| The Laughing Salesman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Firstbunkobon volume cover | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 笑ゥせぇるすまん (Warau Sērusuman) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Manga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Black Salesman(one-shot) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by | Fujiko Fujio[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by | Shogakukan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Magazine | Big Comic | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published | 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manga | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Black Salesman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by | Fujiko Fujio[a] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Published by | Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Magazine | Manga Sunday | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Original run | 1969 –1971 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Volumes | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Laughing Salesman (Japanese:笑ゥせぇるすまん,Hepburn:Warau Sērusuman) is a Japanesemanga series created byFujiko Fujio A [ja]. The manga "The Black Salesman" began as a one-shot manga inShogakukan'sBig Comic magazine on 1968, later serialized inJitsugyo no Nihon Sha'sManga Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971. It was again re-released as "The Laughing Salesman" by Chuokoron-Shinsha from 1990 to 1995. The manga tells the story of a salesman named Moguro Fukuzou,[c] whose job is to help people fill gaps in their soul. In reality, he often ruins the lives of his clients if they do not follow his strict instructions or if they betray his trust.
An anime "The Laughing Salesman" adaptation was produced byShin-Ei Animation, directed by Toshirō Kuni and written by Yasuo Tanami. It aired onTBS from 1989 to 1993 with a total of 127 episodes. A Live-Action adaptation aired on 1999 while a second anime adaptation aired onTokyo MX in 2017. A second live action drama adaptation of the manga began airing on July 18, 2025.
Society is filled with people who struggle through their lives or never achieved their goals. The stories in the series focus on individuals who meet a shadowy and ominous salesman named Moguro Fukuzou (喪黒 福造). Moguro promises to "fill your empty soul" and give them a better life, if they follow his advice or agree to his conditions. However, once Moguro's clients begin to enjoy the fruits of their new life, they often breach their conditions, betray his trust, or deny that they received assistance at all. When this invariably happens due to their avarice, greed or selfishness, Moguro punishes his clients by using their reliance on his aid against them. With their lives ruined, he believes that they have been justly rewarded and he looks for more potential clients that he can help in a similar way.
The names of Moguro's clients are oftenpuns on their situation or predicament, or refer to aspects of Japanese culture or history. For example, in Episode 18, the name of the client, Urashima Taichi, alludes to the legend ofUrashima Tarō, a type of JapaneseRip Van Winkle.
Fujiko Fujio first created the manga as a one-shot calledThe Black Salesman (黒イせぇるすまん,Kuroi Sērusuman) inShogakukan'sBig Comic magazine in 1968. Later serialized inJitsugyo no Nihon Sha'sManga Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971. After the first anime adaptation's release, Fujiko Fujio A continued the series from 1990 to 1995 inChuokoron-Shinsha'sChuokoron magazine, this time under the same title of the anime,The Laughing Salesman (笑ゥせぇるすまん,Warau Sērusuman), and later inManga Sunday from 1996 to 2000 asThe Salesman Returns (帰ッテキタせぇるすまん,Kaettekita Sērusuman), with a bilingual (Japanese and English) version released in 2013.[3] The fourth sequel,The Dancing Salesman (踊ルせぇるすまん,Odoru Sērusuman), ran in Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha'sManga Sunday from 2001 to 2004. Both theChuokoron-Shinsha version and The Salesman Returns have been published in both physical and digital formats, with volume 1 of thebunkobon edition of the former and volume 1 of the latter including the previously uncollected chapters fromThe Black Salesman.
An anime adaptation of the manga was produced byShin-Ei Animation and aired as part of the 1989–1992 variety showGimme a Break (ギミア・ぶれいく,Gimia・bureiku) onTBS from October 10, 1989, to September 29, 1992, and later continued as 2 hour specials which aired from December 26, 1992, to December 28, 1993. It was directed by Toshirō Kuni and written by Yasuo Tanami, whileKōhei Tanaka composed the music. The opening song is titledKodoku no Uta (孤独の唄; lit. Song of Loneliness) while the ending is titledKokoro no Uta (ココロの唄; lit. Song of the Heart), both performed by Tomio Umezawa.
ADVD boxed set of the series was released byPony Canyon on March 20, 2013. The anime has also been digitally remastered and released on variousvideo on demand streaming services in Japan.
A second anime adaptation titledNew Laughing Salesman (Japanese:笑ゥせぇるすまんNEW,Hepburn:Warau Sērusuman Nyū) was also produced byShin-Ei Animation. It was directed by Hirofumi Ogura, with Naohiro Fukushima, Asami Ishikawa and Midori Natsu writing the scripts and Kohei Tanaka composing the music. Fujio Suzuki designed the characters and served as chief animation director. Minoru Nishida was the art director, with Akiko Inoue in charge of color design. The series aired onTokyo MX from April 3, 2017, to June 19, 2017.[4][5][6] It was streamed onCrunchyroll,[7] making it firstThe Laughing Salesman material available online outside Japan.[8] The opening song is titled "Don't" by NakamuraEmi while the ending theme is titled "Bam! The Time I Got Suckered" (ドーン！やられちゃった節,Dōn! Yararechatta setsu) byJunji Takada.[9]
Compile released the first video game based on the series for theMSX2 in Japan in 1991.
Avisual novel of the series was released on theSega CD in Japan on September 17, 1993. It was also developed by Compile and published bySega, adapting three episodes of the anime. In the game, it features fully-voiced cutscenes with 2D artwork and as they progress through, they will go through somemini-games, related to the episode (e.g. following Moguro by choosing the correct path). The player can change the outcome of the events of the customer. If the player makes the right choices, the customer can have a happy ending. However, if the player makes the wrong choices, the customer will get the bad ending, just like in the anime.
Fukuzou Moguro makes an appearance as a guest character in the 2012 gameGirls RPG Cinderelife developed byLevel-5 for theNintendo 3DS.[10]
A live-action adaptation was produced byTV Asahi, which starsShirō Itō as Moguro Fukuzou. It aired from June 26 to September 18, 1999. A second live-action adaptation was announced byAmazon Prime Video, and premiered on the streaming platform on July 18, 2025.[11] The series starsRyūji Akiyama [ja] as the titular character.[12]
