Kodomo no Omocha (こどものおもちゃ lit. Child's Toy), otherwise known as Kodocha for short, is a Japanese anime series based on the manga of the same name written by Miho Obana. It was produced by NAS and TV Tokyo, and animated by Studio Gallop and ran from April 5, 1996 to March 27, 1998.
In 2005, the series was licensed for distribution in North America by FUNimation Entertainment and was released on DVD. Only the first season of the series was released and dubbed by FUNimation; though further releases were intended. Their license to the series expired in 2012.
Synopsis
Sana Kurata has a charmed life. Not only is her mother is a famous, award-winning writer, but she's the star of the hit TV comedy "Child's Toy" while still in the fifth grade. But Sana's biggest concern is Akito Hayama, a pint-sized hellion who's organized the boys in their grade-school class into a mass of unending noise and violence. With the help of Rei, her manager, chauffeur and "pimp," Sana is determined to win back control of the classroom from her new arch-enemy. But as her crusade continues, Sana moves further into Akito's life, and finds that he might not be entirely bad...or entirely safe.
Due to licensing issues, FUNimation was unable to obtain the rights to release Kodocha with the Tokio song "7 O' Clock News" as the opening theme, so they replaced it with the Tomoe Shinohara song "Ultra Relax", which is the second opening theme of the series. The original theme will be included in the Discotek Media Blu-ray release of the anime.[1].
Tokio's cameo was even changed to "Kyoto" in the English dub of episode 1, the Japanese audio track even blurred out their name as well.
