Kodocha

Kodocha
File:Kodocha.jpg The characters in Kodocha
Genre	Comedy
Manga
Written by	Miho Obana
Published by	Shueisha Tokyopop
Anime
Story arc one
Directed by	Akitaro Daichi
Studio	Studio Gallop/NAS
Anime
Story arc two
Directed by	Hiroaki Sakurai
Studio	Studio Gallop/NAS
Anime
Studio	Studio Gallop/NAS

Kodocha: Sana's Stage, known in Japan as Kodomo no Omocha (こどものおもちゃ), is a manga written and drawn by Miho Obana, helped periodically by her sister, Kaori Obana. The manga was adapted into an OVA and later into an anime series.

Kodocha is published in the United States in English by TOKYOPOP as Kodocha: Sana's Stage. The anime was licensed for North American distribution by FUNimation and currently airs as part of the FUNimation programming block on CoLours TV.

Characters

'Front Page' Characters

Front Page characters are those who are depicted in the front page of the book, which lists the main cast. Alternatively, in the anime, they are presented by a clip show at the start. Although the book primarily follows Sana, when work takes over, the storyline at school continues without her (much to her shock when she returns, that life carries on without the main character being there!)

Sana Kurata (倉田紗南 Kurata Sana) (English voice actress: Laura Bailey) is an 11-year-old child star at the beginning of the series. She is an exuberant and cheerful girl. She just began 6th grade and is having a hard time at school, because a boy named Akito Hayama is causing chaos in her classroom, and she sets out to stop him and bring peace to her world. However, she soon learns that there is more to Akito than it seems. As she begins to feel compassion for Akito, the boy she used to hate, her mother Misako sweetly says to Sana, "You've grown up just as I had idealized."

Sana began her acting career at the Kowamari Theater Troupe, and now stars in a popular variety program called "Child's Toy," as well as television commercials. During the course of the series, her career flourishes, and she stars in TV dramas and a feature film among other projects. Sana also deals with many ups-and-downs of show business, such as competitive co-stars, rabid fans, zealous paparazzi, false rumors in tabloids, ruthless talent managers who try to poach her, and even an imposter. During the course of the story, it is revealed that Sana was a foundling who was adopted by Misako. Later on in the story she meets her natural parents.

Akito Hayama (羽山秋人 Hayama Akito) (English voice actor: Jerry Jewell) is the troublemaker who is causing chaos in Sana's 6th grade class. A sullen boy of few words, he is physically strong, and has a powerful karate chop. Akito's mother died when giving birth to him, which leads to his older sister Natsumi resenting him, frequently becoming angry with Akito and calling him "devil boy." In addition, Akito has a distant relationship with his father, who works long hours. As a result, Akito is not home often and usually eats junk food for dinner. These factors contribute to his delinquent behavior. Akito is disrespectful towards most adults in general, but upon meeting Sana's formidable mother, he speaks to her with deference. Despite his troublemaking ways, Akito is smart and gets good grades.

After he butts heads with Sana several times, Sana succeeds in subduing Akito after blackmailing him, the same way he was blackmailing their teacher. But once the initial blackmailing passes, Akito comes to regret his misbehavior, and his friendship with Sana continues to open his heart. Sana also helps him have a better relationship with his family, after which they become even closer. Although he has his childish moments (he has a very funny habit of kicking stuff when he's frustrated), he has had to grow up fast due to his tough home life. Smiling rarely, and laughing almost never, several characters note that Akito's eyes are not that of a child. Although capable of cruelty, Akito has his own code of honor: even the teacher who he terrorizes will admit that Akito will never lie, and Akito refuses to pretend to be nice to anyone he doesn't like or respect. Akito's most effusive expression of love is "I don't hate it," which he reserves for his beloved sushi, dinosaurs, and Sana.

Inspired in part by Sana's devotion to her acting career, Akito begins to take karate classes. Towards the end of the story, Akito suffers an injury and is unable to move his hand. Then he moves to America due to his father's job, and the resulting shock triggers Sana's illness. When he returns to Japan in the final issue, Akito has become a champion child karate fighter, as well as being able to speak flawless English.

Tsuyoshi Ohki (大木剛 Ōki Tsuyoshi), later Tsuyoshi Sasaki (佐々木剛 Sasaki Tsuyoshi) (English voice actor: Greg Ayres) is Akito's best friend at school. He is a soft-spoken child and quite intelligent. (Miho Obana revealed that originally she was going to make him a psychic.) Although usually gentle, when Tsuyoshi gets extremely angry, he flies into a rage and begins to attack everything - and usually only Akito can subdue him. Tsuyoshi plays a very background role in the manga, but at the beginning he is Akito's rival for Sana's love. Later, his parents divorce, and he has to cope with being a father figure as well as a big brother to his little sister.

