Literature / Anpanman

aka: Soreike Anpanman

Genki Hyakubai!! ^note  Means "100% Greatness!" in Japanese

I've realized how great it is to live,
Even if the scar in my heart hurts

— Opening lines of "Anpanman's March"

Anpanman (アンパンマン), by Japanese writer/illustrator Takashi Yanase, is one of the most popular series for young children in Japan. Yanase published the first Anpanman story in 1973, and kept cranking them out for 40 years until his untimely death in 2013.

At last count, he had well over 100, translating to three or four books per year during that span — and that's not counting his other works. He also penned a monthly manga (1976-1982) and a Sunday newspaper comic strip (1990-1994, partially reproduced in 3 volumes with parallel English translation). The television series, called Soreike! Anpanman (それいけ！アンパンマン, "Go! Anpanman"), has been on the air in Japan since 1988 and has no sign of slowing down, with over 1,000 episodes, 34 theatrical films, and numerous Edutainment OVAs (as of 2023). The show has well over 1,500 characters and has an entry in the Guinness Book of Records. Heavily merchandised, the Anpanman characters appear on virtually every imaginable children's product, including clothes, video games, toys, and snack foods. Though famous in its country of origin and even having a museum (or several) of its own, the series is not well-known outside Asia and the Middle East, though that might be about to change with Tubi's release of six of the franchise's movies.

Characters: (Only the major ones, otherwise the list will be too long for most hardbound books.)

• Anpanman (アンパンマン) The main character of the anime, whose head is a bun made by Uncle Jam. His name comes from the fact that he is a man with a head made of bread (Japanese: pan, a loanword from the Portuguese word meaning "bread") that is filled with bean jam (Japanese: anko) called an anpan.
• Uncle Jam (ジャムおじさん/Jamu-ojisan) The father of Anpanman, and a very kind baker. A skilled cook with knowledge of nearly everything in the world.
• Batako (バタコさん/Batako-san) Assistant to Uncle Jam. She's dedicated and hard working, but sometimes forgetful. Her Japanese name means "Butter Girl". She makes and mends the capes Anpanman and the other heroes use to fly with.
• Cheese (チーズ) A dog that lives in the bakery. Is the only character allowed to be in a relationship, with Rare Cheese (supporting character Usako's pet).
• Shokupanman (しょくぱんまん): One of Anpanman's partners in heroics, with a slice of white bread for a head. Tends to be the brains of the main trio. He's named Bread Head Man in the Tubi dub.
• Currypanman (カレーパンマン): The third member of the main trio, whose head is a curry bun. True to his filling, he tends to be the hothead of the three.
• Baikinman (ばいきんまん) The villain from "Germ World" is the leader of the Kabirunruns (little creatures which cause mold to grow). His Japanese name means "Germ Man". His ambition is to destroy Anpanman and turn the planet into another "Germ World", yet he is perfectly content to play tricks, steal and bully those weaker than him.
• Melonpanna (メロンパンナ): The lone female among the main heroes, whose head is melonpan. Her powers are not offensive like the males; instead, her "Mero-Mero Punch"^note "mero-mero" is an onomatopoeia meaning to swoon with love for something causes her opponents to be filled (temporarily) with feelings of love.
• Rollpanna (ロールパンナ): Created by Uncle Jam to fulfill Melonpanna's desire for an "older sister", she came out wrong due to Baikinman's meddling. As a result, she has an evil heart along with a good one, that is triggered by proximity to the heroes (especially Anpanman) and expressing kindness. As a result, she keeps to herself, saying little, and only intervening to help the heroes indirectly or from a distance.
• Dokinchan (ドキンちゃん) Baikinman's henchwoman. She is selfish, demanding, childish and greedy, but sometimes shows kindness. She has a crush on Shokupanman. Her name is Dokeen in the Tubi dub.
• Horrorman (ホラーマン/Horaaman) A friendly skeleton with a crush on Dokinchan, Horrorman does housework around Baikinman's castle and occasionally helps with evil schemes. However, he is still well-received among the other characters, and often apprentices himself to various people in an attempt to win Dokinchan's love. He is named Horror in the Tubi dub.
• Kokinchan (コキンちゃん): Dokinchan's little sister, an Annoying Younger Sibling who drops in on occasion to inconvenience both the heroes and villains alike. She drives Dokinchan out of her skull, mostly because she has the same personality defects, yet manages to get on the good side of Shokupanman thanks to being an actual child (rather than merely childish) with relatively innocent intentions. She mostly wants to have fun, and is friends with the children of Anpanman's neighborhood, but nevertheless manages to cause or get into some kind of trouble. Her tears, genuine or otherwise, cause other people to cry as well.

