You can helpexpand this article with text translated fromthe corresponding article in Japanese. (February 2022)Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Japanese article. Machine translation, likeDeepL orGoogle Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. Youmust providecopyright attribution in theedit summary accompanying your translation by providing aninterlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary isContent in this edit is translated from the existing Japanese Wikipedia article at [[:ja:SUPER SHIRO]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template{{Translated|ja|SUPER SHIRO}} to thetalk page. For more guidance, seeWikipedia:Translation.

Super Shiro
Promotional poster
スーパーシロ
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Yoshito Usui
Anime television series
Directed by	Masaaki Yuasa (chief director) Tomohisa Shimoyama
Produced by	Eunyoung Choi Takanobu Sano Kensuke Suzuki Rika Tsurusaki Yuki Yoshida
Written by	Kimiko Ueno Masaaki Yuasa
Music by	Kenta Higashiohji Akifumi Tada
Studio	Science Saru
Licensed by	Crunchyroll AbemaTV (streaming) Telasa (streaming) NA:Sentai Filmworks SA/SEA:Plus Media Network Asia Warner Bros. Discovery
Original network	TV Asahi
English network	AUS:Cartoon Network SEA:Cartoon Network
Original run	October 14, 2019 – September 7, 2020
Episodes	48

Super Shiro (Japanese:スーパーシロ) is a Japaneseanime television series produced byScience Saru. A spin-off of the popularCrayon Shin-chan franchise, the series focuses on the adventures of Shiro, a seemingly-normal family dog who, when the Earth is threatened, secretly transforms into a canine superhero to protect the planet from nefarious villains. The series, consisting of 48 five-minute episodes,^[1] aired in Japan on theTV Asahi-affiliated streaming platformsAbemaTV and Telasa from October 2019 to September 2020,^[2] and was subsequently aired onCartoon Network in Australia, India, and throughout Southeast Asia.^[3][4]

Shiro, a seemingly ordinary dog, lives with the Nohara family and leads a seemingly ordinary life. With his human family often involved in various adventures, Shiro is frequently left to his own devices, and it is during these times when he is alone that the secret life of this extraordinary dog is revealed.

For Shiro is no regular hound - he is Super Shiro, a superhero dog tasked with protecting the Earth from nefarious evil-doers. Whenever he puts on his super hero badge, he transforms into an ultra-cool canine protector of justice (complete with a deep, ultra-cool superhero voice). His mission is to find and secure the "Bobobobobone," a legendary dog bone that, it is said, grants its owner the power to rule the world. But Shiro isn't alone in this quest: the scheming canine scientist Dekapoo is also after the bone and hopes to use its powers to make himself World President. Complicating matters is that neither Shiro nor Dekapoo knows what the legendary bone looks like. They only know it by reputation: that it is supposedly "glorious, elegant, and wild" (attributes which can be determined by smelling the bone). Shiro is aided in his search by Bibo, an alien ally stationed at Super Hero Space Headquarters, a space station distant from Earth. Whenever Shiro finds a bone he thinks might be the one, he must send it via a teleporter to Bibo... but if he's gotten it wrong and the bone isn't the right one, it will cause an explosion and Shiro will be sent back to square one on his quest. Before long, the search attracts other doggy attention, including from Can Can, a stylish lady hound who's just as eager to make the "Bobobobobone" hers. Can Shiro get the mysterious bone before it falls into the wrong paws?^[2]

Super Shiro (スーパーシロ)

Voiced by:Mari Mashiba (as Shiro);Akio Otsuka (as Super Shiro)^[2]

The titular character of the series. When Shiro is in the form of a normal dog, he speaks/barks in his normal "doggie voice" (played by Mari Mashiba). However, when he transforms into his superhero self, he gains a deeper "hero voice" (played by Akio Otsuka). Shiro's "hero voice" serves as an internal monologue (his inner thoughts, as well as the narration of the story), but whenever he speaks out loud, he still has his normal "doggie voice." DirectorMasaaki Yuasa noted that his intention with Shiro's "hero voice" was to make him sound like as cool of a character as possible, since this is the voice that Shiro speaks with in his heart.^[5] Shiro's task is to find the "Bobobobobone" before any ill-meaning miscreants can use it to oppress or destroy the world. Yuasa described Shiro as "a hero who doesn't cooperate, unless he's asked to."^[5]

Dekapoo (デカプー)

Voiced by: Anri Katsu^[2]

Super Shiro's nemesis. A mad genius scientist and inventor, he is always using his latest creations to try and defeat Shiro. Dekapoo is obsessed with finding the "Bobobobobone" so that he can rule the world.

