The Genius Bakabon (天才バカボン Tensai Bakabon) is a manga and media franchise by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro. It debuted in Weekly Shonen Magazine on April 9, 1967, and had a long history of serialization from that point on.
This manga, in its initial stage, is about Bakabon, a dumb young boy who goes on outrageous adventures with his father known only to readers as "Bakabon's Papa". It has been adapted into television anime on four different occasions, as well as a live drama.
Overview[]
After Osomatsu-kun had experienced years of ongoing popularity in Weekly Shonen Sunday, Masaru Uchida of Kodansha's Weekly Shonen Magazine eventually approached Akatsuka with the offer for him to launch a new series in 1967. At the time, Uchida and the vice editor-in-chief Teruo Miyahara were planning to give the magazine an overhaul by introducing new gag series to catch readers' interest. Akatsuka had previously refused long-term weekly serialization offers in Magazine due to his strict loyalty to Sunday and worry of his works competing and wearing him out, having only opted to create one-shot or limited titles (such as Giant Mama).
Uchida would convince Akatsuka to agree to a serial by coming up with a list of at least 69 plot ideas for him to utilize as a start, and Akatsuka decided that he would not only craft characters that could capture all those ideas, but that he would go even further than what his editor wanted and be full-force with gags.
Akatsuka would come up with the protagonist of Bakabon as a result, along with his parents known only as "Bakabon's Papa" and "Bakabon's Mama". The second son, Hajime, would be born early into the series as another intended star role.
The etymology of the Bakabon name is now erroneously considered to have come from the Buddhist Butsu-Bagyabon when it comes to some Fujio Pro retrospectives and assumptions by fans, although this was never attributed to Akatsuka or Fujio Pro during the actual series' run. In his lifetime Akatsuka would convey the ideas that it came from both "baka no bonbon" (Kansai slang for a "dumb child") and the French word "Vagabond", which was actually to be part of the series' early title (Tensai Vagabond) but rejected as the loanword was uncommon in Japanese. The title ultimately played into his philosophy that Bakabon would be the dumb child, Hajime would be the genius of the title, and that Bakabon's Papa would be the ever-wandering vagabond.
The plot initially revolved around Bakabon and Papa's exploits, but Papa's own run-ins with his fellow alumni from Bakada University would soon take more of the focus. However, Akatsuka would also use the title to employ different experimental types of stories and art techniques, and would have focus put on characters outside the family for some particular tales, such as other families in the neighborhood or plots revolving around manga-ka and their editors.
The Bakabon title would jump to various magazines during the rest of its history, with it stopping and being revived several times before it would ultimately conclude at the end of 1992, aside from some post-series one-shots.
Characters[]
For more details, see List of characters in The Genius Bakabon
Bakabon and Family[]
These characters live in the Naka-ochiai neighborhood of Shinjuku ward, Tokyo. In fact, they live right where the very Fujio Pro office of Akatsuka himself actually stands.
Although the name plate of their home reads "Bakabon", this is only for convenience for their son to recognize the house; they have no given surname, and Papa and Mama are only known by those names.
Bakabon's Papa[]
The better-known hero of this work. He was once a genius as a baby, but an accident involving him sneezing out the screw in his head turned him into an amazing fool.
He is perpetually unemployed, and one of his favorite phrases when up to his schemes is "This is how things should be!" (これでいいのだ! Koredeiinoda!).
Bakabon[]
The initial hero, an incredibly stupid but kind and laid-back young boy who accompanies his dad on their exploits. As time goes on, he takes on more of a blatant sidekick role.
Hajime[]
The second son of the family. As he was born later than expected, his mind developed extraordinarily fast and he gained a genius intellect and the ability to speak coherently while still being a baby.
Bakabon's Mama[]
The gentle and understanding mother of the family, who can become scarily angry if she is wronged in a prank. She is initially not seen as much in the beginning of the series, due to being bedridden while awaiting Hajime's birth.