If you would like to see an earlier version of Anpanman from the anthology book Twelve Pearls, choose this link.

Has a character sheet currently in the works.

Not to be confused with WanPanMan (although he was the inspiration for him).

---

Anpanman provides examples of:

• A.I. Is a Crapshoot: A number of Baikinman's creations, such as the vacuum robot Gomira, which turns on him and tries to suck up everyone in Baikin Castle. (It's his fault for not wanting to clean up his own mess, but still.)
• Alien Among Us: Baikinman, Dokinchan and her sister Kokinchan are aliens, yet we have no clue how life is back on their home planet. We have seen the planet from a distance though, and it is a red planet with craters and such, so it doesn't look livable at all. They travel with retro-looking UFOs (they call it a UFO themselves) or with some type of spotted egg, which only Dokinchan, Kokinchan, and baby Baikinman are seen using.
• All Just a Dream: A 2008 episode where Baikinman dreams he is a super hero.
  • There was an episode the year before where Baikinman wishes that he could beat Anpanman, in which Nazobo shows up and sends him, Anpanman, Dokinchan, and Horrorman to a dream world.
• All Love Is Unrequited: Dokinchan likes Shokupanman, and Horrorman (and others, too, but not so obvious as him) likes Dokinchan.
  • Also included are any crushes on Butterko (especially Tanuki-Oni's, his entire motive is based on trying to get her to like him) and on Tekka no Maki-chan (especially Katsubushiman's, this dominates his personality when they get any episodes together).
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The alternative intros in the dubs listed are both around 30 seconds long compared to the original intro, which is about a minute long
  • The Hindi dub intro is a Bollywood-type opening and uses footage from the 1988 intro.
  • The Arabic intro is a nasheed, an religious Islamic song, as many Arabic dubs of cartoons get their theme songs changed to new ones containing Islamic beliefs. It is also a Spoiler Opening, as it shows random clips from the show.
• Adaptational Alternate Ending: In the original ending of episode 322b "Shokupanman and Horrorman", Horrorman disguised as Shokupanman tries to get away by pretending to be Shokupanman's reflection until the jig is up. Baikinman wears a Shokupanman mask to trick the heroes until the real Shokupanman catches him and punches him far away. Meanwhile, Dokinchan sees Horrorman and thinks it's Shokupanman until his makeup is off after eating the cake she made for the hero, she then kicks him after discovering the truth. The children's book version of the changes this to just Horrorman running out of the bakery until the heroes find Horrorman taking off his disguise, Shokupanman punching Baikinman off to the sky and Horrorman apologizing for his actions.
• And Knowing Is Half the Battle: In some of the recent edutainment specials, it will end with the characters doing something to remind the audience what they should do (ie, wash your mouth and face before going out, different ways to say certain ways in both English and Japanese).
• Arch-Enemy: ANPANMAN AND BAIKINMAN, duh.
• Art Evolution: Well, the show has been airing since 1988, so of course the show looks somewhat more dynamic and the animation is smoother. Anpanman's nose got somewhat smaller, and his eyes became round dots instead of ellipses. Dokinchan's eyes were first elliptical, but quickly evolved into half circles. And of course, the lines and colors become much clearer.
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Happens occasionally in the show, but it's invoked in every movie, as Anpanman will always end up pitted against a giant monster of some kind in the climax.
• Big Bad: Baikinman.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Baikinman occasionally teams up with other villains... that is, until they betray him.
• Big Eater: Dokinchan; Baikinman
• Book of the Film: Takashi Yanase drew a storybook version of the latest movie every year. This was a welcome departure from the more traditional tie-in full of actual movie frames cut-and-pasted into book form, but it remains to be seen what will become of this practice after his death.
• Broad Strokes: Like with Dragon Ball and Pokemon, the film series don't seem to correlate to the anime as there's some characters that appear from the movies that would have different backstories (the worse offenders are Horrorman and Kokinchan). The only connections between the movies and anime are Rollpanna's debut story (as it's a focus point for the 1995 movie) and Anpanman's backstory (as flashback's are shown in a few movies)
• Butt-Monkey: Baikinman to Dokinchan.
• Calling Your Attacks
  • "AN-PUNCH!!" "MERO-MERO-PUNCH!!" "SHOKU-PUNCH!!" Well, you get the idea.
