Hello Kitty to Appear in Crayon Shin-chan’s 1st Episode for the Reiwa Era

Preparations and celebrations for the end of the Heisei Era and the beginning of the Reiwa Era are underway in Japan. On May 1, Crown Prince Naruhito’s Reiwa Era will begin, and along with it are special episodes for some Japanese TV shows. Among these is the long-running children’s TV show Crayon Shin-chan, which will feature a special guest in its May 10 episode. The aforementioned episode, which will be the animated TV series’ first episode for the Reiwa Era, will guest none other than the Japanese pop icon Hello Kitty!

The special episode will be titled “Kitty-chan vs. Burii-chan da zo!”. The episode will show Sanrio’s iconic character encountering an impersonator named Burii-chan. The episode will be set on Puroland, Sanrio’s indoor themed park. Hello Kitty and Shin-chan will team up to save Puroland from the impostor Burii-chan, who will bring trouble to the land.

Producer Hiromi Nakaseko has encouraged fans to look forward to the episode, saying, “Please look forward to the striking collaboration between Shin-chan, Kitty-chan, and Burii-chan to start the new Reiwa era!”

Designed by Yuko Shimizu for Sanrio, Hello Kitty was first included in the company’s character line-up in 1974. Undeniably Sanrio’s most popular character, Hello Kitty has gone on to become a pop culture phenomenon and one of the most recognizable icons to ever come out of Japan. It has gone on to appear in several TV shows, the first being Hello Kitty’s Furry Tail Theater which first aired in 1987. Just last month, Hollywood film outfit New Line Cinema announced that they will be producing Hello Kitty’s first-ever English-language film.

On the other hand, Crayon Shin-chan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshito Usui. It tells the story of Shinnosuke “Shin-chan” Nohara together with his family and is set in Japan’s Saitama Prefecture. It was first serialized in 1990 in Weekly Manga Action; the death of the author, however, in 2009 ended the manga’s original form. The manga series was re-started by Usui’s team in 2010, titled New Crayon Shin-chan. The series’ 27th film, Eiga Crayon Shin-chan Shinkon Ryokō Hurricane Ushinawareta Hiroshi, premiered in Japan last April 19.

Source: Anime News Network