Shōnen Ashibe
Cover of the first ‘’tankōbon‘’ volume, featuring Ashibe Ashiya and his pet Goma-chan
少年アシベ
Genre	Comedy, slice of life[1]
Manga
Written by	Hiromi Morishita
Published by	Shueisha
Imprint	Young Jump Comics
Magazine	Weekly Young Jump
Demographic	‘’Seinen‘’
Original run	1988 – 1994
Volumes	8
Further information Original video animation Directed by Noboru Ishiguro Produced by Pony Canyon Music by Toshiyuki Arakawa Studio Nippon Animation Released Jan 21, 1990 Runtime 50 minutes Anime television series Directed by Ishizaki Susumu Music by Toshiyuki Arakawa Studio Life Work Original network TBS Original run Apr 11, 1991 – Dec 28, 1991 Episodes 37 Anime television series Shōnen Ashibe 2 Directed by Ishizaki Susumu Music by Toshiyuki Arakawa Studio Life Work Original network TBS Original run Oct 3, 1992 – Mar 27, 1993 Episodes 25 Manga ComaGoma Written by Hiromi Morishita Published by Shueisha Magazine Weekly Young Jump Demographic ‘’Seinen’’ Original run 2000 – 2004 Volumes 6 Manga Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan Written by Hiromi Morishita Illustrated by Ogino Junko Published by Futabasha Magazine Monthly Action Demographic ‘’Seinen’’ Original run Apr 1, 2016 – Mar 28, 2017 Volumes 8 Anime television series Directed by Kondō Nobuhiro Music by Toshiyuki Arakawa Studio Bridge, Husio Studio Original network NHK Educational TV Original run Apr 5, 2016 – Feb 21, 2017 Episodes 32 Anime television series Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan 2 Directed by Kondō Nobuhiro Music by Toshiyuki Arakawa Studio Bridge, Husio Studio Original network NHK Educational TV Original run Apr 4, 2017 – Feb 13, 2018 Episodes 32 Manga ComaGoma Goma-chan Written by Hiromi Morishita Published by Futabasha Magazine Monthly Action Demographic ‘’Seinen’’ Original run Jul 12, 2017 – April 12, 2018 Volumes 6 Anime television series Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan 3 Directed by Kondō Nobuhiro Music by Toshiyuki Arakawa Studio Bridge, Studio Palette Original network NHK Educational TV Original run Apr 3, 2018 – Feb 26, 2019 Episodes 32 Manga Seishōnen Ashibe Written by Hiromi Morishita Illustrated by Shouhei Published by Futabasha Magazine Monthly Action Demographic ‘’Seinen’’ Original run April 12, 2018 – present Volumes 4 Anime television series Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan 4 Directed by Kondō Nobuhiro Music by Toshiyuki Arakawa Studio Shin-Ei Animation Original network NHK Educational TV Original run Apr 2, 2019 – Dec 17, 2019 Episodes 24 Manga 3rd Grade Ashibe QQ Goma-chan Written by Hiromi Morishita Published by Futabasha Magazine Manga Action Demographic ‘’Seinen’’ Original run Feb 2020 – present

’’’’’Shōnen Ashibe’’’’’ (Japanese: 少年アシベ, lit. “Boy Ashibe”) is a Japanese ‘’seinen‘’ manga series written and illustrated by Hiromi Morishita. It describes the daily life of Ashibe (an elementary school boy) and his family and friends, including his spotted seal pup named Goma-chan.

It was published from 1988 to 1994 in the magazine ‘’Weekly Young Jump‘’, owned by Shueisha, with a total of 8 volumes. It received an OVA in January 1991, which led to an animated television adaptation in the same year, aired on TBS from April to December 1991. It was followed by another season named ‘’Shōnen Ashibe 2’’ from 1992 to 1993.

In the same magazine, a sequel of the manga, named ‘’ComaGoma’’, which depicted Ashibe as a 2nd grade student, was serialized from 2000 to 2004, with 6 volumes. In April 2016, 22 years after the original run ended, it began serializing in Futabasha‘s magazine ‘’Monthly Action‘’ a continuation of the original manga, named ‘’Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan’’, illustrated by Ogino Junko, which was published from April 2016 to March 2017, with 8 volumes. It had a 32-episode animated television adaptation from 2016 to 2017 in NHK Educational TV. Several seasons have been broadcast since then: ‘’Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan 2’’ from April 2017 to February 2018 with 32 episodes, ‘’Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan 3’’ from April 2018 to February 2019 with 32 episodes and ‘’Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan 4’’ from April to December 2019 with 24 episodes.^[1]

In July 2017, it was first published in ‘’Monthly Action’’ the continuation of the ‘’ComaGoma’’ manga, named ‘’ComaGoma Goma-chan’’, and ended in July 2018 with 6 volumes. Another sequel of the manga, named ‘’Seishōnen Ashibe’’ began serializing also in ‘’Monthly Action’’ in the same month. It depicts an older Ashibe, who has become a freshman in high school, with Shohei in charge of the illustration.^[2]

And in February 2020, another sequel named ‘’3rd Grade Ashibe QQ Goma-chan’’ began its serialization in Futabasha’s magazine ‘’Manga Action‘’, and it depicts Ashibe as a 3rd grade student.^[3]

Reception

When the anime was aired, the manga gained an explosive popularity, and by 2016, the original 1988 run had sold 20 million copies.^[4]

References

External links

• ’’Shōnen Ashibe’’ official manga page in the Futabasha website (in Japanese)
• ’’Shōnen Ashibe: GO! GO! Goma-chan’’ official anime website (in Japanese)