| Forza! Hidemaru | |
 | |
| フォルツァ!ひでまる (Forutsa! Hidemaru) | |
|---|---|
| Manga | |
| Hidemaru the Soccer Boy | |
| Written by | Makoto Mizobuchi |
| Published by | Shogakukan |
| Magazine | CoroCoro Comic |
| Demographic | Children |
| Original run | 2002 – 2003 |
| Volumes | 2 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Yoshihiro Takamoto |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Hideo Takayashiki |
| Music by |
|
| Studio | Studio Gallop |
| Original network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | April 6, 2002 – September 28, 2002 |
| Episodes | 26 |
Forza! Hidemaru (Japanese: フォルツァ!ひでまる, Hepburn: Forutsa! Hidemaru) is a Japanese anime television series. It was produced by NAS and aired on TV Tokyo for twenty-six episodes. Enoki Films licensed the series as Forza! Mario,[1] and NAS refers to the series by that name on its English website.[2] The series, about a boy who wants to play soccer, aired in 2002, the year of the FIFA World Cup in Japan and Korea.
Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy, the authors of The Anime Encyclopedia, Revised & Expanded Edition: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917, wrote that the series "seems far out of its time in the early 21st century" but "the very young audience sees" the sports tropes "with fresh eyes."[3]Amanga adaptation, Hidemaru The Soccer Boy by Makoto Mizobuchi, was serialized in Shogakukan's Corocoro Comic.[3]
Hidemaru appeared on the website nakata.net, Hidetoshi Nakata's official website.[4]
Clements and McCarthy stated that the cast consists of "wacky animals in sports getup" with a fox, two fat hippopotamus girls, dogs, horses, and rabbits.[3]
