Kodocha
, also known as Kodocha for short, is a Japanese manga series by Miho Obana. The series was adapted as an OVA by J.C. Staff and released on December 16, 1995 by Shueisha under their Ribon Video label. An anime television series was produced by NAS and TV Tokyo, animated by Studio Gallop, and broadcast on TV Tokyo every Friday from April 5, 1996 to March 27, 1998. In 2002, the manga was published in North America in English by Tokyopop as Kodocha: Sana's Stage. In 2006, Tokyopop lost the license to the manga, leaving it out of print . In 2005, the first half of the anime series was licensed for North American distribution by Funimation Entertainment and has been released on DVD. In 2012, Funimation announced that their Kodocha DVDs went out of print. In 2020, Discotek Media announced that they have rescue licensed the series for release on SD Blu-ray in 2021. Both the manga and anime have been well received by publications for different media for the character interactions and the comedy. The manga won the 1998 Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. At the American Anime Awards held in 2007, it was nominated for best  comedy anime. Plot. Sana Kurata is a cheerful, popular and energetic 11-year-old child actress who enrolls in a regular school only to find out there is chaos in the classroom, led mainly by an aloof boy named Akito Hayama. At first, the two come in conflict with each other because of their opposing ideals, but as they get to know each other, they start helping each other out in Akito's family life and Sana's career, as well as helping their classmates and peers. Production. Some parts of the series are based on Obana's life. Media . Manga. "Kodomo no Omocha" was originally serialized by Shueisha in the magazine "Ribon" from August 1994 to November 1998. Shueisha collected the 51 chapters in ten tankōbon volumes from April 1995 to January 1999. The series was published in North America by Tokyopop under the title "Kodocha: Sana's Stage" from June 25, 2002 to November 11, 2003. In 2006, Tokyopop was not able to renew the license and the English edition became out of print. In 2010, Obana authored a crossover story called "Deep Clear" in which Sana and Akito interact with characters from "Honey Bitter". In 2015, Obana  authored a one-shot of "Kodomo no Omocha" for "Ribon" magazine's 60th anniversary issue in September. Section::::"Deep Clear". The crossover story, "Deep Clear", takes place ten years after the end of "Kodocha". Shuri, the heroine of "Honey Bitter", is hired by Rei to spy on Akito because he had separated from Sana earlier. At this point, Sana and Akito are married and expecting a child. As she follows Akito, Shuri becomes good friends with Sana. She eventually discovers that the reason Akito separated from Sana is because he is afraid that she will die giving birth. When Sana gives  birth, Shuri convinces Akito to face his fears by going to the hospital and seeing Sana and the baby. Sana gives birth to a daughter whom she names after Sari. After their daughter's birth, Sana and Akito reconcile and begin raising their daughter together. Anime. An original video animation was produced in 1995 to mark the 40th anniversary of Ribon. An anime adaption was later produced by Studio Gallop, consisting of 102 TV episodes, airing on the TXN network weekly from April 5, 1996 to March 27, 1998. The opening theme songs are "7 O'Clock News" by Tokio (episodes  1-44) and "Ultra Relax" by Tomoe Shinohara (episodes 45-102); the ending theme songs are "Panic" by Still Small Voice (episodes 1-39), "DAIJO-BU" by Tomoko Hikita (episodes 40-74), and "Pinch (Love Me Deeper)" by Rina Chinen (episodes 75-102). The first 51 episodes covers the elementary school story arc, while the remaining 51 episodes cover the middle school story arc. The series was first licensed by Funimation from Nihon Ad Systems, releasing the first 51 episodes on DVD. The series was partially broadcast on American TV in a syndicated Funimation Channel programming block airing on Colours  TV and Los Angeles KSCI-DT channel 18.3. The first opening song, "7 O'Clock News", was replaced with "Ultra Relax" due to licensing issues via Johnny & Associates. Discotek Media announced that they had re-acquired the North American rights from ADK to the series during a live Twitch panel from December 14, 2020, mentioning that "7 O'Clock News" would be restored on the upcoming SD Blu-ray release of the first arc in November 2021 as rights issues had been resolved following the death of Johnny Kitagawa. The second arc will also be released in 2022 as a sub-only  release. Reception. "Kodocha" won the Kodansha Manga Award for best shōjo manga in 1998. Jason Thompson found the manga "joyfully weird [...] with good lines and funny details", calling the art quaint. Holly Kolodziejczak from Animefringe praised the series for its multiple elements such as mystery and romance that form a strong comedy. Additionally, like Thompson, he found the art quality despite the time its age. Dillon Font from the same site called it "very solid part of a manga collection." The reviewer compared it with the anime adaptation "sorely missing the insane quirkiness that Daichi's [the anime's director ] direction injected into the anime series" which might leave the manga "dull." Allen Divers from Anime News Network recommended it to readers commenting it is "a solid story about a young girl coming of age that remains entertaining the entire way" The anime adaptation also received the praise with THEM Anime Reviews' Carlos Ross who claimed "the frenzied comedy is the selling point of this anime, and sell it does." Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network praised the characters as likables and also liked the animation and music. Reviewing the series' 10th DVD, Carl Kimlinger from the same website as  Bertschy said that while "neither the show nor Sana has slowed a whit in forty episodes" the material not as appealing as previous episodes.