History
Due to health reasons, the series was on hiatus from November 22, 2009, to February 28, 2010.
On August 13, 2011, the series reached its 5,000th installment. Although there was no discussion related to this milestone in the manga's content, it was announced in the "Subatomic Particles" column of the evening edition on the same day. By January 2020, the series had reached its 8,000th installment. Including the series "Tonari no Yamada-kun", it has been ongoing for nearly 30 years, making it the longest-running manga serialization in the history of Asahi Shimbun. Although primarily composed of four-panel comics, in recent years, it has become more flexible, incorporating vertical panels in three panels, wide panels, and vertically split panels to create five-panel strips.
On April 2, 2020, including its predecessor "Tonari no Yamada-kun", the series achieved a total of 10,000 installments.
For Hisaichi Ishii, this was his first serialized work in a nationwide newspaper (assuming daily publication). Because he continued to work on the series without significantly changing his style from his magazine work, it has some rare features among four-panel comic strips in national newspapers (especially in the early days of "Tonari no Yamada-kun"). One notable feature is that several main characters speak Kansai dialect, particularly in the early days. Later, some characters spoke Okayama dialect.
While some episodes have obscure punchlines, this adds to their unique charm. The series also features overt satire aimed at celebrities and characters speaking in near-cryptic slang (examples include):
- A direct parody of Toshiki Kaifu, then Prime Minister, by calling him "Mr. Miyazawa", who supposedly doesn't speak English, shortly after his resignation.
- When Haruki Kadokawa was arrested for drug violations, a character (Shige) says, "Even without drugs, I was getting high",.
- A character modeled after Tsuneo Watanabe appears as "One-Man Man." At the time of this episode's publication, Yomiuri Shimbun criticized the manga for allegedly defaming a specific individual (Watanabe).
Despite being a slice-of-life manga, it incorporates elements of science fiction and fantasy, with some yokai (supernatural creatures) living among the Yamada family, occasionally appearing as if they are ordinary.
Following the Great Hanshin Earthquake, the manga depicted the Yamada family's concern for the safety of earthquake victims. Over the subsequent five days, related stories were published consecutively, a rare case of sustained coverage of a single news event. After becoming "Nono-chan", the series has less frequently featured current events, including satire of celebrities. During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, the manga avoided directly referencing the disaster, instead adding a fictional maritime accident as a background setting to explore the feelings of bereaved families.
Initially, furigana (reading aids) were not used, but now they are written in katakana.
Since resuming serialization in 2010, some illustrations are presented as four-panel comics in school newspaper formats within "Nonoko", depicting satirical portrayals of real people. These are similar or identical to other works by Ishii, such as "Ninja Mugencho," "Alas! The Crown Does Not Shine on You," "B-Gata Heiji Torimonocho," "War Without Justice," and "Part-Time Boy", among others. This experiment lasted about once or twice a month for roughly a year. Critic Tomohiko Murakami described it as an "Nono-chan Donut Book (Futabasha's Ishii Hisaichi personal collection)", but by the time of his observation, the project had been paused for over six months (and subsequently over three years). No major protests occurred afterward, and "Nonoko" continued to appear into the 2010s.
In the May 11, 2011, issue (episode 4908), the manga included a story reminiscent of the sinking of the Shiun-maru, which resulted in casualties ten years earlier. The character introductions in the eighth volume mention some families of characters having died in a maritime accident. These sharply pointed experiments, including the girl baseball player Shimada, the school newspaper "Gakukoku", Womano-man, Roca, and the alien girl Tsumita Tsuki-ko, often experience long hiatuses or reappear after being forgotten, leading to periods with repeated Yamada family stories. The internal conflicts with the editorial department are not detailed, but Ishii has stated that he generally complies with rejection or revision requests. The final episode featuring Roca (episode 5217) was announced on the official website as having been poorly received by core Asahi Shimbun readers, indicating some tension behind the scenes.
Differences between "Tonari no Yamada-kun" and "Nonoko-chan"
When renamed, most of the setting, characters, and worldview remained the same, but some roles and details were changed:
- The character of the principal of Nonoko Elementary (modeled after Katsuya Nomura) appears as the director of the city hospital in "Nonoko-chan."
- Kôsuke Tabuchi, the unsuccessful mystery novelist and nephew of Matsu-ko in "Tonari no Yamada-kun", appears as Mr. Tabuchi, a PE teacher at Dai-san Elementary School, in "Nonoko-chan."
- A character who was the president of a small factory in "Tonari no Yamada-kun" became a principal at an elementary school.
- Takashi's older brother (Yoshio, Ishii's uncle) was depicted as running a farm in his hometown in "Nonoko-chan." Later, after the death of their mother, he moved in with the Yamada family and runs a bakery near their home, reflecting a more casual setting akin to the early days of "Yamada-kun."
- The number of students in Noboru's class decreased from 500 (in "Yamada-kun") to 200, then to 180 ("Nonoko-chan").
- In "Yamada-kun," Kikuchi-kun was depicted as having two older sisters (mentioned later), but in "Nonoko-chan", he is an only child.
Other setting changes may occur during serialization.
