Sudara-ojisan (スーダラおじさん ) was a brief, two week-long gag manga feature by Fujio Akatsuka, serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday from January 28 to February 4, 1962 for its issues #5 and #6.
Overview[]
The band Crazy Cats had been a huge hit over the past summer in Japan, with the song "Sudara-bushi" (スーダラ節) becoming explosive and memetic through the start of 1962 and on.
Akatsuka himself opted to capitalize on the craze with this gag manga, illustrating the adventures of an irresponsible father who's obsessed with the song. Though his wife and son wish he'd quit, the song is addictive enough to get them and anyone else he comes across dancing. The punchline of each story ends with the Sudara-ojisan getting many people of the town to join in on a sudden flash-mob of dancing to the song.
This manga is considered to be the turning point of Akatsuka's gag career, a move that would be solidified by the debut of Osomatsu-kun as his next Shonen Sunday feature.
Characters[]
Father[]
Our protagonist, a goofy, middle-aged man who just can't get enough of the Crazy Cats and their music. He can be seen as the earliest prototype to a Bakabon's Papa figure there may be in Akatsuka manga.
Mother[]
The exasperated wife of this man, who bears a slight resemblance to the eventual mother of the sextuplets in Osomatsu-kun.
Son[]
A freckled young boy with a bowl-cut like his father's. He attempts to shave his head and be a monk in the second story, against his father's own ridiculous behavior, but finds that he cannot simply stop the spread of the Sudara-bushi.
Serialization[]
- Weekly Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan): #5 and #6 for 1962
Each chapter is the standard 10 pages long for a one-shot of that time.
Reprints[]
The second chapter of Sudara-ojisan was reprinted as part of the "1960s" book in the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set, and later as part of the print-on-demand version on ComicPark.
However, the first chapter has never been made available in reprints, and it remains to be seen if both chapters will ever be put out in a print or digital form.