Di Gi Charat
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese anime
and manga
series created by Koge-Donbo
. The series follows a catgirl
named Di Gi Charat "Dejiko" who was adopted as the mascot of Broccoli
's retail chain store, Gamers. The original anime series and its original video animation
s (OVAs) are set in a Gamers store. There are twenty Gamers stores across Japan. Gamers opened a store in the United States in 2001, Anime Gamers, that is located in Los Angeles.
Several specials, OVAs, and movies have been adapted as prequels, sequels and alternate stories. Trading cards and video games are among the many forms of merchandise released for the series.
The original series, movie, and Leave it to Piyoko is licensed in North America
by Synch-Point. The manga series is licensed by several companies.
in From Gamers drawn by dōjin
artist Koge-Donbo
. Dejiko was later adopted as the mascot of Gamers. An animated Dejiko and her sidekick Gema first appeared on in a television advertisement for Gamers, set to the store's theme song, Welcome! by Hiroko Kato. Dejiko soon starred in her own animated series. Further characters gradually appeared in Gema Gema, and were later included in each of the anime series.
As 2008 is the 10th anniversary of the series Di Gi Charat, Broccoli Inc.
decided to recast the actresses of the main characters of Di Gi Charat. The new actress for Dejiko, Puchiko, and Usada are Satomi Akesaka
, Nao Sakamoto
, and Rieka Yazawa respectively.
on November 29, 1999. Set in a Gamers store in Akihabara, the original series was sixteen episodes long, with each episode running for three minutes. Light-hearted and relatively cheaply animated, the series follows the story of Di Gi Charat (Dejiko), her new sidekick Petit Charat (Puchiko) and Gema, who arrive in Akihabara
, Tokyo
. Dejiko dreams of becoming an idol
, only to realise that they have no money and nowhere to stay. The manager of a Gamers store takes pity on them, and the series follows their exploits as they work in the shop. The series introduces Dejiko's rival, Rabi-en-Rose, and minor characters Abarenbou, Takeshi, Yoshimi, Takurou and Takurou. All other citizens of Akihabara, including the manager, are drawn as anthropomorphic thumbs, the reason being that Akihabara is one of the largest shopping areas of Earth for video games, among other things, and thumbs are most commonly used by people to press buttons while playing video games. The creative team was given free rein over the content of Di Gi Charat, and it is outrageous at times. The anime is directed by Hiroaki Sakurai
, animated by Madhouse
and produced by BROCCOLI.
, 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
Christmas Special
Ohanami Special
Natsuyasumi Special
2003 along with Leave it to Piyoko.
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. However, no release date has been announced.
to the original story, Panyo Panyo (ぱにょぱにょ デ・ジ・キャラット) 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 Deji 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.
At Anime Boston
2003, Synch-Point announced they have acquired North American distribution rights to Leave it to Piyoko. 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. (Ikue Ōtani
has been reprising her Pikachu
role in the English dub of Pokémon
since 1997, although many people don't count this because the recording from the Japanese is simple reused in English.)
spinoff series. Dejiko is around 20 years old and Puchiko is now around 15. The characters are ordinary human beings and no longer wear their signature outfits with the cat ears and tails, have "eye-beams" or add "nyo"/"nyu" to the end of their sentences. They have a new and more mature look, and different personalities. This was also the last animated project to feature the original voices of the characters.
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
.
Unlike the usual Di Gi Charat anime, it is a romance. 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.
Broccoli Books in the US is currently publishing the Di Gi Charat Theater series, which contain a number of Di Gi Charat manga by Koge Donbo and several dōjin
artists. The comic strip Gema Gema, which still runs in From Gamers, is republished in these volumes. Broccoli Books have stated that all the manga will be translated and released.
Current Di Gi Charat Manga released in North America:
Broccoli Books
Viz Media
Studio Ironcat
Comic Di Gi, a bimonthly magazine that is issued by Broccoli, included a Di Gi Charat comic called GemaGema Theater by Koge-Donbo.
Petit Charat "Puchiko" (1999–2008; Japanese and English in Leave it to Piyoko episode 1-6), Nao Sakamoto
(2008-), Mia Bradly (English)
Hikaru Usada "Rabi~en~Rose"
Gema
Rik Heisenberg
Ky Schweitzer
Coo Erhard
Nazo Gema
Black Gema-Gema Danin
A game titled Di Gi Charat Fantasy was released for the Dreamcast. It's a visual novel
style game, in which the player takes on the role of a boy with a crush on Dejiko who, along with Dejiko, Puchiko, and Rabi-en-Rose, gets sucked through a dimensional vortex into a fantasy world. The player finds himself alone with Dejiko in a forest, and she's lost her memory. In this game, players are given a very different view of Dejiko, as the amnesia makes her innocent and shy.
