Rikit

Rikit (Rikitto) is a Japanese anime series based on the manga series by Waku Yaniko, which was published by Shogakukan from 1956-1967.

Plot
Rikit is a Topanto sent by Jacaro's deceased cousin, Mokono Kamiya, from heaven to take care of his cousin Jacaro, an unlucky miserable 10-year-old boy who always get bad grades and is always made fun of.

Characters
Rikit Fujimoto is an 18-year old topanto with the ability to grant wishes to anyone who wishes for it. He is good-hearted and well-intended but is rather short tempered whenever anything someone wishes for gets misused or when someone wishes for physical harm on someone else. He was created by Hiroshi Fujimoto to take care of Mokono Kamiya, who was killed in a road accident, until Mokono sent Rikit to his cousin Jacaro so Rikit could take care of him. He is the older brother of Mikit and Nikit

Jacaro Fujio is a 11-year old boy who is a student of Tezuka Makoto Community School. He is the owner of Rikit which he got from Mokono from heaven (although he chose to keep his a secret from his family). He is really lazy and clumsy but he actually likes to study (despite constantly getting bad grades) and he wants to become a entrepreneur. Jacaro is revealed to be a huge fan of Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko and and that his favourite mangas are Doraemon and Ninja Hattori-Kun.

Yutaka Fujio is a 45-year old man who is the father of Jacaro and Hakaru, the husband Fumiko Mizuno and a retired manga artist of his manga series Waku Life. He can be really sterm to his son whenever he gets any bad grades but he is also supportive to him and hopes he would be a entrepreneur when Jacaro grows up. Yutaka is revealed to have known Hayao Miyazaki for years since he first met him in high school and has remained friends with him for years,

Fumiko Mizuno is a 43-year old woman who is the mother of Jacaro and Hakaru the wife of Yutaka Fujio. She is also sterm when it comes to her son's bad grades but she tends to be more calmer than Yutaka. Fumiko met Yutaka when she was on a school tour to the Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum.

Hakaru Fujio is a 10-year old girl who is the younger sister of Jacaro. She is rather bratty and fun-loving but still cares for Jacaro whenever he gets himself in trouble. She is the only family member of the household who knows about Rikit's presence but chooses to keep it to herself.

Susie Tezuka is a 9-year old girl who is a student of Tezuka Makoto Community School. She is constantly bullied by most of her classmates for being the daughter of a retired Yakuza, but she is a kind and friendly girl with no interests of becoming a Yakuza but instead wants to be a Composer (she considered becoming a pop idol but reconsidered after learning about what happened to Mayu Tomita). Susie always sees Jacaro as nothing more as a friend although Jacaro seems to have a crush on her. Her best friend is Rikit's sister, Mikit.

Snaco Mizuta is an 11-year old boy who is also a student of Tezuka Makoto Community School. He is a very rich boy who always brags about his riches and toys he would get from his parents. He is the best friend of Gio, whom he known since they were babies, and has a huge love for his mother.

Gio Date is a 12-year old boy who is the enemy (and friend) of Jacaro. He is really harsh and often thinks that violence is the best solution of a certain problem. His real name is Honoka Date (after an Ehine Girls member) due to being misgendered as a girl when he was actually a boy so because of this, his mother nicknamed him Gio so he wouldn't be embarrased.

Fujiko Date is a 7-year old girl who is Gio's younger sister. She is spoiled by her mother most of the time and bosses her brother but still loves him the way he is. She has a crush on Jacaro.

Hakaru Fujitaka is a 55-year old man who worked as a teacher for 19 years. He seems to be calmer than the principal but he often punishes his pupils (mainly Jacaro) whenever they get even one question wrong. His mother was a former solider of Japan while his father was also a Teacher.

Hiroshi Ikeda is a topanto who serves as a teacher of the school Rikit graduated from. He is, as most people and topantos calls, a very peverted topanto with a habit of often sneaking into females bathroom but is netherless a wise topanto who wants to teach his students. He was created by Kikunae Ikeda to be a teacher.

Mikit Fujimoto is a topanto who is the sister of Rikit and Nikit. She is more responsible and more calmer than Rikit but is not afraid to get mad whenever she thinks that someone goes too far. Mikit was created by Hiroshi Fujimoto, who also created Rikit, and stay with him in his home.

Nikit Fujimoto is a Topanto who is the younger brother of Rikit and Mikit. He is childish and is always getting wishes wrong but he is also a comedian. He was created five minutes after Mikit.

Kana Ishinomori is a Mokano who is working as a doctor in Heaven. She loves almost everything but she is not a pushover and would get upset whenever someone treats her and her friends harshly, especially Rikit, whom she known for months. She was created by Shotaro Ishinomori.

