A Chocolate Biscuit Creature Gets the Anime Treatment
Sakuyama Choco Jiro — the fluffy mascot printed on every piece of Shōei Delicy's bite-sized chocolate biscuit — is no longer confined to snack packaging. The character now stars in his own anime series, as reported by Anime Anime, produced by rhinokino with Uemura Minori (植村みのり) handling directing, scripting, character design, color, art, photography, and editing — essentially a one-person creative force behind the show.
The premise is simple and charming. Choco Jirō is a round, fluffy "rare creature" living on Chocodale Mountain. One day he got a biscuit from a human child, paired it with chocolate, and was so blown away by the combination that he started calling himself "Sakuyama Choco Jirō" in imitation of humans. Now he wanders around trying to share the joy of choco-biscuits with the world. His catchphrase ends every sentence with "~cho."
The anime picks up when two high school girls — nicknamed Tomocho and NonP — visit Chocodale Mountain and befriend Choco Jirō. He starts imitating their behavior, but his attempts at acting human are endearingly off-kilter. The girls can't resist his clumsy charm, and a warm friendship takes shape.
10 Episodes on Day One
In a generous launch move, all 10 initial episodes dropped today, May 29, 2026 — the snack's 10th anniversary. Going forward, two new episodes will release every Friday across the brand's official TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram accounts. The Anime Anime report also notes a smartphone wallpaper giveaway running on the brand's official X account to mark the occasion.
A new main visual was unveiled alongside the premiere, depicting Choco Jirō's mountain companions and the two high school girls watching over him with warm smiles — capturing the show's cozy tone.
Cast and Staff
The voice cast pairs each character with their actor as credited in the source: 綾野情司 voices Choco Jirō, Shinohara Yume (篠原夢) plays Sakuta, Miki Manami (三木真菜実) voices Tomocho, and 谷始央理 plays NonP. Shinohara and Tani are both represented by the Aldi agency and share prior credits on the Chō Futsū-ken Chiba Densetsu regional anime series — a connection that makes sense given rhinokino's own base in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture.
rhinokino is a Chiba-based animation studio whose prior work has been largely in subcontracting — contributing key animation to DAN DA DAN and animation direction on Dorohedoro's second TV season. Sakuyama Choco Jiro appears to be their first lead production credit, making this a notable step for the small studio.
Music comes from Odaka Yū (小高佑).
Looking Ahead
Sakuyama Choco Jiro is a short-form social media anime — think along the lines of Aggretsuko's early Sanrio shorts or PUI PUI Molcar rather than a full-length TV broadcast. All episodes are free to watch on the brand's YouTube channel (@anime_chocojiro), TikTok, and Instagram, with no region restrictions announced. Two new episodes land every Friday.
No international localization or subtitle plans have been announced, but the social-media distribution model means the episodes are globally accessible from day one. For fans of cozy mascot anime or anyone curious about what happens when a snack character gets a soul, the barrier to entry is exactly zero.