Shugo Chara

***Shugo Chara!*** (しゅごキャラ! *Shugo Kyara!*?), also known as ***My Guardian Characters***, is a Japanese *shōjo* manga series created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit.
 The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular
 exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy" by her classmates, contrasts
with her introverted
 personality. When Amu wishes for the courage to be reborn as her
would-be self, she is surprised to find three colorful eggs the next
morning, which hatch into three Guardian Characters: Ran, Miki, and Su.

*Shugo Chara!* is serialized in the magazine *Nakayoshi* and published by Kodansha in Japan. Del Rey has licensed the English language manga rights, releasing the first volume on March 27, 2007. It won the 2008 Kodansha Manga Award for best children's manga.

*Shugo Chara!* has also been adapted into a fifty-one episode anime television series of the same title produced by Satelight under the direction of Kenji Yasuda and debuted on October 6, 2007 on TV Tokyo. On July 20, 2008, Anime News Network reported that the *Shugo Chara!* anime would be continued for a second year under the title *Shugo Chara!! Doki—*, the first episode airing on October 10, 2008; the official anime website later announced an October 4, 2008 start date.

On October 3, 2009, *Shugo Chara!* began featuring another series. The new program, *Shugo Chara Party!* containing *Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki* and *Shugo Chara Pucchi Puchi!* follow the current anime series as its power-up. The last episode aired on March 26, 2010.[1][2]

## Plot

The main protagonist of the story Hinamori Amu, is a female student attending Seiyo Elementary.[3]
 At first glance, her classmates refer to her attitude and appearance as
 "cool and spicy" and rumors speculate about her personal life. However,
 her real personality is that of a very shy girl who has trouble showing
 her true personality. One night, Amu wishes for the courage to show her
 "would-be" self, and the next morning, she finds three brightly colored
 eggs — pink, blue, and green — in her bed. These eggs hatch into three
Guardian Characters, or "Shugo Charas": Ran (pink), Miki (blue), and Su
(green). The Guardian Characters aid Amu in discovering who she truly is
 and help fulfill Amu's dreams. Amu's life becomes much more complex as
she struggles to deal with her "would-be" selves and the Seiyo
Elementary's Guardians, who each have a Guardian Character of their own.
 People with Guardian Characters can "chara-nari" (character transform)
or "character change". Each transformation has special powers mainly for
 attacking or defending. Character changes have special powers, too, but
 have more practical uses. Later on, they recruit Amu as the "Joker" to
search for X Eggs and X Characters, the corrupted forms of people's
dreams, so the Guardians can purify their dreams. In Japanese, the egg
is shortened.

Meanwhile, the Easter Company is extracting people's eggs in search of a special egg called the *Embryo*. The *Embryo* is believed to grant any wish to the one who possesses it. However, the process creates X Eggs and X Characters.

Later on in the series, a fourth (yellow) egg named Diamond is born.
Unlike Amu's other Guardian Characters, she is only seen a few times in
the series. Due to Amu's mixed feelings before Diamond was born, she
becomes an X character and is "stolen" by idol singer Hoshina Utau, who
uses Diamond to character change for her concerts planned by Easter as
part of their plan to get the Embryo. Later on, Diamond is purified and
becomes a regular Guardian Character. She would then appear in times of
heavy crisis.

## Media

#### Manga

In December 2005, Peach Pit announced that they were working on a new shōjo manga series called *Shugo Chara!* The first chapter was published in the February 2006 edition of *Nakayoshi* magazine.[4] The first volume collection was then republished on July 6, 2006 by *Nakayoshi* publisher Kodansha.
 In addition to the regular volumes, the series is being released in
limited editions in Japan, each of which include different cover art
from the regular editions, metallic foil sleeves, and a set of postcards
 featuring Amu in various outfits and poses following the color theme of
 the dust jackets.[5] Del Rey Manga announced that it acquired the English language rights to *Shugo Chara!* during MangaNEXT 2006 and released the first volume on March 27, 2007.[6] Kodansha Comics USA published the entire series in 2011.[7]

The series was put on hiatus along with two other series, *Rozen Maiden* and *Zombie-Loan*,
 in December 2008 due to a sudden illness and hospitalization. One month
 later, Peach-Pit announced that all three series will resume and
thanked their fans for the support during the illness.[8]

