What is "anpanman"

is a Japanese picture book series written by Takashi Yanase, running from 1973 until 2013 following his death. The anime adaptation is one of the most popular anime series amongst young children in Japan. The show has been on the air in Japan continuously since October 1988. On October 4, 1996 (Episode 398) the show changed its time slot from Monday to Friday. On November 10, 2000 (Episode 588) the show was made with digital editing. On August 28, 2009 the show had aired 1000 episodes. Since April 2, 2010 (Episode 1029) the show started airing in High Definition. In 2011, research by Bandai found the titular Anpanman to be the most popular fictional character among people age 0 to 12 years in Japan in 10 consecutive years.

Heavily merchandised, the Anpanman characters appear on virtually every imaginable children's product, from clothes to video games to toys to snack foods. The Anpanman books have collectively sold over 50 million copies in Japan.

Many times during the Second World War, Yanase became faced with the prospect of starvation, which made him dream about eating anpan (a bean-jam filled pastry). This inspired the creation of the Anpanman character.

Kōichi Yamadera and Mika Kanai, the voice actors for Cheese and Melonpanna respectively, were a married couple until they divorced in 2006. This is also translated in a way to the cartoon as Cheese spends most of his time in Melonpanna's company in the episodes she's in. Yamadera also does voices for recurring characters in the show, such as Kamameshidon.

The series spawned a short lived spin-off show featuring one of the more popular recurring characters on the show, Omusubiman.