Parents' Guide to

Shin Chan

By Sierra Filucci, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Anime series about 5 year old isn't so innocent.

TV Cartoon Network Comedy 1992
Shin Chan Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 14+

Based on 8 parent reviews

Avenger
Avenger Parent of 12-year-old
August 10, 2022
age 13+
parental guidance recommended for Children age of 10

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much consumerism
ninjamukhillan
ninjamukhillan Adult
March 6, 2022
age 16+
Nudity foul language and sexual content and some 18+ content why I given16 + because more nudity has been censored
See all 8 parent reviews

What's the Story?

An anime series featured in Cartoon Network's adult-oriented Adult Swim programming block, SHIN CHAN follows the silly, mischievous, often-rude antics of 5-year-old Shin-chan (voiced by Laura Bailey) and his parents and neighbors. The humor is mostly adolescent- and adult-oriented, with a good dose of sexual innuendo and frequent profanity. For example, one segment begins with Shin-chan watching a TV show in which superhero Action Bastard save his young female sidekick, who has been attacked with an enema ray and squeezes her butt cheeks together until she's freed. Then, Shin-chan gets his mom to buy a particular brand of sausage so he can get enough Action Bastard stickers to win a prize. Jokes about putting a sausage in one's mouth culminate in Shin-chan baring his butt in a grocery store and doing an "ass dance" in order to collect stickers from customers.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (8 ):
Kids say (30 ):

American producers wrote new scripts to accompany the Japanese show's original animation, using American voice actors and changing the dialogue to better suit an American audience. So jokes referring to popular culture figures like Bill O'Reilly and Jessica Simpson have replaced the original Japan-oriented humor. Jokes about boob jobs, penis size, crack whores, and more pepper this strange amalgam of anime and South Park. Teens won't learn anything new from the show, but their parents might want to preview the series anyway.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how Shin-chan compares with Bart Simpson. What's the difference between the two mischievous boys? How is the humor in their shows both similar to and different from each other?

  • What's the appeal of these two characters? How might these shows be different with a girl character in the lead?

TV Details

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