What is this Mama? (なんじゃらママ) is a short-term gag work by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, serialized in Shonen Challenge through 1980.
Overview[]
Ichirota has lived a seemingly normal ten years with only his Mama, but one day his friend discovers there's a huge secret to her, and eventually Ichirota will as well...
In a sense, this work can be seen as a shorter-lived reversal of Mom NO.1, where instead of a single mother whose son knows the whole story, there is a single father whose son has been left unaware of the situation for his whole life.
Characters[]
Ichirota[]
The protagonist. Though his mother does everything possible to prevent him from knowing the secret and asking any questions, he becomes filled with betrayal after finding out he has no mother and that his father was keeping up the charade all along.
Tamiko[]
A tall, lantern-jawed housewife who turns out to actually be Ichirota's father, having opted to crossdress as a woman and take up the role of a mother after his wife's death so his son would still have a mother figure in his life.
After Ichirota demands of him to take back his role of a father, he punishes his son by finally making him learn how to cook and clean, as someone's going to have to do the duties of a mother.
Serialization[]
- Shonen Challenge: September to November 1980
Reprints[]
All three chapters of the series were reprinted in their own volume as part of the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM collection, marking the first time they'd appeared outside their original magazine. A print-on-demand version was later offered through ComicPark.
Other than this, there is not a current re-release of the title in digital or print format.