Aya Sugita (杉田亜矢 Sugita Aya) (English voice actress: Monica Rial) is one of Sana's friends, and later Tsuyoshi's girlfriend. She is a quiet and sweet girl, with a good deal of common sense. Aya and Tsuyoshi become a sickeningly sweet "love-love" couple.

Fuka Matsui (松井風花 Matsui Fūka) is not in the earlier books, but is introduced later in the series when everyone begins junior high school. Fuka just moved back to Tokyo after living in Osaka, and she and Sana become best friends. It is revealed that Akito went to kindergarten with Fuka, and kissed her when they were five. Although Fuka initially hates Akito for stealing her first kiss, after getting to know him better, she is impressed by his blunt honesty and logical point-of-view. Fuka dates Akito when Sana goes to shoot a movie. Eventually, Fuka realizes that Akito really loves Sana, so she breaks up with him. Although their relationship did not work out, Akito and Fuka genuinely appreciated each other.

Naozumi Kamura (加村直澄 Kamura Naozumi) (English voice actor: Chris Patton) is also a child actor, and another competitor for Sana's love. Naozumi has a history with Sana: when they were babies, they both spent time together at the Kamura orphanage, and when Sana's illness was triggered at a young age, Naozumi is the one who helped her recover (although at the time, Sana thought Naozumi was a girl due to his long hair). At the end of the series, Naozumi makes the painful decision to give up his love for Sana, but remains her loyal friend. In the final book, Naozumi leaves the country to film another movie and advance his career.

In the anime, Naozumi is central to a major story arc in which he and Sana travel to New York City to be featured in a Broadway musical. During this trip, Naozumi unexpectedly encounters both of his birth parents. The trauma of these events bring him and Sana closer.

Misako Kurata (倉田美紗子 Kurata Misako) (English voice actress: Colleen Clinkenbeard), Misprinted as "Mariko" in English translation of the manga, Sana's "Mama" is Sana's adoptive mother. Misako is a beautiful, intelligent, and indomitable woman. She married a no-good gambling addict at age 18, and divorced him at 20. After her divorce, she decided that being normal just wasn't "her," and began wearing kimonos, wearing her hair in odd ways, and felt liberated by being eccentric. She found Sana on a park bench and took her to the Kamura orphanage until she officially adopted her. When Sana was only five, Misako vows to be a famous author, and asks Sana to become better known than the average girl by becoming a small-time actress, so that they could find Sana's real mother one day. Misako and Sana are successful in their efforts beyond their original goals: Misako becomes an award-winning novelist, and Sana becomes one of the most popular child stars of her day. Misako then writes a controversial book named "My Daughter and I," hoping to find Sana's real mother.

Misako loves Sana deeply, and raises Sana with a balance between discipline and letting her be independent, thereby teaching her not to be a spoiled child. While Misako lets Sana make much of her own decisions, she will also not let Sana avoid the consequences of her actions. And when it comes time for Sana to realize that Rei is not her boyfriend, Misako holds nothing back, despite knowing that Sana will be hurt and humiliated. Misako also takes a liking to Akito: after learning that Akito kissed Sana, Misako tells him (to Rei's great shock), "Do it as much as possible. It's fun!"

Although Misako is a wise woman, she has a very goofy side to her, and loves to torture her editor, the much-abused Mr. Onda. Misako has a much larger part in the anime, due to her crazy ways being very amusing when animated.

Rei Sagami (相模玲 Sagami Rei) (English voice actor: John Burgmeier) is Sana's manager. After being dumped by his girlfriend, dropping out of college, and his parents' death, he hits bottom and becomes a homeless person. While begging on the streets, Sana finds him and brings him home much like she does with stray dogs (they own three). Misako decided to keep him around the house, and he has lived there ever since, working as Sana's manager. Sana declares him as her "pimp" after reading a book which included the word, although she does not understand what it really means. In addition, Sana thinks of Rei as her boyfriend. Later, Akito tells Sana that Rei is playing with her, and sees her simply as a little girl wanting to play. Misako lets Sana know that Rei cannot be her boyfriend. This leaves Sana devastated. But after she gets over her heartbreak, Rei remains her manager and her friend.