Naoki is a topanto with a PHD in wish granting. He is egoistic but he cares deeply about his friends, especially his creator, Osamu Tezuka. Naoki secretly has a crush on Mikit but as a running gag, he would always deny it whenever it gets brought up.

Hico, Paku, Koto, Pina, Miku, Mayu and Ruki are a group of topantos who are agents of heaven. They are often getting into arguments (especially with their occacial 8th member Rikit) but they are still best of friends and are always working together. Hico, Paku and Koto are created by Fujio Akatsuka while Ruki, Pina, Miku and Mayu are created by Yusuko Chūsonji. They only appear in the manga spin-off series created by Machiko Yaniko, The Topantos.

Ceecee is a city fox who lives in a local park. She is the girlfriend of Rikit and often visits secretly when he's not taking care of Jacaro. She mostly thinks she is a cat due to her being raised by cats after her birth parents were killed by hunters during a hunting game.

Mokono Kamiya is a boy who is the deceased cousin of Jacaro. He was killed in a road accident when he was 10. Mokono is just as naughty as Jacaro but he cares about his friends. He is currently living with Hiroshi Fujimoto, Mikit and Nikit in Heaven.

1972 Series
Kōsei Tomita: Rikit

Junko Hori: Jacaro Fujio, Mokono Kamiya, Hakaru Fujio

Noriko Ohara: Fumiko Mizuno, Fujiko Date

Ichirō Murakoshi: Yutaka Fujio

Kaneta Kimotsuki: Gio Date

Osamu Kato: Snaco Mizuta

Masako Nozawa: Mikit, Ceecee

Sanji Hase: Naoki

Kazue Takahashi: Nikit

Michiko Nomura: Susie Tezuka Masashi Amennomori: Hakaru

Keiko Yokozawa: Kana

1980 Series
Masako Nozawa: Rikit, Miss Tezuka, Miss Mizuta

Keiko Yokoyama: Jacaro, Mokono, Hakaru

Kaneta Kimotsuki: Naoki, Gio Date

Sumiko Shirakawa: Susie Tezuka, Fumiko, Fujiko

Kōsei Tomita: Snaco Mizuta, Yutaka

Junko Hori: Mikit, Nikit, Ceecee

Osamu Kate: Hakaru

Kazue Takahashi: Kana

2007 Series
Wasabi Mizuta: Rikit

Yumiko Kobayashi: Mikit

Tarako: Nikit, Ceecee

Makiko Ohmoto: Jakaro Fujio

Mai Aizawa: Hakaru Fujio

Kaito Ishikawa: Yutaka Fujio

Chiaki Fujimoto: Fujiko

Tomokazo Seki: Hakaru

Wataru Takagi: Naoki

Shigeru Chiba: Hiroshi

Gen Hoshino: Gio Date

Masako Nozawa: Susie Tezuka

Motoko Kumai: Mokono Kamiya

Yumi Kakazu: Kana

Chisa Yokoyama: Fumiko Mizuno

Osamu Hosoi: Snaco Mizuta

UK Cast (2007 Only)
Richard Lumsden: Rikit

Hetty Baynes: Kana, Jacaro Fujio

Julia Sawalha: Mikit, Fujiko

Maria Darling: Nikit, Hakaru Fujio

Tarako: Ceecee

Will Hislop: Gio Date, Hakaru, Hiroshi

Rob Rackstraw: Yutaka, Snaco, Naoki

Dwan French: Fumiko, Susie, Mokono Kamiya

US/Canadian Cast (2007 Series Only)
Monica Rial: Rikit

Natalie Rial: Mikit

Miguel Rial: Nikit

Tress MacNeille: Kana

Tarako: Ceecee, Hakaru Fujio

Johnny Yong Bosch: Jacaro, Gio, Naoki, Mokono

Christopher Sabat: Hakaru, Hiroshi, Yutaka

Bryn McAuley: Fumiko, Fujiko

Susan Egan: Susie

Ron Toye: Snaco

Controversy
The 1980 Anime was temperally banned in India due to complaints about the characters behaviours that they thought could have a negative effect on children. In response, Waku Pro, the copyright holder of Rikit, criticized this as hypocrisy, as most Indian shows have a lot of contents they describe as "a negative effect on children".

The episode "Benesse doesn't really like kids", an episode that ridicules Japanese company Benesse, was banned after airing twice due to the negative portrayal of Benesse and other preschool show creators as pedophiles and child groomers.

Trivia

 * Originally it was supposed to be a series of OVAs but Waku Yaniko did not like it so it was made an Anime instead.