As Akatsuka figured having a mother character being foolish would make the family a little too unfortunate, he decided that Mama (and then Hajime) would be the antithesis to Bakabon and Papa's stupidity.
Other Recurring Cast[]
Rerere[]
The street-sweeper of town, a middle-aged man known for often asking "Are you going out?" and saying "Re re re" (hence his name).
The Police Officer with the Connected Eyes[]
A trigger-happy police officer depicted with connected eyeballs. This officer will wildly fire a gun at any sort of provocation, and enjoys cup ramen.
Unagi-Inu[]
A rare and unusual animal, born from the interspecies relations between an eel and a dog.
Serialization[]
For more details, see List of chapters in The Genius Bakabon
As with the main Fujio Akatsuka article, this legend is used to denote which magazine runs are complete in reprints vs. the ones that are not:
○= There are no reprints for this particular serialization at all.
◐= This serialization has been partially represented through reprints, be they traditional books or eBookJapan's release.
●= This serialization is fully reprinted as far as its stories go. However, there may be caveats as to the exact definition of "full"; many chapters are missing their original frontispieces and may have incurred edits over time (be it to text or to their artwork).
Original Run[]
- Weekly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha): April 6, 1967 (#15) to February 23, 1969 (#9). Issues 31 and 32 of 1968 did not have chapters ●
- Separate Shonen Magazine (Kodansha): August 1967, November 1967, January 1968, April 1968, August 1968, September 1968, November 1968, January 1969 ●
The original idea at the series' launch was to revolve around Bakabon and his Papa, and then shift focus to Bakabon and his genius brother Hajime to contrast their intellects (making them the "genius" and the "bakabon").
There was initially an ongoing plot thread revolving around the family awaiting Hajime's birth, as well as his development, but Papa's personality and the need for more off-the-wall gags would result in the very own phenomenon of Papa "eating the leading role" as Iyami had done for Osomatsu-kun and Nyarome would do for Extraordinary Ataro.
Transfer to Shonen Sunday[]
- Weekly Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan): August 24, 1969 (#35) to April 5, 1970 (#15) . Issues #38- #46 did not have chapters, as well as #48 and #50. ●
- Deluxe Shonen Sunday (Shogakukan): September 1969 to June 1970 ●
As Ataro was failing to catch on with new readers and sales were slipping (which consequently lead to the end of -kun), Kunio Nagatani had presented Akatsuka's editor with the idea of moving the Bakabon feature to the magazine as a way of having it be one place to read all of Akatsuka's major series, and to pull in more fans.
This would result in Shonen Sunday leaving aside 80 pages for Akatsuka, for both Bakabon and Ataro to run simultaneously. Unfortunately, this tactic wound up having a short-lived success, as Bakabon was surpassed by the other series in popularity with its "Nyarome boom" and having an underperforming serial by the same author became burdensome for the editorial staff. After 30 chapters in the magazine, Bakabon would wrap up in April 1970 and Ataro would follow soon after with its own discontinuation.
Akatsuka's series of Bukkare*Dan would be a replacement feature; the Bakabon cast would appear once more when the series was pre-empted for a week due to the death of Riyo Akatsuka and assistants came up with the Star System story "Oh! Great Jailbreak". Ultimately, Bukkare*Dan would cease publication after its brief stint in Shonen Sunday, with Akatsuka considering it to be a failed attempt at a new masterpiece.
Return to Kodansha[]
- Weekly Bokura Magazine: May 10, 1971 (#20) to June 1, 1971 (#23) ●
- Weekly Shonen Magazine: June 27, 1971 (#27) to December 7, 1976 (#49), and for a oneshot on April 16, 1978 (#16) ●
- Separate Edition Shonen Magazine/Monthly Shonen Magazine: August 1974, September 1974, November 1974, January 1975, February 1975, March 1975, April 1975, May 1975. Chapters from June 1976 to December 1978 ran under the re-branded title of the magazine ●
- TV Magazine: December 1971 to October 1975 ◐. Story and art by Kunio Nagatani and Jin Kawaguchi.
