Hi! And.. welcome to this rather modest page on a semi-obscure but still really awesome Japanese series, Di Gi Charat. I (SuitCase) realise that this is not a subject that is rarely covered, in fact, there are many Di Gi Charat sites far more exhaustive and well-researched than this one, so instead of writing up episode summaries and character profiles done much better elsewhere, I can instead offer some things that are not so commonly available. If you’re a Di Gi Charat fan, I hope whatever I have to offer is at least a little interesting to you!
The Di Gi Charat Series You Should Watch
Di Gi Charat has expanded over the years from one basic series to many many different ones. Some are amazing, a few are great, one is awful. Here is my absolutely objective description of which you should watch in order to best enjoy the series:
- Di Gi Charat (the original series, 1999) — So fun, and definitely a classic. This was the one that started it all. It’s driven by the personalities of the characters and is essentially slapstick semi-absurdist humour with great characters. You must watch it — they are only a couple minutes each, regardless!
- Di Gi Charat Summer\Christmas\Hanami\Natsuyasumi Specials (2000-2001) These are essentially continuations of the first series in a 10-minute format, mostly. Worth watching, but not as madcap and memorable. They are the first to show Piyoko, however, and she’s quite entertaining in the episodes in which she features.
- Di Gi Charat Movie (2001) — More of the same. It’s not a real movie, it’s only about half an hour. Worth watching but not really a classic.
- Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat (2002) — Super-kiddy Di Gi Charat. It’s an okay show, I guess, if you’re a Japanese pre-tween, but there’s not much in it for grown ups. It might be worth watching for the new designs, but it’s essentially too simplistic and childish to really enjoy.
- Leave it to Piyoko-pyo! OAV (2003) — Quite cute, especially if you enjoy Piyoko and the Black Gema Gema Dan. Definitely worth a view.
- Di Gi Charat Nyo (2003-2004) — Awful kiddy re-imagining of the series. If you want to see the characters reduced to terrible magical girl stereotypes with all humour removed, this is worth a look, otherwise avoid like the plague, this is not worth your time.
- Winter Garden (2006) — Out of nowhere, this appeared.. a short two-episode slice-of-life drama about Dejiko and Puchiko as ordinary teenage girls living together. It’s really gorgeous in style and pacing. If you only care to see hyperactive little girls attacking each other, it won’t interest you, but if you can handle a wonderful reimagining of the original series, you should adore it, as I do. Absolutely must view. It’s lovely.
Interesting Things Not Well Explained
There’s a whole bunch of small things about Di Gi Charat that you might not understand at first, and things that are sorta taken for granted by the fans and ignored elsewhere. I’ll try to throw them into this small section. Firstly:
Pyoko is so kawaii-pyo! ^^
NO. She isn’t. Because Pyoko doesn’t exist. At all. Who does exist, however, is Piyoko.. note the “i”. This is generally accepted as the correct English spelling of Piyoko’s name (Check the translated mangas, any official Japanese material bearing Piyoko’s shortened name, etc) but too often Pyoko is chosen in fanart or webpages or whatever over the correct spelling Piyoko, and.. it just had to be said. You see. Oh, and Digi Charat means nothing. It’s “Di Gi Charat”, three quasi-words. People seem to have started catching onto this lately, though.
Weird Naming Conventions
What is Di Gi Charat? Who? Dejiko? I thought she was Dejiko? Huh? Di Gi Charat spends a lot of its time trying to confuse you with naming conventions, but I’ll try and foil its sinister plan right here, with a few guides to the weird and wacky world of.. widiculous.. ah, whatever. Weird names. Got it?
Firstly, all four main girls have short “nicknames” as well as proper long names. Here is the exhaustive list:
- Di Gi Charat \ Dejiko.
- Petit Charat \ Puchiko.
- Rabi~en~Rose \ Usada Hikaru.
- Pyocola Analogue III \ Piyoko.
The long name is generally considered the “elegant” version and used in appropriate cases such as in fancy official artwork or merchandising. The shorter names are used in the television series and comic to address each character more casually.
Another question that might be on your mind is.. what is D-U-P? Why is it on some merchandise and artwork? It’s simply a shortened way to refer to Dejiko, Usada Hikaru and Puchiko. Poor Piyoko gets left out of the picture.
Di Gi Charat, a rather odd name for a girl and, well, a series, has something to do with a “Digital Character”. I think it may have something to do with Koge-Donbo wanting to refer to the fact Gamers sold digital games, or something like that. It’s odd and us English-speakers probably won’t ever understand it.
Ayu-beam?
Dejiko shoots a laser from her eyes, and expresses this by yelling out “me kara biimu”, seemingly officially translated as “eye beam”. Piyoko vomits explosive missiles by yelling “kuchi kara bazooka”, which is “mouth bazooka”.
Some (Hopefully Uncommon) Pictures!
I have collected various images from around the internet and even scanned a few things for this small collection of rare to semi-rare to not rare at all Di Gi Charat images. Have fun!
There are a few index pages here for the general images I’ve found and saved. I’ve got zip archives of both artbooks and the reference book, too. General Images is liable to be updated randomly, so no zip file there.
- General Images (This page is gigantic, watch out!)
- Character Reference Sheets
- Chocola 2000 Artbook
- Di Gi Charat Fantasy Perfect Collection Artbook
Links
Sure, what self-respecting website that lacks self-respect doesn’t have a links section? Certainly not this one. Here are some sites I recommend if you want to look up more information or buy stuff pertaining to the Di Gi Charat cult.
- dot-anime — The depressing replacement for Anime Gamers (formerly at animegamersusa.com), which doesn’t stock nearly as many fantastic Di Gi Charat merchandise as the old place did. I think Gamers’ expansion to the US didn’t work out too well. We should all mourn its loss.
- Party Night — This site is wonderful! This is probably the best link on this page, the site is that great for general information. It’s easily the best I’ve found for general Di Gi Charat information on the web and should be your first stop for episode summaries and character profiles.. y’know, the stuff I skipped.
- Anime News Network page on Di Gi Charat — Great information on the staff, list of related series and other such technical info.
- Di Gi Charat Official Site (Japanese) — Seemingly quite exhaustive, if in moonspeak! Worth a visit.
Thanks for reading all this, or at least grabbing the scrollbar! Wanna go back to the Soaringrabbit.com index page?