Ohayō! Spank

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Good Morning! Spank
おはよう!スパンク (Ohayō! Spank)
Genre	Comedy
Manga
Author	Shun'ichi Yukimuro
Illustrator	Shizue Takanashi
Publisher	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōjo
Magazine	Nakayoshi
Original run	February 1979 – March 1982
Volumes	7
TV anime
Director	Shigetsugu Yoshida
Writer	Yutaka Kaneko Yoshimi Shinozaki Masāki Sakurai Chifude Asakura
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Network	ABC, TV Asahi
Original run	March 7, 1981 – May 29, 1982
Episodes	63
Animated film
Director	Shigetsugu Yoshida
Producer	Yutaka Fujioka
Writer	Chifude Asakura Hiroshi Kaneko Masaaki Sakurai Yoshimi Shinozaki
Composer	Kouji Makaino
Studio	Tokyo Movie Shinsha
Released	1982-03-13

Ohayō! Spank (おはよう!スパンク, Ohayō! Supanku^?, lit. Hello Spank!) is a Japanese shōjo manga written by Shun'ichi Yukimuro and drawn by Shizue Takanashi. The series has been adapted as an anime television series, broadcasted in Japan from 1981 to 1982, and a theatical movie released in 1982. In 1981, it received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo.^[1]

[edit] Story

Spank (voiced by Noriko Tsukase), the main character, is a dog whose owner went missing on the high seas. While awaiting his return Spank strays at the beach everyday. One day he meets Aiko Morimura (voiced by Mari Okamoto), a junior high school student, whose father went also missing on a yacht tour ten years ago. Her mother, a designer for hats, left for Paris, leaving Aiko in the care of her uncle, Mr Fujinami. Abandoned, Aiko believes that her father is still alive and awaits his return. She's recently lost her pet dog, Papi, which was a good-bye present from her mother, in a car accident leaving her totally devastated. In the course of the anime Spank begins to lighten up her gloomy mood as he is a clumsy and merry dog with lots of heart. She also falls in love with a friend of Spank's missing owner. Whereas, Spank finds his love for the pet cat of Anna's classmate.

A very amusing and sweet anime,^{[citation needed]} Ohayō! Spank also found tremendous popularity outside Japan, dubbed into French (as Claire et Tipoune), German (as Hallo! Kurt), Spanish, Italian, and Arabic, but remains unreleased in English.