As Bakabon had been scheduled to be adapted for animation by Tokyo Movie, the decision was made to re-start the series at Kodansha with Akatsuka apologizing to the staff for straying away from its original home. It initially ran in Weekly Bokura before the magazine abruptly ended in four issues, necessitating a qucik transferr back to Weekly Shonen Magazine.
In addition to the above-mentioned Shonen Magazine stories, Kunio Nagatani was put in charge of a parallel serialization for TV Magazine. It would soon change its title by the end of its run, to tie into the next anime adaptation.
The main Kodansha run had become irregular at a point, however, with the series having been put on hold and Akatsuka's BC Adam taking its place. However, once the announcement of The Original Genius Bakabon anime happened, the Bakabon feature resumed.
Fun Kindergarten version[]
- Fun Kindergarten: July 1971 to September 1973 ○
Another alternative take on Bakabon, by Kunio Nagatani and Jin Kawaguchi, was serialized in this Kodansha childrens' magazine to tie into the run of the first anime adaptation.
"The Original Genius Bakabon"[]
- TV Magazine (Kodansha): November 1975 to August 1977 ◐. Story and art by Nagatani and Kawaguchi.
This was a continuation of the TV Magazine run, but it was now branded with the title of the new Bakabon anime for recognition purposes.
1980s Revivals[]
- Comic BomBom, "The Latest Version of Genius Bakabon" (Kodansha): October 1987 to December 1989 ●
- Monthly TV Magazine (Kodansha): November 1987 to January 1991 ●
- Monthly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha): January 1988 to February 1989 ◐ (Only select chapters reprinted in "THE BEST" and "Unreprinted Treasures" compilations, while being entirely excluded from eBookJapan)
- Monthly Hero Magazine, "The Latest Version of Genius Bakabon" (Kodansha): October 1989 to January 1991 ●
- Comic BomBom, "Heisei Genius Bakabon" (Kodansha): December 1989 extra issue, January 1990 to October 1991 ●
- Deluxe BomBom, "Heisei Genius Bakabon" (Kodansha): June 1990, November 1991-December 1992 ◐ (November 1991 chapter missing in reprints including eBookJapan)
With the rebroadcast of "The Original Genius Bakabon" in the 1980s and the "Akatsuka boom" directive by Fuji TV, Yomiko, and Kodansha going into effect, Bakabon began a new serialization in Comic BomBom as well as a parallel run in TV Magazine. Separate crossover variety booklets with Osomatsu-kun would occur in TV Magazine for a few months, before this practice ceased and the titles received 4koma extras instead.
Monthly Shonen Magazine would also serialize a Bakabon feature, but it would be unsuccessful and wrap a little over a year later with a controversial final chapter revolving around Fujio Pro devising how to end the series: Papa and Mama divorce, which leads to Bakabon stabbing Hajime to death with a kitchen knife, and Papa and the Officer with Connected Eyes proceeding to get in a bloody shootout. Six pages of unrelated material by Akatsuka's assistants ensue, followed by Papa's final message of "May I never meet you readers again!". This run in particular has never seen a full reprint due to various instances of sexual content, violence, and copyright issues in it.
Though the aforementioned run was a flop, the series would continue its ongoing serialization in the other two magazines, as well as in Monthly Hero. The BomBom run would wrap up at the end of 1989, only to be relaunched and rebranded as "Heisei Genius Bakabon" to tie into the new Pierrot series. Ultimately, it would spell the final long-term run for the franchise.
Extra and Derivative Works[]
A number of extra content was produced during and after Bakabon's run, including these titles:
- The Genius Bakabon's Old Man ◐ (天才バカボンのおやじ) was a more adult-oriented spinoff that ran in the magazine Weekly Manga Sunday from 1969 to 1971. Though Akatsuka was at first the artist, Mitsutoshi Furuya soon took over. Two further one-shots were released in 1972 and 1973, and returned to having Akatsuka on art duty, but the last of these would never be reprinted.
