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KodochaKodocha: Sana's Stage, known in Japan as Kodomo no Omocha (こどものおもちゃ), is a manga written and drawn by Miho Obana, helped periodically by her sister, who is not named in the books themselves. It is published in the United States in English by TokyoPop. Later, it became an anime series, which has recently been licensed for translation by FUNimation and will be hitting the shelves in 2005
Characters 'Front Page' Characters Front Page characters are those who are depicted in the front page of the book, which lists the main cast. Alternatively, in the anime, they are presented by a clip show at the start. Although the book primarily follows Sana, when work takes over the storyline at school continues without her (much to her shock when she returns, that life carries on without the main character being there!) Sana Kurata is the child-actress star of the manga. She has far too much energy, but always uses it in a positive manner. Although she's not very good at school (she's failing math), she's made millions in her so-far-small lifetime. The series starts with Sana in primary education, where a "devil" named Hayama is causing chaos in her classroom, and she sets out to stop him and bring peace to her world. However, she soon finds there is more to Hayama then there seems, and falls in love with him. Sana also suffers from a strange illness whereby she can become completely emotionless at times. The trigger for what causes this illness is making her very upset, and shocking her at the same time. The cure is unknown exactly, even by the readers. Sana does not live with her natural parents, although she meets them, and has three moles on her rear end shaped like Orion's Belt (her deepest secret). Akito Hayama has been a bully all his life. He is amazingly strong, and has a powerful karate chop. Hayama's mother died when giving birth to him, meaning that his sister and father resent him greatly, and his father also has to work long hours at work. As a result, Hayama basically lives on the streets and eats junk food, he exerts this negatively at school- causing havoc in the classroom by blackmailing his teacher. He views Sana as an equal, and dare not challenge her- but eventually she causes his downfall, and he falls in love with her. Hayama soon quiets down, and becomes Sana's friend. Later in the series, Sana leaves for a long movie shoot, and Hayama begins to revert to his old ways- but when she comes back, Hayama stops immediately. Towards the end of the story, Hayama suffers an injury and is unable to move his hand and his father receives a job offer- as a result he has to move to America, to resulting shock triggers Sana's illness. When he returns in the final issue, Hayama has become a champion child karate fighter, as well as being able to speak flawless English. Tsuyoshi Ohki is Hayama's best friend at school, and as a result becomes one of Sana's best friends. He is a quiet child and quite intelligent, Miho Obana revealed that originally she was going to make him a psychic! When he gets extremely angry, he goes into a rage, and begins to attack everything- this can be stopped with a sharp blow to the head (usually supplied by Hayama). Tsuyoshi plays a very background role in the manga, but at the start he is a fighter for Sana's love. Later, his parents divorce, and he has to cope with being a father figure as well as a big brother. Aya Sugita is one of Sana's friends, and later Tsuyoshi's girlfriend. She is a quiet and sweet girl, with a good deal of common sense. She plays a big part in keeping Hayama under control when Sana leaves for temporary full time work. Fuka Matsui is not in the earlier books, but later in the series she joins them in secondary education, when she has just come back from Osaka. It is revealed that Hayama went to nursery with Fuka, and kissed her when they were age 5, taking away Fuka's first kiss- something that causes her great frustration. When Sana goes to work on the movie, Fuka dates Hayama for a short while- but is unable to keep him under control the way Sana did, and eventually gives us- leaving him to Sana. Fuka isn't mentioned at the very end of the series, after her and Sana decide not to be enemies anymore. Naozumi Kamura is the second competitor for Sana's love, towards the end of the book. Just when things get settled between Hayama and Sana, he moves swiftly onto the scene- meeting Sana at work. Like her, he is a child actor- and