Asako Kurumi (来海麻子 Kurumi Asako) (English voice actress: Luci Christian) is a popular actress. She is also Rei's girlfriend who dumped him to concentrate on her acting career, which partly triggered his downward spiral to homeless bum. She did not know that Rei would end up homeless. When she finds Rei again, she wants to get back together, but Rei says that he belongs to Sana now, and can't be with Asako until Sana grows up. When Sana realizes (with Akito's help) that Rei is not her "pimp" nor her boyfriend, Asako and Rei reunite. Asako continues to recur until the end of the series.

Secondary Characters

Maro is the name of Misako's pet squirrel that lives in her hair. Although Sana often asks why Mama has a squirrel in her hair, what Misako doesn't tell her is that it was actually Sana's idea for him to live there. In the English dub, Maro is referred to as a chipmunk.

Babbit (anime only) is a little white bat who also looks like a rabbit (bat + rabbit = Babbit). He is the often sarcastic narrator, and normally invisible to the characters. His purpose is to break the fourth wall by explaining the show to the viewers, but the characters sometimes see him, resulting in comic moments. Babbit's image also appears as a brand image on many items in the show.

Zenjiro (anime only) (English voice actor: Sonny Strait) is the teacher in the TV program 'Child's Toy,' which also stars Sana. Although 'Child's Toy' is mentioned in the books, the teacher is not a character. Zenjirou is hyper and loud, with large buck teeth; he is apparently based on a real-life TV personality.

Uchiyamada (anime only) is an overweight child actor who is also in 'Child's Toy.' Uchiyama is normally there when Zenjirou appears.

Shizuka (anime only) is Misako's mother and Sana's grandmother. She runs the Kurata family's hot spring spa in Kusatsu which she regularly attempts to pass on to Misako or Sana (normally by trying to get one of them to marry someone from Kusatsu) because she has no other heirs.

Kitagiri (anime only) is Shizuka's right-hand man. Rei often tries to compete with him so if Sana gets ownership of the spa, Rei could take Kitagiri's job.

Noboru Tokiyama (anime only) is a young boy from Kusatsu who Shizuka tried to fix up with Sana. He appears irregularly thereafter.

Natsumi Hayama (English voice actress: Caitlin Glass) is Akito's older sister. Natsumi is an avid Sana-fan. As a result of grief and stress from growing up without a mother and having to take care of a younger brother, Natsumi is pretty mean to Akito and accuses him of causing their mother's death. She often yells at him and calls him a "devil." After Sana scolds her and her father, and Natsumi watches a TV drama that Sana filmed, Natsumi realizes that they are mistreating Akito, and starts being nicer to him.

Mr. Hayama (English voice actor: Randy Tallman) is Akito's father. He is a business executive who works long hours and is seldom home. Although it seems in the beginning that he is a bad father, Mr. Hayama turns out to be a good father who was simply unaware of the bad relationship between his children because he was working too hard. After realizing Akito's suffering, and also becoming ill due to working too hard, he begins to spend more time at home. When Akito gets into various scrapes during the series, Mr. Hayama always believes in his son and supports him, even when no one else does.

Mr. Hayama is very sedate and soft-spoken, but the few moments he breaks out of his quiet mode are very funny. He takes a great liking to Sana and develops a goofy habit of talking to the TV whenever she appears.

Mrs. Shimura is a maid who works for the Kurata family. She enjoys her work, and is very close to the Kuratas. She doesn't let Sana cook, since she accidentally used baking soda instead of flour when making cookies.

Gomi is a boy in Sana's 6th grade class. He had long hair, but his father makes him shave it all off when he starts middle school. When Akito decides not to terrorize the teachers anymore, Gomi decides he will be the leader, but gets beat down by Akito (with Sana's one-time permission).

Hisae is one of Sana and Aya's school friends who stays throughout the series. When Sana forgets to attend her birthday party, she becomes very angry and tries to ostracize Sana, but forgives her later.

Rumi is one of Sana's friends, who she wrote on her upper-school friends list.

Mami is one of Sana's friends. She is a quiet girl, with short black hair kept back by a hairband. During Akito's troublemaker days, she calls Akito a "devil," which is a particularly hurtful word for Akito to hear since it's what his sister calls him. Akito gets revenge by getting the other boys to throw Mami into a pond, which causes Sana to become angrier than she's ever been. Mami remains traumatized by this incident for quite a while afterwards. She remains so afraid of Akito that when he tries to talk to her, she screams and cries. But when she sees that Akito regrets the way he's acted in the past, they reach an understanding.

Itomisu is one of the boys in Sana's class at lower school. He has spiked brown hair. He leads the boys in episode 33, alongside Gomi and Kojima.

Yasuda is the cap-wearing boy in Sana's lower school class. He appears irregularly, normally part as a gang led by Hayama or Gomi.

Kojima is a boy in Sana's class at lower school, he has short black hair.

