A poster of the film "Chibi Maruko-chan –A Boy from Italy" shows Maruko-chan’s six new friends. The film will be released in Chinese theatres on September 23, 2016.[Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

A popular, long-running cartoon series from Japan, "Chibi Maruko-chan," or "Little Cherry Pit," is set to hit Chinese theatres this Friday in a movie adaptation.

"Chibi Maruko-chan – A Boy from Italy" is a story told from the perspective of a young girl from Japan nicknamed "Maruko-chan" making six new friends.

The diverse group, hailing from Italy, China, India, Brazil and the US, travel to Japan on home-stay trips with "Maruko-chan."

"Chibi Maruko-chan" is based on the manga of the same name by Momoko Sakura, which have become wildly popular in Japan and other parts of Asia.

It began as a semi-autobiographical manga series by Momoko Sakura in "Ribon," a shojo manga magazine, back in 1986.

Those stories center around Maruko-chan and her everyday adventures during the 1970s in Japan.

Momoko Sakura also penned the for this new film, which has been produced to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the launch of the original TV series.