Movie
Description
Ojarumaru Sakanoue is the protagonist of the animated film Eiga Ojarumaru Yakusoku no Natsu Ojaru to Semira and of the long-running animated series in which the film is set. He is a five-year-old noble child from the Fairy World of Heian-era Japan, a thousand years before the story's present day. As the only son of the aristocratic Sakanoue family, he grew up in comfort, and his bored, privileged existence led him to take an interest in King Enma's scepter, an object he came to possess by chance. Using it, he fell through the Moon's Hole and arrived in Moonlight Town, where he began living with the Tamura family.
In personality, Ojarumaru is easygoing, pampered, and willful, with a self-centered streak that often causes trouble for those around him. He is also spoiled and needy, and he can be tearful when things do not go his way. He thinks highly of himself, describing his own face as cute, and he is easily charmed by pretty women. He speaks in a polite, old-fashioned manner, referring to himself as Maro and ending many of his sentences with the archaic expression de ojaru. He dislikes physical effort and has a particular fear of water, having once fallen into the pond at his family's estate, which makes him hate bathing. His favorite food is pudding, which he first tasted after arriving in Moonlight Town, and he enjoys refined Heian pastimes such as composing waka poetry and playing kemari. For all his whimsy, he is perceptive and often sees through the disguises and schemes of the oni who pursue him.
Ojarumaru's central motivation is to live comfortably and enjoyably in his new surroundings, keeping the scepter for himself rather than returning it to its rightful owner. In daily life he seeks out pudding, rare treasures, and relaxation, and he avoids exertion and water whenever possible. In the film, he and his friends spend a summer of play, during which a strange boy named Semira comes to join them. Semira bears a striking resemblance to a boy of the same name who spent a summer with the village elders when they were children, long ago, and Ojarumaru's connection with him forms the heart of the movie's story.
Ojarumaru's most important relationship is with Kazuma Tamura, an eight-year-old boy whose family takes him in. The two are as close as brothers, with Kazuma often carrying Ojarumaru on his back, and although they sometimes quarrel, their bond is deep. Denbo Sanjuurou, a firefly from a family that has served the Sakanoue household for generations, acts as his caretaker and as a messenger between the Heian era and the present. The Oni Child Trio, made up of Aobee, Kisuke, and Akane, serve as his comedic rivals, constantly attempting to reclaim the scepter while Ojarumaru outwits them. His fiancée in the Heian era, Princess Okame, is a relationship he is less eager to embrace, and he tends to flee from her attentions.
Over the course of the series, Ojarumaru develops from a bored, sheltered noble into a boy who, while still self-centered, grows fond of his friends and even comes to understand the oni who chase him, regarding them with familiarity rather than hostility. The summer adventure with Semira reflects this side of his character, as he welcomes a newcomer into his circle of friends.
Ojarumaru's notable abilities include his fourth-dimensional eboshi hat, which opens into a vast space where he stores rare objects and a portable relaxation set consisting of a folding screen, a pedestal, and an armrest. The scepter he carries can act as an extension of his hand and performs remarkable feats, making it both a treasure and a source of conflict. He is skilled in elegant arts such as waka and kemari, and he can travel between his home era and the present through the moon's reflection in the Moonlit Night Pond, a path that also brings him to the summer setting of the film.
In personality, Ojarumaru is easygoing, pampered, and willful, with a self-centered streak that often causes trouble for those around him. He is also spoiled and needy, and he can be tearful when things do not go his way. He thinks highly of himself, describing his own face as cute, and he is easily charmed by pretty women. He speaks in a polite, old-fashioned manner, referring to himself as Maro and ending many of his sentences with the archaic expression de ojaru. He dislikes physical effort and has a particular fear of water, having once fallen into the pond at his family's estate, which makes him hate bathing. His favorite food is pudding, which he first tasted after arriving in Moonlight Town, and he enjoys refined Heian pastimes such as composing waka poetry and playing kemari. For all his whimsy, he is perceptive and often sees through the disguises and schemes of the oni who pursue him.
Ojarumaru's central motivation is to live comfortably and enjoyably in his new surroundings, keeping the scepter for himself rather than returning it to its rightful owner. In daily life he seeks out pudding, rare treasures, and relaxation, and he avoids exertion and water whenever possible. In the film, he and his friends spend a summer of play, during which a strange boy named Semira comes to join them. Semira bears a striking resemblance to a boy of the same name who spent a summer with the village elders when they were children, long ago, and Ojarumaru's connection with him forms the heart of the movie's story.
Ojarumaru's most important relationship is with Kazuma Tamura, an eight-year-old boy whose family takes him in. The two are as close as brothers, with Kazuma often carrying Ojarumaru on his back, and although they sometimes quarrel, their bond is deep. Denbo Sanjuurou, a firefly from a family that has served the Sakanoue household for generations, acts as his caretaker and as a messenger between the Heian era and the present. The Oni Child Trio, made up of Aobee, Kisuke, and Akane, serve as his comedic rivals, constantly attempting to reclaim the scepter while Ojarumaru outwits them. His fiancée in the Heian era, Princess Okame, is a relationship he is less eager to embrace, and he tends to flee from her attentions.
Over the course of the series, Ojarumaru develops from a bored, sheltered noble into a boy who, while still self-centered, grows fond of his friends and even comes to understand the oni who chase him, regarding them with familiarity rather than hostility. The summer adventure with Semira reflects this side of his character, as he welcomes a newcomer into his circle of friends.
Ojarumaru's notable abilities include his fourth-dimensional eboshi hat, which opens into a vast space where he stores rare objects and a portable relaxation set consisting of a folding screen, a pedestal, and an armrest. The scepter he carries can act as an extension of his hand and performs remarkable feats, making it both a treasure and a source of conflict. He is skilled in elegant arts such as waka and kemari, and he can travel between his home era and the present through the moon's reflection in the Moonlit Night Pond, a path that also brings him to the summer setting of the film.