This game later was ported to PlayStation 2
and was renamed Digi Charat Fantasy Excellent. Since the PS2 version uses DVD
-ROM media, it features improved FMV
cutscenes and additional VA.
Di Gi Charat: Dejiko-mmunication I & II
(is a game series for the Game Boy Advance
. On October 25, 2002 the first game was released by Broccoli, the sequel a year later. The games are based on money management. Choosing one of the three main characters of the anime, the player takes the role as the manager of the store with the objective of running the store on the little money available. The game takes aspects of the anime into its gameplay including character art and an instrumental music score of popular songs from the anime composed by Manabu Namiki for the games.
The two games were released only in Japan, and, as of yet, have not received English translations. Although the games are very short and simple, as you play through multiple times with different lead characters and different ending scores you can continue to unlock more and more songs and artwork.
Glove on Fight
Dejiko appeared as a selectable character in the 2D fighting game Glove on Fight
for the PC. The game contains several popular mascot chacters such as Ecoco and characters from well known visual novels and anime such as To Heart and Shingetsutan Tsukihime. This was a fanmade (or doujinshi) game by the circle French-Bread.
Other anime series have been known to reference Di Gi Charat and the characters make appearances in:
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
and manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series created by Koge-Donbo
Koge-Donbo
, is a Japanese manga artist. Koge-Donbo* started her career soon after college as a doujinshi artist. She got the idea of a unique pen-name, Koge-Donbo* from Akira Toriyama's pet cat. She made her first official US appearance at Otakon 2004 in Baltimore, MD as a Guest of Honor...
. The series follows a catgirl
Catgirl
A catgirl is a female character with cat traits, such as cat ears, a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres, and in particular Japanese anime and manga where they are more commonly referred to as Neko or Nekomimi , in...
named Di Gi Charat "Dejiko" who was adopted as the mascot of Broccoli
Broccoli (company)
is a Japanese media company that publishes manga, anime, and video games through its various subsidiaries.- About :Broccoli is the parent company of Broccoli Music Publishing, Broccoli International USA, and Anime Gamers USA Inc...
's retail chain store, Gamers. The original anime series and its original video animation
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
s (OVAs) are set in a Gamers store. There are twenty Gamers stores across Japan. Gamers opened a store in the United States in 2001, Anime Gamers, that is located in Los Angeles.
Several specials, OVAs, and movies have been adapted as prequels, sequels and alternate stories. Trading cards and video games are among the many forms of merchandise released for the series.
The original series, movie, and Leave it to Piyoko is licensed in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
by Synch-Point. The manga series is licensed by several companies.
History
The characters of Di Gi Charat and her sidekick Gema first appeared in July 1998 in From Gamers, a promotional magazine for the Akihabara store, Gamers. In August of that year, the two appeared in Gema Gema, a four-panel comic-stripYonkoma
thumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...
in From Gamers drawn by dōjin
Dojin
, often romanized as doujin, is a general Japanese term for a group of people or friends who share an interest, activity, hobbies, or achievement...
artist Koge-Donbo
Koge-Donbo
, is a Japanese manga artist. Koge-Donbo* started her career soon after college as a doujinshi artist. She got the idea of a unique pen-name, Koge-Donbo* from Akira Toriyama's pet cat. She made her first official US appearance at Otakon 2004 in Baltimore, MD as a Guest of Honor...
. Dejiko was later adopted as the mascot of Gamers. An animated Dejiko and her sidekick Gema first appeared on in a television advertisement for Gamers, set to the store's theme song, Welcome! by Hiroko Kato. Dejiko soon starred in her own animated series. Further characters gradually appeared in Gema Gema, and were later included in each of the anime series.
As 2008 is the 10th anniversary of the series Di Gi Charat, Broccoli Inc.
Broccoli (company)
is a Japanese media company that publishes manga, anime, and video games through its various subsidiaries.- About :Broccoli is the parent company of Broccoli Music Publishing, Broccoli International USA, and Anime Gamers USA Inc...
decided to recast the actresses of the main characters of Di Gi Charat. The new actress for Dejiko, Puchiko, and Usada are Satomi Akesaka
Satomi Akesaka
is a Japanese voice actress represented by Space Craft Produce.- Television :* Koi Kaze , Futaba Anzai* Suzuka , Miho Fujikawa* Mushi-shi , Nami...