- The Genius Bakabon's Papa ●(天才バカボンのパパ) briefly ran in Manga No.1 from March to April 1973.
- The Genius BaGobon (天才バ碁ボン) ○ ran in the Go game magazine Let's Go from January to December 1983. It was ghostwritten by Kunio Nagatani.
- The Genius Bakabon's New Years' Day ●: Grand Champion (Akita Shoten), January 1994. A one-shot to commemorate New Years' 1994.
- The Genius Bakabon Came Back ●: Weekly Playboy (Shueisha), double issue #34-35 1994. Another one-shot for the series.
Though the last two one-shots appear in "Unreprinted Treasures", they are not included in the eBookJapan release.
Reprints[]
Due to the many changes in magazine, it is difficult to find a reprint of the series that is truly complete, and even the eBookJapan edition can lack certain runs (such as the one in Monthly Shonen Magazine) or even be missing select chapters in some.
What follows is a listing of the many compilations that are in existence for the series.
Kodansha-only:[]
- Kodansha Comics: 22 volumes, plus 3 of the TV Magazine serialization by Kunio Nagatani (1969)
- Kodansha Shonen Magazine Comics: 16 volumes paperback edition (1977)
- Kodansha Manga Collection: 16 volumes (1988)
- Kodansha KC Special: "Elite Genius Bakabon", 6 volumes (1988)
- Kodansha BomBom KC Comics: "Original Genius Bakabon", 4 volumes. This is a mix of chapters from the earlier TV Magazine serialization by Nagatani and the "Original" one.
- Kodansha Wide KC Magazine: "Genius Bakabon Hits Collection", 3 volumes of selected favorite chapters
- Kodansha BomBom KC Comics: "The Latest Version of Genius Bakabon", 1 volume
- Kodansha Comic BomBom Wide KC: "The Latest Version of Genius Bakabon", 4 volumes. Retitled "The Latest Version of Heisei Genius Bakabon" with the later 3 volumes, due to the release of the new anime and the upcoming manga serialization with the title.
- Kodansha Platinum Comics: 2 volumes, convenience store-sized manga of classic chapters.
- "Genius Bakabon The BEST": A 40th anniversary compilation done as a joint publication by Kodansha and Shogakukan. The Kodansha volume contains selections of classic chapters, including the revivals from 1988.
- Genius Bakabon Unreprinted Treasures: Selections of rarely-reprinted or never-before-reprinted works from "Monthly Shonen Magazine", "Comic BomBom", "Deluxe BomBom", "Grand Champion", and "Weekly Playboy".
Other Publishers:[]
- Akebono: "Complete Works", 31 volumes plus 3 of "Genius Bakabon's Old Man" (1971)
- Tachikawa: 1 volume, selected "masterpiece" chapters (1975)
- Futabasha: 3 volumes (1985)
- Takeshobo: 21 volumes (1994). Contains works from the Akebono collection, with some chapters that hadn't been previously reprinted in it such as "Genius Bakabon after 20 Years". Some chapters' titles and dialogue have been modified to remove discriminatory terms, and in one case, one chapter had a depiction of cannibalism rewritten and censored. It spans from the start of the series to stories published in 1976. Thus, even though it is billed as a "complete edition", it is still missing the last two years of the 1970s run and everything beyond that. Due to lost manuscripts and wanting to simplify some stories, some chapters such as "A Fool Should Be Made in Japan" had some panel sequences redrawn to a larger size to fill pages.
- Shogakukan: "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" (2002, 2005 Comic Park edition), 21 volumes. Based on the Takeshobo reprinting. The other series are also available from this imprint; "The Original Genius Bakabon" is collected into 4 separate volumes, while "The Genius Bakabon's Old Man" covers 2, "Heisei Genius Bakabon" is available in 4, and "The Latest Version of Genius Bakabon" in its own book. There is some further degree of visual censorship by Shogakukan to remove more inappropriate language for some stories, as well as censoring inappropriate imagery with blacking it out.
