Ohayō! Spank
Ohayō! Spank (おはよう!スパンク, Ohayō! Supanku, lit. Good morning! Spank) is a Japanese shōnen and shōjo manga written by Shun'ichi Yukimuro and drawn by Shizue Takanashi. The series has been adapted as an anime television series, broadcast in Japan from 1981 to 1982 for 65 episodes, and a theatrical movie released in 1982. In 1981, it received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen and shōjo.[1] From the series were taken two spin-offs: "Spank's New Adventures" (スパンクの新冒険, 1989-1991) and "Spank and Torakichi Super Partners" (スパンクとトラ吉スーパーパートナー, 1994-1995).
Good Morning! Spank | |
![]() Promotional image from Ohayō! Spank featuring the main character | |
おはよう!スパンク (Ohayō! Supanku) | |
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Genre | Comedy |
Manga | |
Written by | Shun'ichi Yukimuro |
Illustrated by | Shizue Takanashi |
Published by | Kodansha |
Magazine | Nakayoshi |
Demographic | Shōjo |
Original run | February 1979 – March 1982 |
Volumes | 7 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Shigetsugu Yoshida |
Written by | Yutaka Kaneko Yoshimi Shinozaki Masāki Sakurai Chifude Asakura |
Music by | Kouji Makaino Tetsuo Ueno |
Studio | Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
Original network | TV Tokyo Animax |
Original run | March 7, 1981 – May 29, 1982 |
Episodes | 65 |
Anime film | |
Directed by | Shigetsugu Yoshida |
Produced by | Yutaka Fujioka |
Written by | Chifude Asakura Hiroshi Kaneko Masaaki Sakurai Yoshimi Shinozaki |
Music by | Kouji Makaino Tetsuo Ueno |
Studio | TMS Entertainment |
Released | March 13, 1982 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Shigetsugu Yoshida |
Written by | Yutaka Kaneko Yoshimi Shinozaki Masāki Sakurai Chifude Asakura |
Music by | Kouji Makaino Tetsuo Ueno |
Studio | Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
Original network | TV Tokyo, TV Asahi |
Original run | March 13, 1989 – September 29, 1991 |
Episodes | 154 |
Anime television series | |
Directed by | Shigetsugu Yoshida |
Written by | Yutaka Kaneko Yoshimi Shinozaki Masāki Sakurai Chifude Asakura |
Music by | Kouji Makaino Tetsuo Ueno |
Studio | Tokyo Movie Shinsha |
Original network | TV Tokyo, TV Asahi |
Original run | March 4, 1994 – September 29, 1995 |
Episodes | 120 |
Plot
Spank (voiced by Noriko Tsukase), the main character, is a dog whose owner went missing on the high seas. While awaiting his return Spank strays at the beach every day. One day he meets Aiko Morimura (voiced by Mari Okamoto), a junior high school student, whose father also went missing on a yacht tour ten years ago. Her mother, a designer of hats, left for Paris, leaving Aiko in the care of her uncle, Mr. Fujinami. Abandoned, Aiko believes that her father is still alive and awaits his return. She's recently lost her pet dog, Papi, a good-bye present from her mother, in a car accident, leaving her totally devastated. In the course of the anime, Spank begins to lighten up her gloomy mood as he is a clumsy, merry, big-hearted dog. She also falls in love with a friend of Spank's missing owner. Whereas, Spank finds his love in the pet cat of Aiko's classmate. At the end of the anime, despite Spank ruining everything, all will be forgiven cheerfully and all will really fall in love.
Characters
Regular
- Spank (スパンク, Supanku) The main protagonist of the series. A little white dog with black/brown ears.
- Aiko Morimura (森村 愛子, Morumura Aiko) A 14-year-old girl. She is Spank's master.
- Torakichi (トラ吉) A cat that is a rival and/but friend of Spank.
Main
- Shinako Yoshimura (芳村 科子, Yoshimura Shinako) Aiko and Ryo's friend.
- Ryoichi Shinoda (篠田 亮一, Shinoda Ryōichi) Aiko and Shinako's friend. He enjoys art like his friend Shinako.
- Seiya Tsukahara (塚原 誠也, Tsukahara Seiya) Baron's master.
- Serino Mihara (美原 せりの, Mihara Serino) A snobby rich girl. She is the same age as Aiko and her pet is a female cat named Cat.
- Cat A female cat that is a snob like her master Serino. Torakichi and Spank have a crush on her.
- Fan Fan A cute little dog. Spank have a crush on her.
- Baron A dog friend of Torakichi and Spank.
References
- Joel Hahn. "Kodansha Manga Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Archived from the original on 2007-08-16. Retrieved 2007-08-21.
External links
- Ohayō! Spank (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Ohayo! Spank at the Big Cartoon DataBase