, Nao Sakamoto
Nao Sakamoto
is a Japanese singer, a voice actress, and is an undergraduate school student of Tokyo University, one of the top-level research universities in Japan. Her real name is , and she is sometimes affectionately nicknamed by her Japanese fans....
, and Rieka Yazawa respectively.
Anime
The Di Gi Charat anime premiered on the Tokyo Broadcasting SystemTokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
on November 29, 1999. Set in a Gamers store in Akihabara, the original series was sixteen episodes long, with each episode running for three minutes. Light-hearted and relatively cheaply animated, the series follows the story of Di Gi Charat (Dejiko), her new sidekick Petit Charat (Puchiko) and Gema, who arrive in Akihabara
Akihabara
, also known as , is an area of Tokyo, Japan. It is located less than five minutes by rail from Tokyo Station. Its name is frequently shortened to in Japan...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. Dejiko dreams of becoming an idol
Japanese idol
In Japanese culture, are media personalities in their teens and early twenties who are considered particularly attractive or cute and who will, for a period ranging from several months to a few years, regularly appear in the mass media, e.g...
, only to realise that they have no money and nowhere to stay. The manager of a Gamers store takes pity on them, and the series follows their exploits as they work in the shop. The series introduces Dejiko's rival, Rabi-en-Rose, and minor characters Abarenbou, Takeshi, Yoshimi, Takurou and Takurou. All other citizens of Akihabara, including the manager, are drawn as anthropomorphic thumbs, the reason being that Akihabara is one of the largest shopping areas of Earth for video games, among other things, and thumbs are most commonly used by people to press buttons while playing video games. The creative team was given free rein over the content of Di Gi Charat, and it is outrageous at times. The anime is directed by Hiroaki Sakurai
Hiroaki Sakurai
is an anime director. He is known for his work in Daa! Daa! Daa!, better known as UFO Baby. He also served as the director for the anime adaption of Cromartie High School.- References :...
, animated by Madhouse
Madhouse (company)
is a Japanese animation studio, founded in 1972 by ex–Mushi Pro animators including Masao Maruyama, Osamu Dezaki, Rintaro, and Yoshiaki Kawajiri. It has created and helped to produce many well known shows, starting with TV anime series Ace o Nerae! in 1973, and including western favourites Ninja...
and produced by BROCCOLI.
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 OVAsOriginal video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
, 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
- The Di Gi Charat Summer Special was a four episode series that aired over two days, August 22, 2000 to August 23, 2000. This was the first series that Piyoko appeared in and the plot involves her attempting to hold Dejiko hostage for ransom.
Christmas Special
- The Christmas Special aired in December 2000 and featured Piyoko again attempting to capture Dejiko by inviting all the characters on a cruise.
Ohanami Special
- The Ohamami Special consisted of four independent episodes with no continuation that aired in Spring 2001 in Japan.
Natsuyasumi Special
- The Di Gi Charat Natsuyasumi Special was another four episode series set in America that aired almost a year after the original series from August 2, 2001 to August 3, 2002. The young American otaku, Rodoyan, is introduced in this series.
Movie
is a movie that premiered in December 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 BostonAnime Boston
Anime Boston is an annual three-day anime fan convention held in the spring in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The convention features a number of events which include a masquerade, an anime music video contest, video programming rooms, an artists' alley and art show, karaoke, game shows,...
2003 along with Leave it to Piyoko.
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. However, no release date has been announced.
Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat
A prequelPrequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
to the original story, Panyo Panyo (ぱにょぱにょ デ・ジ・キャラット) 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 Deji 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.
Leave it to Piyoko
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
Anime Boston
Anime Boston is an annual three-day anime fan convention held in the spring in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The convention features a number of events which include a masquerade, an anime music video contest, video programming rooms, an artists' alley and art show, karaoke, game shows,...
2003, Synch-Point announced they have acquired North American distribution rights to Leave it to Piyoko. It was released on two DVDs on November 15, 2005 and March 7, 2006. Miyuki Sawashiro
Miyuki Sawashiro
is a female Japanese voice actress and singer who works for Mausu Promotion.She voiced Puchiko in the English dubbed releases of Di Gi Charat the Movie and Leave it to Piyoko, making her one of the few Japanese voice actors to have reprised a role in English in addition to the original Japanese...
