Super Shiro

Super Shiro (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese original net animation series produced by Science Saru who also handles planning and general production duties alongside Shin-Ei Animation. A spin-off of the popular Crayon Shin-chan franchise, based on the manga of the same name by Yoshito Usui, the series focuses on the adventures of Shiro, a seemingly-normal family dog who, when the Earth is threatened, secretly transforms into a canine superhero to protect the planet from nefarious villains. The series, consisting of 48 five-minute episodes,[1] was released in Japan exclusively on the TV Asahi-affiliated streaming platforms AbemaTV and Telasa from October 2019 to September 2020,[2] and was subsequently aired on Cartoon Network in Australia, India, and throughout Southeast Asia as well as Taiwan.[3][4]

Production

Production of Super Shiro arose out of director Masaaki Yuasa's longstanding affiliation with the Crayon Shin-chan series. Yuasa first became involved with the franchise in 1992 while early in his career as an animator, where he took on a variety of creative roles including key animation, storyboarding, set and background design, prop and vehicle design, and contribution of story concepts and ideas.[10] Over the course of the next decade, he specialized in imagining, designing, and animating the inventive visual climaxes of the annual Crayon Shin-chan films.[11] Crayon Shin-chan was not only an important early work in Yuasa's career, but also provided him with the first project he truly enjoyed and felt he had artistic freedom to express his own style;[12] moreover, his creative success while working on the series inspired his desire to become a director.[10] Even after becoming a director, Yuasa periodically returned to the Crayon Shin-chan franchise, directing Shin-men (2010–12), a group of special episodes embedded within the main Crayon Shin-chan television series,[13] and contributing the production resources of his studio Science SARU to the production of two franchise films, Crayon Shin-chan: Intense Battle! Robo Dad Strikes Back (2014) and Crayon Shin-chan: My Moving Story! Cactus Large Attack! (2015).[14] As such, Yuasa's involvement in the Super Shiro project represented a return to his origins as an animator and creator in the industry.[15]

In addition to Yuasa, the Super Shiro series featured the contributions of other Crayon Shin-chan franchise veterans. Chief director and character designer Tomohisa Shimoyama, who made his series directorial debut with Super Shiro after a long career as an animator, had earlier provided animation on two of the Crayon Shin-chan films.[16] Lead screenwriter Kimiko Ueno previously wrote three films in the franchise,[16] and co-composer Akifumi Tada wrote music for four of the franchise's films.[17]

Development

Yuasa set out to create a short-format, slapstick comedy series in the style of the American cartoon series Tom and Jerry (1940–present), where (unlike in Crayon Shin-chan), the camera and perspective of the narrative is from a "dog's-eye view" of the world.[18] According to Yuasa, Tom and Jerry was an extremely influential inspiration for the series, not only in regards to the comedic approach, but also in terms of the storytelling. The idea to use a narrator (whom the characters would hear and react to) was inspired by Tom and Jerry, with the American sitcom Bewitched (1964–72) serving as an additional inspiration.[7] With regard to the slapstick format, Shimoyama stated that the series afforded him, Yuasa, and the animators an unusual degree of freedom.[18] Shimoyama and Yuasa described the depiction of movement, particularly fast movement, as the most important thing for determining whether the comedy aspects would succeed.[6]

The music for the series was written early in the development process, which allowed the animation team to create sequences with specific musical cues in mind.

genre	Comedy
creator	Masaki Yuasa
based on	Crayon Shin-chan by Yoshito Usui
director	Masaki Yuasa (chief) Tomohisa Shimoyama
producer	Eunyoung Choi (animation) Takanobu Sano Kensuke Suzuki Rika Tsurusaki Yuki Yoshida
writer	Kimiko Ueno
music	Kenta Higashiohji Akifumi Tada
animator	Science Saru
executive producer	Michiko Umezawa Kazuhiko Akatsu Takahiro Kishimoto
company	TV Asahi Shin-Ei Animation ADK Emotions Futabasha Science Saru
first aired	October 14, 2019
last aired	September 7, 2020
num episodes	48
country	Japan
language	Japanese

Premise

Characters

Episodes

Production

Development

Music

Release

Home video release

Reception

Crayon Shin-chan crossover

Manga adaptation

Sanrio crossover

Game

External links

References

Casting

Business Development

Premise

Characters

Episodes

Production

Development

Music

Release

Home video release

Reception

Related media

Crayon Shin-chan crossover

Manga adaptation

Sanrio crossover

Game

External links

References

Casting

Business Development