he also has a history with her. When they were babies, they were both in the same adoption centre, and when Sana's illness was triggered at a young age, Naozumi is the one who helped her recover (although at the time, Sana thought Naozumi was a girl due to his long hair). At the end of the series, Naozumi resigns himself to his fate, and becomes a loyal friend of Sana- but leaves the romance for Hayama (although it pains him). In the final book, Naozumi leave the country to film a different movie and advance his career. Misako Kurata (Misprinted as "Mariko" in english translation of the manga)(Sana's Mom) is Sana's adoptive mother. Misako is a beautiful and intelligent woman, and as a result was very popular at a young age. However, when she broke up with her husband, she decided that being normal just wasn't "her", and began wearing komodos and wearing her hair in odd ways, making her look crazy. She found Sana on a park bench and took her to the Kamura orphanage until she officially adopted her. Misako vows to be a famous author, and asks Sana at a young age to become better known than the average girl (by means of becoming a small-time actress), so that they could find Sana's real mother one day. Misako and Sana are successful in their efforts beyond their wildest dreams, and as a result Misako is able to release a controversial book named 'My daughter and I', and find the real mother. Misako cares dearly for Sana and shows that she would literally do anything for her. She has a much larger part in the anime, largely due to her crazy ways being very amusing when animated. Rei Sagami is a homeless person who was left by his girlfriend, Sana bought him home much like she does with stray dogs (they own three). Mariko decided to keep him around the house, and he has lived there ever since. Sana declares him as her gigolo after reading a book which included the word, however she does not understand what this means. Later, it is explained by Hayama that Rei is playing with Sana, and sees her as little more than a little girl wanting to play- this leaves Sana devastated. However, later Rei becomes an able manager for her. Asako Kurumi is revealed to be Rei's girlfriend, who left him. She is a famous actress who did not know that Rei would end up homeless, and blames it on his stupidity. When she finds Rei again, she wants to get back together- but Rei says that he belongs to Sana now, and can't leave until she grows up. However, Sana realizes (with Hayama's help) that Rei is not her gigolo nor boyfriend, and stops acting like a child, so Asako and Rei can get together again. Asako continues to reoccur until the end of the series. Secondary Characters Secondary characters help add depth to the Kodacha universe. They don't really get much time in the spotlight, but they add yet another interesting layer to the story. Maro is the name of a chipmunk that lives in Misako's hair and is her pet. Although Sana often asks why Mama has a chipmunk in her hair, what Misako doesn't tell her is that it was actually Sana's idea for him to live there. Babbit (anime only) is the narrator, often sarcasticand normally invisible to the characters within. His sole purpose is to break the fourth wall by explaining the show to the viewers, although his image does appear as a sort of brand image on many items in the show. Zenjirou (anime only) is the teacher in TV program 'Child's Toy', which Sana is a member of the cast. Although 'Child's Toy' is mentioned in the books, the teacher is not a character. Zenjirou is hyper and loud, with large buck teeth; he is apparently based off a real-life TV personality. Uchiyama (anime only) is the overweight child actor who is also in 'Child's Toy'. Uchiyama is normally there when Zenjirou appears. Shizuka (anime only) is Misako's mother (and as such Sana's grandmother). She owns a spa in Kusatsu which she regularly attempts to pass on to Misako or Sana (normally by means of trying to get one of them to marry a man or boy from Kusatsu). Shizuka is married to Misako's father, who appears but is un-named. Kitagiri (anime only) is Shizuka's right-hand man, Rei often tries to compete with him so if Sana gets ownership of the spa, Rei could take Kitagiri's job. Noboru Tokiyama (anime only) is a young boy who Shizuka tried to hook up with Sana (as he is from Kusatsu). He appears irregularly thereafter. Natsumi Hayama and Mr. Hayama are Hayama's sister and father. Natsumi is an avid Sana-fan, and Mr. Hayama is a hard working