after.
  • She is often bogged down by her Mother's rules, which inhibit her allowance, her fashions, her curfew, and mostlyâ€"her simple boxed lunches. She is frustrated that her Mother lets her younger brother get away with some rules, however, she often (and cleverly) makes her case.

• Yuzuhiko (立花 ユズãƒ'コ Yuzuhiko Tachibana, Voiced by: Daisuke Sakaguchi)
  • A second-year junior high school student who is very studious and forward-thinking. He is innovative and his brain far exceeds his age. He tends to find solutions to the family's (common) mishaps. Yuzuhiko is far more intelligent than Mikan.
  • He enjoys playing video games and listening to music. His secret pastime is admiring the fictional idol Marumi Maruno. He collects photos, magazines, and keepsakes related to her. However, he keeps this secret from his family (in fear of ridicule) and his friends (since they prefer other idols aside from Maruno).
  • He has a love for Mayonnaise, and is very picky about which brand his pennypinching mother buys.
  • Although he reveres in the fact that his Mother is sweet on him, he hates all the attention she gives him. He prefers to be treated more as an adult, and to not be called "Yuu-chan" anymore.
  • At school, he does well and gets very good marks, but is often intimidated by his teacher, Miss Hara.
  • He also has many friends, and is seen as one of the more popular students.
    • His best friend is Fujino, who shares his interests in books, music, and games. However, Fujino is seen as more of a boke to Yuzuhiko's tsukkomi, by acting very immature and childish. Fujino has a crush on Mikan, which disturbs Yuzuhiko. (He even goes as far as to tell Fujino about Mikan's "disgusting" traits, only to get caught and scolded loudly by Mikan.) His other friends include the timid Nasuo Arai, who at one point shared his love for Marumi Maruno, but then changed his mind; the popular girl Sudou, who makes friends with everyone; and the "unique" Yuri Ishida, whose appearance and weird quirks seem to repel the other classmates, yet attract the attention of Yuzuhiko, Fujino, and Sudou.
    • He also has a "Fan Club", which was founded by Sayu Kawashima, who has a strong crush on Yuzuhiko. She comes up with many ways to convey her feelings to him, but those plans always get foiled, often by Yuri Ishida. He considers Ishida to be her "rival", even though Ishida shows no interest in Yuzuhiko. At times, she gets into situations where Yuzuhiko "saves" her (by catching her when she falls, or bumps into him), which result in a lovestruck scurry. The other member of the "Fan Club" is her best friend, Yamashita. Yamashita is often the voice of reason or gives her the (much-needed) reality check that that calms Kawashima down.
      • In one note-worthy moment, after seeing Yuzuhiko's charicature drawing of Kawashima (which turned out terrible), Kawashima gave up her feelings for him, but after Yuzuhiko's apology and explanation that he intended the doodle to be "cute", Kawashima regained her feelings.
      • Aside from his nickname, Yuzupii, the "Fan Club" refer to him by the code name "Hibari-chan" (Little Skylark). This comes from a mass string of word association. (Tachibana Yuzuhiko [his name]-->Yuzu Miso [a citrus-based condiment]-->Miso [bean paste]-->Misora Hibari [enka singer]-->Hibari [Skylark].

The family name, in earlier manga printings and in early TV episodes, was spelled using kanji as 立花. However, when the series reached international acclaim, especially in China, the spelling changed to katakana as タチバナ. This is an homage to Mikan's name in Chinese translations. (Mikan: Chinese: 花橘子; pinyin: huā júzǐ, in which the character (橘) can be pronounced by itself as "Tachibana" in Japanese.

Mother's acquaintances

• Grandma (ばーちゃã‚")
• Grandpa (じーちゃã‚") (Hiroshi Ito)
• Mrs. Mizushima (水島(みずしま)) (Rikako Aikawa)
• Mrs. Toyama (戸山(とやま)) (Sakiko Tamagawa)
• Mrs. Misumi (三è§'(みすみ)) (Nana Yamaguchi)
• Mrs. Mori (森(ã‚‚ã‚Š))
• Mrs. Suzuki (鈴木(すずき))
• Beautician (美容師)
• Landlady (大家)
• Machiko (Affectionately called Smile-Lady, Hohoemi-san) (まちã"/ほほえみさã‚")
• Ino-sama (猪さま)

