Lead: TV Asahi has officially locked Obocchama-kun REBORN as a brand-new 2027 television anime, bringing Yoshinori Kobayashi’s CoroCoro gag classic back to Japanese airwaves about 35 years after the original series ended.
What happened
On September 30–October 1, 2026 (Japan time), TV Asahi announced that Kobayashi’s Obocchama-kun manga is getting a new TV anime titled Obocchama-kun REBORN, scheduled to broadcast on the TV Asahi network in 2027. The studio package unveiled a teaser visual and teaser promotional video alongside the airing window.
Chie Kōjiro (often romanized Chie Kojiro) will reprise the lead role of Obocchama-kun / Obō Chama, the same voice actress who starred in the original 1989–1992 anime. Production is framed as a Japan–India joint project: Green Gold Animation is producing, with cooperation from Shinei Animation and Sony Pictures Networks India—the partners behind the India-market anime that launched in 2025 after TV Asahi’s September 2024 announcement for that regional series.
According to TV Asahi and Anime News Network’s write-up of the announcement, the new show will adapt manga episodes that were not animated previously and will also include original stories supervised by series creator Kobayashi. The original manga ran in Shogakukan’s CoroCoro Comic from 1986 to 1994 across 24 tankōbon volumes; the first TV anime ran 164 episodes from 1989 to 1992.
Japanese outlets including Oricon and TV Asahi’s own POST also stressed the India connection: the classic series became a major kids hit there in the early 2020s, which helped push the reboot project forward for a Japanese network return in the franchise’s 40th-anniversary era.
Why Obocchama-kun REBORN matters
Legacy gag titles rarely get a full “all-new episodes” network comeback decades later. Obocchama-kun REBORN is not a clip show or simple remaster—it is positioned as complete new animation with creator oversight, which is a bigger bet than a nostalgia one-shot. Keeping Kōjiro as Chama also signals continuity for Japanese fans who grew up on “Chama-go” catchphrases, while the India co-production path shows how overseas kids hit status can reverse-import a Japanese franchise.
For fall 2026 anime news desks, this sits above routine cast drips: it locks a 2027 broadcast home (TV Asahi), confirms a production alliance, and ships teaser assets on day one. That combination usually means more staff, streaming, and merchandise beats will follow rather than a vague “in production” holding pattern.
What we know vs what is rumored
- Confirmed: Title is Obocchama-kun REBORN; TV Asahi network broadcast in 2027; Chie Kōjiro returns as the lead; teaser visual and teaser PV released; Japan–India joint production involving Green Gold Animation with Shinei Animation and Sony Pictures Networks India cooperation; mix of unadapted manga stories plus Kobayashi-supervised originals.
- Unconfirmed: Exact premiere month/day in 2027; full main cast beyond the lead; episode count; Japanese streaming partners outside TV Asahi’s broadcast; whether the 2025 India series and the 2027 Japanese REBORN share the same episode pipeline beat-for-beat.
What happens next
Watch for a firmer 2027 cour or month, key staff credits (series director, character design), and additional cast drops as TV Asahi and the production committee roll out more materials. International fans should track whether Netflix, Crunchyroll, or a regional kids platform picks up simulcast or delayed rights once a broadcast calendar exists. Until those dates land, treat 2027 TV Asahi as the locked window—not a specific season slate.
Sources: Anime News Network — Obocchama-kun Manga Gets New Anime in 2027; TV Asahi — Obocchama-kun REBORN official site; ORICON NEWS — Obocchama-kun completely new anime set for 2027; テレ朝POST — Obocchama-kun REBORN 2027 broadcast decision