During our childhood, many of us have sweet memories of watching Shin-chan, which is a Japanese anime, and it is also a very well-known manga series. I can vividly recall how I would get my food and everything ready just to watch the episode of this Shin-chan anime; I’m sure you have similar memories of the anime as well..
Shinchan held a special place in my heart from a very young age. However, it wasn’t until 2016 that I came to learn the tragic backstory of Shin-chan and the kid, Shinnosuke Nohara, who inspired it.
The anime is also known as Crayon Shin-chan, and it made its first appearance in 1990 in a Japanese weekly magazine called Weekly Manga Action, which was published by Futabasha. Since then, in the last 33 years, it has become very popular around the world.
Now, coming to the main thing, Is Shinchan purely a fictional creation, or is there a deeper, more intricate story waiting to be uncovered? Well, yes, there is.
The story of Shinchan is loosely based on a tragic tale of a real-life child named Shinnosuke Nohara, who met with a devastating car accident.
Shinnosuke’s mother, Misae Nohara, found it incredibly challenging to cope with losing her child and channeled her grief into creating sketches depicting cherished memories of her son, Shin-chan. It was these rough sketches that would eventually catch the attention of the renowned manga artist Yoshito Usai. This aside, if you do not know, Yoshito Usai was found dead on September 19, 2009. Rest in peace.
Upon discovering Misae’s artwork, Mangaka Usai was immediately inspired and conceived to craft a manga series around these heartfelt illustrations. The name “Crayon Shin-chan” was born from the crayons Misae had employed in her drawings, a poignant and fitting tribute to her late son.
Shinchan, as we know him today, is an integral part of Crayon Shin-Chan, a highly acclaimed Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yoshito Usui.