  • Doesn't count for the Baddies though....On the other hand, Baikinman did seem to perform a "Baikin Punch" in one episode, but was struck by lighting before we could see how powerful it would be. They'll probably want to keep that in the plot-box for potential movies.
  • He did perform a "Baikin Punch" in a 2008 episode, but then again, he didn't.
  • However, an earlier episode had him doing this to Kurayamiman when they're trapped inside his dark world.
• Canon Immigrant: Pretty much all the movie characters through 2013, as Takashi Yanase drew a storybook based on every new film.
• Catchphrase
  • Baikinman's laugh or introduction sound: "HAHIHUHEHO!"
  • Baikinman uses the shortened version, "Hahi", very frequently too. Usually as a replacement for certain words, such a "Hello", "Huh?" and "OK".
  • Baikinman's "BAI-BAIKIIIN!", which is also used by Dokinchan or any other person Baikinman is with when leaving the scene willingly or unwillingly.
  • Horrorman's "Hora", which he uses so often that you know he'll use it every time he says something, which can be "hora" itself too. Also any emotion is attached to it, since he uses when being happy, shocked, confused or any other way possible.
• The Chew Toy: Baikinman. He gets An-Punched at least once an episode. And if the episode is about Dokinchan demanding him to get something for her, she kicks his butt either because her request is being ignored, or at the end of the episode where he fails to get the item for her.
• Clip Show: Two of the film shorts "Dokin-chan's Doki-Doki Calendar" and "Anpanman and Your Happy Birthday".
• Comic Trio: Tendonman, Katsudonman and Kamameshidon. Those guys also had episodes for every individual, thus making them less dependent to each other to appear on screen. But they are usually together, singing their personal songs, and often are arguing about "who is better". They are the more main characters who, despite the little roll the play, will always appear in the movies.
• Continuity Nod: While the series doesn't rely a whole lot on continuity, they do often make references in the form of flashbacks. Best examples would be the episodes with Furudokei-san, where he'll obverse the memories of past events the characters had in the show's run. Heck, there was even an episode where Dokinchan revisited him and she still remembers her encounter with him from before!
• Continuity Snarl: Episode 202a "Anpanman and Baikin Time Machine" reveals that Anpanman and Baikinman met as babies. But this contrdacts the first episode as the two haven't met until they were fully grown.
• Cool Car: Uncle Jam's Anpanman Go, which has the main character's face on it, includes a bakery inside. It also can turn into a boat or a zeppelin and can be used as a weapon. (The "nose" on the front can be launched back and forth)
• Cool Old Guy: Uncle Jam probably qualifies, being the backbone of the main cast and constantly baking new heads (among other things) for the heroes. But an even better example was probably Takashi Yanase himself: Even at 94 years old, he continued to make public appearances and crank out book after book, right up until his death. This man was a colleague of Osamu Tezuka (nine years Yanase's junior) when both were still relatively unknown.
• Covers Always Lie: The second title card for the widescreen episodes depict a majority of villians that appear in the show. Three characters that were in the title card that aren't exactly villians are Tanuki-Oni, Frankenrobo-kun and Kokin-chan. Tanuki-Oni was originally a villian in his movie debut, but wasn't anymore by the time he was intergrated into the show, though it's likely due to his ability turning into a monster when he's tricked by Baikinman and Dokinchan. Frankenrobo-kun and Kokin-chan are likely in it due to them having connections with the major villians despite their nature (Frankenrobo-kun is created by Baikinmman and Kokin-chan is Dokinchan's sister).
• Cowboy Episode: Any of the episodes that feature either Hamburger Kid or Yakisobapanman usually take place in the desert where most of the western action would happen.
• Creator Cameo: Takashi Yanase himself appeared (as a rabbit) in the 1000th episode.
• Crying a River: In one episode, Baikinman and Dokinchan cry so much that their tears flood their lair and cause waterfalls.
• Dancing Theme: "Sansan Taisou" and "Anpanman Taisou". Technically calisthenics, but the trope still fits.
• Disney Death: In the Anpanman movies, the main character the others try to help sometimes dies, but is brought back to life with a tearful song sung by the characters.
• Dramatic Spotlight: This happens a few times for some characters if something goes wrong.
• Dramatic Thunder: Mostly when the Big Bad appears in the Anpanman Movies.
• Darker and Edgier: The 2006 movie Dolly of the star of life can be seen as this due to it's darker theme and climax.
  • The 2010 movie Blacknose and the Magical Song also counts.
• Early-Installment Weirdness
