Di Gi Charat — BrandWiki

Di Gi Charat

type	tv series
director	Hiroaki Sakurai
producer	Tetsuo Gensho Yoshiyuki Ochiai
writer	Hiroaki Sakurai Nobuharu Kamanaka
studio	Madhouse
network	TBS
first	November 29, 1999
last	December 23, 1999
episodes	16
episode list	List of Di Gi Charat episodes

Di Gi Charat (デ・ジ・キャラット) is a Japanese manga and anime series created by Koge-Donbo. The series follows a catgirl named Di Gi Charat "Dejiko" who was adopted as the mascot of Broccoli's retail chain store, Gamers. The original anime series and its original video animations (OVAs) are set in a Gamers store. There are twenty Gamers stores across Japan.

Several specials, OVAs, and movies have been adapted as prequels, sequels and alternate stories; trading cards and video games are among the many forms of merchandise released for the series.[2] The original series, movie, and Leave It to Piyoko! were licensed in North America by Synch-Point. The manga series is licensed by several companies. The original series, 4 specials and the Winter Garden special are now licensed by Sentai Filmworks.[3]

Manga

Anime

An animated Dejiko and her sidekick Gema first appeared on in a television advertisement for Gamers, set to the store's theme song, Welcome! by Hiroko Kato. The first anime premiered on the Tokyo Broadcasting System on November 29, 1999. Set in a Gamers store in Akihabara, the original series was sixteen episodes long with each episode running for three minutes. Light-hearted and relatively cheaply animated, the series follows the story of Di Gi Charat (Dejiko), her new sidekick Petit Charat (Puchiko) and Gema, who arrive in Akihabara, Tokyo. Dejiko dreams of becoming an idol, only to realize that they have no money and nowhere to stay. The manager of a Gamers store takes pity on them, and the series follows their exploits as they work in the shop. The series introduces Dejiko's rival, Rabi-en-Rose, and minor characters Abarenbou, Takeshi, Yoshimi, Takurou and Takurou. All other citizens of Akihabara, including the manager, are drawn as anthropomorphic thumbs, the reason being that Akihabara is one of the largest shopping areas of Earth for video games, among other things, and thumbs are most commonly used by people to press buttons while playing video games. The creative team was given free rein over the content of Di Gi Charat,[13] and it is outrageous at times. The anime is directed by Hiroaki Sakurai, animated by Madhouse and produced by Broccoli.

As 2008 was the 10th anniversary of the series Di Gi Charat, Broccoli Inc. decided to recast the actresses of the main characters of Di Gi Charat. The new actress for Dejiko, Puchiko, and Usada were Satomi Akesaka, Nao Minakami, and Rieka Yazawa respectively.

However, as of the 15th anniversary in 2013, Broccoli Inc. has since reverted to using their original voice actresses and retconned the 10th Anniversary in a comic.[14]

For the series' 24th anniversary, a new mini anime series titled Reiwa no Di Gi Charat has been announced. Hiroaki Sakurai is directing the new series at Liden Films, with Atsuko Watanabe providing the character designs.[15] It aired from October 7, 2022, to January 3, 2023, on Tokyo MX and BS NTV.[16] The theme song is "Aimaisa, Kōfukuron" by Masami Okui.[17]

Specials

Despite the series' low budget and its status as an advertisement for a games store, sequels for Di Gi Charat, several feature-length Di Gi Charat special episodes and OVAs, followed. Each special was around twenty minutes long. The specials introduce the Black Gema Gema Gang (Black Gema Gema Dan) and Dejiko's rival, Pyocola Analogue III (Piyoko).

Summer Special 2000
Di Gi Charat - Summer Special 2000 (デ・ジ・キャラットサマースペシャル２０００) is a four episode series that aired over two days, August 22, 2000 to August 23, 2000.[18] This was the first series that Piyoko appeared in and the plot involves her attempting to hold Dejiko hostage for ransom.