, the voice actor of Puchiko, also dubbed
Dub localization
Dub localization, also often simply referred to as localization, which is a form of a voice-over. It is the practice of voice-over translation altering a foreign language film, art film or television series by voice actors to further adapt the material for a "local" audience.Dub localization is a...
Puchiko in English for the first six episodes. It marked the first time a Japanese voice actor
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...
repeated their role in English for an English anime dub. (Ikue Ōtani
Ikue Otani
is a Japanese actress and voice actress from Tokyo, most famous as the voice of Pikachu in the Pokémon anime series and products and the voice of Tony Tony Chopper in the manga and anime series One Piece. She is currently attached to Mausu Promotion...
has been reprising her Pikachu
Pikachu
is one of the species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series...
role in the English dub of Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
since 1997, although many people don't count this because the recording from the Japanese is simple reused in English.)
Di Gi Charat Nyo!
An alternate story to the original series, Nyo! (デ・ジ・キャラットにょ) aired from April 6, 2003 until March 28, 2004. There were two stories for each of the fifty-two twenty minute episodes.Winter Garden from Di Gi Charat
Winter Garden is a two part slice-of-life dramaDrama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
spinoff series. Dejiko is around 20 years old and Puchiko is now around 15. The characters are ordinary human beings and no longer wear their signature outfits with the cat ears and tails, have "eye-beams" or add "nyo"/"nyu" to the end of their sentences. They have a new and more mature look, and different personalities. This was also the last animated project to feature the original voices of the characters.
A promotional video premiered at Anime Expo
Anime Expo
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation . With rare exceptions, the convention is traditionally held on the July 4th weekend and lasts for four days...
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
BS-i
is a satellite broadcasting station headquartered in Asakaka Gochome, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its channel name is BS-TBS . It is a member television station of Japan News Network.-Channels:*Television: BS-TBS is assigned BS161ch - 163ch....
.
Unlike the usual Di Gi Charat anime, it is a romance. 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.
Relation of each series
| Name | Type | Relation | Length | Year |
| Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat | TV | Prequel | 48 x 5 mins | 2002 |
| Di Gi Charat | TV | Original | 16 x 3 mins | 1999 |
| Di Gi Charat Nyo | TV | Alternate | 52 x 20 mins | 2004 |
| Summer/Xmas | TV | Sidestory | 8 x 20 mins | 2000 |
| Ohanami | TV | Sidestory | 4 x 20 mins | 2001 |
| Gekijouban Di Gi Charat | Movie | Sidestory | 20 mins | 2001 |
| Leave it to Piyoko | OVA | Sidestory | 8 x 20 mins | 2003 |
| Winter Garden | TV | Alternate | 2 x 20 mins | 2006 |
Manga
A Di Gi Charat manga began at around the same time as the anime.Broccoli Books in the US is currently publishing the Di Gi Charat Theater series, which contain a number of Di Gi Charat manga by Koge Donbo and several dōjin
Dojin
, often romanized as doujin, is a general Japanese term for a group of people or friends who share an interest, activity, hobbies, or achievement...
artists. The comic strip Gema Gema, which still runs in From Gamers, is republished in these volumes. Broccoli Books have stated that all the manga will be translated and released.
Current Di Gi Charat Manga released in North America:
Broccoli Books
- Di Gi Charat Theater - Dejiko's Summer Vacation
- Di Gi Charat Theater - Piyoko is Number One!
- Di Gi Charat Theater - Dejiko's Adventure
- Di Gi Charat Theater - Leave it to Piyoko
Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
- Di Gi Charat Anthology v. 1 - 4
Studio Ironcat
Studio Ironcat
Studio Ironcat was a small publishing company based in Fredericksburg, Virginia, dedicated to publication of manga and later, Amerimanga. The company is most known for its publication of the first volume of Megatokyo, a prominent webcomic, as well as the flamboyant style of one of its founders,...
- Di Gi Charat series - Di Gi Charat Champion Cup.
Comic Di Gi, a bimonthly magazine that is issued by Broccoli, included a Di Gi Charat comic called GemaGema Theater by Koge-Donbo.