Mikan's acquaintances

• Shimichan (しみちゃã‚") (Kaori Matoi)
• Yukarin (ゆかりã‚") (Haruna Ikezawa)
• Asada (æµ…ç"°(あさだ) (Harumi Asai)
• Kajii (梶井(かじい)
• Rio (理央(りお)) (Makiko ÅŒmoto)
• Nitta (æ–°ç"°(にった)
• Nitta's boyfriend (æ–°ç"°ã®å½¼æ°)
• Yoshioka (吉岡(よしおか) (YÅ«suke Numata)
• Iwaki (岩木(いわき) (Hikaru Midorikawa)
• Nobara (のばら)
• Mie (ミエ)
• Fubuki Haruyama (春山 ふぶき(はるやま ふぶき)) (Rie Tanaka)
• Ooyama (大山(おおやま)
• Murakami (æ'上(むらかみ)å…ˆç"Ÿ)
• Miyajima (宮嶋(みやじま)å…ˆç"Ÿ)
• Ogawa (小川(おがわ)å…ˆç"Ÿ)
• English teacher (英語の先ç"Ÿ)
• Ichiko Yoshida (吉ç"° 一子(よしだ いちã"))
• Oyama (小山(おやま)
• Aki (アキ)

Yuzuhiko's acquaintances

• Fujino (藤野(ふじの)) (Kappei Yamaguchi)
• Sayu Kawashima (川島 ç´—ç"±(かわしま さゆ)) (Wasabi Mizuta)
• Yamashita (山下(やました)) (Yōko Teppōzuka)
• Yuri Ishida (石ç"° ゆり(いしだ ゆり)) (Etsuko Kozakura)
• Sudou (須藤(すどう)) (Kyōko Hikami)
• Friend 1 (友é"1)
• Nasuo Arai (新井 ナスオ(あらい なすお))
• A-ko (A子(えーã"))
• B-ko (B子(びーã"))
• Hara-sensei (原(はら)å…ˆç"Ÿ) (Noriko Uemura)
• PE teacher (ä½"育の先ç"Ÿ)
• Teacher (老師)
• Marumi Maruno (丸野 丸美(まるの まるみ))

Others

• Next episode announcer (次回予å'Šã‚¢ãƒŠã‚¦ãƒ³ã‚µãƒ¼)

Guest stars

• Shinnosuke Nohara (野原しã‚"のすã'): Character from Crayon Shin-chan.
• Baku Oowada (大å'Œç"°ç), Youko Ooshita (大下容子), Masahiro Sasaki (佐々木正洋): Characters from Wide Scramble.
• Ian Thorpe (イアン・ソープ)
• Kenjirou Ishimaru (石丸謙二郎): A voice actor.
• Kyōko Koizumi (小泉今日子)

Opening and ending themes

Openings

1. 「さらば」/"Saraba" by Kinmokusei (Episodes 1â€"142)
2. 「あたしンちのå"„」/"Atashin'chi no Uta" by Kyōko Koizumi (Episodes 143â€"297)
3. 「プロリンサイズ♪」/"Purorin Size" by Morisanchuu (Episodes 298â€"330)

Endings

1. 「来て来てあたしンち」/"Kite Kite Atashin'chi" by Aya Hirayama, adapted from Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches (Episodes 1â€"161, 328)
2. 「Let's Go! あたしンち」/"Let's Go! Atashin'chi" by The Tachibanas (Kumiko Watanabe, Fumiko Orikasa, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Kenichi Ogata) (Episodes 162â€"232, 329)
3. 「ほっとっとっとな まいにち」/"Hottottotto na Mainichi" by Kigurumichiko (Episodes 233â€"304)
4. 「プロリンサイズ♪」/"Purorin Size" by Morisanchuu (Episodes 305-327)
5. 「さらば」/"Saraba" by Kinmokusei (Episode 330)

• • 「あたしンち」/"Atashin'chi" by Akiko Yano (Movie)

Inserts

1. Karaoke tenkoku (カラオケ天国) by Mikan (Fumiko Orikasa)
2. Jounetsu no akai bara (情熱の赤いバラ) by Mother (Kumiko Watanabe)

References

External links

• (Japanese) Official homepage (TV Asahi)
• (Japanese) Official homepage (Shin'ei Animation)