Nono-chan

Nono-chan (ののちゃん) is a yonkoma manga series begun in 1991 by Hisaichi Ishii originally serialized as My Neighbors the Yamadas (となりのやまだ君) in the Asahi Shimbun in Japan. When the series first began, it was generally focused on all of the members of the Yamada family. As the series progressed, the daughter (Nonoko, or "Nono-chan") became the most popular character among readers and more of the strips focused on her and her point of view. In 1997, the series title was changed to reflect this change of focus. The Asahi Shimbun continues to feature this manga series as of October 2007.

In July 1999, Studio Ghibli released My Neighbors the Yamadas, a film based on this series. From 2001 to 2002, a 61 episode anime television series based on the manga was shown on the TV Asahi network in Japan.

Yamada family

 * Nonoko Yamada (山田のの子)
 * Nonoko is the main character and a very easy-going 3rd grade elementary school student. She is constantly battling to keep the lowest spot in the class (for grades).


 * Matsuko Yamada (山田まつ子)
 * Nonoko's mother, a housewife. She is always worrying about what to cook for dinner (usually something that goes with rice, and it usually turns out to be some sort of curry). She is a somewhat sloppy housekeeper as well as being forgetful.


 * Takashi Yamada (山田たかし)
 * Nonoko's father, an ordinary salaryman. Unlike his wife and daughter, Takashi is a very diligent worker. His car is a piece of junk, and his hobbies include pachinko and golf.


 * Noboru Yamada (山田のぼる)
 * Nonoko's older brother, a junior high school student. He's very good at sociology, but has poor study skills and doesn't do as well in other subjects.


 * Shige Yamano (山野しげ)
 * Nonoko's grandmother and Matsuko's mother. She is 70 years old. Shige is very energetic, but a very stubborn and hard boiled grandmother.


 * Pochi (ポチ)
 * The Yamada family's pet dog. He generally has a sullen, grumpy mood.