Manga
In December 2005, Peach Pit announced that they were working on a new manga series called Shugo Chara! The first chapter was published in the February 2006 edition of Nakayoshi magazine.[4] The first volume collection was then republished on July 6, 2006, by Nakayoshi publisher Kodansha. In addition to the regular volumes, the series was released in limited editions in Japan, each of which included different cover art from the regular editions, metallic foil sleeves, and a set of postcards featuring Amu in various outfits and poses following the color theme of the dust jackets.[5] Del Rey Manga announced that it acquired the English language rights to Shugo Chara! during MangaNEXT 2006 and released the first volume on March 27, 2007.[6] Kodansha USA published the entire series in 2011.[7]
The series was put on hiatus along with two other series, Rozen Maiden and Zombie-Loan, in December 2008 due to a sudden illness and hospitalization of one of the authors. One month later, Peach-Pit announced that all three series will resume and thanked their fans for the support during the illness.[8]
There is a four-volume spin-off manga series called Shugo Chara Chan!, featuring drawings by Mizushima Naftaren, which is in yonkoma (4-panel) comics style and focuses on Amu's guardians. There is no special edition version of the spin-off series.[9]
The January issue of Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine confirmed on December 1, 2009, that Peach-Pit would be ending the Shugo Chara! manga in the next issue on December 28.[10] A sequel series was later announced, titled ''Shugo Chara! Encore!'', and ran between April and September 2010 issues of Nakayoshi.[11]
A sequel manga, titled ''Shugo Chara! Jewel Joker, began serialization in Nakayoshi'' on August 2, 2024.[12][13]
Anime
Shugo Chara! was adapted into an anime television series of the same title in 2007. The television series is produced by Satelight under the direction of Kenji Yasuda and was first broadcast on the Japanese network, TV Tokyo. Consisting of fifty-one episodes, the first episode, "A Guardian Character is Born!" (しゅごキャラ誕生!), aired on October 6, 2007. The episodes were rebroadcast by five other networks within a few days after the initial broadcast on TV Tokyo.
Six pieces of theme music by the J-pop group Buono! are used for the first season—two opening themes and four closing themes. The opening theme for the first twenty-six episodes is "Kokoro no Tamago" (こころのたまご); and the last twenty-five episodes, "Minna Daisuki" (みんなだいすき). The closing theme for the first twelve episodes is "Honto no Jibun" (ホントのじぶん); episodes thirteen to twenty-six, "Ren'ai Rider" (恋愛 ライダー); episodes twenty-seven to thirty-nine, "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"; and the last twelve episodes, "Gachinko de Ikō!" (ガチンコでいこう!). There are also four insert songs, all sung by Nana Mizuki: "Meikyū Butterfly", first sung in episode 12; "Black Diamond", first in episode 39; "Heartful Song", first in episode 47; and "Taiyou ga Niau yo", first in episode 93.
A second year of episodes, under the title Shugo Chara!! Doki— (しゅごキャラ!!どきっ), began airing the week after the fifty-first episode, on October 4, 2008; previously, Anime News Network reported that it was scheduled for October 10, 2008, on AT-X.[14]
Musical
A musical theatre adaptation of Shugo Chara! set to run from August 13 to August 23 was announced in January 2009, with all members of Shugo Chara Egg! appearing in the play.[18] On May 1, 2009, news reports revealed Yuuka Maeda in the lead role as Amu, Kanon Fukuda as Nadeshiko, and Akari Saho and Ayaka Wada as part of the ensemble cast.[19][20] Other cast members for the musical included Hidemi Hikita as Tadase, Meimi Tamura as Yaya, Yuta Koseki as Kukai, Karin Yagishita as Rima, Reo Sawada as Kairi, KENN as Ikuto, and Misaki Yonemura as Utau.[20] Shortly after the announcement, Hello! Project stated that Maeda, Fukuda, and Wada were withdrawing from Shugo Chara Egg! after the musical to debut in Smileage.[21]