  • In the very earliest story (published in The '60s), "Anpanman" was actually just a regular human with a normal head who delivers anpan to people in need. Even in the first canonical installment in 1973, Anpanman's sole mission is to rescue starving people and give them a bite to eat (out of his head), with Uncle Jam in a supporting role (to bake new heads). The second book (from 1975) refines the premise and adds the notion of Anpanman rescuing people from danger and not necessarily hunger. Most of the core cast is introduced in the monthly manga (particularly around 1978-80 or so), but the numerous characters, along with the kind of adventures that make up the bread-and-butter of the anime, weren't really part of the picture until the 25-volume "Anpanman Mini-Books" series from 1983-84. Since then, though, the juggernaut has been unstoppable.
  • In Dokinchan's first appearance in the books (Anpanman and Dokin, March 1988), she was much taller and thinner◊ than Baikinman, had no tail, and carried a spear that would immobilize the people she used it on. The anime adjusted her appearance, and later stories in both books and anime dropped the weapon gimmick, giving her the characterization she's known for.
  • The monthly manga from the '70s showed Baikinman as the leader of a race of individuals that looked like him, only smaller. This was dropped with the introduction of the Kabirunruns in mid-1983, and they fill essentially the same role.
  • Speaking of Baikinman, many of the early episodes have him being defeated by washing him with soap or brushing him with toothpaste. This is later replaced with him being punched at the end (although a recent episode still displays his original weakness). Mushibakinman later gets the weakness of being brushed with toothpaste, which makes sense.
• Edible Theme Naming: The entire show seems to be based on this trope. Anpanman, the hero, is an Anpan bread-head. They live in bread world, and thus all the superheroes are types of bread. And most of the rest of the cast is food too. Like an Apple face with a body, who is called Ringochan. (Apple-chan) Though there are item-people, animals and humans (and thus it's one whole world of Theme Naming), there are mostly food-people. The baddies on the other hand do have a Meaningful Name, but said names have nothing to do with bread or any type of food.
• Edutainment Show: Outside of the main series, Anpanman, Baikinman, and a few of the characters appear in a series of educational specials, where they teach children various things (eg. learning the English alphabet, numbers, music and colors). You can also tell apart due to the amount of human characters you don't see in the actual series.
• Ensemble Cast: This show is the Guinness world record holder for the highest number of characters in an animated franchise. It has over 2,000 characters. And don't think it has one-timer nobodies. Every character has a personality, has different relationships, and appears in the show more than twice. They all have their own jobs, hobbies and characteristics. That makes the world really lively. Here is a small list to give you an idea.◊
• Epileptic Flashing Lights: The uses this technique at in the early days of both the show and movie runs to give the illusion of a knockout effect, mainly if someone or something gets punched. For the show, they would use two stills of different color knockout stars and flash them for a millisecond and use lightning strobe effects for lightning. The movies would be a bit more fancy on just intense strobe lights. This changed after the Porygon incident as the company wanted to prevent getting in trouble with parents as like with Pokemon, kids watch Anpanman and don't want to risk them having seizures (though this wasn't changed until three months after 1998 started, which was after the incident). For the show, there ere two new techniques they did. The first was just used a still image with it being shaken up (sometime after episode 464), though it was still stroby as there's a millesecond of a black screen before the shaken image. Starting with 469 (Creampanda's debut episode), another technique was created where the stars would be animated flying all over. However, this was changed for home video releases for 518a to 587b (the last couple episodes of the cel animated era) and a few double length episodes where they simplified it by just showing the two stills for 3-5 seconds each for unknown reasons. While this was safer, the show felt like it was more limited in terms of animation. Once the show started using digital ink, if machinery's involved, a smoke explosion's used instead. The movies would simply avoid using strobe effects, or if they do would simply make it darker. They would sometimes use a still knockout image and just move it around.
• Evil Laugh
