Having fallen from space - landing smack in the middle of Akihabara, Tokyo - and taken in by a fictional, beneficent Gamers store owner (shaped, as are all peripheral humans in the "Di Gi Charat" universe, like a finger), Dejiko, from the planet Di Gi Charat, longs to be revered and adored as a pop-idol singer. And judging by "Di Gi Charat's" widespread success in Japan, Dejiko has certainly made her mark.

Now, the star of sixteen animated shorts and seven specials (and a new project looming on the horizon), this Gamers' mascot longs to find her voice in North America. Digital Manga, Inc. - exclusive distributor of "Di Gi Charat" merchandise in the US - and Broccoli Co. Ltd. - the company that created "Di Gi Charat" and owns and operates the Gamers' stores in Japan - will be holding auditions for an English language voice for Dejiko this weekend at Anime Expo 2001. In the coming months, Dejiko will appear in an English language television commercial to be aired on cable stations in Southern California to promote a new Broccoli-affiliated LA store.

But at this point there are no official plans to release North American versions of the "Di Gi Charat" anime. About a month ago rumors abounded that Digital Manga would also, naturally, acquire the rights to the anime. A posting on Kodocha Anime asserted that insider sources had revealed DMI had indeed picked up the license. DMI promptly quelled these rumors. "We don't have it yet," says Shizuki Yamashita, vice president of operations at Digital Manga, Inc.

Di Gi Charat's creators, though, never imagined that their squat, extra-terrestrial would ever garner so much popularity. Nearly four years ago, Hitomi Koshiki, head of merchandise development at Broccoli, came up with a mascot concept for the company's Gamers stores. She approached famed doujinshi artist Koge Donbo - who at the time, fresh out of college, worked as a clerk at a Gamers store in Tokyo - to design a character based on her original concept.

Established as an emblem for Gamers, Dejiko's likeness graced the surfaces of post cards and phone cards that customers received with a minimum purchase. The character became so popular that Koshiki conceived of a series of animated shorts starring Dejiko to run on Japanese television as advertisements for the stores. The series was directed by Hiroaki Sakurai ("Cyber Team of Akihabara: The Movie") and run primarily late at night to target the adolescent male audience that makes up a majority of the Gamers customer base (40% of Gamers sales are of card games, popular with the adolescent male demographic). After all, "Di Gi Charat" is first and foremost a marketing tool for Broccoli.