Specials

Despite the series' low budget and its status as an advertisement for a games store, sequels for Di Gi Charat, several feature-length Di Gi Charat special episodes and OVAs, followed. Each special was around twenty minutes long. The specials introduce the Black Gema Gema Gang (Black Gema Gema Dan) and Dejiko's rival, Pyocola Analogue III (Piyoko).

Summer Special 2000

Di Gi Charat - Summer Special 2000 (デ・ジ・キャラット サマースペシャル２０００, De Ji Kyaratto - Samā Supesharu Nisen) is a four episode series that aired over two days, August 22, 2000 to August 23, 2000.^[18] This was the first series that Piyoko appeared in and the plot involves her attempting to hold Dejiko hostage for ransom.

Christmas Special

Di Gi Charat - Christmas Special (デ・ジ・キャラット クリスマススペシャル, De Ji Kyaratto - Kurisumasu Supesharu) is a special that aired on December 16, 2000 and featured Piyoko again attempting to capture Dejiko by inviting all the characters on a cruise. Piyoko's accomplices Coo, Rik and Ky are introduced.

Ohanami Special

Di Gi Charat - Ohanami Special (デ・ジ・キャラット お花見すぺしゃる, De Ji Kyaratto - Ohanami Supesharu) is a special consisting of four independent episodes with no continuation that aired on April 6, 2001 in Japan.

Natsuyasumi Special

Di Gi Charat - Natsuyasumi Special (デ・ジ・キャラット 夏休みスペシャル, De Ji Kyaratto - Natsuyasumi Supesharu) was another four episode series set in America that aired almost a year after the original series from August 2, 2001 to August 3, 2001. The young American otaku, Rod Young, is introduced in this series.

Tsuyu Special

Di Gi Charat - Tsuyu Special (デ・ジ・キャラット 梅雨スペシャル, De Ji Kyaratto - Tsuyu Supesharu) was a two episode series that aired on August 25, 2001.

Movie

Di Gi Charat - A Trip to the Planet (デ・ジ・キャラット 星の旅, Di Gi Charat - Hoshi no Tabi) is a movie that premiered on December 22, 2001 in Japan. The twenty-minute animation follows the adventures of Dejiko, Piyoko and Gema as they use the spaceship seen in the first episode to travel back to Dejiko's home planet, Planet Di Gi Charat. It was licensed by Synch-Point and announced at Anime Boston 2003 along with Leave It to Piyoko!.^[19]

Synch-Point planned to include a 13-minute bonus episode called "Kuchi kara Bazooka" ("Rocket From the Mouth Special" or "Upchuck Bazooka") that was also included in the Japanese release, but it was never released.^[20]

Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat

A prequel of sorts with its own alternate continuity, Panyo Panyo aired from January 5, 2002 until September 29, 2002. The characters are drawn to look much younger. Princess Dejiko and Puchiko wish to escape castle life to help people of Planet Di Gi Charat achieve happiness. Pyocola Analogue III and hologram Digi Devil try to stop her. In this series Dejiko, Puchiko and Gema meet friends Meek and Rinna.

Panyo Panyo was arranged into five-minute mini episodes in order to make it feel like classic four panel manga. Panyo Panyo did not have the wide open endings which the original series had.

Di Gi Charat Theater - Leave it to Piyoko-pyo!

Di Gi Charat Theater - Leave it to Piyoko-pyo! (デ・ジ・キャラット劇場 ぴよこにおまかせぴょ！, De Ji Kyaratto Gekijō - Piyoko ni Omakase-pyo!) is an eight episode OVA that was released in 2003. The OVA is the only show in the series where Dejiko is not the main character. Instead it focuses on Piyoko, Rik, Ky, Coo, and the rest of the Black Gema Gema Gang as they leave Planet Analogue and make their way to Earth to kidnap Dejiko.