There is a spin-off manga series called *Shugo Chara Chan!*, featuring drawings by Mizushima Naftaren, which is in yonkoma
 (4-panel) comics style and focuses on Amu's guardians. Currently there
are three volumes. There is no special edition version of the spin-off
series.[9]

The January issue of Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine confirmed on December 1, 2009, that Peach-Pit would be ending the *Shugo Chara!* manga in the next issue on December 28.[10] A sequel series was later announced, titled *Shugo Chara! Encore!*, and ran between April and September 2010 issues of Nakayoshi.[11]

## Anime

*Shugo Chara!* was adapted into an anime television series of the same title in 2007. The television series is produced by Satelight under the direction of Kenji Yasuda and was first broadcast on the Japanese network, TV Tokyo. Consisting of fifty-one episodes, the first episode, "A Guardian Character is Born!" (しゅごキャラ誕生! *Shugo Kyara Tanjō!*?),
 aired on October 6, 2007. The episodes are rebroadcast by five other
networks within a few days after the initial broadcast on TV Tokyo.

Six pieces of theme music by the J-pop group Buono!
 are used for the first season—two opening themes and four closing
themes. The opening theme for the first twenty-six episodes is "Kokoro
no Tamago" (こころのたまご?, lit. "Egg of the Heart"); and the last twenty-five episodes, "Minna Daisuki" (みんなだいすき *lit. "I Love Everyone"*?). The closing theme for the first twelve episodes is "Honto no Jibun" (ホントのじぶん?, lit. "True Self"); episodes thirteen to twenty-six, "Ren'ai Rider" (恋愛 ライダー *Ren'ai Raidā*?, lit. "Love Rider"); episodes twenty-seven to thirty-nine, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"; and the last twelve episodes, "Gachinko de Ikō!" (ガチンコでいこう!?, lit. "Compete And Go!"). There are also four insert songs, all sung by Nana Mizuki:
 "Meikyū Butterfly", first sung in episode 12; "Black Diamond", first in
 episode 39; "Heartful Song", first in episode 47; and "Taiyou ga Niau
yo", first in episode 93.

A second year of episodes, under the title *Shugo Chara!! Doki—* (しゅごキャラ!!どきっ?), began airing the week after the fifty-first episode, on October 4, 2008; previously, Anime News Network reported that it was scheduled for October 10, 2008 on AT-X.[12] Two opening themes sung by Shugo Chara Egg! and another two by Guardians 4 have been used; the opening theme for the first twelve episodes is "Minna no Tamago" (みんなのたまご?, lit. "Everyone's Egg"); the second is "Shugo Shugo!" (しゅごしゅご!?, lit. "Guardian Guardian!"), used in episodes sixty-five to episode seventy-six; and the third opening is "Omakase♪Guardian" (おまかせ♪がーデイアン?, lit. "Leave it to the♪Guardians"), by Guardians 4. The fourth and final opening is "School Days" sung by Guardians 4. The ending theme is "Rottara Rottara" (ロッタラ ロッタラ?, lit. "Lotta Love Lotta Love") by Buono!.[13] A second ending theme, "Co-no-Mi-chi" (co·no·mi·chi?, lit. "This Road"),
 also by Buono!, took its place from episode 69 to 76. The third ending,
 "MY BOY", also sung by Buono!, started showing from episode 77 to 89.
The fourth ending theme is called "Take it Easy!", also sung by Buono!,
took its place from episode 90 and onwards. The opening theme for the
Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki segment is "Watashi no Tamago" (My Egg)
performed by Shugo Chara! Egg, while the opening for Shugo Chara! Party
itself is "Party Time!" by Guardians 4. The first ending is "Bravo!
Bravo!" performed by Buono!.[14]

Crunchyroll announced on November 19, 2008 that it will be streaming *Shugo Chara!* with English subtitles along with other anime series from TV Tokyo.[15]

On August 25, 2009, Anime News Network reported that a new series will premiere in Japan on October 3, 2009.[1] This series is titled *Shugo Chara Party!* featuring anime and live-action segments contains the Anime *Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki*, the "power-up" of the Shugo Chara!! Doki— anime as its main segment and *Shugo Chara Pucchi Puchi!*, anime shorts starring Ran, Miki, Su, and Diamond. Director Kenji Yasuda continued to oversee both *Shugo Chara!!! Dokki Doki* and *Shugo Chara Pucchi Puchi!*.[2]