Christmas Special
Di Gi Charat - Christmas Special (デ・ジ・キャラットクリスマススペシャル) is a special that aired on December 16, 2000 and featured Piyoko again attempting to capture Dejiko by inviting all the characters on a cruise. Piyoko's accomplices Coo, Rik and Ky are introduced.

Ohanami Special
Di Gi Charat - Ohanami Special (デ・ジ・キャラットお花見すぺしゃる) is a special consisting of four independent episodes with no continuation that aired on April 6, 2001 in Japan.

Characters

Most of the characters of Di Gi Charat originally debuted in the yonkoma Gema Gema, and later appeared in the anime series. Across all of the Di Gi Charat series, each catgirl ends their sentence with a cat sounding suffix, such as Dejiko's Nyo. The four DVDs of the series Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat are named after each of the four catgirl's onomatopoeia. Piyoko talks in a similar manner.

Main characters

Di Gi Charat (デ・ジ・キャラット) / Dejiko (でじこ)

Petit Charat (プチ・キャラット) / Puchiko (ぷちこ)

Hikaru Usada (うさだヒカル) / Rabi~en~Rose (ラ・ビ・アン・ローズ)

Dejiko is the main protagonist of the series. She is also known as Chocola (ショコラ) but despite this alternate name implying she likes chocolate, she prefers broccoli. Dejiko has a type A personality and can be aggressive at times.

Dejiko dresses up as a catgirl and is the princess of Planet Di Gi Charat. She is ten years old when she comes to Earth with hopes of becoming an idol singer. She has green eyes, green hair, and her maid-like uniform consists of a white and navy blue dress with large cat bells tied to her hair with navy blue ribbons. She attacks using her eye-beam weapon.

She has the ability to use her eye-beam weapon called the Me Kara Beam. She ends each sentence that she speaks with nyo.

In an interview with Koge-Donbo, she says that of all her character creations Dejiko is most like her.[23]

(1999–2008 and 2013–present, Japanese; English in Leave It to Piyoko!), Nao Minakami (2008, Japanese), Karen Strassman (season 1), Hilary Haag (Panyo Panyo), Mariette Sluyter (Nyo) (English)
At the beginning of the story it is explained that Puchiko, also known as Capuccino, is Dejiko's five-year-old sidekick and is a catgirl. Her relationship to Dejiko is not explained in the original series, but Gema states that she is a princess in the Di Gi Charat Movie and it is seen that she lives with Dejiko in the castle in Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat. According to Di Gi Charat Complete 2002, Dejiko saved her by pulling her out of a hole, and so Puchiko followed Dejiko to thank her. Although in Winter Garden, it is said that Puchiko is Dejiko's sister and share the same parents.

Puchiko has a type B personality and is known to be quiet and calm. She has the ability to use an eye-beam similar to Dejiko's but is often too docile to conjure the aggression required to perform such a feat. This has caused many things to come out of her eyes, including sludge, when she attempts to use it.

Puchiko dresses as an orange tabby catgirl and has brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wears a seifuku plus cat bells in her hair, though they are much smaller than Dejiko's. She ends each sentence that she speaks with nyu. Puchiko also makes a cameo appearance in Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory.

Rabi~en~Rose is Dejiko's rival. Her name was decided following a request for reader submissions,[24] and may be a play on a number of things. "Ra Bi an Rozu" can read as gairaigo for the common French saying "La Vie en Rose", literally "life in rose-pink", referring to a life spent without any worries, which might be taken to describe her personality. The Japanese phrase, "rose-coloured" (バラ色) also refers figuratively to an optimistic outlook. "Rabi", which resembles the English word "rabbit", replaces "La vie" to form the pun, "Rabbit in rose-pink", describing her appearance. Her real name is Hikaru Usada, a pun on the name of the famous Japanese pop singer, Hikaru Utada, which she hates being called. Her "Usada" surname is another a pun: "Usa" is a shortening of the word "usagi", meaning "rabbit" in Japanese.