man, who gets deadly ill early in the story. Both understand Hayama better than Sana ever could, once the family stops rejecting him as a demon. Mrs. Shimura is an elderly maid who works for the Kurata family. She enjoys her work, and is friends with them all- although she plays a background role. She doesn't let Sana cook, since she accidentally used baking soda instead of flour when making cookies. Gomi is a (male) child in Sana's class (in primary school, they are separated in secondary education), with long hair. His father says he has to look like a real child, and shaves it all off. He is a good friend of Hayama's, but when Hayama decided not to terrorize the teachers anymore, Gomi decided to be the leader and blackmail them himself.... he didn't get very far. Hisae is one of Sana and Aya's school friends who stays throughout the series. She is stubborn and very spiteful when Sana forgets her birthday party, but is quick to forgive Sana. Rumi is one of Sana's friends, who she wrote on her upper-school friends list. Mami is one of Sana's friends. She is a quiet girl, with short black hair kept back by a hairband- and she is part of the resistance to stop Hayama during in primary education. She calls Hayama a demon child (among a slur of insults from other people), which causes him to target her (as Hayama's sister says that he burst out of his mother's stomach like a demon, which is why she died giving birth to him). Mami is thrown into a lake and almost drowned by the boys, forced to eat algae and choke on the dirty water. It is this action which causes Sana to take serious measures to stop Hayama. Itomisu is one of the boys in Sana's class at lower school- he has spiked brown hair. He leads the boys in episode 33, alongside Gomi and Kojima. Yasuda is the cap-wearing boy in Sana's lower school class. He appears irregularly, normally part as a gang led by Hayama or Gomi. Kojima is a boy in Sana's class at lower school, he has short black hair. In lower school, Sana's friends include Derumi, who is the one with a large forehead and a side-spit in her almost-black hair (similar to Gomi's), with two short pigtails (which are almost circular) held back with blue borbles, Maika, who has a fringe which hangs down in four thick strands, she has a hair-clip in the left of her (brown) hair and has two short pig-tails held back by bands, Miko, who keeps her brown hair in two plaits, she has a fringe in the same style as Sana and has thick eyelashes and Erika Has most of her fringe pulled back, but four strands fall down. Her hair is just beyond shoulder length, and is brown. Aono Ohki is Tsuyoshi's adorable little sister. She is a fan of Sana, who thinks that she is cute. Aono carries around a store-bought egg, in the hope that one day it will hatch into a chicken. One day, Sana buys a chick, and swaps it with Aono's egg when she isn't looking- Hayama calls her an idiot for this. The reason is that one day, Aono will realize what happened, and will feel stupid and humiliated. Sana, though, pointed out that as a child you should have dreams- and that the happiness it will bring Aono will be worth the small amount of grief later. After all, grief goes away, but happy memories are forever. It is then that Sana realizes that Rei has been pretending to be her gigolo because Sana was a child, and children should have dreams- that Rei gave Sana a chick. This is when Sana gets over Rei, and starts to trust him as a friend and manager. Tomita Mayu is a young singer, about the same age as Sana herself. She appears only briefly in both the manga and the anime, but is often considered an important character regardless (she even appears in the intro of the second series of the anime, despite not even being in it). Tomita is a strict actress who takes her work very seriously, and finds Sana's laid-back attitude extremely irritating. Ayano Hanamaru Koji Tomomi-chan appears alongside Tomita, also having a part in the intro of the second series despite not being in it. Tomomi is a very quiet girl, but can be persuasive if she wishes to be. Her, Tomita and Sana together form Sho-Roku-Tai. Mrs. Kamura is the principal of the Kamura school, a boarding school and home for orphan or abandoned children. Sana was kept there for one month as a baby, but she doesn't remember it. Naozumi says that, although he now lives with his manager, the Kamura school is his real home- and Mrs. Kamura is as good as his mother. It is Mrs. Kamura that encouraged Naozumi to