In lower school, Sana's friends include Derumi, who is the one with a large forehead and a side-spit in her almost-black hair (similar to Gomi's), with two short pigtails (which are almost circular) held back with blue borbles, Maika, who has a fringe which hangs down in four thick strands, she has a hair-clip in the left of her brown hair and has two short pig-tails held back by bands, Miko, who keeps her brown hair in two plaits, she has a fringe in the same style as Sana and has thick eyelashes and Erika Has most of her fringe pulled back, but four strands fall down. Her hair is just beyond shoulder length, and is also brown.

Aono Ohki is Tsuyoshi's adorable little sister. She is a fan of Sana. Aono carries around a store-bought egg in the hope that one day it will hatch into a chicken. One day, Sana buys a chick, and swaps it with Aono's egg when she isn't looking. Akito calls Sana an idiot for doing this because someday, Aono will realize what happened, and will feel stupid and humiliated. But Sana insists that as a child you should have dreams, and that the happiness it will bring Aono will be worth the small amount of grief later, because grief goes away, but happy memories are forever.

It is then that Sana realizes that Rei has been pretending to be her boyfriend the same way Sana gave Aono a chick - to let a child dream. This is how Sana finally gets over Rei, and starts to regard him as a friend and manager.

Tomita Mayu is a young singer, about the same age as Sana herself. She appears only briefly in both the manga and the anime, but is often considered an important character regardless (she even appears in the intro of the second series of the anime, despite not even being in it). Tomita is a strict actress who takes her work very seriously, and is a bit stuck-up as a result. She regards Sana as a rival and finds Sana's laid-back attitude extremely irritating.

Ayano Hanamaru Koji Tomomi-chan appears alongside Tomita, also having a part in the intro of the second series despite not being in it. Tomomi is a very quiet girl, but can be persuasive if she wishes to be. Her, Tomita and Sana together form the singing group Sho-Roku-Tai.

Mrs. Kamura is the principal of the Kamura school, a boarding school and home for orphans or abandoned children. Sana was kept there for one month as a baby, although she doesn't remember it. Naozumi also lived there. Naozumi says that, although he now lives with his manager, the Kamura school is his real home, Mrs. Kamura is like his mother, and the other children are like his siblings. When Naozumi was a crybaby as a young child, it was Mrs. Kamura who encouraged Naozumi to take up acting, showing him cheerful Sana on the TV and saying that she was an abandoned child, too.

Keiko Sakai is Sana's birth mother, a very shy and insecure young woman who gave birth to Sana when she was only 14 (her uncle made her pregnant, and she gave birth in a bathtub), when she she was too young and confused. When Misako finally meets her, after Keiko offers proof about her bond to Sana, she slaps Keiko and says that even animals know they have to take care of their offspring, but stil accepts to arrange a meeting with Sana since she thinks it'd be unfair to not allow Sana to know her origins. Sana was worried about meeting Keiko, because she was afraid that Misako would give her up; she finds out that Misako had the same worry, that Sana would leave with Keiko. After meeting Keiko, Sana and Misako conclude that it's what in the heart that defines your family, and that they are truly mother and daughter; Keiko understands this (Sana gently but firmly says that she considers Misako as her mom, though she's still grateful to Keiko for bringing her to the world) and doesn't insist, instead deciding to raise her other daughter Mariko on her own.

Mariko is the name of Sana's little sister, who is Keiko's daughter. She appears in a total of four pages, but also on the cover of the final book. She is a fan of Sana, not knowing that Sana is her older sister. After meeting Keiko, Sana spends one day having fun at the theme park with Akito, Tsuyoshi and Mariko. Although Sana enjoys her day with Mariko, she realizes that she doesn't feel a familial bond with her or Keiko. In the anime, there's a whole episode dedicated to Mariko, where she chases after Sana and gets lost in the city so Keiko recuits Sana and Misako for help.

Takeshi Gojyo (anime only) is Sana's birth father, but he does not know it. Sana is briefly blackballed in the entertainment industry, due to a ruthless talent agency who tries to take Sana away from Rei. During her dry period, she takes the only job she can get, a small role in a low-profile drama. Mr. Gojyo is the small-time actor who plays her father in the movie, and Sana feels an instant connection to him, and begins calling him "Take-chan." They become very close during the filming of the drama without being aware of their true relationship to each other. He eventually found out his true relationship with Sana, but by that time, he was stricken down by a chronic disease and was dying. However, he still managed to get back to the set and completed the climax scene of the drama. But, his disease overtook him, and he died holding Sana in his arms, promising that he will always be with her.

