Tsurupika Hagemaru

Tsurupika Hagemaru (つるピカハゲ丸^?, lit. "Little Baldy Hagemaru") or simply Hagemaru, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shinbo Nomura. The series was published in the Shogakukan magazine CoroCoro Comic from 1985 to 1995. It tells the story of a young kid named Hagemaru and his ideas for saving money.

The Tsurupika Hagemaru received the Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1987. The manga rapidly became a hit all over Japan. Due to its popularity, an anime adaptation was produced by the studio Shin-Ei Animation in 1988. It was directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa and was broadcast by TV Asahi. The 58-episode television also became a big hit, and after its popularity a game was also created for the Family Computer. Since then, Tsurupika Hagemaru has been aired all around the world, most recently in India by Pogo TV and in Malaysia by Astro Ceria.

Plot

Hagemaru Hageda is a young kid, studying in fourth standard who lives with his parents in Japan. He is only child of his parents and he and his parents are merely like misers. They will do anything to save their money and it is a common plotline for many episodes. Hagemaru also has a pet dog named Pesu, who often comments about Hagemaru's family being too miser and not giving him anything to eat.

He is best friend of his class-mate Masaru Kondo and in later episodes he has a crush on Midori, a girl from his class. In most of the episodes, the story revolves around his teacher (Miss Sakura) and his friends when Hagemaru goes to school. In the middle part of each episode, the top ten best stories are shown which is presented by Tonarida and Busu-chan with the words: "Bobechibo bochi!" charecters kondo

External links

• Interview with Shinbo Numura (Japanese)
• More about Tsurupika Hagemaru
• Hagemaru being aired in India