Set in a parallel world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, the story follows the protagonist, a fox named Zorori and his twin boar bandit apprentices Ishishi and Noshishi as they travel from place to place. The series debuted in 1987 with its first issue: Kaiketsu Zorori no Doragon Taiji and has published about two issues per year, totaling 50 issues as of December 2011. It was adapted into an anime series from February 1, 2004 to January 28, 2007. A Hong Kong produced English dubbed version by Red Angel Media aired on Cartoon Network Philippines on January 4, 2010. Zorori was originally a villain for the series Hōrensō Man written by Shiho Mitsushima, and when Hōrensō Man ended, Shiho Mitsushima understood the need to give it an independent spin-off. What both series shared in common was that the end of Hōrensō Man no Yūreijō ties in with the beginning of Kaiketsu Zorori no Doragon Taiji and Zorori's aspiration, "Zorori Castle Part 2" is established. Another part is the reoccurring characters that were not given anything past trivial appearances. However, knowing the background story of the Hōrensō Man series is not needed to be able to enjoy the Zorori series. Using clear patterns and lines, the characters would speak using speech bubbles more similar to comics than to picture books. The text and words would not use any difficult kanji or any furigana, instead using lower grade level words so that it can be read alone without needing any help. It also features excessive puns and it is because of this that puns saw a boom in use in elementary school students. In spite of it being called a well read elementary school "children's book", it has an array of farting, belching, and vulgar words that sometimes parents and guardians in the PTA demanded apologies for it. Whenever Zorori is in a desperate situation and it appears he'll reach his demise, a fake notice is posted advising to skip the next page due to gruesome violence. At the time of publication, The Zorori League and Stupid Monster were very popular comedies, especially among Japanese comedians for its use of Japanese jokes. Furthermore, the Spanish word for fox is "zorro", and the author intended for Kaiketsu Zorori to resemble Zorro.
The first Zorori book was released in November 1987 and has seen two releases per year ever since. The first 39 volumes have been used as source material for the anime, while volumes 40 and beyond are book only, due to being printed after the anime's cancellation.
Anime
Series 1
The first series, titled Kaiketsu Zorori, is primarily based on the children books by Yutaka Hara.
Series 2 Season 1
The second series, titled Majime ni Fumajime Kaiketsu Zorori, differs from the first series in a few ways. It adopts fewer of Hara's books and instead focuses on a season long story arc, something the first series did not have. Season 1 focuses on the wizard Nelly and the mysterious Najō as Zorori, Ishishi, and Noshishi help them restore the magic forest in a magical country.
Series 2 Season 2
Season 2 focuses on Puppe's search for the Minus Eel. Unlike the first season, this season is composed oforiginal stories rather than adapting Yutaka Hara's books.
Series 3
In July 2019, it was announced that a new television anime series of Kaiketsu Zorori would be released in early 2020. The anime is the first television anime adaptation of the book series in 13 years since the second anime ended in 2007. In February 2020, it was announced to debut on April 5 on NHK Educational. The series, titled Motto! Majime ni Fumajime Kaiketsu Zorori, is a joint collaboration between Ajia-do and Bandai Namco Pictures. Takahide Ogata serves as director, Atsuhiro Tomioka in charge of the series' composition, Hideyuki Funakoshi as character designer, and Kōhei Tanaka as the composer. Kōichi Yamadera performs the opening theme song "Motto! Motto! Kaiketsu Zorori" as Zorori, and ONEPIXCEL is performing the ending theme "Shalalala." Yamadera, Rikako Aikawa, and Motoko Kumai reprised their respective roles. This series marks the debut of Zorori's rival, Beat. From May 10 to June 28 of 2020, the show was on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New episodes resumed on July 5, 2020, starting with its seventh episode.