At Anime Boston 2003, Synch-Point announced they have acquired North American distribution rights to the OVA.^[19] It was released on two DVDs on November 15, 2005 and March 7, 2006. Miyuki Sawashiro, the voice actor of Puchiko, also dubbed Puchiko in English for the first six episodes. It marked the first time a Japanese voice actor repeated their role in English for an English anime dub.^[21]

Di Gi Charat Nyo!

An alternate story to the original series, Nyo!, aired from April 6, 2003 until March 28, 2004. There were two stories for each of the fifty-two twenty-minute episodes.

Winter Garden

Winter Garden (ウィンターガーデン, Uintā Gāden) is a two part spin-off series. Dejiko is around 20 years old and Puchiko is now around 15. Until recently, this was also the last animated project to feature the original voices of the characters. The story starts on Christmas with Dejiko working at a cake shop. She meets a young man named Senba Takuro while going home on Christmas night. Dejiko accidentally drops her cake, but Takuro exchanges his for hers, and love starts after several unplanned meetings with each other.

A promotional video premiered at Anime Expo 2006 during the Di Gi Charat panel sponsored by TBS, PONYCANYON and Broccoli. The series first aired on TBS on December 23, 2006 and December 24, 2006 and later on BS-i.^[22]

Relation of each series

Main characters

Di Gi Charat (デ・ジ・キャラット, De Ji Kyaratto) / Dejiko (でじこ, Dejiko)

• Voiced by: Asami Sanada (1999–2008, 2013–present), Satomi Akesaka (2008) (Japanese); Jessica Gee (season 1), Luci Christian (Panyo Panyo), Chris Simms (Nyo) (English)

Dejiko is the main protagonist of the series. She is also known as Chocola (ショコラ, Syokora) but despite this alternate name implying she likes chocolate, she prefers broccoli. Dejiko has a type A personality and can be aggressive at times.

Dejiko dresses up as a catgirl and is the princess of Planet Di Gi Charat. She is ten years old when she comes to Earth with hopes of becoming an idol singer. She has green eyes, green hair, and her maid-like uniform consists of a white and navy blue dress with large cat bells tied to her hair with navy blue ribbons. She attacks using her eye-beam weapon.

She has the ability to use her eye-beam weapon called the Me Kara Beam. She ends each sentence that she speaks with nyo.

In an interview with Koge-Donbo, she says that of all her character creations Dejiko is most like her.^[23]

Petit Charat (プチ・キャラット, Puchi Kyaratto) / Puchiko (ぷちこ, Puchiko)

• Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (1999–2008 and 2013–present, Japanese; English in Leave It to Piyoko!), Nao Minakami (2008, Japanese), Karen Strassman (season 1), Hilary Haag (Panyo Panyo), Mariette Sluyter (Nyo) (English)

At the beginning of the story it is explained that Puchiko, also known as Capuccino, is Dejiko's five-year-old sidekick and is a catgirl. Her relationship to Dejiko is not explained in the original series, but Gema states that she is a princess in the Di Gi Charat Movie and it is seen that she lives with Dejiko in the castle in Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat. According to Di Gi Charat Complete 2002, Dejiko saved her by pulling her out of a hole, and so Puchiko followed Dejiko to thank her. Although in Winter Garden, it is said that Puchiko is Dejiko's sister and share the same parents.

Puchiko has a type B personality and is known to be quiet and calm. She has the ability to use an eye-beam similar to Dejiko's but is often too docile to conjure the aggression required to perform such a feat. This has caused many things to come out of her eyes, including sludge, when she attempts to use it.

Puchiko dresses as an orange tabby catgirl and has brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wears a seifuku plus cat bells in her hair, though they are much smaller than Dejiko's. She ends each sentence that she speaks with nyu also a cameo in Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory.

