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Tensai Bakabon (天才バカボン, lit. "Genius Bakabon") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujio Akatsuka, which began publication on April 9, 1967, in Weekly 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 five anime television series. The first two series produced by Tokyo Movie were broadcast in the 1970s for 40 and 103 episodes respectively. The third and fourth series were produced by Studio Pierrot and broadcast in 1990 and 1999–2000, for 46 and 24 episodes respectively. The fifth series was produced by Pierrot+ and broadcast for 12 episodes in 2018.
Characters
Bakabon's Papa (バカボンのパパ, Bakabon no Papa)
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 trademark hachimaki and haramaki. His favorite food is octopus. Papa has become an anime icon in Japan and was ranked number 9 in a 2002 TV Asahi Top 100 Anime Characters list. Voiced by Masashi 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 causing mischief, especially with his Papa. On the inside, though, he is kind and works a part-time job as a shoeshine boy to buy his mother a birthday present. He is known for not wearing pants underneath his kimono. 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 by Keiko 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, Kuroyuri Jogakuen) (a parody of Shirayuri 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 by Eiko 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 than are (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 a yukata and geta sandals. Voiced by Ryūji Saikachi (1st-2nd series), Shigeru Chiba (3rd-4th series, pachinko), Akira Ishida (5th series).
Omawari-san (お巡りさん)
The local beat 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, his underbite 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 by Isamu 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 renamed Osamu Tezuka-buto (手塚ブト 治, Tezukabuto Osamu, "kabuto" means "helmet"). Voiced by Rica Matsumoto (3rd series), Kappei Yamaguchi (4th series).
Norauma (ノラウマ, "Stray Horse"/"Wild Horse")
A reckless horse with no owner.
Minor characters
Honda-sensei (凡田先生)
Bakabon's headmaster. Only appears in the first anime. Voiced by Kōichi Kitamura.
Nakamura-kun (中村くん)
Bakabon's ill-tempered classmate. Only appears in the first anime. Voiced by Kaneta Kimotsuki.
Characters from Akatsuka's other titles
Iyami (イヤミ)
Originally from Osomatsu-kun, he only appears in the Rerere no Tensai Bakabon series alongside Chibita. Voiced by Kaneta Kimotsuki (Episodes 1, 4, 16); Kenichi Ogata (Episodes 3, 6, 11, 16, 20-21, 24) (4th series)
Chibita (チビ太)
Originally from Osomatsu-kun, he only appears in the Rerere no Tensai Bakabon series alongside Iyami.
Hatabō (ハタ坊, lit. "Flag boy")
Originally from Osomatsu-kun, he only appears in the Rerere no Tensai Bakabon series.
Dekapan (デカパン)
Originally from Osomatsu-kun, he only appears in the Rerere no Tensai Bakabon series.
Dayōn (ダヨーン)
Originally from Osomatsu-kun, he only appears in the Rerere no Tensai Bakabon series.
Sakura-chan (さくらちゃん)
Originally from Kikanpo Gen-chan. Bakabon's girlfriend. Only appears in the first anime. Voiced by Kazuko Sawada.
Media
Manga
4 bilingual Japanese-English volumes have been released of the manga as The Genius Bakabon.
Anime
Four anime series have been produced, with the first two series produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and the second two produced by Studio Pierrot. Tensai Bakabon (天才バカボン, "Genius Bakabon") aired for 40 episodes on Yomiuri 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 on NTV from October 6, 1975, to September 26, 1977. In India this show was broadcast by Hungama TV.
The original series was heavily rerun on Animax 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, with Heisei Tensai Bakabon (平成天才バカボン, "Heisei period Genius Bakabon") airing on Fuji TV for 46 episodes from January 6 to December 29, 1990, and Rerere no Tensai Bakabon (レレレの天才バカボン, "Rerere's Genius Bakabon") airing on TV Tokyo from October 19, 1999, to March 21, 2000, for 24 episodes. A late night anime titled Shinya! Tensai Bakabon (深夜！天才バカボン, "Late Night! Genius Bakabon") premiered on July 10, 2018 on TV Tokyo and other channels. It ran for 12 episodes.
Notes
The official English name was Meet the Boneheads, but has since been favored for the more accurate The Genius Bakabon.
The cover of Tensai Bakabon volume 2
Category