Ishida is an obsessive fan of Sana who goes to the same middle school, noted for his long eye-lashes, large eyebrows and big nostrils, and his tendency to nose-bleed every time he sees Sana. When he asks Sana to date him, Sana lies and says that she is already going out with Naozumi (as was falsely reported in celebrity magazines). Ishida tells the rest of Sana's friends this lie, which eventually leads to Akito giving up on Sana and dating Fuka while Sana is away to shoot her movie.

Mr. Sengoku is Akito's homeroom teacher in middle school. Mr. Sengoku despises Akito and picks on him relentlessly. He believes Akito is a violent and dangerous boy by nature and cannot be changed. Akito, on the other hand, pegs Mr. Sengoku as the unfair and spiteful person he is, and refuses to curry Mr. Sengoku's favor. Mr. Sengoku hits Akito, but will not admit it, and tries on several occasions to get Akito expelled.

Mr. Suzuki is Akito, Tsuyoshi, Aya, Kazuyuki and Gomi (to name a few)'s tutor. He's an all around good guy, an anti-Sengoku.

Yuta Takaishi is the boy that Fuka loved in Osaka. However, when he heard that Fuka had already had her first kiss (during kindergarten, from Akito), he thought that it meant Fuka already had a boyfriend, so he began avoiding her. However, Fuka took this to mean that Takaishi didn't like her, because Akito's kiss had tainted her. When Takaishi comes to visit with a group of Fuka's friends from Osaka, he realizes the truth and asks Fuka out, but she refuses, telling him that it simply wouldn't work with them living in different towns. Fuka waves farewell to Takaishi, and he never appears again.

In the anime, Fuka gives up on Takaishi after meeting his new girlfriend Shizu. But after she breaks up with Akito, and Takaishi breaks up with Shizu, they clear up their misunderstandings and become a couple.

Shizu is a very timid girl from Osaka, where Fuka comes from. She becomes Takaishi's girlfriend, and comes along with a group of Fuka's friends to visit Tokyo. She tearfully begs Fuka to not take Takaishi from her, as she knows that Takaishi truly loves Fuka, and that Shizu herself is too quiet for him. Fuka promises Shizu that she won't take Takaishi.

Kazuyuki Komori is a miserable child. He believes himself to be Akito's friend, and walks with him in the corridor, but later discovers Akito doesn't even know who he is (not even Aya does, and she knows everyone's name). A combination of stress, loneliness and his mother's over-protective nature causes him to attempt suicide. He tries to kill Akito, so they can die together, but finds that he cannot do it. He manages to stab Akito in the arm, making Akito a cripple (who cannot use his arm at all), then collapses in tears. Kazuyuki is mentioned again later: after confronting his mother, he moved away. He is in counseling, is a nicer person as a result, and is Hayama's pen-pal. Kazuyuki does not appear in the anime.

Shota Nakao is the dramatic counterpart to Kazuyuki Komori in the anime. He is a delicate, soft-spoken boy who takes care of his younger brothers to help out his busy parents. He joins Akito's karate club at school because he wants to become strong and cool like Akito. But after their first training session which was too tough for him, Shota becomes sick and misses a day of school, breaking his never-absent record. Akito mistakenly believes that Shota wants to quit the karate club, but is afraid to say so. So Akito tells Shota to quit, which makes Shota feels like he's been kicked out of the club, and it depresses him. He becomes further depressed when Mr. Sengoku, his homeroom teacher, doesn't even remember that Shota is in his class.

Despairing at feeling rejected from the two people he admires the most, Shota starts believing that he's invisible. So Shota writes a 2-page letter to Mr. Sengoku and locks himself up in an old storage shed on campus which was the karate club's meeting place. After going missing for a whole day, he is discovered by Sana and Akito, who, while trying to rescue him get their heads stuck in the window, but all three are eventually found and rescued. After they are rescued, Akito tells Shota that they are alike, because Akito also felt invisible and wanted to die when he was having a tough time with his family.

The first page of Shota's letter mentions Akito, which Mr. Sengoku tries to use to get Akito expelled from school, blaming Akito for making Shota suicidal. But Fuka finds the second page of the letter Mr. Sengoku deliberately hid, which blames Mr. Sengoku for ignoring him. Mr. Sengoku is shamed by this revelation and eventually resigns from school.

Ruma, Gonta and Choco are Sana and Misako's three dogs, who were once strays. Ruma is a small pup with a brown patch over his right eye, and two large spots on his back. Gonta is a large, long-haired white dog. Choco is a pug. They play almost no part in either the anime or the manga.