take up acting, showing him Sana on the TV and saying that she was an abandoned child too- and Nao should be strong like her (he was a crybaby then!). Keiko is Sana's birth mother, she gave birth to Sana when she was aged only 14 and a half (her uncle made her pregnant, and she gave birth in a bathtub), her excuse for abandoning Sana is that she was young and stupid- but Mariko still gives her a slap- saying that even animals know they have to be responsible for their offspring. Sana was worried when meeting Keiko that Mariko didn't want her living with her anymore, and that Keiko would take her away. Later, Sana finds out that Mariko had the same worry- that Sana would leave with Keiko. They conclude that it's what in the heart that defines your family, and Keiko is asked to leave- she's not mentioned again in the series. Mariko Mariko is also the name of Sana's little sister, who is Keiko's daughter. She appears in a total of four pages, but also on the cover of the final book. Sana has fun at the theme park with Akito, Tsuyoshi and Mariko, but realizes that it's just like baby sitting, or that they're good friends, and she feels no sister-like bond. Mariko is not seen again after Keiko is asked to leave. Ishada is an obsessive fan of Sana who goes to his school. Noted for his long eye-lashes, large eyebrows and big nostrils, he asks Sana to date him. Sana lies and says that she is already going out with Naozumi (as lies in woman's interest magazines at the time claim). Ishada tells the rest of Sana's friends this lie, which eventually leads to Hayama dating Fuka while Sana is away and cannot set the record straight. Mr. Sengoku is Hayama (and other's) science teacher in secondary education, Sana does not come into contact with him. Mr. Sengoku despises Hayama, probably because of bullying experiences when he was little. He hits Hayama, but will not admit it, and tries on several occasions to get Hayama expelled. Mr. Suzuki is Hayama, Tsuyoshi, Aya, Kazuyuki and Gomi (to name a few)'s tutor. He's an all around good guy, an anti-Sengoku. Takaishi is the boy that Fuka loved in Osaka. However, when he heard that Fuka had already had her first kiss (from Hayama, aged five), he thought that it meant Fuka already had a boyfriend- so avoided her at school, so he wouldn't do something stupid as a result for his mutual love with her. However, Fuka took this to mean that Takaishi hated her, because Hayama's kiss had tainted her. When Takaishi comes to visit with a group of Fuka's friends from Osaka, he realizes the truth as asks Fuka out, but she refuses, telling him that it simply wouldn't work with them living in different towns. Fuka waves farewell to Takaishi, and he never appears again. Shizu is a very timid girl from Osaka, where Fuka comes from. She comes with a group of Fuka's friends to visit, and at the time is dating Takaishi. She begs Fuka in private not to take Takaishi from her, crying as she does so- as she knows that Takaishi truly loves Fuka, and that she herself was too quiet for such a boy as him. Fuka promises Shizu that she won't take Takaishi, and Shizu leaves happily with him (although she never comes out of her shell, they make a good couple, and it's presumed that Shizu and Takaishi had a long relationship together after they left). Kazuyuki Komori is a miserable child. He believes himself to be Hayama's friend, and walks with him in the corridor- but later discovers Hayama doesn't even know who he is (not even Aya does, and she knows everyone's name). A combination of stress, loneliness and his mother's over-protective nature causes him to attempt suicide. He tries to kill Hayama, so they can die together, but finds that he cannot do it. He manages to stab Hayama in the arm, making Akito a cripple (who cannot use his arm at all), then collapses in tears. Kazuyuki is mentioned again later, after confronting his mother he moved away. He is in counseling, but a nicer person as a result, and is Hayama's pen-pal. Ruma, Gonta and Choco are Sana and Mariko's three dogs, who were once stray. Ruma is a small pup with a brown patch over his right eye, and two large spots on his back. Gonta is a large, long-haired white dog. Choco is a pug. They play almost no part in either the anime or the manga. Books (Manga) Book 1 - Welcome to the Jungle Gym Cover Art - Streetwise - Akito, Gomi, Sana and Yasuda Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Hayama, a tough kid, is terrorising Sana's class. When Sana finds out that