Bibo (ビボ)

Voiced by:Yukana^[2]

Super Shiro's alien ally, Bibo helps direct Shiro's quest for the "Bobobobobone" and provides helpful advice. According to Yuasa, Bibo has "a coworker's detachment" from Shiro in that he is just someone she has to work with, though the natural kindness in her voice helps balance this out.^[6]

Can Can (キャンキャン)

Voiced by:Ibuki Kido^[7]

A stylish female dog who has lived a life of privilege: anything she wants, she "can" have. She sets her sights on acquiring the "Bobobobobone" to have even more friends, parties, and luxury. Yuasa identified her as a character he particularly likes.^[5]

Aura (オーラ)

Voiced by:Setsuji Satō^[8]

A mysterious crow always looking to stir up mischief. Yuasa described him as a character with a particularly interesting appearance and manner of speaking.^[5]

Production ofSuper Shiro arose out of directorMasaaki Yuasa's longstanding affiliation with theCrayon Shin-chan series. Yuasa first became involved with the franchise in 1992 while early in his career as an animator, where he took on a variety of creative roles including key animation, storyboarding, set and background design, prop and vehicle design, and contribution of story concepts and ideas.^[9] Over the course of the next decade, he specialized in imagining, designing, and animating the inventive visual climaxes of the annualCrayon Shin-chan films.^[10]Crayon Shin-chan was not only an important early work in Yuasa's career, but also provided him with the first project he truly enjoyed and felt he had artistic freedom to express his own style;^[11] moreover, his creative success while working on the series inspired his desire to become a director.^[9] Even after becoming a director, Yuasa periodically returned to theCrayon Shin-chan franchise, directingShin-men (2010-12), a group of special episodes embedded within the mainCrayon Shin-chan television series,^[12] and contributing the production resources of his studioScience SARU to the production of two franchise films,Crayon Shin-chan: Intense Battle! Robo Dad Strikes Back (2014) andCrayon Shin-chan: My Moving Story! Cactus Large Attack! (2015).^[13] As such, Yuasa's involvement in theSuper Shiro project represented a return to his origins as an animator and creator in the industry.^[14]

In addition to Yuasa, theSuper Shiro series featured the contributions of otherCrayon Shin-chan franchise veterans. Chief director and character designer Tomohisa Shimoyama, who made his series directorial debut withSuper Shiro after a long career as an animator, had earlier provided animation on two of theCrayon Shin-chan films.^[15] Lead screenwriter Kimiko Ueno previously wrote three films in the franchise,^[15] and co-composerAkifumi Tada wrote music for four of the franchise's films.^[16]

Yuasa set out to create a short-format, slapstick comedy series in the style of the American cartoon seriesTom and Jerry (1940-present), where (unlike inCrayon Shin-chan), the camera and perspective of the narrative is from a "dog's-eye view" of the world.^[17] According to Yuasa,Tom and Jerry was an extremely influential inspiration for the series, not only in regards to the comedic approach, but also in terms of the storytelling. The idea to use a narrator (whom the characters would hear and react to) was inspired byTom and Jerry, with the AmericansitcomBewitched (1964-72) serving as an additional inspiration.^[6] With regard to the slapstick format, Shimoyama stated that the series afforded him, Yuasa, and the animators an unusual degree of freedom.^[17] Shimoyama and Yuasa described the depiction of movement, particularly fast movement, as the most important thing for determining whether the comedy aspects would succeed.^[5]

