Shinnosuke Nohara (野原しんのすけ), also known as Shin-chan or Shin, is the protagonist of Crayon Shin-chan. He is son of Hiroshi and Misae. His nickname is "Shin-chan" Nohara and he is Himawari's brother, a kindergarten-aged boy whose antics are the basis for the series. He is often involved in a running gag of pulling down his pants to reveal his buttocks and dance in the process with an accompanying original song (known as "Ass dance" in the Funimation English dub). His affectionate name by relatives is Shin-chan. He is five years old and loves chocolate biscuits of the brand "Chocobi" and a TV superheronamed "Action Mask", but he absolutely hates green peppers (acute lachanophobia). He always take care of his sister, Himawari. He inherited more genes from his mother than his father. He is lethargic, loves to eat and sleep, stingy, stubborn (a trait that passed down from his maternal grandfather to his 2 aunt and mother and his mother passed down to him), imagining things, cannot resist good things, opinionated and brazen which is just like his mother while the only thing same with his father is likes to watch and flirt pretty young ladies. Both Shin-chan and his sister's appearance look more like their mother. He is a very good singer and pretty good baseball and football player. He learned photography from his aunt Musae. He always takes care of his sister, Himawari. Sometimes he changes the actual words, making it very funny. For example, promise becomes promotion etc. He often exhibits deep affection for his best friend, Kazama. Some of his strange activities include dressing up (often as an animal). He also causes trouble for others and then criticizes their efforts in covering for him. In general, he is outspoken and very curious. He has little to no shame. In several occasions, both in manga and anime, he is either seen doing drag or wearing animal costumes. There have been several instances in which his antics actually solved the problems of those around him. He also displays a surprising amount of talent at singing songs and changing their wordings. On rare occasions, he displays bouts of selfless kindness. For example, in one anime episode he saved a frog from a truck on a rainy day, becoming wet and dirty in the process and risking Misae's ire since it was his last set of clean clothes. In another episode, he gives Masao the change he has even though he knows that his mother will scold him later. A running gag in the series involves Shin-chan being late for the bus to his school, usually due to taking a long time in the bathroom, leading Misae to begrudgingly having to take him to school on her bike. Although he always tease his mother, he is very close to his mother. There are also times when Shin-chan displays a level of maturity beyond his usual self in his concern for others, and in a few rare instances he shows that deep down he really does care for his family, although he usually behaves badly with them. He is also the leader of the Kasukabe Defence Force.
Background
Shinnosuke is based on the character Shinnosuke Nikaido of another series by Yoshito Usui, Darakuya Store Monogatari. He is a naughty child around which the series is made. He balks at washing dishes and taking out the dog. What is most interesting, though not as far-out as the other differences, is that he rarely screams, rarely cries or throws tantrums, and is often punished. His works are always done by his puppy dog eyes. He generally pulls his pants down when happy and dances while singing "Buri! Buri!" (ケツだけ星人, "Ass Dance! Ass Dance!" in the English Funimation dub and "Hula Hula" or "The Bare Butt Boogie" in the Vitello and Phuuz dubs). He also likes to do the elephant dance (ゾーさん zō-san) which consists of that an elephant is drawn around the penis, which acts like a trumpet. He always runs to the nearest TV at 5 PM to see Action Mask and, when he can't go inside his house he will go at Masao's house. He is a member of the Kasukabe Defence Force. He has his own imaginary character called Buriburizaemon.
He is a very good singer and a pretty good baseball and football player. He learned photography from his aunt Musae. Sometimes he changes the actual words, making it very funny. For example, promise becomes promotion etc. He tends to not act like a child when he sighs "Gokuraku, gokuraku" ('Paradise, Paradise'-- a stereotypical utterance while in a hot bath or spring) at a hot spring or complains about "kids these days" as if he isn't a kid himself. His friends often have to remind him of that.
