is a Japanese children's superhero picture book series and media franchise written by Takashi Yanase, running from 1973 until the author's death in 2013. The series has been adapted into an anime entitled , which is one of the most popular anime series among young children in Japan. The series follows the adventures of Anpanman, a superhero with an anpan (a red bean paste filled pastry) for a head, who protects the world from an evil anthropomorphic germ named Baikinman.
Heavily merchandised, the Anpanman characters appear on virtually every imaginable children's product in Japan, ranging from clothes and video games to toys and snack foods. The series spawned a short-lived spin-off show featuring one of the popular recurring characters on the show, Omusubiman. Anpanman overtook Hello Kitty as Japan's top-grossing character in 2002, and has remained the country's top-grossing character . Anpanman has sold over 80million books as of February 2019, and the franchise generated in total retail sales revenue by 2013. Works inspired by Anpanman include the manga and anime series One-Punch Man. It is one of the highest grossing media franchises of all time.
Development During the Second World War, Takashi Yanase faced starvation countless times, which made him dream about eating an anpan. This inspired the creation of Anpanman.
Characters In each episode, Anpanman fights with Baikinman and saves the day. He goes on daily patrols around the house of Uncle Jam. He is a symbol of justice, fighting for good every day. Anpanman has a long history, and new characters are frequently introduced, keeping the series fresh. In 2009, Anpanman was verified as a Guinness World Record Holder for the highest number of characters in an animated franchise, with a total of 1,768 characters appearing in the first 980 episodes of the TV series and the first 20 films.
Heroes
The main character of the anime, whose head is an Anpan made by Uncle Jam. His name comes from his being a man whose head is made of bread (Japanese: pan) that is filled with red bean paste (Japanese: anko) called an anpan. When translated into English, Anpanman means "Bean Bun Man." He doesn't need to eat or drink to sustain himself and has never been seen eating, as it is believed the bean jam in his head allows him to sustain himself in this manner. His weaknesses are water and anything else that makes his head dirty. In order to prevent his head from getting wet when underwater or in wet weather, he wears a bubble-like helmet to protect it. He regains his health and strength when Uncle Jam bakes him a new head and replaces the old head. Anpanman's damaged head, with his eyes turning into X's, flies off his shoulders once a new baked head replaces it. Anpanman was born when a shooting star landed in Uncle Jam's oven while he was baking an anpan. In movies and other media, the shooting stars that brought Anpanman to life were called "the stars of life". Anpanman has two special attacks; An-punch and An-kick (with stronger variations of both). When Anpanman comes across a starving character, he lets them eat a part of his head. This can also make him weaker and causes him to replace his head to regain his strength. He also has super hearing, which allows him to respond to anyone who calls his name out in distress, anywhere in the world.
(1988–2019), Kōichi Yamadera (2019–present), Barry J Tarallo (Tubi), Todd Haberkorn (Netflix) (English) The creator of Anpanman and a very kind baker. He is a skilled cook with knowledge of nearly everything in the world.
Assistant to Uncle Jam. She is dedicated and hard-working but prone to forgetting things. Her name literally translates to "Butter Girl." She makes and mends the capes of Anpanman and the other heroes in the story.
A dog that lives in Uncle Jam's bakery. In the manga, he became Anpanman's loyal friend after he saved his life. In the anime, a young Anpanman finds Cheese starving during his very first patrol, and gives him a part of his head to eat. Cheese tends to be an effective sidekick when he's around.
Another of Anpanman's friends. His head is made from currypan, a pastry filled with red-hot curry. He is quick-tempered and hot-headed on the surface but gives way to a kind and sentimental interior. Tends to be the strongman of the trio. Wields the Curry-punch and Curry-kick, which are similar to the fighting techniques of Anpanman's other sidekicks. However, he can also use the hot curry concealed in his head as a weapon, using it to burn villains. He first appeared in episode 2b.
A friend of Anpanman. His head is made from sliced white bread (Japanese: shoku pan). He is handsome and level-headed and kind, but narcissistic. Tends to be the thinker of the trio. His job when not helping Anpanman is serving lunch to the schoolchildren. Dokin-chan has a crush on him. Wields the Shoku-punch and Shoku-kick, which are similar to Anpanman's fighting techniques. He also has a multi-functional delivery van known as the Shokupanman-go with many implements to help avoid trouble. He first appeared in episode 3b. In the Tubi and Netflix dubs, he is called Bread Head Man (spelled Breadhead-Man in the Netflix dub).
Anpanman's friend. Her head is made from melon bread. She is extremely softhearted, being caring and sensitive, and is sometimes clever. When she's in trouble, she usually needs Anpanman or somebody else to save her, or if there is no one available, she calls out for her sister, Rollpanna. Sometimes she likes hanging out with Cheese. Her special attack, the Melo-Melo Punch, makes bad guys woozy with affection or awakens others from a deep sleep. She first appeared in episode 200.
Melonpanna's older sister who has two hearts: A red one of goodness, and thanks to Baikinman, a blue one of evil. The sight of Anpanman can trigger her evil heart while the sight of Melonpanna can trigger her good one. She started out in the series as a loner at Baikinman's beck and call, but she broke from his power and wanders the world doing good deeds, but stays away from others for fear of what she would do if her blue heart is triggered. Her nickname is "The tragic heroine". Her weapon is a gymnastics ribbon, which she can use to wrap and slap up her enemies or cause tornadoes. She first appeared in episode 300.