## Musical

A musical for *Shugo Chara!* played in early 2009 and starred 14-year-old Yuuka Maeda, a member of Shugo Chara Egg! and S/mileage, as Amu. The rest of the members of Shugo Chara Egg! also appeared in the musical with minor roles. The DVD for the musical was released on October 23, 2009.[16]

## Merchandising

### Video games

Konami has released three video games, based on the manga, for the Nintendo DS. The first, titled *Shugo Chara! Three Eggs and the Joker in Love!* (しゅごキャラ!3つのたまごと恋するジョーカー *Shugo Kyara! Mittsu no Tamago to Koisuru Jyōkā*?), was released in Japan on March 13, 2008.[17]
 It follows Amu's adventures as she purifies X Eggs, as well as pursuing
 any of the love interests available (Ikuto, Tadase, Kairi, Nikaidou and
 Nagehiko). The second game, titled *Shugo Chara! Amu's Rainbow-Colored Character Change!* (しゅごキャラ!あむのにじいろキャラチェンジ *Shugo Kyara! Amu no Nijiiro Kyara Chenji*?), was released in Japan on November 6, 2008.[18]
 It's a raising sim where Amu must develop her relationship with any of
the available characters (the Guardians, Ikuto, Utau, Nikaidou and
Nagehiko) during three months, with the target of bringing a partner to
the "Best Friends Festival". Two songs from the game, "Nijiiro Chara
Change!" (にじいろキャラチェンジ! *Nijiiro Kyara Chenji!*?, lit. "Rainbow Colored Character Change") and "Saikyō Love Power" (最強LOVE POWER?, lit. "Greatest Love Power"), were released as a CD single on November 5, 2008.[19] The third game, titled *Shugo Chara! Norinori! Chara Na-rhythm♪* (しゅごキャラ！ ノリノリ！キャラなりズム♪ *Shugo Chara! Norinori! Chara-Narizumu*?), was released in Japan on August 6, 2009.[20] It's a rhythm game that features all the main characters' image songs, as well as giving minor character Yua more exposure.

## Reception

The *Shugo Chara!* manga has received positive reviews from English language critics. Phil Theobald, writing for *Newtype USA*,
 states that while the premise may be fairly complicated, "the clean art
 and solid storytelling by Peach-Pit make it easy to follow." Thobald
goes on to say that *Shugo Chara!* is "an interesting and humorous spin on the classic 'magical girl' genre."[21]

Carlo Santos, writing for Anime News Network, states, "The best thing since *Sugar Sugar Rune*? Maybe not ... but it's damn close."[22] In a later review, Santos compares *Shugo Chara!* to *Cardcaptor Sakura* and *Sailor Moon*,
 adding, "it addresses the complexities of the human psyche, from joke
characters like the fortune-teller who doesn't trust her own abilities,
to Nikaidou's own personal conflict over his childhood dreams."[23]

Along with the positive reviews, *Shugo Chara!* was awarded the 2008 Kodansha Manga Award for best children's manga.[24]
 The anime adaptation became one of the 10 most watched anime programs
during the week of April 7–13, 2008, when its April 12 broadcast
received an average household viewership rating of 4.2%.[25][26]
 It later returned to the top 10 during the week of July 21–27, 2008,
when its July 26 broadcast received an average rating of 4.1%.[27]

The series was listed as being the 4th best-selling shojo manga
property and the 14th best overall manga property in America for the
first quarter of 2009.[28][29] Jason Thompson felt that the manga focused on self-esteem, and that the artist's drawing skills carried the work.[30]

## Amu Hinamori to Rima Mashiro.

In the plot discription, Amu's name had been replace with Rima's. I
would like to both shake the hand of whoever did this for a troll well
done, and ask them why on earth they did this. Well, mainly I want to
ask them why in a cruel and unusual way. Really, why? Can someone please
 correct this?

## Ran's egg color

Ran's egg is clearly red with pink highlights. Ran's symbol is also
the heart, which is generally associated with the color red. On the
cover of volume one, Amu's outfit, which reflects the color of the egg
that is displayed along with her, is also red. And finally, pink is in fact a pale red.

## Reviews

* ANN: Volume 7 Volume 5 Episodes 38-51 ANN Right turn only vol. 9
* Active Anime: vol. 9

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shugo\_Chara!