Crayon Shin-Chan is a Japanese manga series and anime series created by Yoshito Usui. It first made its appearance as a manga in the magazine Weekly Manga Action, in the year 1990. Shin-Chan was adapted into an anime by Shin-Ei animation in the year 1992 and started airing on TV Asahi. The series is ongoing, with over 1200 episodes till date, and is aired in 45 countries. Original manga ended in the year 2009 with the death of Yoshito Usui. However, the series continued with Usui’s assistants launching new Crayon Shin-Chan in 2010.
Main character in the series is Shin-Chan who is a mischievous kid given to making cheeky and inappropriate comments. Other characters include Shin-Chan’s mother Misai Nohara, Shin-Chan’s father Hiroshi Nohara, Shin-Chan’s baby sister Himawari Nohara and the family dog Shiro.
Ban and Relaunch in India
Shin-Chan made its debut in India in the year 2006 when it started airing on the television channel, Hungama TV. It was dubbed in Hindi and quickly climbed the popularity charts among both children and adults. At its peak, Shin-Chan held 50-60% market in its genre of television shows. The show contributed significantly to the viewership of Hungama TV.
However, Shin-Chan ran into trouble with the parents in India. Parents across the country complained against the objectionable content of the show, particularly vulgarity, sexual innuendos, suggestive nudity, profanity and inappropriate behaviour of the protagonist with the elders. Taking note of the complaints, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banned Shin-Chan in October 2008.
The animated version of Shin-Chan was meant for older audience but Hungama TV aired it as a kid’s show. Following the ban, Hungama TV even launched a veiled campaign against the ban. Titled ‘Mission Ha Ha Hungama’, it featured child actor Darsheel Safari who exhorted the audience to combat the ‘Anti-Laughter Squad’.
Shin-Chan was relaunched in the year 2009, just a year after the ban. However, in the new version, sexual jokes, nudity scenes and other kinds of objectionable dialogues and visuals were removed to align better with Indian cultural sensitivities. The Central Board of Film Certification carried out a thorough assessment of the show, prior to giving approval for its release.
Current Status
Shin-Chan airs on Hungama TV and Disney Channel. It has been dubbed into multiple Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. A Shin-Chan movie, Shin-Chan: Our Dinosaur Diary, was released across theatres in India in 2025. This was the first ever theatrical release of a Shin-Chan movie in India.