he has been blackmailing the teachers, she sets out for revenge. Tsuyoshi tells Sana that Hayama's weakness is heights, but just as he is about to confess his love for Sana, the girls have to rush off to save Mami- who Hayama is trying to kill. Sana confrounts Hayama, and he pins her up against the wall- telling her not to interfere anymore. After numerous failed attempts, Sana decides that she should try to blackmail Hayama with a photograph (the same way he is doing with the teachers). She enlists Tsuyoshi's help, and stalks Hayama to his home- where she finds out more than she wanted to know. Hayama's abusive sister throws him out of the house, and father blanks him. Regardless, Sana gets Tsuyoshi to pull down Hayama's trousers, at which point she takes the photo. After Hayama stops being a jerk, Sana discovers from Tsuyoshi that Hayama's mother died giving birth to him- and that is why his family hate him. Coincidently, Sana is doing a movie with a similar plot (where she plays a little girl, who's mother got terminally ill after giving birth to her, and Asako plays an older sister who is abusive). After watching the movie, Hayama's family see how wrong they were, that Hayama's mother gave all of her love, even her life, so that Hayama could live. They start treating him better, and thank Sana for her time in helping the family. Mini Story - None Book 2 - Love is in the Air Cover Art - Pretty Young Girl - Sana Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Rei is confrunted by his ex-grifriend Asako, Sana gives Aono an egg, Hayama kisses Sana, and Sana realises that Rei is playing with her as a child. Mini Story - Childs Toy extra - each character presents the weather and finds an individual ways of completely messing it up. Book 3 - My Daughter and I Cover Art - Going to the Ball / Pretty Princess Pink - Sana Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Tsuyoshi and Aono's parents get a divorce, Aya manages to capture Tsuyoshi's heart by getting him a present, Sana's class go on a trip (with camping), Sana and Akito share a moment together, Naozumi arrives- doing adverts with Sana, Hayama starts Karate lessons, Mariko publishes a book called 'My Daughtor and I' which reveals that Sana is adopted, Hayama helps Sana to get out of the public eye. Mini Story - Cool Girl Karen vs Spicy Girl Sana - Sana challenges people on the street to take the Childs Toy challange, and eat a particularly disgusting food! Karen is chosen from the audience, and is immediately sick- at which point she sticks food down Sana's throat, and she is sick also. The show got the best ratings out of any Childs Toy episode ever. Karen is a crossover from a different comic book. Book 4 - New Beginnings Cover Art - Dolled up - Sana (Doll), Hayama (Soilder), a giant teddy bear. Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Sana learns a lot about her past, Sana's real mother arrives, Hayama and Tsuyoshi provide support for Sana when she meets her real sister and mother, Sana and Mariko spend time together, Naozumi takes Sana to her 'real' home- the Kamura School, Sana hosts a half-birthday at her house*, Hayama and Sana share their first concentual kiss, Sana and her friends begin secondary education. Mini Story - Oponchi Sisters - Miho Obana gives time to thank her hard working sister. * A party between two people's birthdays, in this case the date inbetween Sana and Hayama's birthday. They could not celebrate Hayama's birthday as it is the day his mother died also Book 5 - Tabloid Romance Cover Art - School Uniform Sana - Sana Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Mini Story - Book 6 - Fiery Feelings Cover Art - 'Never Give Up' - Sana Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Mini Story - Book 7 - Star Crossed Lovebirds Cover Art - Cool guy - Hayama Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Mini Story - None Book 8 - From End To Beginning Cover Art - Sana and Akito Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Mini Story - Oponchi Monkeys (after the main story) Book 9 - The day Sana lost her Smile (1) Cover Art - Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Mini Story - Book 10 - The day Sana lost her Smile (Part 2) Cover Art - Group Shot - almost all the cast (more than listed in the cast section above) Japanese - Miho Obana English - Sarah Dyer Story - Mini Story - TV show (anime) This is due to be released in the USA and England in 2005.
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