The famous comic series "Little Maruko" released a nostalgic Vietnamese version

On September 9, Kim Dong Publishing House organized the exchange program: "Maruko the Kid" - Sweet Childhood and Award Ceremony of the Gift to Family contest, on the occasion of Kim Dong Publishing House officially launching the Vietnamese version of the comic book "Maruko the Kid" to Vietnamese readers. This achievement was achieved after a long process of negotiating copyright and preparing stages related to the book series, along with the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan (1973-2023).

The comic series “Maruko-chan” by the late artist Momoko Sakura has been known to Vietnamese readers for nearly 3 decades. Along with the robot cat “Doraemon” and “Detective Conan”, “Maruko-chan” is considered one of the cultural icons of Japan. Based on her own childhood memories, author Momoko Sakura created a series of stories revolving around the life at home and at school of the cute girl Maruko with countless humorous but equally touching moments about family and friends. “Maruko-chan” has received love and become a part of the childhood of many readers of the 8X and 9X generations.

Different from the original edition launched in Japan in the style of Ribon magazine in 1987, the Vietnamese version exclusively for Vietnamese readers has a new form. Under the "magic" of designer Ta Quoc Ky Nam, the "Maruko Kid" edition of Kim Dong Publishing House with the name "Vintage Version" has a nostalgic color but still retains the cheerful, cute style of the author's original illustrations. The overall book series looks like hand-drawn diaries, with vivid pictures.

In addition, to enhance the reader experience, Kim Dong Publishing House has decided to increase the size of the Vietnamese version compared to the traditional Manga book size, to have more space for the dialogue boxes as well as the author's heartfelt sharing lines to be as clear as possible.

Translator Huong Giang, who devoted a lot of effort to the book series, shared: “Accompanying the humorous and mischievous girl Maruko, I not only had the opportunity to learn more about Japanese culture and life in the 1970s, but also found joy and motivation to return to work. Truly, translating “Little Maruko” for me is not just a job, but has become a journey of recovery and self-discovery. Thank you very much Maruko!”

Present at the event to launch the series, Ngo Ha My (Hanoi) expressed her joy and happiness when holding the first volume of "Maruko-chan" in Vietnamese: "I learned about "Maruko-chan" by chance. However, as soon as I learned about it, I really fell in love with Maruku. Through the series, I had the opportunity to learn about Japanese culture. The world in Maruku is an ideal world for me because it is associated with humane family life stories. Maruku is a kind person, knows how to care for people around him and I hope each of us will be like Maruku".

Welcoming "Maruko the Kid" to Vietnam, the contest "Gift for family" organized by Kim Dong Publishing House on Kim Dong Publishing House's fanpage has also attracted the participation of many young people, creating an interesting playground for readers to freely create drawings, postcards, videos inspired by the characters in "Maruko the Kid" and send meaningful messages to friends and loved ones.