Books (Manga)

Book 1 - Welcome to the Jungle Gym

Cover Art - Streetwise - Akito, Gomi, Sana and Yasuda

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Hayama, a tough kid, is terrorising Sana's class. When Sana finds out that he has been blackmailing the teachers, she sets out for revenge. Tsuyoshi tells Sana that Hayama's weakness is heights, but just as he is about to confess his love for Sana, the girls have to rush off to save Mami, who Hayama is trying to kill. Sana confronts Hayama, and he pins her up against the wall, telling her not to interfere anymore. After numerous failed attempts, Sana decides that she should try to blackmail Hayama with a photograph (the same way he is doing with the teachers). She enlists Tsuyoshi's help, and stalks Hayama to his home where she finds out more than she wanted to know. Hayama's abusive sister throws him out of the house, and father blanks him. Regardless, Sana gets Tsuyoshi to pull down Hayama's trousers, at which point she takes the photo. After Hayama stops being a jerk, Sana discovers from Tsuyoshi that Hayama's mother died giving birth to him, which is why his family hates him. Coincidently, Sana is doing a movie with a similar plot (where she plays a little girl, who's mother got terminally ill after giving birth to her, and Asako plays an older sister who is abusive). After watching the movie, Hayama's family see how wrong they were, that Hayama's mother gave all of her love, even her life, so that Hayama could live. They start treating him better, and thank Sana helping them.

Mini Story - The Hayama Moth Hayama plays a trick on the forest god, who punishes him by turning into a moth. Hayama turns Sana's mom, Misako, into a moth, too. As a result, Sana and Tsuyoshi go to find the Hayama Moth and are tricked several times. Meanwhile, when Sana and Tsuyoshi are shooting the Hayama Moth,(which is no use because the Hayama Moth and his clones are immortal) Misako takes a bath and is cured.

Book 2 - Love is in the Air

Cover Art - Pretty Young Girl - Sana

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - In this book, Sana gets invited to have an interview with Asako Kurumi. When the interview begins Asako starts to ask questions about Sana's manager. Sana tells Asako about Rei's past and Asako realizes that Rei is the man whom she dumped in college after making a decision of weither she wants to become an actress or stay with Rei. When the interview is over then Sana goes to the car to see Rei. She finds out that he is not there and goes looking for him. Meanwhile, Rei is getting a soda from a vending machine and Asako spots him as she is getting in the car. She calls out his name and chases after him because he is running away from her.She finally corners him in a dark alley and ask him if the rumors are true. When he is about to answer, Sana pops up out of nowhere and starts shouting at Asako for talking to her "gigolo". As Sana is talking, a crowd of fans starts to show up. Rei rushes Sana home and tells her that she's his #1 person in her life to make her stop worrying. When he goes to help make the tea, Sana starts dancing and jumping. All of a sudden, she bumps into the bookcase in Rei's room. A box falls from the book shelf and opens. Sana is surprised to find pictures of Asako Kurumi in the box. She has a harder time believing that she's the #1 person in Rei's life right now.

Mini Story - Childs Toy extra - each character presents the weather and finds an individual ways of completely messing it up.

Book 3 - My Daughter and I

Cover Art - Going to the Ball / Pretty Princess Pink - Sana

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Tsuyoshi and Aono's parents get a divorce, Aya manages to capture Tsuyoshi's heart by getting him a present, Sana's class goes on a trip which includes camping, Sana and Akito share a moment together, Naozumi arrives, doing adverts with Sana, Hayama starts Karate lessons, Mariko publishes a book called 'My Daughter and I' which reveals that Sana is adopted, and Hayama helps Sana to get out of the public eye.

Mini Story - Cool Girl Karen vs Spicy Girl Sana - Sana challenges people on the street to take the Childs Toy challenge: to eat a particularly disgusting food! Karen is chosen from the audience, and is immediately sick- at which point she sticks food down Sana's throat, and she is sick also. The show got the best ratings out of any Childs Toy episode ever. Karen is a crossover from a different comic book.

Book 4 - New Beginnings

Cover Art - Dolled up - Sana (Doll), Hayama (Soldier), a giant teddy bear (Rei).

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Sana learns a lot about her past, Sana's real mother arrives, Hayama and Tsuyoshi provide support for Sana when she meets her real sister and mother, Sana and Mariko spend time together, Naozumi takes Sana to her 'real' home- the Kamura School, Sana hosts a half-birthday at her house*, Hayama and Sana share their first consensual kiss, Sana and her friends begin secondary education.

Mini Story - Oponchi Sisters - Miho Obana gives time to thank her hard working sister.

