For those of you who don't know, Kodocha is an Anime. (Anime is a fancy word for "Japanese animation.") Animes are very popular in America, probably because American animation is... well... rather lacking.

Anyway, here is a condensed breakdown of the first season of Kodomo no Omocha (Which I believe to be the best anime ever put out.)

Kodomo no Omocha (Child's Toy)
slang: Kodocha

Kurata Sana is a sixth grade actress. She lives with her mother (Known as Mama), their housekeeper, and her driver /manager /boyfriend /pimp, Sagami Rei. (If you're alarmed already, Sana doesn't even know what a pimp is, and Rei isn't one.) Sana works on the popular TV show, Zenjirou's 'Kodomo no Omocha', which imitates school life.

Mitsuya-sensei Cowers

Sana's real school life is nothing like on camera. Sana's class exists in a swirling vortex of absolute chaos. The teacher, Mitsuya-sensei, is in constant fear of her students (the male half, anyway) because they're absolutely aggressive. They fight, play ball games in the classroom, and distract her by throwing things in her general direction. In short, there's not really any studying to speak of.
When things get out of hand, a male teacher, Tanaka-sensei, comes into the room to help Mitsuya-sensei to maintain order. But he is just as unsuccessful. Whenever he begins to really take control, he is stopped by a subtle threat from the leader of the boys (or "boss monkey", as Sana calls him) - Hayama Akito.
Unlike all the boys who follow his lead, Hayama does not wreak havoc. He just calmly sits, listening to his Walkman. Sana finally becomes fed up with the chaotic classroom, wishing she could have a normal school life. So she confronts Hayama, and the two clash a few times before things change more significantly.

Sana vs. Hayama!

Sana learns how Hayama is controlling the teachers. Mitsuya and Tanaka are an item, and it's taboo for teachers to date each other, especially on school grounds. But Hayama managed to take some photos of the two making out, and uses them as blackmail - if they dare stop the boys from doing what they want, the photos will be spread around the school and they will lose their jobs.
Sana retaliates, enlisting the aid of Tsuyoshi (a boy who has a crush on her, and thinks Hayama has gone too far). Suffice it to say, Sana manages to get a photo of Hayama in his underclothes, and Hayama has a lot of pride. So the tables have turned - instead of the teachers being under his control, he is under Sana's control. She makes him apologize to the girls, stop the boys from playing up, and a few other things. In the meantime, she goes by his house and happens to see/hear some of what goes on there. His older sister, Natsumi, shouts at him, calling him a devil child (Sana's former name for him) and throwing him out the house. Hayama's father just ignores him. He works a lot, and doesn't care much about his family.

Hayama's sister (Natsumi) and father

Sana is shocked. She realizes how bad Hayama's home life is, and begins to understand why he acts the way he does. Hayama's mother died giving birth to him, and Natsumi never did forgive him for that. The family doesn't communicate with each other, and Hayama is not welcome in his own home. (The term "dysfunctional family" applies rather well here.)
In reading a script for a made-for-TV drama that Sana was to act in with the famous actress Kurumi Asako, she realized how much the story of it paralleled Hayama's situation. Wanting to help him, she worked extremely hard and did the best in the drama that she could. She told (ordered) "Hayama's weird family" to watch the drama, preferably as a family.
When Sana went to check that they were all watching it together, she found that Hayama had been kicked out of the house again, and had to eat alone. She found Hayama and acted a role from the drama - the mother. She spoke to Hayama as if she were his mother, saying that she gave birth to him with all of the effort she did because she loved him.
Hayama listens to all this quietly, and she realizes he's sick. She takes Hayama home, where Natsumi and her father had watched the drama. Hayama's father decides to look after him while he is sick.
Their situation doesn't reverse instantly, but from then on, things change in the Hayama household for the better. Hayama eats with the family, his sister rarely screams at him any more, and his father actually talks to him. They learn to live as a family.
Resulting from this, Sana and Hayama begin to get along a little better. It's gradual, but they soon become very close friends.

Romance (?)

Things are becoming a little complicated in terms of romance. Sana likes Rei, who likes Asako, who likes him back, but Rei is obligated to stay with Sana, who is also liked by Tsuyoshi and now Hayama. (Confused yet?) On a field trip, Hayama actually kisses Sana, which shocks and angers her, making her feel as though she had been unfaithful to Rei. Rei pretends to freak out about it, but in all actuality doesn't care.

Asako and Rei in high school - Sana meets/finds Rei

Rei used to date Asako, but after she left him temporarily to pursue an acting career, he flunked out of college, and then both his parents died. After a while, his money was gone and he became a homeless person. Sana, a young child, found him on the street and took him home with her, much to the shock of her mother. ^_^.
Because of Sana, Rei had a home, a job and a decent life again. When Sana was little and had just learned about boyfriends, decided she wanted one and asked Rei if he would be hers. Feeling indebted to her, he agreed, not really taking her seriously. Sana grew up believing their relationship was real.
To Rei, Sana is the most important thing. He still likes Asako, and she tries to get into contact with him, but he says he owes everything to Sana and must stay with her.