  • Baikinman's Catchphrase "HAHIHUHEHO" can count as an evil laugh, since he actually uses it as a victory sound somewhat. But he laughed a far better example of this trope in an episode when he created something dressed as a mad scientist (He dresses like that when doing lab stuff). He really made a "MUHAHAHA" laugh that time.
  • Dr Hiyari's assistant, Hiyariko: "Yaaaakyakyakyak!"
• Evolving Credits: While the theme song remains the same throughout the show's 30+ year history, the title openings changed throughout the years to showcase the major characters that appear (though there are times they would add characters that haven't appeared for years). The first opening only features Anpanman, Baikinman and the Bakery crew, but the later openings would feature the other 5 heroes, Dokinchan, Kokinchan and Horrorman later on.
• Extra-Long Episode:
  • The show mostly has 2-eleven minute episodes, but they would have a double length episode. As of 2023, there are 121-22 minute episodes.
  • There were 3 episodes that were part of the show's episode numbering that were almost an hour long; "Missing Uncle Jam" (250), "Anpanman and Pirate Lobster" (398-399) and "Anpanman and the Black Christmas" (408-409). The latter two were actually a two-parter that was put together as one longer episode.
  • Aside from episode 408, the Christmas specials from 1995 to 2010 are close to an hour long.
• Eyelid Pull Taunt: Baikinman and Dokin-chan often do this taunt various times.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Anpanman, especially in the early stories.
• Fingerless Hands: Most of the characters don't any visible fingers aside from a thumb. The only time they show fingers are in closeups.
  • Strangely, characters in the early episodes have visible fingers, though this gone after the initial episodes were done airing.
• Frankenstein's Monster: Frankenrobo-kun, who is a mix between this trope and a robot. It's created by Baikinman and it sees him as his daddy, much to Baikinman's dislike. His hug or touch is electrifying and thus Baikinman tries to avoid him.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: The plot of the episode "Anpanman and the Kind Baikinman" (1993, episode 221B).
• Freudian Trio: The three main heroes, with Anpanman as the Ego, Shokupanman the Superego, and Currypanman the Id.
• Furry Confusion: One of the CDs made for the franchise contains Currypanman, who is made of curry bread, singing a song about curry.
• Genie in a Bottle: There are several episodes that focus on the character, the Lamp Giant. Whenever the focusing character finds his lamp, he pops out and can give three wishes to its master.
• Generic Doomsday Villain: Most of the villains of the Non-Serial Movies aren't sentient, being either mindless beasts acting on pure instinct, or robots programmed to cause nothing but destruction. This is justified because, unlike Baikinman and his cohorts, these villains must die in order for Anpanman to save the day. Thus, these villains are deliberately kept as blank slates, so Anpanman's morality is never put into question, and you won't feel bad when they inevitably die.
• Go-Karting with Bowser: Whenever Anpanman and Baikinman aren't fighting, they usually hang out at times.
• Gratuitous Princess: The tv series and almost every movie has them, and they are almost all human(-looking).
• Green Aesop: Episode 950b "Anpanman and Kappaccino" has Baikinman polluting a lake as he wanted to built Dokinchan's summer house.
• Harmless Villain: Baikinman can somewhat relate to this trope, although he uses violence. He never seems to really want to kill anyone, though situations make it look like he wants too, so that someone can be saved by the heroes. He would probably kick Cheese, though. Or at least poke Rare Cheese.
• I Was Just Passing Through: Baikinman did save Anpanman once or twice. One episode he actually really seemed to save him since he was very worried about Dokinchan, though the end of the episode kinda treats him like he also did it for Anpanman, which is confusing since he really seems to do it only for her. Maybe he's that good?
• Jerkass: Though Dokinchan is a really nice person to everyone else, her behavior to Baikinman is really mean. Of course, 3/5 of the episodes she's just a nice companion to him. She is happy and says "thank you" when he obtained or did something for her, but when he doesn't, she doesn't even want to hear why or what happened. And he really gets in a lot of trouble for trying to do or get what she wants. She should just thank him anyway for trying so hard. And besides, she should actually be told off on her own mistakes far more often.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Baikinman
• Kawaiiko: Dokinchan, when not being angry.
• Kimodameshi: Episode 627b "Anpanman and the Wolf Ghost" has Creampanda and some of the children going out at night in the forest to see how long they can last without being arfaid. They encountered Chibi Okami when they saw his glowing eyes and think he's the wold ghost of the forest.