* A party between two people's birthdays, in this case the date in between Sana and Hayama's birthday. They could not celebrate Hayama's birthday as it is the day his mother died also

Book 5 - Tabloid Romance

Cover Art - School Uniform Sana - Sana

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Fuka explains to her friends at lunch about how she went to Kindergarten with Hayama and Tsuyoshi and Hayama stole her first kiss, which broke up the relationship between Fuka and Takaishi. Sana and Fuka join the gymnastics club, then their class goes on a field trip to the zoo, where Hayama shows Sana a beautiful scenery, and Tsuyoshi and Sana talk about how Sana has no confidence or time for her love life, and she won't believe Hayama loves her unless he says so himself. Also, Hayama catches some popularity from other girls. The next day, Sana has a press conference with the rest of the cast for "Mansion of Water". Ishida asks out Sana, but Sana lies and says its true she's going out with Naozumi like the tabloids say, to get Ishida to go away. Right before Sana leaves on the bus to location to shoot the movie, Hayama sees her off, shows her his brand new brown belt he just achieved in Karate, and is about to confess, but says he'll talk to her when she gets back in a few months. Hayama begins longing for Sana, while she begins shooting in the mountains. When Fuka finds out Takaishi and her old friends from Osaka are coming to Tokyo to visit, she asks Hayama to pretend to be her boyfriend to show off in front of Takaishi, which makes their ties with each other more friendly. Sana is enjoying her work on location but at the end of the book, gets attacked by Naozumi's jealous fans.

Mini Story -

Book 6 - Fiery Feelings

Cover Art - 'Never Give Up' - Sana

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Sana ends up with a broken leg from Naozumi's jealous girl fans, which makes filming harder for her. Naozumi is extremely upset about this, but Sana tells him she's mad also, but not to worry about it and keep filming. Hayama finds out Sana and Naozumi are dating from a magazine and from Ishida. Fuka asks Hayama to be her boyfriend. Sana gets the director's cell phone and is able to make a call. She calls Hayama right away and finds out that he and Fuka are dating. Sana becomes extremely shocked and goes into a state of sadness. Sana talks with Asako and realizes that she really does love Hayama. Naozumi confesses to Sana that night. Rei tells Mama to come over right away. When Mama comes she helps Sana get over the fact that Hayama and Fuka are dating. They are finally filming the scene when Sana comes out of a real burning house. Before she is able to fully exit the house, she falls due to her leg and can't get up. Soon, she exits the house before it burns down and finishes the scene. When they go back to Tokyo, Sana stays at the hospital for a few months to let her leg heal. Then she goes back to school. Things seem to be just as normal until Hayama starts calling Sana "Sana" instead of "Kurata", and that all her friends believed the tabloids about her and Naozumi dating. After that, Naozumi is interviewed on TV and reveals that Sana is in love with the one who saw her off the day they left for location.

Mini Story - "An egg full of thorns" A story about Akito when he was young.

Book 7 - Star Crossed Lovebirds

Cover Art - Cool guy - Hayama

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Sana and Hayama reveal their feelings for each other, but Fuka overhears them. Sana says her feelings for Hayama are in the past, so that Fuka isn't hurt. Sana takes as many job offers she can because she wants to concentrate on her acting career so that she can keep her mind off of Hayama and Fuka. While Sana is becoming more popular, Hayama is straying back to his old ways and having violent problems with his science teacher, Sengoku-sensei. One day after school, Hayama, Fuka, Tsuyoshi, and Aya go to the arcarde to hang out. Hayama gets in a fight with two high schoolers, surprising Fuka and earning himself a suspension. Tsuyoshi tells Sana the news, and that night Sana happens to see Hayama jogging. His eyes are dark like in the past, but Sana makes him feel better. Sana returns to school and declares a friendly war with Fuka. A woman comes to school claiming that her son Komori is going to commit suicide because of Hayama. Thus, Hayama leaves to find Komori. Before he gets on the train to leave, he tells Sana that he still loves her. Mini Story - None

Book 8 - From End To Beginning

Cover Art - Sana and Akito

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Hayama ends up with a paralyzed hand from when Komori stabbed his arm. Hayama survives his near-death, caused by too much loss of blood. After Hayama regains consciousness and stays at the hospital, Fuka breaks up with him because she realizes that he needs Sana, and Komori's mother gets counseling to help her become a better parent and understand her son. Sana finds out Hayama and Fuka have broken up, but hasn't gotten together with Hayama yet. Meanwhile, when Hayama gets released from the hospital, he has lots of trouble managing with only his left hand. Sana plans another Christmas Eve party for this year.