Hikaru Usada (うさだ ヒカル, Usada Hikaru) / Rabi~en~Rose (ラ・ビ・アン・ローズ, Rabi~an~Rōzu)

• Voiced by: Kyōko Hikami (1999–2008, 2013–present), Rieka Yazawa (2008) (Japanese); Michelle Ruff, Carol-Anne Day (Nyo) (English)

Rabi~en~Rose is Dejiko's rival. Her name was decided following a request for reader submissions,^[24] and may be a play on a number of things. "Ra Bi an Rozu" can read as gairaigo for the common French saying "La Vie en Rose", literally "life in rose-pink", referring to a life spent without any worries, which might be taken to describe her personality. The Japanese phrase, "rose-coloured" (バラ色, bara iro) also refers figuratively to an optimistic outlook. "Rabi", which resembles the English word "rabbit", replaces "La vie" to form the pun, "Rabbit in rose-pink", describing her appearance. Her real name is Hikaru Usada, a pun on the name of the famous Japanese pop singer, Hikaru Utada, which she hates being called. Her "Usada" surname is another a pun: "Usa" is a shortening of the word "usagi", meaning "rabbit" in Japanese.

In the original anime, she is seen as a normal girl who uses dice to transform into her bunnygirl outfit: a pink, white and red dress with large white rabbit ears and a large round cotton tail. Her parents left her to live on her own in an attempt to help her become an idol. Rabi~en~Rose does not use a suffix at the end of her sentences and is the only character with kemonomimi animal traits other than Rik. Ky, and Coo in the Di Gi Charat franchise not to do so.

Gema (ゲマ, Gema)

• Voiced by: Yoshiko Kamei (Japanese); Stephanie Sheh (season 1), Tiffany Grant (Panyo Panyo), Lucas Gilbertson (Nyo) (English)

Gema is explained to be the guardian of Dejiko and Puchiko. Essentially he is a floating yellow balloon that is always upside-down with very small eyes and mouth. Creator Koge Donbo once joked that Gema was the best character because anyone can draw him. He ends his sentences with gema. He can shoot darts out of bamboo sticks; but they have little effect on anyone.

Black Gema-Gema Gang

Pyocola Analogue III (ピョコラ＝アナローグIII世, Pyokora Anarōgu San-sei) / Piyoko (ぴよこ, Piyoko)

• Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese); Sandy Fox (season 1), Kira Vincent-Davis (Panyo Panyo) (English)

Piyoko is eight years old. She is the Princess of planet Analogue and leader of the Black Gema Gema Gang. Her parents left her in Rik, Ky, and Coo's care until she is thirteen because they are embarrassed to show their faces when their attempt to take over planet Di Gi Charat failed. She had to flee to earth because she blew up a city and couldn't pay for repairs. Piyoko's dresses similar to that of a nurse's uniform, but in black and white colors like a panda. She ends her sentences with "pyo" (although certain manga publications depict this as a squeak). She has an attack similar to Dejiko's Laser Eye Beam called Upchuck Bazooka (Kuchikara Bazooka in Japanese) which is a beam that comes from her mouth, but whenever she attempts to attack Dejiko with it, she more often than not gets attacked herself. Note: Piyoko makes a brief cameo in Episode 2 of Cromartie High School as a teenage version of herself.

Rik Heisenberg (リク＝ハイゼンベルク, Riku Haizenberuku)

• Voiced by: Kohsuke Toriumi (Japanese); Grant George (English)

Rik is 26 years old (28 in the English dub of Leave It to Piyoko!) and the General of the Black Gema Gema Gang. He plays the role of the veterinarian of the doctor trio. He takes pride in his profession and loves animals. As a result, Rik has many animals around him. The animals include Bun Bun and Amaenbou. As the gang considers themselves a "family", Rik considers himself as the "Daddy".

Ky Schweitzer (カイ＝シュヴァイツァー, Kai Shuvuaitsuā)

• Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese); Michael Sinterniklaas (English)

Ky is seventeen years old and the Lieutenant General of the Black Gema Gema Gang. He is a dentist and always worries after Piyoko. Ky makes sure that Piyoko practices proper dental hygiene. As the gang considers themselves a "family", Ky considers himself as the "Mommy", even though he is a male. He seems embarrassed by the title.