In the original anime, she is seen as a normal girl who uses dice to transform into her bunnygirl outfit: a pink, white and red dress with large white rabbit ears and a large round cotton tail. Her parents left her to live on her own in an attempt to help her become an idol. Rabi~en~Rose does not use a suffix at the end of her sentences and is the only character with kemonomimi animal traits other than Rik, Ky, and Coo in the Di Gi Charat franchise not to do so.

Gema (ゲマ)
Gema is explained to be the guardian of Dejiko and Puchiko. Essentially he is a floating yellow balloon that is always upside-down with very small eyes and mouth. Creator Koge Donbo once joked that Gema was the best character because anyone can draw him. He ends his sentences with gema. He can shoot darts out of bamboo sticks; but they have little effect on anyone.

Black Gema-Gema Gang

Pyocola Analogue III (ピョコラ＝アナローグIII世) / Piyoko (ぴよこ)

Piyoko is eight years old. She is the Princess of planet Analogue and leader of the Black Gema Gema Gang. Her parents left her in Rik, Ky, and Coo's care until she is thirteen because they are embarrassed to show their faces when their attempt to take over planet Di Gi Charat failed. She had to flee to earth because she blew up a city and couldn't pay for repairs. Piyoko's dresses similar to that of a nurse's uniform, but in black and white colors like a panda. She ends her sentences with "pyo" (although certain manga publications depict this as a squeak). She has an attack similar to Dejiko's Laser Eye Beam called Upchuck Bazooka (Kuchikara Bazooka in Japanese) which is a beam that comes from her mouth, but whenever she attempts to attack Dejiko with it, she more often than not gets attacked herself. Note: Piyoko makes a brief cameo in Episode 2 of Cromartie High School as a teenage version of herself.

Rik Heisenberg (リク＝ハイゼンベルク)
Rik is 26 years old (28 in the English dub of Leave It to Piyoko!) and the General of the Black Gema Gema Gang. He plays the role of the veterinarian of the doctor trio. He takes pride in his profession and loves animals. As a result, Rik has many animals around him. The animals include Bun Bun and Amaenbou. As the gang considers themselves a "family", Rik considers himself as the "Daddy".

Ky Schweitzer (カイ＝シュヴァイツァー)

Minor characters

Takeshi - and Yoshimi -

A boy who comes into the store to buy trading cards and falls in love with Rabi-en-Rose, in the Reiwa anime, is confirmed that he and Rabi-in-Rose study in the same school. Enjoys melonpan. Not related to Kimura, though they share the same first name.

A rich and long-haired man infatuated with Puchiko's cuteness and have a problem with the suffix that some characters use at the end. Not related to Minagawa.

A rowdy creature seemingly made of water. His appearances in the series are always incredibly random and crazy.

An excitable American fan of Di Gi Charat.

A thoughtful finger-person who runs Gamers and sends Dejiko on errands.

A cat who is Puchiko's sidekick. It can walk sideways and has five kittens; Sa, Shi, Su, Se, and So. During the time between Di Gi Charat and Reiwa no Di Gi Charat, it takes the place of Puchiko in the store when she and Dejiko are in the Di Gi Charat Planet.

A small green creature likened to a kappa, is Rabi-en-Rose's sidekick. During the time between DiGi Charat and Reiwa no Di Gi Charat, it takes the place of Rabi-en-Rose in the store, meanwhile she is very busy with the exams and homework. Henna Ikimono (変な生き物) A mysterious, tiny, yellow bear. Its face always appears to be angry, crying, depressed and laughing at the same time. It always remains in its box and is always seen as being completely still. On one side of the box, "Please give me a home" is written in Japanese. It can eat things bigger than itself. In Party Night, he ate the Earth.

Di Gi Charat

Manga

Anime

Specials

Characters

Main characters

Black Gema-Gema Gang

Minor characters

Music

Games

Reception

External links

References

Movie

Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat

Di Gi Charat Theater - Leave it to Piyoko-pyo!

Di Gi Charat Nyo!

Winter Garden

Relation of each series