His misuse of language is also typical. Shin-chan calls out "itte rasshai!" ('see you soon!'--said to those leaving) when he comes home from school and uses mixed-up greetings like "okonban gozaimasu" (a combo of 'good morning' and 'good night'). His written language is full of misspellings and strangely-written characters, and when he overhears someone older saying something that sounds pretty sophisticated, he'll try to repeat it, but fails miserably, switching around syllables and words to no end. He also uses "ora" (a corruption of the tough-guy first person pronoun 'ore') - which is nonstandard even for adults - to refer to himself when most five-year-old boys use "boku", and prefers "hoi" (another corruption, this time of 'hai', or 'yes') to "hai". The word "hoi" is actually Dutch (the Netherlands' language) for "hi".
Romances
Shin-chan and Nanako Oohara
Shinchan is attracted to older girls and women, despite his young age and flirts with them with adult dialogue such as "Hei, oneisan, tamanegi tabereru~?" (Hey, baby, you like onions?). He brazenly pursues any girl who catches his eye. As he flirts, a smiling mouth, red cheeks, and flirting eyes can be seen. He shares this trait with his father and paternal grandfather, but this often results in mom's cruel punishment. However, he seems to have at least some standard in his pursues as he never tries to flirt with any of his female teachers (Ume Matsuzaka, Midori Ishizaka and Masumi Ageo) even though people (including himself) have considered them to be rather attractive. The only girl he seems to really like is a college student named Nanako Oohara. He always tries to pretend to be a brilliant boy in front of her in order to impress her. He has absolutely no interest in kindergarten girls; in fact, upon receiving a love letter from a fellow student, he whines, "but I'm not attracted to kids!"
Relations
Misae (mother)
Shinnosuke, Misae and Hiroshi
Shin-chan's mother from Kyushu. She is 29 and a typical housewife of post-war Japan. Although he always teases his mother along with his father and sister, he is very close with his mom, as seen when his mom goes to the hospital when she is pregnant and he becomes sad for her believing she will die in one month.
Hiroshi (father)
He and his father both like to see and flirt with pretty young ladies which always get punished by his mother, Misae at the right time. Normally Shin-chan will tell things about Hiroshi to Misae, making Misae beat him up.
Toru (friend)
Shinnosuke and Kazama
Being the closest friend with Shin-Chan in the Shin-Chan series, he is intelligent. He is Shin-chan's immaculately groomed and perfectly mannered best friend, who usually loses his mind when Shin-chan tease him and other things. He also bickers and fight with words with Shin Chan sometimes. Despite that, they are actually closer than any of the other friends they have. A strong evidence is that when Kazama was extremely frustrated and lonely in several episodes, Shin-chan was the only one who stayed with him. Even though Kazama always denied when Shin Chan says that he is his most best friend, his best friend is Shin Chan too.
Shiro (dog)
Shiro is a white, fluffy pup Shin-chan found in a cardboard box early in the series. While a beloved member of the family, he is the subject of neglect thanks to his owner's forgetfulness and short attention-span. He is a very intelligent dog, often presenting logic and intellect that surpasses his human owners. Shin-chan loves him very much even though he always complained to take Shiro out for a walk and all that.
Masao (friend)
Shin-chan and Nene sometimes bully him but not in a bad way. For example, when Masao show his friends he had kept a four leaf clover which proves to had bring him luck, Shin-chan and Nene steal the leaf and fight for it until the leaf tore apart which made Masao cry. Shin-chan and Nene always scold him and made him cry while Kazama and Bo calm him down and comforted him. His nickname is "Onigiri" due to his shaven head's resemblance to a rice ball, and there are several moments where Shin-chan accidentally mistook Masao's head for rice ball and even try to eat it. Masao is in love with Ai and jealous at Shin-chan because Ai loves Shin-chan but they are still best friends.
