Incredible Zorori (かいけつゾロリ) is a Japanese children's book series created by Yutaka Hara and published by Poplar Publishing. The original books were also made into an OVA, animated feature-length films, anime, and comics.
Synopsis
Set in a parallel world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals (in their Earth's version of Japan), the story follows the protagonist, a fox named Zorori and his twin boar bandit apprentices Ishishi and Noshishi as they travel from place to place. The series debuted in 1987 with its first issue: The Incredible Zorori, Dragon Slayer (かいけつゾロリのドラゴンたいじ) and has published about two issues per year, totaling 70 issues as of December 2021. It was adapted into an anime series from February 1, 2004, to January 28, 2007. A Hong Kong produced English dubbed version by Red Angel Media aired on Cartoon Network Philippines on January 4, 2010.
Zorori was originally a villain for the series Spinach Man (ほうれんそうマン) written by Shiho Mitsushima, and when Hōrensō Man ended, Shiho Mitsushima understood the need to give it an independent spin-off. What both series shared in common was that the end of Spinach Man and the Haunted Castle (ほうれんそうマンのゆうれいじょう) (depicts Zorori leaving on a journey to get a castle) ties in with the beginning of Kaiketsu Zorori no Doragon Taiji and Zorori's aspiration, "Zorori Castle Part 2" is established (It appears Part 1 came from the Zorori Castle in Hōrensō Man no Yūreijō). Another part is the reoccurring characters (Zorori Mama and Yōkai Gakkō no Sensei, and to some degree the debut of Sumire and Bokushi Robo) that were not given anything past trivial appearances. However, knowing the background story of the Hōrensō Man series is not needed to be able to enjoy the Zorori series.
Using clear patterns and lines, the characters would speak using speech bubbles more similar to comics than to picture books.