• Kill It with Water: Baikinman's usual way to get rid of Anpanman by making him unable to fight by spraying water in his face. (He also once used it on Shokupanman and Currypanman.)
• Knight of Cerebus: The 50-Foot Whatevers fought at the climaxes of the movies, as they're both absolutely massive in size and have powers that make what Baikinman can do look like child's play.
• Lighter and Softer: The edutainment specials. They also made Baikinman a bit friendlier than how he's portrayed in the main series, but still acts a bully.
• Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: The series is devoid of humans, not counting the characters that are humanistic as they are fairy-esque creatures. Humans do exists, just not in the main series (eg. the edutainment specials.)
• Little Black Dress: Dokinchan can somewhat count as this since she seems to be a love interest for, like, 7+ people.
• Live-Action Adaptation: There are "episodes" made LIVE, WITH REAL PEOPLE IN SUITS. And believe it, these are as amusing as normal animated regular episodes, maybe even better! They used the original voice actors and the way the actors move and the costumes they wear, it counts as Fanservice, literally!
• Logo Joke: In episode 908, where Horrorman introduces the film on Baikinman's flashback, the film logo starts with Baikinman dressed as a lion, imitating the MGM logo.
• Look Both Ways: In one of the sketches of the educational special "Oyakusoku", Baikinman tries to get the ball that he, Anpanman and the children were playing as it bounces towards the road. Baikinman almost gets ran over by a kid riding his bike, but thankfully Tire-kun was able to rescue him. The characters later learn the importance of crossing the street and paying attention to the signals.
• Loose Canon: Mainly the canon between the show and films, as they don't seem to be connected in anyway. Like how Horrorman originally appeared in the 1991 film, but when he appeared in the show's proper, the characters who met him in the movie don't actually remember him. What's odd is that Rollpanna's debut episode was a driving point for the 1995 film.
• Made of Explodium: Baikinman and his UFO.
• Mad Scientist: Dr Hiyari, his assistant Hiyariko, and Baikinman on some occasions too.
• Market-Based Title: The Indian English dub that aired on Pogo is titled Anpanman Breadman.
• Meaningful Name: Most of the characters have themed naming, yet the baddies have naming that isn't much listed as a theme:
  • Baikinman means "Germ-man".
  • Dokinchan comes from the sound of the pounding heart (dokidoki). When she first appears, her presence made people have a strong heartbeat out of nowhere. This became a character trait, but it was forgotten through the episode and was never mentioned again. Ultimately, it wasn't explained what made her cause people to "Doki". Perhaps, to show that her presence isn't a good sign?
  • Horrorman is a skeleton... HORROR-man. Y'know, People are sometimes scared when they see him. He kinda seems to have fun with that, though is really a very nice guy.
• Merchandise-Driven: Taken to the extreme. There has been Anpanman-based merchandise on nearly every kind of children's product imagined.
• Mirror Routine: In episode 322b "Shokupanman and Horrorman", Baikinman dresses Horrorman as Shokupanman due to the skeleton feeling depressed that Dokinchan loves Shokupanman instead of him. Baikinman takes advantage of this as he wanted Horrorman to cause trouble for the superhero. When Horrorman was at the Bakery, he tries to get way from Shokupanman by using the fallen mirror and tries to pretend that he is his reflection until the mirror falls.
• Moon Rabbit: Episode 198a "Rabbit of the Moon: Hanel-kun" has the main characters getting ready for a harvest festival as they see a picture of a rabbit on the moon. Anpanman, Batako and Cheese noticed the rabbit was missing from the moon, but they found out that the rabbit (Hanel-kun) was out in the field trying to find his tool, only to realize that it was behind him all along.
• Never Trust a Title: Episode 540b "Baikinman and Aunt Pasta". While Baikinman is part of the plot of the episode, the episode is actually about Kinoko-chan helping Aunt Pasta and Miss Mimi's class on getting the best mushrooms for Aunt Pasta.
• Ninja: The character Nyanja.
• Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Frankenrobo-kun is a mix between the monster of Frankenstein and a robot.◊
• No Hugging, No Kissing: While characters develop infatuations with surprising regularity, the only two who actually get to have a stable relationship are the dogs, Cheese and Rare Cheese. Even there, the chance of them having a litter of puppies together is practically nil.
• Non-Human Head: A majority of the characters have things such as food, instruments, and flowers as heads.
• Protagonist Title: No points for guessing what the main character's name is.