The youngest of Anpanman's friends and the foster brother of Melonpanna and Rollpanna. He is six years old. His head is made from a cream bun and his eyes look like those of a panda's. Despite his immaturity and relative weakness as compared to Anpanman and his hero friends, he is courageous, protective of his friends, and has a "never give up" attitude. He has an immature character causes him to sometimes get into petty squabbles and competitions of one-upmanship with the other younger characters on the show. Because his head resembles a hand, he has a special headbutt attack called the "Guu-Choki-Punch" (Guu-Choki-Pa means Rock, Scissors, Paper in Japanese). Relatively powerful when it connects, it fails to connect more often than not. He first appeared in episode 469.
Villains
The villain from the "Germ Planet" and is the leader of the Viruses. His Japanese name means "Bacteria Man". His ambition is to destroy Anpanman and spread bacteria all over the latter's world, yet he is perfectly content to play tricks, steal, and bully those weaker than him. He and Anpanman were born at the same time, making them physical representations of moral dualism. He has a weakness to soap, which shrinks him to the size of a fly. He constructs machines and thinks of intricate plans to counteract Anpanman's strength. His two famous phrases are his battle cry, "Ha-hi-hu-he-ho!" (based on the h-row of Japanese kana); and "Bye-baikiiin!", which he utters out whenever he's sent flying by Anpanman or another character. On the English TMS Entertainment website, he was called Bacteriaman. In the English Tubi and Netflix dubs, he keeps his original Japanese name. Baikinman and his nemesis, Anpanman combine in the view of the media expert Thomas Hoeren elements of Milton's Paradise Lost, Frankenstein and Star Trek.
Baikinman's henchmen. They have the ability to rot Anpanman's head with mildew/mold (Japanese: kabi). They first appeared in episode 2a. In the English Tubi and Netflix dubs, they're called Rot-Rot.
(1988–2017), Rei Sakuma (2017 Christmas special), Miina Tominaga (2018–present), Krystal Valdes (Tubi), Cristina Vee (Netflix) (English) Baikinman's female partner in crime. She is selfish, demanding, childish, and greedy, but sometimes shows kindness, as demonstrated by her crush on Shokupanman. Her Japanese name is a combination of "Doki", the Japanese onomatopoeia for a quickly beating heart, "baikin" (meaning "germ", also the case for Baikinman), and the diminutive/affectionate suffix "-chan". She first appeared in episode 13a. On the English TMS Entertainment website, she was called Spark, however in the English Tubi and Netflix dubs, she is called Dokeen.
(1991–2016), Kazuki Yao (2017–2024), Kōsuke Okamoto (2025–present) (Japanese), Rio Chavarro (Tubi), Ryan Garcia (Netflix) (English) A skeleton who often works with Baikinman and Dokin-chan. Although he seems scary on the outside, he is very weak, often falling to pieces, but can magically putting himself back together. He is neither a hero nor a villain. His special attack is the Bone Boomerang, where he takes off one of his bones and throws it. He is in love with Dokin-chan and often stalks her. He first appeared in Fly! Fly! Chibigon. In the English Tubi and Netflix dubs, he is called Horror.
(2006), Aya Hirano (2007–present) (Japanese), Lia Rodriguez (English) Dokin-chan's younger sister who can cry fake tears to make nearby people cry for no reason. She has a rivalry with her sister, mostly over their shared love for Shokupanman. Sometimes, she is not evil and helps Anapanman and the others. She first appeared in the 2006 animated short, Kokin-chan and the Blue Tears. In the English Tubi and Netflix dubs, she is called Coreen.
Media
Picture books The Anpanman picture book series debuted in October 1973. Froebel-kan has published over 150 picture books under different series labels consisting of a varying amount of picture books. Takashi Yanase wrote and illustrated the picture books until 2013, following his retirement from his career and eventual death.
Manga Takashi Yanase created three different manga series based on the character.
January 1975 – May 1976: Nekketsu Märchen Kaiketsu Anpanman (熱血メルヘン 怪傑アンパンマン) Serialized in Sanrio's monthly poetry magazine Shi to Märchen (詩とメルヘン) for which Yanase was the editor-in-chief. Unlike all other iterations, this one is aimed at adults. The entire series is included in the box-set Yanase Takashi Taizen (やなせたかし大全), published in 2013 by Froebel-kan. September 1976 – July 1982: Anpanman (あんぱんまん / アンパンマン) Serialized in Sanrio's monthly youth magazine Gekkan Ichigoehon (月刊いちごえほん). The series changed its title spelling from hiragana to katakana in January 1981 and ended when the magazine folded in July 1982. It remained commercially unavailable until 2016 when it was collected in its entirety into the volume Dare mo shiranai Anpanman (だれも知らないアンパンマン) by Fukkatsu Dotcom. January 1, 1990 – May 29, 1994: Tobe! Anpanman (とべ!アンパンマン) A full color comic strip serialized in the Sunday edition of Yomiuri Shinbun. In 1991 Froebel-kan published a selection of strips into three bilingual volumes, marketing them as English learning tools for children age 3+. Unlike traditional tankoubon, these volumes are presented in a vertical "Garfield Format". The rest of the series run is currently commercially unavailable.
Anime