YMMV / Crayon Shin-chan

• Adaptation Displacement: How many people knew that it was originally a manga?
• Americans Hate Tingle: The manga series and anime adaptations are beloved not only in its native Japan, but also the rest of Asia and various European countries (Spain especially). However, reception in North America and other parts of Europe have been mixed-to-negative, with the crude art style and equally crude humor turning off a lot of people. Even worse by having been around since 1990.
• Awesome Music: The dub's ending theme "Party Party Join Us Join Us, Party Party Join Us Join Us".
• Base-Breaking Character: Misae/Mitzi gets this for her abusive tendencies. Sure, Shin is no boy scout, but she reacts to everything he does with the maturity of a 12-year-old. Her hypocritical behavior towards her husband rubs people the wrong way since she would hit him for even glancing at another woman, and yet she would do anything to get the attention of a handsome man.
• Common Knowledge: The anime did not end because of the death of Yoshito Usui. He just so happened to die when the show was already scheduled for a three-week hiatus to show other programming in its timeslot, which was scheduled months in advance. The October 23rd date most people give in regards to the show's "renewal" was actually the debut of it's 11th opening theme, Happy Happy by BECKY.
• Crosses the Line Twice: As much as the source material does it from time to time, the Funimation Gag Dub gleefully plays hopscotch with the line.
• Cult Classic: The anime isn't all too well-known in America (the manga series even moreso, to the point of Adaptation Displacement), but it still managed to build up a fairly decent fanbase.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Action Bastard and Happiness Bunny have pretty good followings as characters.
• Fandom Rivalry: In Spain, the franchise has a huge rivalry against Doraemon fans, to the point that is pretty common to debate on Twitter which series is superior.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
  • In Spain, especially in Catalonia, they LOVE Shin-chan in the same way Americans love The Simpsons (maybe more), to the point where the author went there several times and befriended the official translator — who eventually appeared in the manga. Hell, it can be argued that it's more popular there than in freaking Japan itself! There was even a Japanese TV show that made a special episode to explain it. Meanwhile, no matter how many dubs, (Gag-like or otherwise) are made, it seems the series will never catch on in America.
    • In the anime, there was a story about the Noharas vacationing in Barcelona. Even though there were lots of quite outdated and slightly off stereotypes (a tour guide named Carmen, paella, South American looking people, Toros y Flamenco), they included some nods at the catalonian fans (such as Shin-chan saying the paella is "Molt bo" (Very good) or doing the "Ass Dance" saying "culet, culet" (What Shin-chan says in the catalan dub, roughly "booty, booty").
  • The phenomenon isn't as widespread in Portugal, but there you can't be an anime fanatic without at least recognizing Shin-chan.
  • The series is also popular enough in Korea to even had the movies dubbed and a line of snacks sold in stores.
  • In Indonesia it is widely recognized alongside Doraemon and Dragon Ball. The original and the new manga series can be found in any Indonesian bookstore and the anime is still running on TV. It would be a massive accomplishment if there is not a Doraemon or a Shin-chan volume selling in any place that sells manga... Although there was a quite huge debate during the time when the uncensored manga came out, but in the end, it's still broadcast censored and the manga was slapped 15+ (13+ for the new series) age rate.
  • In The Netherlands, where the liberal climate allowed for a near-literal dub, the series is infamous and still very popular among people in their twenties who often still remember the raunchiest jokes.
  • The Filipino Dub with the main character voiced by the Dirty Rapper Andrew E. is well-known among Filipinos who grew up in the 2000s. Shin-chan voiced by an adult man could have been Questionable Casting but it worked so well that a lot of Filipinos who grew up watching the dub consider it superior over the original Japanese, not only because of the voice acting but also because of the Cultural Translation and Alternative Foreign Theme Song.
  • It was huge in India, until kids started behaving like him leading to Moral Guardians having the show banned for a while in 2009. Afterwards a heavily Bowdlerised version started airing, making it more kid friendly, which still had a huge fan following.
• Hollywood Homely: Shin Chin's mother Misae supposedly being overweight even though she looks like she has a healthy figure for her age is a Running Gag, with physical signs of fatness only appearing for small visual gags. In one episode of the anime where Misae took up ballet, the male instructor broke his spine trying to pick her up. The same episode has Misae freaking out over weighing 55kg (121lb) even though she's 159 cm (5'2.5) tall.
• Ho Yay: Shin-chan teases Kazama (Georgie) a little too much. Heck, Kazama is also too much tsundere around him, so when something happens, it's mostly played for laughs.
• Jerkass Woobie: Misae/Mitzi. She's incredibly strict, highly prone to anger, and frequently hits both her husband and son. However, given how much hell she's put through, often given very little sympathy, it's safe to say her life sucks.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Literally! As part of a promotional deal for Shin Godzilla, one short featured the Trope Namer himself showing up and getting into a fight with Shin. It marks Godzilla's first official anime appearance, and may very well be the only thing some western viewers will watch of the show.
• Never Live It Down: If you live outside the countries (such as Spain) and its native Japan where the series is popular, good luck finding anyone who finds Misae's domestic abuse treatment towards Horoshi justified.
• Nightmare Fuel: In general, this series does not pull any punch when it comes to paranormal phenomena.
  • "The french doll is cursed" episode. In the episode, Hiroshi receives a french doll from a co-worker that Misae immediately finds creepy and gives it to Himawari, to who she gets attached. The next day, the co-worker warns about the doll's evil nature but is too late, as Himawari refuses to give up and the doll shows her true nature, trapping Misae and Shinnosuke inside the house so they can't get help from Hiroshi, who is trying to open the door, and using Shinnosuke's mistreated toys to kill the scared mother and son by stomping them. Fortunately for the family, it was All Just a Dream from Misae, but the episode ends in a grim tone as the doll is at the top of some trash bags on the street, waiting for her next potential victim to pick her up.