• Roger Rabbit Effect: Some of the educational specials from Bandai's Terebikko and the early 2000s would have the characters be in real life footage.
• Same Content, Different Rating: The Anpanman franchise is a G-rated franchise in Japan, but when the most of the films between 2005 to 2019 were dubbed into English an Latin America, some of the ratings were different. Some of the movies such as 2005, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2018 were rated as PG, despite those movie not having any changes. The 2014 film Apple Boy and Everyone's Hope was originally rated as this when it was released, but was changed to G after the rest of the films were put on Tubi. This also applies to the Latin American dubs, though the 2014 film "Apple Boy and Everyone's Hope is rated TV-PG as it was with the English dub. Oddly enough, the 2018 movie in Latin America is TV-G.
• Seiza Squirm: In episode 812a "Tendonman and Chawanmushimaro", the Donburiman Trio were eager to get some of Chawanmushimaro's chawanmushi (well, mainly Katsudonman and Kamameshidon. Tendonman was the one that was actually invited.), sit in this position through one of Chawanmushimaro's poetry sessions. Chawanmushimaro's an expert at sitting like this, but the Donburiman Trio show absolute discomfort, wriggling their feet constantly. When Baikinman shows up, the trio jump up to run away...and promptly fall flat, forced to crawl and lay down to support themselves for a while.
• Spaghetti Kiss: Played with and averted in one of the Christmas sing-along videos when Baikinman and Dokinchan were eating noodles. It ends with Dokinchan hitting Baikinman on a bell.
• Special Edition Title: Since the show's transition to widescreen in the 2010s, the Christmas specials would havea festive Christmas border over on top of the title cards.
• Spoiled Brat: Dokinchan, although she is not rich or anything. She is demanding, inpatient and goes on rampage for not getting what she wants. But she knows she can get Baikinman to get her anything, though he usually fails or she is not happy with what he got eventually. She has never been punished for this behavior and also haven't changed for the 20 years she's been on screen. So why doesn't Baikinman kick her out?
• Superheroes Wear Capes: Anpanman, Currypanman, Shokupanman, Melonpanna and Creampanda. They are all Superheroes who all wear capes. Also, they lose the ability the fly when the cape is cut or sliced.
• Supervillain Lair: The hide-out in the shape of Baikinman's head where, of course, the main baddies live. The scheming is mostly done outside of their hide-out though.
• Temporary Love Interest: Baikinman has them quite a lot, and even if the character returns, he seems to forget what happened in the last episode. Or it was a very quick crush he got over. Of course, in a show like this which can still exist for 20 more years, they want to leave the possibilities for romance open to any character.
• Terrible Trio:
  • Baikinman, Dokinchan and Horrorman. Although the formula isn't quite correct. Baikinman is the main villain, and Dokinchan and Horrorman are 'helping hands'. But Baikinman and Horrorman do whatever Dokinchan asks demands them to do. Still, Dokinchan totally doesn't count as the leader simply because she isn't. She'll gladly help Baikinman in his evil deeds, but only if she wants to help him.
  • Also Horrorman isn't usually involved in Baikinman and Dokinchan's evil deeds. He usually hangs around with them and usually cleans the house and cooks. So this trope only works for the rare occasions, like in the movies, where he joins the villainy. Which usually fails...like they also do without him...or just Baikinman alone. And in those cases, HILARITY ENSUES!!
  • In the movie Baikinman and the 3-Times Punch, his brother Aokinman and Akakinman join Baikinman, making it a terrible trio.
• Thanksgiving Episode: Episode 209a "Thanksgiving Day with Uncle Jam" centers around the Japanese theme of Thanksgiving (In Japan, it's known as Labor Thanksgiving Day, where it's on paying respect to laborers and those who do their jobs. Unlike North America, Japan's Thaksgiving is always on November 23rd, though it'll be on a Thursday like the American holiday). When both Batako and Miss Mimi's class were puzzled on what they should do for the holiday, they decided to give a party to Uncle Jam as a thank you for the hard work he has done.
