Tensai Bakabon (天才バカボン; lit. "Genius Bakabon")[a] is a Japanesemanga series written and illustrated byFujio Akatsuka, which began publication on April 9, 1967, inWeekly Shōnen Magazine. It is about the misadventures of a dim-witted boy (Bakabon) and his idiotic father, the latter of whom eventually becomes the central character.
It has been adapted into fiveanime television series. The first two series produced byTokyo Movie were broadcast in the 1970s for 40 and 103 episodes respectively. The third and fourth series were produced byStudio Pierrot and broadcast in 1990 and 1999–2000, for 46 and 24 episodes respectively. The fifth series was produced byPierrot+ and broadcast for 12 episodes in 2018.
Bakabon's troublemaker father who eventually steals the show and becomes the central character. His catchphrase is saying "Kore de ii noda (これでいいのだ,It'll be all right)" to someone when trying to get them to go along with one of his stupid plans. A typical episode plot involves Papa either being too stupid to perform a simple task or coming up with some crazy idea to accomplish a simple task, usually asking for his son Bakabon's advice and causing tons of trouble. He was once very smart but became an idiot after an accident. He is known for always wearing his trademarkhachimaki andharamaki. His favorite food isoctopus. Papa has become an anime icon inJapan and was ranked number 9 in a 2002TV Asahi Top 100 Anime Characters list.[2] Voiced byMasashi Amenomori (1st-2nd series),Kōsei Tomita (3rd series,pachinko games),Hisahiro Ogura [jp] (4th series),Arata Furuta (5th series).
Bakabon (バカボン)
A boy who enjoys causingmischief, especially with his Papa. On the inside, though, he is kind and works a part-time job as ashoeshine boy to buy his mother a birthday present. He is known for not wearing pants underneath hiskimono. At the beginning of the series he attends Bokenasu Elementary School (坊毛茄子小学校,Bokenasu Shōgakkō), which means Idiot Elementary School, but by the fourth anime it has been renamed Bakada Elementary School (バカ田小学校,Bakada Shōgakkō), meaning Stupid Elementary School. Voiced byKeiko Yamamoto (1st-2nd series, pachinko),Megumi Hayashibara (3rd series),Yoshiko Kamei (4th series),Miyu Irino (5th series).
Bakabon's mother and a graduate of Kuroyuri Women's University (黒百合女学園[3],Kuroyuri Jogakuen) (a parody ofShirayuri Women's University). Despite how much trouble and mischief Papa and Bakabon cause, she is a good wife and mother. She is the only family member to have the same voice actress throughout the series. Voiced byEiko Masuyama (1st-4th series),Haruko Kitahama [jp] (1st series, Ep. 35 only),Noriko Hidaka (5th series).
Rerere no Oji-san (レレレのおじさん,Mister "Rerere")
The Bakabon family's odd neighbor, named so for his tendency to say "rerere" (rather thanare (あれ)) when confused about the countless shenanigans in the series. He is almost always seen sweeping the street outside of his yard. He is bald, has a moustache but no nose, ears that extend slightly off of his head, and wears ayukata andgeta sandals. Voiced byRyūji Saikachi (1st-2nd series),Shigeru Chiba (3rd-4th series, pachinko),Akira Ishida (5th series).
Omawari-san (お巡りさん)
The localbeat cop, referred to as Honkan-san (本官さん; lit. "Mr. Policeman") in the anime. He is gluttonous, lecherous, and often fires his pistol at random. He is always wishing for money or a promotion. His notable features include his huge eyes usually drawn as connected into one eyeball, hisunderbite buck teeth (from the jawbone), and his one nostril in the middle of his nose. His official name from Akatsuka is Mentama Tsunagari Omawari-san (目ン玉つながりのおまわりさん,Officer with the Connected Eyes). Voiced byIsamu Tanonaka (1st series),Kaneta Kimotsuki (2nd series), Shigeru Chiba (3rd-4th series, pachinko),Toshiyuki Morikawa (5th anime).
Bakabon's classmate who always wears a helmet. For the 4th anime he was renamedOsamu Tezuka-buto (手塚ブト 治,Tezukabuto Osamu; "kabuto" means "helmet"). Voiced byRica Matsumoto (3rd series),Kappei Yamaguchi (4th series).
Originally fromOsomatsu-kun, he only appears in the Rerere no Tensai Bakabon series alongside Chibita. Voiced byKaneta Kimotsuki (Episodes 1, 4, 16);Kenichi Ogata (Episodes 3, 6, 11, 16, 20-21, 24) (4th series)
Chibita (チビ太)
Originally fromOsomatsu-kun, he only appears in the Rerere no Tensai Bakabon series alongside Iyami.
Four anime series have been produced, with the first two series produced byTokyo Movie Shinsha and the second two produced byStudio Pierrot.Tensai Bakabon (天才バカボン; "Genius Bakabon") aired for 40 episodes onYomiuri TV from September 25, 1971, to June 24, 1972. Three years later,Ganso Tensai Bakabon (元祖天才バカボン; "Original Genius Bakabon") aired for 103 episodes onNTV from October 6, 1975, to September 26, 1977. In India this show was broadcast byHungama TV.[8]
The original series was heavily rerun onAnimax during its first few years on air, as it was centred around classic anime at the time.
The two Studio Pierrot series aired nearly nine years apart, withHeisei Tensai Bakabon (平成天才バカボン; "Heisei period Genius Bakabon") airing onFuji TV for 46 episodes from January 6 to December 29, 1990, andRerere no Tensai Bakabon (レレレの天才バカボン; "Rerere's Genius Bakabon") airing onTV Tokyo from October 19, 1999, to March 21, 2000, for 24 episodes. A late night anime titledShinya! Tensai Bakabon (深夜！天才バカボン,"Late Night! Genius Bakabon")[9][10] premiered on July 10, 2018 onTV Tokyo and other channels.[11] It ran for 12 episodes.