Aono and the Egg and The Truth About Managers

Around this time, Sana meets Tsuyoshi's little sister Aono, who carried an egg from the supermarket in a little bag, believing it would one day hatch. Sana thought this idea was cute, and secretly replaced the egg with a baby chick to please her. Hayama told her she shouldn't have done it, because Aono will grow up believing that any egg will hatch into a chicken, and some day will humiliate herself because of that false belief.
Rei is really torn up, wanting to date Asako but feeling tied to Sana. Mama finally helps him out by whipping out a giant mallet, whacking Sana on the head and saying her relationship with Rei is not real, and that she thought Sana would be mature enough to realize that on her own.
Sana feels humiliated and wants to run away, but Hayama finds her and talks her into staying. She sees the parallel between her situation and Aono's egg. She decides to let Rei and Asako get back together, and helps them. She is sad about losing Rei, but he's still like a big brother and Sana is too hyper to be depressed for a long time.
Rei, having failed Sana as a boyfriend, decides to pour himself into his role as manager, to get Sana as famous and get her as much money as possible. Sana has a lot of energy and does many commercials, but being so busy she doesn't have time for her friends. Everyone, including Sana, is rather relieved when the time of strenuous work is finally over.

Tsuyoshi and Aya

Tsuyoshi is going through a bit of a rough patch with his parents divorcing. Sana and Hayama help him out and comfort him and Aya sticks up for him against the boys in their class.
Sana finds out why Tsuyoshi had a crush on her for so long. She accidentally gave him a Valentine the year before. In reality, it was a discard Valentine that she shoved into the arms of a random person. Tsuyoshi is embarrassed to hear this, but almost doesn't really care after hearing the news that Aya likes him. She gives him a birthday present, he forgets that he ever had a crush on Sana, and starts going out with Aya.

Promises and Secrets

Since all her commercials went on air, Sana has become more popular than ever. Mama reminds her of a promise they made when Sana was five. Sana's mother would try to become a famous author, while Sana should aim at being a "little more well-known than most children".
At this point Sana and her mother have both accomplished this goal, so her mother says it is time to put their promise into effect. While Sana goes on a field trip/camp with her school, Mama writes an essay/book about the two of them. Its contents are secret, until the end of summer, when it is to be published.
In the mean time, Sana enjoys a summer vacation. She meets another child star, Naozumi, when she co-stars with him in a commercial. He is a popular boy actor who is a big fan of her (or something more...). He says he knows her secret - the secret in the essay - and that he is like her. Sana is a bit confused, but has no time to think of it, because an exciting new event is coming up.

Naozumi and Sana and Hayama (oh my...!)

Sana loves the theatre, and now the drama group Komawari is putting on a production with her as the star. All her friends go to see it, and Sana is brilliant. Naozumi comments to Hayama (who he is jealous of) that unless he was good at something and worked hard at it like Sana did, he didn't deserve her.
Hayama thought about this, and at his school principal's recommendation, decides to take up karate. This is against his rather lazy nature, but Hayama is the type who can be very good at something if he tries -that is, if he starts... and if he starts, he will try.

No More Secrets!!!

And now, the essay is released. When Sana was 5, Mama told her that she was not her real mother. Through Sana becoming popular, they would find a way to communicate to members of the public that Sana's real mother was missing, and hopefully make a valiant attempt at finding her.
Sana was worried about the essay being published, because she thought Mama might want to give her over to her real mother. Meanwhile, Mama is worried that Sana might want to go back to her real mother. (Paradox much...?)

Flashback Time

When Misako (Mama) was younger, she found that she had a very slim chance of mothering children. She developed an inferiority complex, thinking that if she couldn't be like an ordinary woman, she would be an "extraordinary" woman, and that is when she began to act eccentrically. (Hence the hair) At the same time, she happened to find Sana - a newborn baby - lying abandoned on a park bench. She adopted her soon after and brought her up, but never tried to hide the truth from her.

Secrets Suck!

They are bombarded by the media, and Sana takes refuge at Hayama's house. The media goes to Sana's school, Sana staying at Hayama's to avoid embarrassment. Naozumi goes on TV, talking about how he had a similar past, being abandoned by his real parents. He does this to distract the media from harassing Sana.
When Sana returns home, her real mother has been found. Her name is Sakai Keiko. Mama talks to her harshly, angry that she was so irresponsible not to look after her baby. But it turns out that Keiko was only 14 when she had Sana.

Keiko and Mariko

Now, Keiko is married with another child, a little girl named Mariko. Sana is thrilled with her little sister, and is not angry at Keiko for abandoning her, because she loves her life. She is grateful to Keiko for having her in the first place, but she does not consider her to be her mother, and will not live with anyone but Mama.

Naozumi's Past

Naozumi was abandoned outside an orphanage, Kamura Institute, and was raised there. Sana spent a month there herself when she was young. She revisits the old place and gets to know Naozumi a little better.

The End... Or Is It...?

Now that the fuss from Misako's essay has died down and it fulfilled its purpose, Sana realizes she is not obligated to become "a little more well-known than most children", and is very happy to relax. She starts partying and hanging out with her friends, taking up all the hobbies and fun things she had to drop for work. (Rei is worried that he might lose his job.)
Hayama has started karate, and the dojo master realizes he is serious. He makes the mistake in commenting that in karate in Japan, women are competitive but the men tend to be rather weak. Hayama decides to give it a try anyway.
Sana, realizing that he started karate to please her, remembers that she loves acting and decides not to quit after all.
Sana's school situation improves quite a bit, and they actually begin to learn. They caught up to the other classes in terms of where they are in the syllabus, but their exam scores are lower, having wasted so much time at the beginning of the term when the guys were wreaking havoc.
Andou-sensei, a rather... dedicated... teacher, does not like class 3 (Sana's class) and says there will be a proficiency exam. Sana realizes that her math is so bad that she will probably fail, and won't be able to go to middle school with her friends. She panics, but Hayama helps her out, and the other kids persuade Andou to postpone the exam until Sana gets her studies straight.
Life goes on for the Kodocha bunch. But who knows what's coming up next...?