- "Genius Bakabon The BEST": A 40th anniversary compilation done as a joint publication by Kodansha and Shogakukan. The Shogakukan version contains the entirety of the Shonen Sunday run.
- eBookJapan: 38 volumes (2014). Covers the Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday runs (1-27), some chapters of TV Magazine's "Original Genius Bakabon" (28-31), and the revivals in BomBom, TV Magazine, and Hero Magazine (32-38). "The Genius Bakabon's Old Man" is available as a separate 2 volume release.
Art Style[]
Media[]
Anime[]
See individual pages for detailed information on each adaptation.
- The Genius Bakabon: Aired on Nippon Television Network from 9/25/1971 to 6/24/1972 for a total of 40 episodes. It was produced by Yomiuri Television and Tokyo Movie.
- The Original Genius Bakabon (元祖天才バカボン Ganso Tensai Bakabon): Aired on NTV from 10/6/1975 to 9/26/1977 for 103 episodes. It was produced by NTV and Tokyo Movie.
- Heisei Genius Bakabon (平成天才バカボン Heisei Tensai Bakabon): Aired on Fuji TV from 1/6-12/29/1990 for 46 episodes. Produced by Studio Pierrot, Fuji TV, and Yomiko Advertising.
- Rerere's Genius Bakabon (レレレの天才バカボン Rerere no Tensai Bakabon): Aired on TV TOKYO from 10/19/1999 to 3/21/2000 for 24 episodes. Produced by Studio Pierrot, TV TOKYO, and Yomiko Advertising
- The Genius Bakavon ~Reviving the Dog of Flanders~ (天才バカヴォン〜蘇るフランダースの犬〜): A Flash-animated feature film by DLE, released on 5/23/2015.
- Late Night! Genius Bakabon (深夜！天才バカボン)- Aired on TV TOKYO from 7/10-9/25/2018 for 12 episodes. It was produced by Pierrot+, TV TOKYO, and Avex Pictures.
A pilot film of the 1971 series can also be seen to be included with the DVD release. It was ultimately re-dubbed and slightly edited to be a segment of the series, but stands out for its rougher animation.
Unproduced Works[]
Nippon TV Douga version (1968)[]
The plight to adapt Bakabon to animated format had been ongoing since March 1968, when Nippon Broadcasting Film (日放映, later known as Nippon TV Douga and infamous for their 1973 Doraemon adaptation) had announced plans for a series to air in October later in the year on Nippon Television Network.
Unfortunately, by January 1969, the magazine COM would announce that while a full-color pilot had indeed been completed by the company, the actual series had never come to pass due to "various problems with the source work" and issues in production. The pilot film has never been released, and it remains questionable if any portion of it is still in existence due to the bankruptcy of Nippon TV Douga and the disappearance of their titles and assets.
Studio Zero version (1968)[]
Amidst the failure by Nippon Broadcasting Film to get their Bakabon pilot approved for a full series order, Studio Zero would announce plans in December 1968 to adapt the manga.
However, in judging by the scant information and announcements available through COM and other magazines of the time, it only appeared to get as far as consideration and did not appear to progress to the pilot film stage.
Ajiado film adaptation (1987)[]
In April 2018, in light of the airing of Late Night! Genius Bakabon, an anime director Mitsuru Hongo (who had directed Esper Mami, Chimpui, and the early period of Shin-chan among others) revealed that he had been slated to direct a theatrical film adaptation of the series and that it was to be produced by the animation company Ajiado.
Such a film had been announced in the December 1987 issue of Animage, with its greenlight inspired by the success of the rebroadcast of Original Genius Bakabon, but at the time it was assumed that it would be TMS producing it due to their association with the previous adaptations; rumors of a "New Genius Bakabon" anime series by them would result. As the character designer and animation director Tsutomu Shibayama (who had been associated with the first two adaptations) worked for Ajiado at the time, it could be figured that the project had settled there along with him.