The music for the series was written early in the development process, which allowed the animation team to create sequences with specific musical cues in mind. This was another inspiration fromTom and Jerry, as the classic shorts were made in this way, with the music existing before the animation.^[17][18]

According to Shimoyama, Yuasa initially pitched the idea forSuper Shiro as a dog superhero voiced byAkio Ōtsuka. As such, Ōtsuka was always envisioned in the lead role.^[6] For the role of Aura,Setsuji Satō was also envisioned from the beginning, as he had previously played a mysterious character in Yuasa's anime seriesThe Tatami Galaxy (2010). Yuasa had been looking to work with him again, andSuper Shiro provided an ideal opportunity.^[6] Anri Katsu, who played Dekapoo, was identified by Shimoyama as a master of ad-libbing moments which enhanced the visual slapstick; as a result, many of his line additions and alterations were incorporated into the episodes. Shimoyama ultimately decided to keep Dekapoo's scripted lines to a minimum, allowing Katsu to fill in the rest based on the suggestion of the storyboards and animated visuals. Katsu helped inspire the other actors with interpreting the visuals (which were often not finished at the time of dialogue recording) to have a better sense of how to play each scene.^[19]

Super Shiro was a joint production betweenTV Asahi (the longtime broadcaster ofCrayon Shin-chan) andTurner Asia Pacific, with Turner securing broadcast rights for the series across the Asia Pacific region (excluding China) in exchange for a significant financial investment. The collaboration represented the first regional deal between TV Asahi and Turner.^[20]

The series theme song, "Super Shiro Gymnastics" (スーパーシロ体操), was performed by singer-songwriter Mewhan.^[1] The music video for the song was a hit on social media, receiving over 16 million views onTikTok. Mewhan subsequently performed the song in a live concert which was filmed and released on Blu-ray in May 2020.^[21]

Super Shiro was originally released in Japan on October 14, 2019, on the streaming platformsAbemaTV and Telasa. The release continued with one episode per week and concluded on September 7, 2020.^[2] An international release onCartoon Network throughout Southeast Asia and Australia continued in 2020, and the series premiered onCartoon Network India on February 22, 2021.^[4]

In Japan, the first half of the series was released on DVD on April 27, 2021. The DVD release of the second half, as well as a compilation Blu-ray set of the complete series, are scheduled for release on September 28, 2021.^[22]

The series was nominated in the category of Best 2D Animated Program at the 2020Asian Television Awards.^[23]

Following the conclusion ofSuper Shiro, Science SARU and mainCrayon Shin-chan production studioShin-Ei Animation collaborated on a special crossover episode ofCrayon Shin-chan. The special, which aired in Japan on TV Asahi on October 10, 2020, consisted of three short mini-episodes which featured theSuper Shiro characters interacting with the main series characters.^[15][24]

A manga version of the series, written and illustrated by Kenta Aiba and published byFutabasha inMonthly Manga Town magazine, was released in conjunction with the anime. The first compiled volume of the manga was published in Japan on May 12, 2021.^[25]

In October 2020, character goods companySanrio entered into a collaboration with theSuper Shiro series, featuring Shiro and the Sanrio charactersCinnamoroll,Pompompurin, andPochacco grouped together on assorted merchandise. Additionally, Sanrio's indoor theme parkSanrio Puroland hosted an online Halloween music festival on October 30, 2020, in which Shiro and series theme song artist Mewhan performed alongside the Sanrio characters.^[26]

In Japan, the content sharing websiteGIFMAGAZINE posted aShiro Bobobobobone Catching Game on March 29, 2020, which could be played via a web browser.^[27]

Wikiquote has quotations related toSuper Shiro.

• Official website(in Japanese)
• Super Shiro atIMDb
• Super Shiro (anime) atAnime News Network's encyclopedia

• Culture articles needing translation from Japanese Wikipedia
• 2019 anime television series debuts
• 2019 Japanese television series debuts
• Japanese children's animated comedy television series
• Science Saru

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• CS1 uses Japanese-language script (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use American English from January 2021
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from January 2021
• Articles containing Japanese-language text
• Official website not in Wikidata
• Articles with Japanese-language sources (ja)