Save Hetamaru

**Save Hetamaru** is an episode from Season 8 of the Cartoon Network series.

## Plot

### Cold open

Zayats and his mom pay a visit to the Kashner mansion (literally), where father and daughter have been expecting them. When asked what they're so excited about, the two reply that they had been on a business trip to Japan, which is why Mirana hadn't been to school during the past three days.

### Episode

Mirana asks Zayats to follow her up to her room, as she wants to show him something she got from Japan: most of the issues of a manga titled **Meiken Ninja Hetamaru** (*Kanji: 名犬忍者ヘタ丸*) about a young ninja training with his master on his way to become the best there is. Zayats reads through the first issue and enjoys it immensely. Mirana says she has 11 issues of it and suggests he keeps the manga.

This results in a montage of Zayats reading through the manga, all the way up to the eleventh, where he finds out that Master Shiba-Inu and Hetamaru are father and son, a secret that they were told by Hetamaru's mother before her death to keep from each other until he's 12. Zayats looks forward to Hetamaru turning 12 so the two find out the truth about their blood relation.

Zayats explains to Mano and Lucille why he is happier than words can say before spotting Leonidas walking in the distance. Zayats tries to ask him what he's hiding, but he tries to run away, before Zayats grabs Leonidas, resulting in him dropping a business envelope. This leaves Leonidas with no choice but to let him see what's inside the envelope. Zayats opens it and is horrified to see what the envelope is hiding: **The final issue of Hetamaru.**

Zayats is crying uncontrollably, as he had grown to be a big fan of Hetamaru at that point in time. Mano and Lucille notice him crying and try to comfort him. He then sets out to try and help continue the Hetamaru manga, but is unable to do so, as according to several sources, the author is unable to keep up with his mortgage payments. With the help of a fundraiser, Zayats manages to raise enough money to keep Hetamaru going. Despite his efforts, the fundraiser receives a response from the publisher that they have to end the series anyway, angering Zayats.

Later, Zayats heads to the Kashner mansion to return all of the issues to Mirana, before encountering a mysterious shiba-inu, who turns out to be Hetamaru's creator, Naonobu Taniuchi, just coming back from a convention and heading to the international airport. Zayats introduces himself as his biggest fan. Taniuchi recognizes Zayats as the boy who had started the fundraiser to help with his mortgage, and thanks him deeply for it before confessing that it was never about the money. The truth is that, having been doing manga for 14 years, Taniuchi is old and tired, and he's decided it's finally time to stop and take a break from the manga industry. Zayats realizes that he's been taking advantage of a middle-aged man, as Taniuchi walks away before saying a few words to Zayats: "*Nothing lasts forever, young one, but thank you for reading my manga.*" Leonidas had witnessed the scene and begins to think of something.

Zayats later reads through the final chapter of the manga, where Hetamaru and his master tell each other that they're related after defeating the evil Jonin, the manga's main antagonist. Zayats is satisfied to see that it all ended well for Hetamaru and his friends, yet still upset that it's the last issue. At school, Zayats walks around Coon and Milo talking about Hetamaru. He tells them that he's ready to get over his favorite manga series, only to find out through Coon and Milo quickly after that it's getting an anime adaptation, causing him to faint as the episode ends.

## Characters

### Minor Characters

* Mano
* Lucille
* Leonidas
* Mirana
* Coon
* Milo
* Lucia Tabaryet
* Julius Kashner
* *Meiken Ninja Hetamaru* characters
	+ Hetamaru Shiba (debut)
	+ Master Shiba-Inu (debut)
	+ Kenichi Arakaze (debut)
	+ Kasumi Inukawa (debut)
	+ Jonin (debut)
* Naonobu Taniuchi (debut)

## Trivia

* The second half of the episode is adapted from a story in Keisuke Nakashio's Zayats manga.

### Differences between the original story and the episode

* The way Zayats finds out about Hetamaru's anime adaptation is different: In the episode, Zayats finds out by overhearing Coon say "Not even a week after it's over and they're already animating it!", while in the manga, he finds out through the cover of a Shounen Kemono magazine, although both result in him fainting.

### Cultural References

* In both the Japanese and Latin American dubs of the episode, the Hetamaru characters are all voiced by the cast of the Naruto anime series, whereas the rest of the versions have all the characters voiced by Zayats's respective voice actor, as he is supposed to read the manga himself.
* Kyary Pamyu Pamyu's Ninja Re Bang Bang plays during the sequence of Zayats reading through Hetamaru.

## Censorship

* This episode didn't air in South Korea due to its heavy representation of Japanese culture.