Kodomo no Omocha

Description

Sana Kurata, a child actress, faces many problems in her classroom, including a major one - her bullying classmate, Akito Hayama. Sana's outgoing and friendly nature leads her to work towards correcting all of the problems around her. Her 'meddling' irritates Hayama but at the same time captivates him, just as Hayama's gloomy nature irritates Sana and compels her to change him. As these two opposites attract each other, they face many hardships which bring them closer to a mutual understanding.

Note: This manga won the 1998 Kodansha Manga Award for Shoujo.

Type

Manga

Related Series

Mizu no Yakata (Side Story)

Deep Clear (Sequel)

Associated Names

Child's Toy

Cô Bé Sana Tinh Nghịch

Diễn viên nhí

El juguete de los niños

Il giocattolo dei bambini

Kodocha

Kodocha: Child's Play

Kodocha: Sana's Stage

Sana's Stage

Wanou Youxi

Детская игрушка

لعبة الطفل

こどものおもちゃ

玩偶游戏

아이들의 장난감

Groups Scanlating

ginrezis

Latest Release(s)

c.51.2 by ginrezis 5 months ago

c.51.1 by ginrezis 3 years ago

Search for all releases of this series

Status in Country of Origin

10 Volumes (Complete)
7 Volumes (Kanzenban, Complete)
7 Volumes (Bunko, Complete)

Completely Scanlated?

Yes

Anime Start/End Chapter

Starts at Vol 1, Chap 1 (OVA/TV)

Ends at Vol 1, Chap 5 (1995 OVA) / Vol 6, Chap 30 (TV EP 64) Diverges with original ending

User Reviews

N/A

Forum

3 topics, 5 posts

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User Rating

Average: 8.6 / 10.0 (1015 votes)

Bayesian Average: 8.53 / 10.0

35%

23%

22%

11%

Last Updated

September 10th, 2025 12:40pm PDT - 1 week ago

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Genre

Comedy Drama Romance School Life Shoujo Slice of Life
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Categories

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Category Recommendations

Audience with Her Majesty the Queen

Recommendations

Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou

Author(s)

Artist(s)

Year

Original Publisher

Shueisha (1994; 2003; 2007)

Serialized In (magazine)

Ribon (Shueisha)

Licensed (in English)

English Publisher

TokyoPop (Expired / 10 Vols - Complete)

Activity Stats (vs. other series)

Weekly Pos #849

(+15)

Monthly Pos #1625

(-88)

3 Month Pos #2851

(+142)

6 Month Pos #3086

(-400)

Year Pos #3987

(+77)

List Stats

On 529 reading lists

On 899 wish lists

On 3007 completed lists

On 95 unfinished lists

On 528 custom lists

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Forum Posts Click to view the forum

2015 Oneshot and Stage Play

10 years ago

Kodocha anime

12 years ago

Opinions???

13 years ago

User Comments [ Order by usefulness ]

I feel betrayed

by jomellyfish
5 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

The quirky characters with their usual antics drawn in a zany manner create an intelligent and amusing story. The story laid out the characters' background and development as the story progressed. The characters are diverse and displayed what it's like growing up. You have a happy-go-lucky, a peace-lover but is actually a pugnacious idiot, the reserved who doesn't listen during class but turns out to be intelligent. It paraded topics such as infatuation, family problems, and the feeling of being an outcast and adopted child. Kodomo will remind you of your happy and miserable grade school and middle school lives.

The only thing that vexes me is how X was seemingly nonchalant about the fact that she was the product of something immoral. She just brushed it off by asking "What?! You did it with your *****" and then it was totally overlooked. But then, that's just probably because she was established as a happy-go-lucky person. Still and all, it Kodomo no Omocha managed to build an excellent job on Romance-Comedy.

Edit: After the first 2 arcs (X letting go of Rei, finding X's Mom), everything that followed stupefied me. The story became another melodramatic piece of work. The characters touching on the shoujoness of the manga here and there, Kazuyuki, a 7th-grade student who's a demented and suicidal maniac, and Sana's antics felt far-fetched and dampened my spirits and adoration for the manga. I feel as though the comical aspect of the manga, at some point was lost or sapped. Moreover, the last arc about X's doll syndrome was completely out of the question. The ending was haphazard and ridiculous. X was acting totally out of it, asking Y to have sex with her so they'll 'grow up'. I understand that X developed a psychological illness but that really put me off. What's more is that X's mom was so indifferent and casual about the fact that her 12 (maybe 13) year old daughter is trying to have sex when she's well-aware that her daughter was behaving like that just because of her illness . Kodomo no Omocha could have been an excellent piece, if it weren't for that half-assed ending. I think drama didn't turn out to be Obana Miho's game in the long run. So from a perfect 10 after reading the first half, I'll settle with a 7.

... Last updated 5 years ago

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A Quirky Favorite

by NoOneSpecial75
10 years ago

Rating: 8.5 / 10.0

This series has been one of my top 15 favorites since I was introduced to it 3 years ago. The characters are very memorable and it stays with you - but it IS kind of a mixed bag.

What Kodocha gets very very right is it's heroine. Sana is unique among shojo protagonists because she's not an everygirl. She's a talented celebrity with a strong work ethic but she's still down to earth and quirky. She just doesn't fall into any of the standard heroine tropes and I have to give Obana major props for that.

