Oyako Club

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Oyako Club is a short Japanese animated TV show for kids. Each episode is five minutes long. It aired on Fuji TV in the Kantō region from October 3, 1994, to March 30, 2013, and totaled 1,818 episodes (some counts say 1,667 if back-to-back episodes are treated as one).

Plot
The show follows a bright yellow alien father and his son who move in with a Japanese family. Through humorous situations and quick live-action cooking segments, the aliens learn about Japan, its culture, manners, food, and daily life. Each episode is standalone, with no big ongoing story.

Format and production
The series uses animation and short live-action portions, especially for food scenes. It was produced by Eiken, the same studio that makes Sazae-san.

Broadcast details
Oyako Club aired in the Kantō region on Fuji TV. Starting in 2010, it began airing two short episodes back-to-back on Saturdays. It was later released in Hi-Vision after digitization in 2004 and 2009. The 1,000th episode aired on March 21, 2005, and the final episode aired on March 30, 2013, after which it was replaced by Tetsujin 28-go Gao!.

Availability
From November 2021, some episodes were streamed on Eiken’s YouTube channel.

Music
The show used two theme songs, both adaptations of stock music: a rock arrangement of a Mozart piece and a dance club remix.

Reception
Reviews generally praised the series for being funny and informative for children, though some noted it didn’t have a strong ending.