Anpanman is a superhero that saves the world by making sure everybody has plenty to eat. Kids in the West may not know who Anpanman is, but there’s no kid in Japan who doesn’t love him. When the bellies of the forest’s little fuzzy animals start grumbling, he arrives to save the day.
Anpanman has been the most popular cartoon character among Japanese kids for years. His showSoreike! Anpanman (それいけ！あんぱんまん – Let’s go! Anpanman) is on every morning and most little tots (mine included) are addicted to it.
He’s made of a popular treat in Japan called anpan (アンパン). This is a pastry filled with the sweet bean paste anko (アン子). Supposedly, the creator of Anpanman was a soldier in World War 2 who spent many days in hunger, dreaming that he had anpan to munch on. Thus, the character was born.
Anpanman’s powers and weaknesses
Of course, like all great superheroes, he can fly. But his real power is the ‘anpunch‘ (アンパンチ). It’s…a really strong punch. But it knocks out his enemies and restores peace to the forest. It’s also a technique that’s mastered by his tiny fans and delivered to their enemies as well.
His main weakness is that whenever he sees a hungry animal in the forest, he rips off a chunk of his face and says to them, ‘Here, eat a piece of my face.’ It’s always right after he does this that the villains strike. Without a significant portion of his head, he’s weak—he says, “chikara ga denai” (力が出ない – I’ve lost my power), and his sidekicks arrive with a newly baked head for him.
Friends and enemies
Anpanman’s base of operations is a bakery run by Jamu-Ojisan (ジャムおじさん – Uncle Jam), his sidekick Batako-san (ばたこさん) and a dog named simply Chiizu (チーズ, cheese), where they bake him a new head whenever he needs it.
His main villain is the wicked Baikinman (バイキンマン) and his sidekick Dokinchan (ドキンちゃん). These two wander the forest in little UFOs and try to steal everybody’s food. Baikinman is a purple and black suited villain with antennas who I think is supposed to look like a germ (baikin means germ), while Dokinchan is some kind of sexy cat-girl.
Anpanman has many superhero friends who help him fight evil and most of them are based on other food items. The ones you see most often are Shokupanman (食パン – sliced bread),Melonpanna-chan (メロンパン – melon bread), and Karepanman (カレーパン – curry-filled pastry), who spits spicy curry at his enemies.
They’ve got characters for all kinds of Japanese foods, as well as foods from other countries likeHanbaagaa Kiddo (ハンバーガーキッド – Hamburger Kid), a hamburger-headed cowboy, Seniooru Takosu (セニオールタコス – Senor Taco), a maraca-shaking and sombrero-wearing Mexican stereotype, and Chaahan Ouji (チャーハン王子 – Prince Fried Rice). In the history of the show, there have been around 1,800 characters, putting it in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Anpanman is everywhere and every small child in Japan loves him. With his big, round face and the show’s theme of food and eating, there’s no way it can miss. And don’t forget about the merchandising—there are whole aisles of toy stores devoted to nothing but Anpanman goods.
