Animal Yokochō

Animal Yokochō (アニマル横町, Animaru Yokochō; translated as Animal Alley) is a Japanese manga series created by Ryo Maekawa, who both wrote and illustrated it. The series ran in Ribon Magazine, Ribon Original, and Ribon Bikkuri. Its plot centers on a young girl who discovers a portal to another dimension in her bedroom. Through this portal come three odd, stuffed-animal-like beings that frequently annoy her, making her life more "interesting." The characters first appeared in Ribon Original as part of a quiz column. At the 51st Shogakukan Manga Awards, the manga received the prize for children's manga.

In the anime adaptation, the alternate world called AniYoko is home to creatures resembling stuffed animals. The only way to travel between AniYoko and the human world is a door set into the floor of protagonist Ami's bedroom. The three creatures—known as the Trio—have offered many contradictory and false explanations for how the door appeared, but the true answer is never revealed to Ami or the audience. Nothing sinister seems to be involved; in one story, Kenta breaks the fourth wall by saying, "That's the setting for the story, so don't worry about it," a common occurrence in the show. The door works both ways. The Trio usually uses it to enter the human world and interact with Ami, whom they find strangely fascinating. Ami could go through the door into AniYoko, but the Trio's insistent and often frightening stories have prevented her from doing so in the anime. AniYoko itself never appears on screen; when Ami looks through the door, she sees only darkness. Scenes of AniYoko appear in the Trio's recollections and stories, but these are frequently shown to be false, and no objective footage of AniYoko exists. In one episode, Iyo's bedroom is shown. The door and the Trio seem to affect Ami's room itself, allowing them to reach places like a jungle, forest, baseball stadium with a crowd, or an RPG-style dungeon without leaving the room.

The main character, Ami Matsuzaki, is a preschool student who is mature for her age and has just moved to a new home and neighborhood with her family. She is intelligent and imaginative but also grounded and easily flustered. The discovery of the gate and the Trio's bizarre actions often push her to distraction, though she grows accustomed to them and shares parts of her daily life with them. Her birthday is December 15, making h