As far as the story, I think it's at it's best early on. The "Letting go of Rei" and "Find Sana's Mother" plots are my favorites because of their profound emotional punch. Unfortunately as soon as Sana gets to middle school it's all about the drama. Seriously. We jump from a super dramatic love triangle to a crazy suicidal kid to Akito getting stabbed and partially paralyzed to Akito moving away to Sana having some kind of PTSD to… Suddenly Sana's a radio host now??… is it because it combines her love of helping people with her show biz career? I understand it all on a certain level but after volume 4 it just didn't feel like A material anymore...

Give it a shot though. For a 90s shojo I think it holds up very well.

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Gahhh i can't believe this is so good. I LOVE it.

by moonmystery
11 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

This story is about elementary schoolers, but make no mistake---the story can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Like people before me have mentioned, there's actual character development here, and the main character is actually NOT that annoying. 😀 wonderful!

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One of my faves...

by BimboSilly
12 years ago

Rating: 8.0 / 10.0

I can't say anything that hasn't been said already but I need to say some similarities with HANDSOME GIRLFRIEND are really surprising.

the glasses assistant, his wife being a famous actress for one

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YES !

by Autumn_Niight
12 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Two years later and I still adore this manga. Literally one of my top favorites, I can never get enough of Akito & Sana <3 Even though these characters are only supposed to be in elementary school, you tend to forget that as you get further into the story. This manga has literally the cutest little romance moments that make you go "djsfoisjdgosd AWHHH >_<" I HIGHLY recommend it.

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Good blend of comedy and drama

by MatrixM
13 years ago

Rating: 8.5 / 10.0

Two main problems. The last arc, which was just kinda ridiculous all round, though it had a couple of good chapters like the resolution. And the scanlation, which leaves about half of the text untranslated (primarily jokes) which is sad because the comedy is often really, really good. I know this because most of the volumes I read were the official translation.

Over the past few years I usually get annoyed when the main characters are just kids running around when they should be playing with their bottles or whatever (e.g. when I was 11-ish I really liked DNAngel but a few years later I just found it ridiculous) but this pulled off the precociousness really really well.

... Last updated 13 years ago

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I like it!

by Asahi
13 years ago

Rating: N/A

Well, I first started reading this manga when I was in elementary school, those days when I don't even know that internet existed. lol

All of a sudden I remember this manga and tried searching it in the internet (after I found it I forgot what kind of keyword did I put into Google that I actually finding it without the title nor character name! haha)

I liked this manga very much 🙂 At first I just read the first volume, just for remembering childhood days, I guess, but then I get more than that, I like it. I forgot the story and when I read it, I get a feeling that I didn't get when I was elementary school, maybe because before I didn't really really read it...
The story was actually light, but some part wasn't. Like Sana's past, for example. This manga also shows different type of love, and the confusion by love that pre-teens (yeah they are, right?) might get. Also a feeling that, children could think about many things and they are all growing, understanding one thing better after another. The characters are also lovely, Sana's mother is impressive (?) haha I like Hayama as well!^^

The story could make me smile and sadden me, as well.

Overall, This is something that I actually recommend reading 🙂

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Odd but good.

by kichiX
13 years ago

Rating: 7.0 / 10.0

This is...an odd combination of romance, drama and comedy. That's not to say it's bad, just...odd. It's almost like a normal shoujo, with characters in their teens, is being acted out by children in a child-friendly plot. There's no teenage angst, and the children being children circumscribes the regular "shoujo issues". I would say the children act unrealistically - they act older than their portrayed ages, but that adds to the story and it's not really a complaint.
I didn't find this absolutely amazing like some people did, but it was an above average read and it was, more to the point, enjoyable, with no moments where you want to tear your hair out at the leads stupidity (well, there were some moments like that, but it was fine because the main lead was dense while she still wasn't sure of her feelings).

... Last updated 13 years ago

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Too good to be true

by skywings
13 years ago

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

Seriously, this is like one of few mangas which makes me get so addicted i can't even sleep. I am dying to read it again and again! it's so good that i don't think a manga can get better than this! all the characters are so good and cute and perfectly developed. the plot and art are also superb. this is definitely one of my top favourites. i mean few mangas can make me tear up. the story is very unique and lots of things i didn't expect to happen. There are so many emotions involved! The BEST Manga!!!! ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! Everything was so sweet!! Its got so much about life and its meaning. Thats what makes it so good!

... Last updated 13 years ago

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A complete rollercoaster of feelings

by alex3510
13 years ago

Rating: 9.5 / 10.0

I'm going to be honest and say that when I saw the anime, I was not a fan. Yet, when I picked up the manga, I couldn't put it down. The characters, though very mature at some points, perfectly display what it means to grow up. I just love their depth, struggles and intense feelings. Those feelings, though easy to change due to age at first, are immature yet strong at the same time as they developed.
The plot was also really well done. I loved the conflicts that came up, showing off the weaknesses of the characters and the child/ coming of age theme that was in this manga. The whole thing was awesome and a lot deeper than what the anime was like.
Also, I loved the balance between humour and sad points. The storyline, for the most point, was depressing the whole way through, yet the author balanced it with the humour and lightness that only children can posses. It is a shoujo classic for a reason. Freaking brilliant and I just loved it!

... Last updated 13 years ago

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