  • "The Happiness Bunny's Revenge" episode takes the cake. No matter how much Nene/Penny tries to throw it away, The Happiness Bunny will always find a way to return.
  • There is one episode about Kazama being trapped in a separate space and time pocket within his apartment. After many times wandering around and seeing mirages of Shinchan until he almost lose his sanity, fortunately everything goes back to normal and Kazama reaches the seventh floor where Kazama residence takes place. What makes this scary is that this happens not because of Kazama's bad deeds, but it's simply a result of Kazama being careless by following a mirage of Shinnosuke (while knowing that the real Shinnosuke is still on a school bus) and entering a "ghost elevator" that is not supposed to exist.
• Sacred Cow: Good luck finding a person who hates the series, especially if you live in Europe, Japan, and other Asian countries such as Taiwan and Indonesia.
• The Scrappy:
  • Ai, who manages to combine Royal Brat, Abhorrent Admirer (to Shin) and Karma Houdini (nobody ever calls her out on her condescending behaviour) into one annoying character when she's seen. May have been intentional though, as nobody in-universe really likes her either (save for poor Masao, who has a crush on her but is often treated like the dirt under her fingernails whenever they interact).
  • If Ai is included, so does Penny. After she Took a Level in Jerkass, she develops a Hair-Trigger Temper and became bullying towards the gang (particularly Masao), mostly forcing them into playing "Extremely Real Tea Party" with her in a normal day. She's also this in-universe, where even Shin Chan is sometimes scared of her.
• Squick:
  • Are the closeups of Shin-Chan's and the Kappa's genitalia really necessary?
  • The sheer amount of Toilet Humor can get nauseating after a while.
• Tear Jerker:
  • In the Gag Dub, The Flamer having to leave the school, and Penny suffering from a broken heart because of it.
  • The original manga has some touching stuff that the anime has to tone down for comedy's sake. Miss Ume's relationship with Doctor Tokuro, to mention something... when he dies due to a terrorists' attack in his hotel when he was in South America. You have Miss Ume, who was unlucky with men, finding a stable relationship with Tokuro, that was transformed in a long-distance relationship not so much before his death. She even fell into depression with suicidal thoughts because of his fate. The anime leaves it at least on a bittersweet note before he was Put on a Bus.
  • In one episode, Kazama is leaving to go to a new school, so Shin sings a goodbye song for him. The Vitello version can also bring a tear to the eye.
  • One story from the manga is extremely upsetting. Shiro comes across an abandoned kitten who is sick. He immediately starts to bring his food to share with it, but unfortunately, the kitten is too sick and dies. Shiro comes across the woman who abandoned the kitten and barks furiously at her, but can't do much else.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Yasuo Kawamura (student of Ms. Matsuzaka/Katz) qualifies when he rarely make a appearance in the whole original series.
• Toy Ship: Shin/Kazama is pretty popular among Yaoi Fangirls.
• Values Dissonance:
  • If you're a wife, do you think it's okay to beat up your husband if you think he flirts with other women? Similar to Love Hina, the manga/anime plays physical abuse towards husbands, accusations of flirting, and theft of women's stuff all for laughs, things that people and the law in the west will not tolerate anymore.
  • While Shin is definitely a troublemaker, Misae/Mitzi constantly hitting him as punishment can still make her come off as an Abusive Parent to western audiences. In Japan, however, hitting children is actually a common form of discipline, so long as there's a justified reason for it. The Vitello dub softens Mitzi's discipline to where she gives Shin 'noogies' instead of hitting him.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?:
  • The original Japanese version. While the manga is seinen, the show is actually considered a family show despite retaining some of its raunchy humor and airs in a primetime slot.^note Most anime that airs in Japan intended purely for adults is "late night anime" airing from 11pm-4am. These shows also aren't intended for mainstream audiences.
  • Likewise, the Netherlands dub for the show aired on a kids network with a near faithful dub due to laxer standards. Despite those standards, it nearly got cancelled several times by parents. Predictably, it was very popular with the target audience.
  • Spain also aired it uncut on public broadcasting and Cartoon Network, where it was a huge hit, often featured in children's magazines, free stickers with ice cream, collectibles, etc. Some stations moved it to night time slots or dropped the show due to, you guessed it, parental complaints.
  • Several countries bowdlerise the show specifically to make it more appropriate for kids by their country's standards, including Korea and India. NTV7 Malaysia airs the show for kids, but censors genitalia, though Mandarin versions that air there on 8TV aren't as censored for some reason. Due to rather strict TV censorship in Indonesia, their version of Shin-chan gets some of the most censorship: almost all scenes involving Shin-chan showing his butt, genitalia, or other "suggestive content" are censored since it usually airs on Sunday morning, a time when lots of anime and cartoons are aired simultaneously and consecutively.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?:
  • The original manga falls into this as it was published in a Seinen magazine, despite the anime being more family-friendly.
  • The American version done by Funimation is a Gag Dub with darker and even raunchier humor that exceeds what's in the original show that aired on [adult swim], specially for an adult audience. Originally, the second English dub for the series was pitched to Adult Swim but got rejected by being more kid-friendly.
• The Woobie:
  • Masao. The poor boy often finds himself targeted by bullies, spurned by a girl he has a crush on, is the Butt-Monkey of the group and is also Mistaken for Gay by everybody.
  • Shiro/Whitey. That poor dog goes through an awful lot thanks to Shin's ineptitude (although it has been made clear on several occasions that Shin does, in fact, love him).

---