Nene (friend)
She is Shin-chan's only one female best friend. She is also the only female member of Kasukabe Defense Organization. Some fans said she has a crush on Shin-chan. She likes to play real-house with the other members in the Kasukabe Defense Organization, because of this Shin-Chan and his friends always want to escape from her. She loves rabbits so much that in the movie Roar! Kasukabe Animal Kingdom after she drank the Animal Potion she even turned into a rabbit. However, when she is angry, like her mom, she grabs her rabbit plush and punches it. Nene is impatient with Shin's odd behavior but does enjoy his company, as she usually invites him (if he hasn't already invited himself) to join her and her mother if they're out for a meal (much to her mother's dismay). In the movie My Moving Story! Cactus Large Attack! Nene was upset when she hears Shin Chan is going to move to Mexico, proving that she does care about him. Although she has a habit of losing her temper, she still makes a good team with Shin Chan. They spends most of the times together compared to the other 3 boys. Shin-chan is the closest to Nene. They both are very match. Sometimes, Nene give Shinchan her husband's role and characters when they played 'real house' which is her favourite game. Nene always give Masao her husband's role and characters. If not Masao, she will give Shin-chan. Besides Shin-chan's mother, Misae, Nene is the only girl who can control him and beat him. He is scared of her too. There's another boy name Motohisa who likes Nene and always fights with Shin-chan. Whoever wins get to be with Nene. They fights for Nene in a few episodes. Same thing, when other girls example Ai wants to be with Shinchan, Nene won't let and fights with them. They fights for Shinchan in a few episodes too. They both sometimes bully (but not in a bad way) and scold Masao which made him cry while Kazama and Bo comforted him when he cries.
Bo Suzuki (friend)
They normally meet when the whole troop is together. Bo always keeps a snivel. His interest is to collect strange rocks. In the movie The Storm Called: The Kasukabe Boys of the Evening Sun, Bo is the only best friend that still remembers Shin-Chan and being passive to him. He is also one of the most important characters in the Shin-Chan series even though he is quiet. Compared to the other 3 of Shin-chan's best friends, Bo understands Shin-chan's behaviour the most and usually joins Shin-chan's things too example: play hide and seek without seeker, imagine playing ball in the head etc.
Ai Suotome (friend/classmate)
She is a rich girl and likes to play with Shin-chan. She moved to Kasukabe because she wanted to feel how a normal kindergarten student is. Ai-chan loved Shin-chan and always called him "Sama" in almost every episode that Ai-chan appeared in, but Shin-chan rejects her because he doesn't like girls that are smaller and the same age as him. If Shin-chan wants anything she does the work with the help of her bodyguard, she blackmails him all the time. She is also a fierce rival of Nene and they always seen fighting for Shin-chan for example who is going to play with him and who is going to sleep beside him. Ai-chan first joined the Kasukabe Defense Organization in an ep but leaves it later because she thinks she is not "close" enough with Shin-chan.
Voice Actors
- Japanese: Akiko Yajima (1992/04/13 - 2018/06/29) → Yumiko Kobayashi (2018/07/06 - Present)
- English (Vitello): Kath Soucie
- English (Phuuz): Diane Michelle
- English (Funimation): Laura Bailey
- Dutch: Melise de Winter
- Hindi: Akash Ahuja (2006 - 2011) → Alka Sharma (2010 - 2013) → Swasti S Sharma (2013 - 2015) → Akanksha Sharma (2016 - Present).
Trivia
- Shin-chan ranked 1st in the official vote "My Favorite Character" from Japan.
- Shin-chan's representative animal is a elephant (zou in Japanese) as he shows his penis and draws it like an elephant.
- Shin-chan studied at the same primary school as Bo, Masao and Nene Sakurada but different from Toru Kazama.
- "Hoho~i!" is a nonsense word Shin-chan uses loosely as a greeting.
- He often does the "Ketsu-dake Seijin" (Butt-Only Alien) dance and "Zô-san" (Mr. Elephant) dance.
- He sometimes says Ja ('Well, then', or, colloquially, 'See ya.') at the end of episodes.
- On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the designation of Kasukabe as a city, the real life city council decided to award the residence certificate to Shinnosuke Nohara.
- Shinchan is often compared to be the Japanese equivalent of the American television character Bart Simpson.
Costumes
Main article: Costumes of Shinnosuke Nohara
Art evolution
Anime
Manga
Gallery
Anime
Manga
