by It has been announced that “Hiroshi Nohara’s Lunch Style,” an official spin-off of the popular anime “Crayon Shin-chan,” based on the original work by the late Yoshito Usui, will be made into a TV anime featuring Shin-chan’s father, Hiroshi Nohara, as the main character. The announcement is generating a lot of buzz.
“On March 12, it was announced that the series will be broadcast on BS Asahi from October. Hiroshi will be voiced by actor Toshiyuki Morikawa, who also voiced the character in the “Crayon Shin-chan” series.
This is good news for fans of the series, but there are various opinions among fans of the original work. After the death of the original author, Usui, in 2009, “Nohara Hiroshi Lunch Style” began serialization in “Monthly Manga Town” (Futabasha) in December 2015, illustrated by Yoichi Tsukahara. Since January 2024, it has been transferred to “Manga Crayon Shin-chan.com” and is still being serialized. It is a manga depicting events related to Hiroshi’s lunch.
Although it is an official spin-off of Crayon Shin-chan, for various reasons, such as the drawing style, which resembles the original Nohara Hiroshi but is subtly different, Hiroshi’s occasional serious facial expressions, and the depiction of Shinnosuke’s legs, which are far removed from the original, some have come to believe that “the protagonist of this manga is not Nohara Hiroshi, but someone else disguised as Nohara Hiroshi.”
This has led to the notion of the work’s protagonist being “an ordinary person who believes himself to be Nohara Hiroshi” among fans, which has become a kind of internet meme.
In other words, some Crayon Shin-chan fans consider Nohara Hiroshi’s Lunch Style a different work, a story set in a different world.” (Comic magazine editor) Due to this complex background, X, upon the news that the work would be made into an anime, comments such as “It’s been said that he’s an ordinary person who believes himself to be Nohara Hiroshi, but with Morikawa as the voice actor, he’s Nohara Hiroshi, we were just led to believe that.”
While there have been many welcoming voices, there have also been negative comments, such as “The drawings and personality are nothing like Hiroshi. Just because the artist is dead, they can do whatever they want.” “I don’t know this, Hiroshi,” and “I thought the Nohara family made their lunches by hand.”
Among the negative voices, many seem to recall the name of Fujiwara Keiji, the original voice of Nohara Hiroshi in the anime Crayon Shin-chan.” Fujiwara passed away from cancer in April 2020 at the young age of 55. Still, on X-Men, many voices miss Fujiwara, such as “I wish Fujiwara Keiji had been there…” and “It may be a little late to say this, but I wish the production had started when the late Fujiwara Keiji was still alive, as he said that his feelings for Hiroshi grew stronger as he got older.”
This is proof that fans loved Fujiwara’s portrayal of Hiroshi. The year after the death of the original author, Usui, a new series of “Crayon Shin-chan” was started by the original staff as “New Crayon Shin-chan.” Even after Usui left the series, various creators have come together to continue the world of “Crayon Shin-chan.” “Nohara Hiroshi” “Hirumeshi no ryugi” (The Lunchtime Style) is one such example. That’s how fascinating the world of Crayon Shin-chan is.” (The comic magazine editor mentioned above) Fans of the original work will also be convinced that the anime is interesting.