Coo Erhard (クウ＝エアハルト, Kū Eaharuto)

• Voiced by: Tomo Saeki (Japanese); Wendee Lee, Cole Howard (Nyo) (English)

Coo is thirteen and the Major of the Black Gema Gema Gang. He is the physician of the group. He is Piyoko's childhood friend and is closest to her. Sometimes if food flies through the air he will jump up and catch it in his mouth in a dog-like manner. As the gang considers themselves a "family", Coo is considered the "brother". However, Piyoko thinks she is older than he is, although she is only 8 while he is 13. He treasures a stuffed panda that Piyoko gave to him.

Nazo Gema (謎ゲマ, Nazo Gema)

Gema's counterpart in the Black Gema Gema Gang. Like Gema, it is round and floats in the air, but instead of being yellow, it is black. It also has large spooky eyes and red lips.

Black Gema-Gema Danin

is worker from analogue planet-di gi charat danin's counterpart. They end their sentences with "Geba".

Minor characters

Takeshi - Voiced by: Ryo Naito (Japanese); Taliesin Jaffe (English) and Yoshimi - Voiced by: Morihisa Mori (Japanese); Liam O'Brien (English)

• The two self-styled "fans of Dejiko". Takeshi is fatter, Yoshimi is thinner, and both wear glasses. In the original series, Dejiko interprets Takeshi's name as "bu" and Yoshimi's name as "kimi". Thus, for the remainder of the series, she refers to the pair collectively as Bukimi (meaning 'weird'/'unpleasant smell').

Takurou Minagawa

• Voiced by: Omi Minami (Japanese); Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)

A boy who comes into the store to buy trading cards and falls in love with Rabi-en-Rose, in the Reiwa anime, is confirmed that he and Rabi-in-Rose study in the same school. Enjoys melonpan. Not related to Kimura, though they share the same first name.

Takurou Kimura

• Voiced by: Ryotaro Okiayu (Japanese); Ezra Weisz (English)

A rich and long-haired man infatuated with Puchiko's cuteness and have a problem with the suffix that some characters use at the end. Not related to Minagawa.

Abarenbou (暴れん坊, Abarenbō)

• Voiced by: Yūji Ueda (Japanese); Geoffrey Fontaine (English)

A rowdy creature seemingly made of water. His appearances in the series are always incredibly random and crazy.

Rod Young

An excitable American fan of Di Gi Charat.

Mister Manager

• Voiced by: Kazuya Ichijō (Japanese); Sam Riegel (English)

A thoughtful finger-person who runs Gamers and sends Dejiko on errands.

Hokke Mirin

A cat who is Puchiko's sidekick. It can walk sideways and has five kittens; Sa, Shi, Su, Se, and So. During the time between Di Gi Charat and Reiwa no Di Gi Charat, it takes the place of Puchiko in the store when she and Dejiko are in the Di Gi Charat Planet.

Majin Gappa

A small green creature likened to a kappa, is Rabi-en-Rose's sidekick. During the time between DiGi Charat and Reiwa no Di Gi Charat, it takes the place of Rabi-en-Rose in the store, meanwhile she is very busy with the exams and homework.

Henna Ikimono (変な生き物, Henna Ikimono, lit. "Strange Creature") A mysterious, tiny, yellow bear. Its face always appears to be angry, crying, depressed and laughing at the same time. It always remains in its box and is always seen as being completely still. On one side of the box, "Please give me a home" is written in Japanese. It can eat things bigger than itself. In Party Night, he ate the Earth.

Broccodes

She is the goddess of Broccoli's company. She appears for first time in Reiwa no Di Gi Charat, replacing Dejiko when she and Puchiko are in the Di Gi Charat Planet during the time between Di Gi Charat and Reiwa no Di Gi Charat. The only two that knows about the change are Dejiko and Gamers's Manager.

Bushimo-no-Mikoto

She is the goddess of Bushiroad's company, she had as aspect of a devil samurai, is kouhai of Broccodes and is a fan of the original anime. She appears for first time in Reiwa no Di Gi Charat