Set in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, the series follows the adventures of the five-year-old Shinnosuke "Shin" Nohara and his parents, baby sister, dog, neighbours, and best friends. Most of the plot is about Shin-chan's daily life, but it is also often interspersed with a lot of fantastic and incredible elements.<br /><br />Many of the jokes in the series stem from Shin-chan's occasionally weird, unnatural and inappropriate use of language, as well as from his mischievous behaviour. Consequently, non-Japanese readers and some viewers may find it difficult to understand his jokes. Some gags may require an understanding of Japanese culture and/or language to be fully appreciated; for example, his "Mr. Elephant" impression, while being transparently obvious as a physical gag, also has a deeper resonance with contemporary Japanese culture since it refers to the popular Japanese children's song "Zou-san" (ぞうさん). But after modest translation, it is popular in the rest of Asia due to cultural compatibility. It also contains many sarcastic jokes and stereotype humor.<br /><br />The series is mainly in comedy style with a lot of sexual innuendo. However, due to its popularity, it's also stylistically as family-friendly as possible, although it may not apply to anywhere. Most of episodes are about the importance of family and friends. On rare occasions, it also has some darker episodes like Miss Matsuzaka's boyfriend passing away in the manga, though it was not adapted into an anime episode. It also includes several horror adaption for example "The Line of no End", "The Horrible Elevator", "The Kindergarten Stairs", etc.<br /><br />Shin-chan regularly becomes besotted with pretty female characters who are much older than him, and an additional source of humor is derived from his childlike attempts at wooing these characters, such as by asking them (inappropriately, on several levels) "Do you like green peppers?" (ピーマン好き?) (because he hates green peppers so much). He continually displays a lack of tact when talking to adults, asking questions such as "How many times did you go to the police?" to tough-looking men or "How old are you?" to elderly people. He is often shown with bare buttocks to emphasize the nonsensical jokes.