Characters
Most of the characters of Di Gi Charat originally debuted in the yonkoma Gema Gema, and later appeared in the anime series. Across all of the Di Gi Charat series, each catgirl ends their sentence with a cat sounding suffix, such as Dejiko's Nyo. The four DVDs of the series Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat are named after each of the four catgirl's onomatopoeia. Piyoko talks in a similar manner.Main characters
Di Gi Charat "Dejiko"- Dejiko is the main character of the story. She is also known as Chocola but despite this alternate name implying she likes chocolate, she prefers broccoli. Dejiko has a Type A personalityType A personalityOriginally published in the 1950s, the Type A and Type B personality theory is a theory which describes two common, contrasting personality types—the high-strung Type A and the easy-going Type B—as patterns of behavior that could either raise or lower, respectively, one's chances of developing...
and can be aggressive at times.
- Dejiko dresses up as a catgirlCatgirlA catgirl is a female character with cat traits, such as cat ears, a cat tail, or other feline characteristics on an otherwise human body. Catgirls are found in various fiction genres, and in particular Japanese anime and manga where they are more commonly referred to as Neko or Nekomimi , in...
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 and green hair and her maid-like uniform consists of a white and navy blue dress with big cat bells tied to her hair with navy blue ribbons. On the very top of her head are her cat ears, which are white with pink inside and have a set of large, non-functional yellow cat eyes. She always wears white gloves and boots (with the exception of her sleeping outfit) and she has a white tail.
- She has the ability to use her eye-beam weapon called the Me kara Biimu. She ends each sentence with nyo.
Petit Charat "Puchiko" (1999–2008; Japanese and English in Leave it to Piyoko episode 1-6), Nao Sakamoto
Nao Sakamoto
is a Japanese singer, a voice actress, and is an undergraduate school student of Tokyo University, one of the top-level research universities in Japan. Her real name is , and she is sometimes affectionately nicknamed by her Japanese fans....
(2008-), Mia Bradly (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 said that Puchiko is Dejiko's sister and share the same parents.
- Puchiko is quiet and has a Type B personality. 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 has brown hair and dark brown eyes. She wears a schoolgirl-type uniform plus cat bells in her hair, though they are much smaller than Dejiko's. She wears orange boots, cat ears and tail. She ends each sentence with nyu.
Hikaru Usada "Rabi~en~Rose"
- Rabi~en~Rose is revealed to the viewer to be Dejiko's rival. Her name was decided following a request for reader submissions, and may be a play on a number of things. "Rabi~en~Rose" may be a play on the common French saying "La Vie en Rose" which means "life in rose-pink". The Japanese expression "spend a life in rose-pink" means to spend a life without any worries. "Rabi" which resembles the English word "rabbit" replaced "La vie" to form a pun to mean "Rabbit in life without worries", which suggests her personality. Her real name is Hikaru Usada, which she hates being called. Her "Usada" surname also is a pun, as the "Usa" part is a shortening of the word "usagi", which means "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 end her sentences with a rabbit sound (typically pyo in anime) 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
- 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
Piyoko (full name Pyocola Analogue III)- 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. Piyoko makes a brief cameo in Episode 2 of Cromartie High SchoolCromartie High Schoolby Eiji Nonaka, is a Japanese comedy manga, which was subsequently adapted into an anime and a 2005 live-action movie titled Cromartie High - The Movie directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. It follows the everyday life of Takashi Kamiyama and his odd classmates at Cromartie High School, an infamous school...
as a teenage version of herself.
Rik Heisenberg
- 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
- 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 hygieneOral hygieneTeeth cleaning is part of oral hygiene and involves the removal of dental plaque from teeth with the intention of preventing cavities , gingivitis, and periodontal disease. People routinely clean their own teeth by brushing and interdental cleaning, and dental hygienists can remove hardened...
. 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
- 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
- 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. It ends its sentences with "Geba".
Black Gema-Gema Danin
- is worker from analogue planet-di gi charat danin's counterpart
Minor characters
- Takeshi -
- Yoshimi -
- The two self-styled "fans of Dejiko". Takeshi is fatter, Yoshimi is taller, 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 (Minataku for short) -
- A boy who comes into the store to buy trading cards and falls in love with Rabi-en-Rose. Enjoys melonpanMelonpan, also known as Melon pan, Melon buns or Melon bread, are sweet bakery products from Japan, but also popular in Taiwan and China. They are made from an enriched dough covered in a thin layer of crisp cookie dough. Their appearance resembles a melon, such as a rock melon...
. Not related to Kimura, though they share the same family name.