Mini Story - Oponchi Monkeys (after the main story)

Book 9 - The day Sana lost her Smile (1)

Cover Art - Sana without a smile

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Hayama and Sana are very close now, and it seems like they'll be inseprable. That is, until Hayama's father suddenly tells him that they're moving to America. (Later, the reader finds out that he did this so Hayama could have a special surgery that could return movement to his arm) Sana goes into a shock, and her face becomes mask-like. Akito is torn between leaving Sana and going with his family.

Mini Story -

Book 10 - The day Sana lost her Smile (Part 2)

Cover Art - Group Shot - almost all the cast (more than listed in the cast section above)

Japanese - Miho Obana

English - Sarah Dyer

Story - Sana continues to have a mask-like face and is hoping that she'll be able to become a grown up by trying grown up things... that way she and Akito won't have to be separated. She decides to run away to a theme park and brings Akito with her. They rent a hotel room and eventually Akito breaks down because he can't handle Sana's illness any longer. He says that he's the one who will be most affected by moving away and he feels he can't be separated from Sana. Sana's maternal feelings for him resurface and they cry together. The next morning, Sana has finally regained her emotions.

Mini Story - none

Anime

The anime version consists of 102 TV episodes, which aired in Japan weekly from April 5 1996 to March 27 1998. The first 52 episodes deal with the elementary school story arc and the remaining 50 episodes deal with the middle school story arc. A single-episode OVA was also released, with a different character designs. It has now debuted on American TV in a syndicated FUNimation Channel programming block airing on CoLours TV beginning on Monday, June 19, 2006.

English episodes aired so far

No.	Episode Title	U.S. Airdate
001	I'm an Elementary School Student with an Agent	June 19, 2006
002	The Whole Classroom is a Monkey Mountain	June 20, 2006
003	Operation Eyeball, Toothball	June 21, 2006
004	Lone Wolf, Awooo!	June 22, 2006
005	Where are You Going, Mr. Dark and Gloomy?	June 23, 2006
006	Crazy Stew Family Crisis	June 26, 2006
007	Asako Kurumi…Rival In Love!	June 27, 2006
008	A Fruit Juice Soaked First Kiss	June 28, 2006
009	Double Double Sana's Love Trouble	June 29, 2006
010	Love Flew Out the Window Like a Chicken!	June 30, 2006
011	Mr. Hayama, You're a Real Dad	July 3, 2006
012	This Time, Sana is the Lone Wolf	July 4, 2006
013	My Name's Going to Change	July 5, 2006
014	The Promised Summer, Part I	July 25, 2006
015	The Promised Summer, Part II	July 26, 2006
016	Two Pounding Hearts	July 27, 2006
017	Mother's Book of Surprises	July 28, 2006
018	Two Hungry People Playing Hide and Seek	July 31, 2006
019	Daughter Cries, Mother Cries	August 1, 2006
020	Sana's Super Happy Quiz Show	August 2, 2006
021	Look Out! It's a Pint-Sized Akito!	n/a

Fansubs

The series was very popular in fansub -- though none of the groups that took on the project ever came close to completing it (collectively episodes 1-43 and 52-102 were completed). This made the series popular in North American shōjo fandom. In fansubs, the series was usually released under the title Child's Toy, and many American fans still refer to it by this title.

A single-episode OVA that was released after the completion of the television series covers the first volume of the manga and is much less frenetic than the TV series.

North American release

The first DVD was released in the U.S. on August 2 2005, containing the first four episodes of the series. Major cuts were made: the first two episodes of the dub has removed references to Rei being Sana's "pimp" as well as shortening or completely cutting scenes of violence. For example, the scene where Hayama strangles Sana has been shortened and the one where Rei pushes Itomisu and Yasuda when trying to save Sana are cut completely. However, the subtitled version is uncut and so is the rest of the dub. The first opening song, "7 O'Clock News", could not be used for contractual reasons concerning the Japanese singer Tokio and "Ultra Relax" the theme to the second story arc was used instead. All references to Tokio have been removed from the subtitles and are replaced with a bleep (****) where Tokio would be mentioned.

Theme songs

• Openings

1. "7 O'Clock News" by TOKIO (Eps. 1-44)
2. "Ultra Relax" by Tomoe Shinohara (Eps. 45-102)

• Endings

1. "Panic" by Still Small Voice (Eps. 1-39)
2. "DAIJO-BU" by Tomoko Hikita (Eps. 40-74)
3. "Pinch ~Love Me Deeper~" by Rina Chinen (Eps. 75-102)

External links

• Kodocha.tv, FUNimation's official anime website
• Anime Prime editing report for Kodocha
• Panikku General Kodocha fansite
• Kirai ja nai, kodocha fansite