Ojarumaru

is a Japanese anime series created by Rin Inumaru, produced by NHK Enterprises, and animated by Gallop. The series has aired on NHK E-Tele since October 1998, making it the second longest-running anime on NHK behind Nintama Rantaro, and the third longest-running anime series to date. The series focuses on a 5-year-old Heian-era prince named Ojarumaru Sakanoue who accidentally time-warps to modern Japan and has adventures there while dodging a trio of young oni who try to get back a scepter that he stole from Great King Enma. The series has been dubbed in many languages. It was the first NHK anime series to be animated using the digital ink-and-paint process instead of cels. It received an "Excellence Award" for animation at the 1999 Japan Media Arts Festival. Premise Around 1,000 years ago in Fairy World (妖精界 Yōsei-kai) in the Heian era, a young prince from a noble family named Ojarumaru Sakanoue is bored of his life of privilege. He is later lured into Enma World (エンマ界 Enma-kai) by the sound of a ukulele played by Great King Enma. Upon arriving, he steals Great King Enma's powerful scepter, which he uses in order to judge the dead. While getting chased by Great King Enma, he accidentally falls into the Moon Hole (月の穴 Tsuki no Ana), which time-warps him to modern Japan via the Full Moon Road (満月ロード Mangetsu Rōdo). The furious Great King Enma sends his three adopted oni children, Aobei, Kisuke, and Akane, who are known as the "Little Child Trio" (子鬼トリオ Kooni Trio), to pursue Ojarumaru and get the scepter back. At the present time, Ojarumaru falls from the Moon to the roof of Sakata Apartment (坂田マンション Sakata Manshon) where he befriends a boy named Kazuma Tamura and his grandfather Tommy. Fascinated with the prince, Tommy helps Kazuma convince his parents Ai and Makoto into letting Ojarumaru stay with the family, to which they accept. Denbo, Ojarumaru's anthropomorphic firefly caretaker who witnessed the latter falling into the Moon Hole, eventually finds and takes care of him at the request of his parents. While making many new friends and rivals, as well as dodging the Oni Child Trio's efforts to retrieve the scepter, Ojarumaru has many adventures in Moonlight Town (月光町 Gekkō-chō) and encounters new things he has never seen before in his time period.