However, Hongo stated that the project was ultimately cancelled after its early organization stages when artists had signed on, as Kodansha and other companies associated with Fujio Pro instead decided that Osomatsu-kun (which at the time had a pilot film produced by Studio Pierrot) would be the first adaptation to kick off the "Akatsuka wave".
As tweets surrounding the production of Late Night! by Toru Hosokawa had already caught controversy in the same timeframe, Hongo similarly deleted his own confessions to avoid backlash.
TV Drama[]
Three live-action specials were released over the course of 2016 to 2018, on Nippon Television Network.
- The Genius Bakabon: Family Bonds
- The Genius Bakabon 2
- The Genius Bakabon 3: ~The Love and Youth of Bakada University~
Games[]
Genius Bakabon An action adventure game released on the Master System on June 2nd 1988 and was developed and published by Sega.
Heisei Genius Bakabon A platform game released on the NES on December 8th 1991. It was developed and released by Namco and would get a port on the Game Boy the following year on the 28th of February.
Heisei Genius Bakabon: Advance! Bakabonds A puzzle game released on the Sega Saturn on July 7th 1995. It was developed by Dice and published by General ENT.
Spinoff: Boy Bakabon[]
Main article: Boy Bakabon
A short-lived reboot and spinoff of the series, Boy Bakabon (少年バカボン, Shonen Bakabon) was created by Katta Yoshi, and ran in Kadokawa's Dengeki BAZOOKA!! magazine from 2014 to 2016.
The manga gives the leading character role back to Bakabon, who attends Bakade Elementary after a scare where he almost becomes too intelligent and could attend a regular school. It is aimed at a much younger audience and has a more simplistic plot centered around Bakabon and his escapades at school, and the foolish students and faculty that he meets.
With the closure of Dengeki BAZOOKA!!, the feature was cancelled, but an eBook was later released covering all 17 chapters. The title also spawned a collaboration with Biohazard, resulting in the app game "Bakahaza".
When speaking of the feature in retrospect, Katta Yoshi would state how his hands were tied by the magazine's demographic and editorial in how he was unable to really emulate the classic Bakabon formula and certain gags, and that it appeared that these days, it would be difficult to faithfully remake or continue Akatsuka's works.
Overseas Releases[]
Manga[]
Three volumes of manga were made available under Kodansha's Bilingual Comics imprint in the early 2000s.
Anime[]
- Spain: The third and fourth anime adaptations would be licensed by the company Jonu Media in 2005 and re-branded as part of their Cosas de Locos dub, as well as receiving Galician, Valencian, and Basque versions under the titles of Cousas de Tolos, Coses de Grillats, and Zoroak Zoro.
- India: A Hindi version of the original 1971 series would be broadcast in 2007 on Hungama TV.
- South Korea: Heisei Genius Bakabon had received a Korean reversioning under the title 얼렁뚱땅 반쪽이네, airing on JEI Talent TV in 2011.
There was also an abortive attempt by TMS to localize the first two series under the title "Meet the Boneheads", for sale in the USA. Although the pilot by Ocean Studios never aired and it was never produced as a series, TMS International's catalog retains the suggested English title and names for the characters.
Gallery[]
Original Artwork[]
Covers to Reprints[]
References[]
External Links[]
- Bakabon at Koredeiinoda (Japanese)
- eBookJapan page for Bakabon (Japanese)
- TMS catalog entry for 1971 series (Japanese)
- TMS entry for "Original Genius Bakabon" (Japanese)
- Studio Pierrot entry for "Heisei Genius Bakabon" (Japanese). English-translated entry also available.
- Studio Pierrot entry "Rerere's Genius Bakabon" (Japanese). English-translated entry also available.
- Article on The Genius Bakabon by Charles Brubaker, Cartoon Research (English)