- A boy who comes into the store to buy trading cards and falls in love with Rabi-en-Rose. Enjoys melonpan
- Takurou Kimura (Murataku for short) -
- A rich and long-haired man infatuated with Puchiko's cuteness. Not related to Minagawa.
- Abarenbou - A rowdy creature seemingly made of water. His appearances in the series are always incredibly random and crazy.
- Rodoyan (Rod Young)- An excitable American fan of Di Gi Charat.
- Mishter Manager -
- 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.
- Majin Gappa - A small green creature likened to a kappaKappa (mythology), alternatively called or , are legendary creatures, a type of water sprite found in Japanese folklore. In Shintō they are considered to be one of many suijin...
, is Rabi-en-Rose's sidekick. - Henna Ikimono (変な生き物 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 home' is written in Japanese. He can eat a big thing, in Party Night, he ate the EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
Music
A great number of Di Gi Charat albums have been released, including soundtracks to the anime as well as collections of original songs sung by the main characters. These albums include drama CDs which expand the Di Gi Charat story.Games
Di Gi Charat FantasyA game titled Di Gi Charat Fantasy was released for the Dreamcast. It's a visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
style game, in which the player takes on the role of a boy with a crush on Dejiko who, along with Dejiko, Puchiko, and Rabi-en-Rose, gets sucked through a dimensional vortex into a fantasy world. The player finds himself alone with Dejiko in a forest, and she's lost her memory. In this game, players are given a very different view of Dejiko, as the amnesia makes her innocent and shy.
This game later was ported to PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and was renamed Digi Charat Fantasy Excellent. Since the PS2 version uses DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
-ROM media, it features improved FMV
FMV
FMV may refer to:*Full motion video, Video sequences in computer games and video games*Fair market value, an estimate of the market value of a property*For Maximum Value , Kroger supermarket's store brand...
cutscenes and additional VA.
Di Gi Charat: Dejiko-mmunication I & II
(is a game series for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
. On October 25, 2002 the first game was released by Broccoli, the sequel a year later. The games are based on money management. Choosing one of the three main characters of the anime, the player takes the role as the manager of the store with the objective of running the store on the little money available. The game takes aspects of the anime into its gameplay including character art and an instrumental music score of popular songs from the anime composed by Manabu Namiki for the games.
The two games were released only in Japan, and, as of yet, have not received English translations. Although the games are very short and simple, as you play through multiple times with different lead characters and different ending scores you can continue to unlock more and more songs and artwork.
Glove on Fight
Dejiko appeared as a selectable character in the 2D fighting game Glove on Fight
Glove on Fight
Glove on Fight is a doujin boxing video game released in 2002 by Watanabe Seisakujo . . The game features characters from various sources, including anime, dating sims, other doujin, and a company mascot...
for the PC. The game contains several popular mascot chacters such as Ecoco and characters from well known visual novels and anime such as To Heart and Shingetsutan Tsukihime. This was a fanmade (or doujinshi) game by the circle French-Bread.
See also
Related animeOther anime series have been known to reference Di Gi Charat and the characters make appearances in:
- Broccoli-created anime Galaxy AngelGalaxy AngelIn the video game universe, the Galaxy Angels are from the "Special Guardian Division" and they work closely with the "Imperial Special Guards" and the "Satellite Defense Teams". They are the guardians of the White Moon, the sacred planet of the Transbaal Empire, and the personal protectors of the...
and Aquarian AgeAquarian AgeAquarian Age may refer to:* Age of Aquarius - astrological belief that the sign Aquarius has sovereignty over civilization during its part of the Great Year* Aquarian Age TCG collectible card game... - Pita-Ten like Di Gi Charat, a Koge Donbo creation.
- Cromartie High SchoolCromartie High Schoolby Eiji Nonaka, is a Japanese comedy manga, which was subsequently adapted into an anime and a 2005 live-action movie titled Cromartie High - The Movie directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. It follows the everyday life of Takashi Kamiyama and his odd classmates at Cromartie High School, an infamous school...
- Piyoko and Dejiko can be seen. - Kamichama KarinKamichama Karinis a Japanese manga originally written by Koge-Donbo about a seventh grade girl named Karin who finds out that she can transform into a goddess. The series began as a manga first serialized in January 2003. Kamichama Karin was serialized in the Japanese shōjo manga magazine Nakayoshi and published...
- Just a small reference, but Kazune wears a Dejiko mask for one of the episodes and in Kamichama Karin chu Karin and Kazune dress in Di gi Charat type costumes while visiting Micchi.