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Mottainai Grandma Picture Books Get Short Anime in 6 Languages

Kodansha unveiled a new short net anime based on Mariko Shinju's Mottainai Grandma picture book series on Friday. Kodansha is producing the anime alongside the Japanese government's Ministry of the Environment. Keiko Toda voices the titular Grandma in the anime. The first episode, released on World Environment Day, shows the Grandma teaching a boy the importance of not throwing trash in the river.

Kodansha currently has both a Japanese and and English version, and it also plans to make the anime available in French, Spanish, Chinese, and Hindi.

Japanese Version:

English Version:

A new episode of the anime will be available every Friday this June, with a total of four episodes.

Shinju published the first book in the series in 2004. In the books, the titular Grandma seeks to explore the true meaning of the Japanese phrase "mottainai" after her son asked her what it meant and she couldn't answer. "Mottainai" is a commonly used exclamation that roughly translates to "what a waste!", expressing regret over wastefulness. The Grandma seeks to explore the meaning and importance of "mottainai" in the story.

The series so far has 17 works, and aside from Japanese, is also available in Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Indonesian, and other languages.

Sources: Comic Natalie, Kodansha Picture Book YouTube channel, anime manga official YouTube channel