• Third Line, Some Waiting: Episode 901b "Rollpanna and Mr. Cellohiki" has three plot lines with only two connected. Melonpanna tries to find her sister, the Bakery crew go to meet their friend Mr. Cellohiki, Anpanman goes out on patrol, but loses his grip after a storm arrives and Baikinman gets into a scuffle with Dokinchan after his computer explodes. The only plot lines that connect are only the heroes, as the villians don't interact with the other plots at all.
• Took a Level in Badass: Baikinman... though he actually isn't very badass at all, he still gained at it. For example, in one episode, shit just got real when Baikinman turned in a dark knight! Not that Baikinman was really himself much anymore....
• Tsundere
  • Both Baikinman and Dokinchan have their Tsundere moments.
  • Baikinman has the-"shut up, I'm not nice!/ I don't like this/that at all!"-one.
  • Dokinchan is a bit more complex since she clearly has a tsuntsun and deredere side, but she uses both personalities for different people. The problem with this is that usually you use both sides for a person on occasions, yet she seems to change personality with her surroundings. She is tsuntsun towards Baikinman (and Horrorman) though these people really do a lot for her and seem to care for her. She beats them up frequently, and also calls Baikinman an Idiot often. To Shokupanman, her love interest, she is very deredere. Weird thing is, to other people she is just really nice, but she changes into a demanding greedy bastard when she is around Baikinman. That is, if she wants him to bring her something. (Like honey she needs for a cake) She does seem to care for Baikinman on occasions, but it's totally unclear what she means by it, since she doesn't seem to care for him in a romantic way. He on the other hand does seem to have feelings for her, but aren't shown that regularly.
• A Twinkle in the Sky: It happens with Baikinman almost every episode. And by "almost", we mean those 20 out of 1500++ episodes where Baikinman leaves willingly. Yet even if he (with or without Dokinchan) leaves willingly, he still become a twinkle in the sky occasionally.
• Vague Age: Due to how the series is aimed at preschoolers, quite a bit of the characters don't have exact ages. Characters that use the title "sensei", "ojisan", "obasan" and "san" are easy to figure out that they're adults, but there's some characters that might not use the term correctly that it makes the ages hard to track down.
  • Tendonman, Komusubiman and Hotcakeman have young boy voices.
  • Dokinchan's age is vague due to how she has a younger sister Kokinchan, who can be at least elementary school.
• Villain Episode: There are several of them, even movies dedicated to the villains. But it was impossible in such a show as this to not have them, since the villain are not completely evil.
  • 815a "Baikinman and Baikincastle" has Baikinman trying to clean Baikin Castle with a robot he invented to help clean the mess up, only for the robot to go haywire. Anpanman's plot is just him delivering goods or helping children.
  • 956b "Dokinchan and Cheese Fondue-san" has Dokinchan and Horrorman hanging out with Cheese Fondue-san after the former got into an argument with Baikinman. Anpanman does not interact with them.
• Weak, but Skilled: Baikinman trains A LOT, but physically he's nothing compared to Anpanman. He kinda finds this out himself after they switched bodies and Anpanman (in Baikinman's body) tries to punch Baikinman (in Anpanman's body). "Gee, is this all I can do? I can't feel anything." He also get his butt kicked by Dokinchan, but he probably doesn't want to hurt her, so he doesn't fight back (It can also be seen as a type of sexism). Baikinman does know his opponents' weaknesses, and will take advantage of that every time. (Water or mold will cause Anpanman to become unable to fight. Having a piece of his head taken out will him make weaker and no match for Baikinman.) Since Baikinman knows he's no match in a hand to hand fight, he uses his UFO or sometimes a robot mecha. But when Anpanman has a new fresh head, it doesn't matter that Baikinman still tries to attack him. "AN-PUNCH!!" *boom* "BAI-BAIKIIIN".
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Invoked regarding the 50-Foot Whatevers fought at the climaxes of the Non-Serial Movies. Unlike most villainous characters in the series, these villainous characters are simply rampaging monsters that want nothing but to destroy everything in their path. Thus, they're the only kinds of villainous characters Anpanman and his friends can kill without their morals ever being put into question.

---