Norakuro

Norakuro (Japanese: のらくろ) is a Japanese manga series created by Suihō Tagawa, originally published by Kodansha in Shōnen Kurabu, and one of the first series' to be reprinted in tankōbon format.[1] The titular protagonist, Norakuro, or Norakuro-kun, is an anthropomorphic black and white dog inspired by Felix the Cat.[2] The name Norakuro is an abbreviation of norainu (野良犬, stray dog) and Kurokichi (黒吉, the name of the dog, literally meaning "black luck").

Norakuro
Manga volume 1 cover (1975 bunkoban edition)
のらくろ
Manga
Written bySuihō Tagawa
Published byKodansha
MagazineShōnen Kurabu
English magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original run1931 – 1981
Volumes36
Anime television series
Directed byToru Murayama
Music byHidehiko Arashino
StudioEiken
Original networkFuji TV
Original run 5 October 1970 – 29 March 1971
Episodes26
Anime television series
Norakuro-kun
Directed byMasami Anno
StudioStudio Pierrot
Original networkFuji TV
Original run 4 October 1987 – 2 October 1988
Episodes50
Short films

Media

Manga
English version of a 1937 Norakuro strip as published in the sixth Kramer's Ergot comics anthology.

In the original story, the central character Norakuro was a soldier serving in an army of dogs called the "fierce dogs regiment" (猛犬連隊, mōkenrentai). The strip's publication began in Kodansha's Shōnen Kurabu in 1931, and was based on the Imperial Japanese Army of the time;[3] the manga artist, Suihō Tagawa, had served in the Imperial Army from 1919 to 1922. Norakuro was gradually promoted from private to captain in the stories, which began as humorous episodes, but eventually developed into propaganda tales of military exploits against the "pigs army" on the "continent" - a thinly-veiled reference to the Second Sino-Japanese War.[4] The series became a hit in Japan; Shonen Kurabu's circulation was of 750.000 in 1936,[5] and several Norakuro-themed merchandise (toys, stationery and other products - licensed or not) were sold.[6][7]

Serialization of Norakuro stopped in 1941 for wartime austerity reasons. After the war, due to the popularity of the strip, the character returned in various guises, including a sumo wrestler and a botanist.

There is an excerpt that appears in the sixth Kramer's Ergot comics anthology which is the only example of Tagawa's work published in English.[3]

Short films

At least seven extant animated short films featuring Norakuro were made from June 1933 to 1939.

English title Japanese title Release date Directed by Written by Studio Runtime
Private 2nd Class Norakuro: The Training[8][9] のらくろ二等兵 演習の巻 June 14, 1933 Yasuji Murata Chuzo Aochi &
Suihō Tagawa		 Yokohama Cinema Company 1 film reel[lower-alpha 1]
Private 2nd Class Nora-kuro: The Drill[8][9] のらくろ二等兵 教練の巻 June 14, 1933 Yasuji Murata Chuzo Aochi &
Suihō Tagawa		 Yokohama Cinema Company 1 film reel[lower-alpha 1]
Corporal Nora-Kuro[10] のらくろ伍長 March 9, 1934 Yasuji Murata Chuzo Aochi &
Suihō Tagawa		 Yokohama Cinema Company 11 minutes
Private 1st Class Nora-Kuro[11] のらくろ一等兵 1935 Mitsuyo Seo Suihō Tagawa Seo Talkie Manga Labs 1 film reel
Private 2nd Class Nora-Kuro[12] のらくろ二等兵 1935 Mitsuyo Seo Suihō Tagawa Seo Talkie Manga Labs 2 film reels
Nora-Kuro's Tiger Hunt[13] のらくろ虎退治 1938 Mitsuyo Seo Suihō Tagawa Geijutsu Eiga Sha 10 minutes
Norakuro The Sergeant: The Air Ride[14] のらくろ軍曹 空襲の巻 c.1939 Mitsuyo Seo Suihō Tagawa Geijutsu Eiga Sha 52 seconds (Surviving print)[14]

Anime series

Two post-war animated series of Norakuro, in 1970 and 1987, have also been produced. In the 1970 series, the voice of Norakuro was played by Nobuyo Ōyama, also known as the voice of Doraemon. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Norakuro was the mascot of the Physical Training School (Tai-Iku Gakko) of the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

See also

Notes
  1. One film strip was used for these two short films featuring "Private 2nd Class Norakuro".

References
  1. Jason S. Yadao. The Rough Guide to Manga
  2. ""Norakuro" |".
  3. Deppey, Dirk (September 25, 2006). "Kramers Ergot 6". The Comics Journal. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  4. Exner, Eike (2021-11-12). Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History. Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-1-9788-2723-3.
  5. Skabelund, Aaron (2011-12-15). Empire of Dogs: Canines, Japan, and the Making of the Modern Imperial World. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-6324-2.
  6. Suzuki, Shige (CJ); Stewart, Ronald (2022-09-22). Manga: A Critical Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-07237-4.
  7. McCarthy, Helen (2014-06-16). A Brief History of Manga. Octopus. ISBN 978-1-78157-130-9.
  8. "Japanese Anime Classic Collection [Disc 2]". www.digital-meme.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2016. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  9. "のらくろ二等兵 演習の巻 - のらくろ二等兵 教練の巻". animation.filmarchives.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2017.
  10. "Japanese Anime Classic Collection [Disc 3]". www.digital-meme.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  11. "のらくろ一等兵" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  12. "のらくろ二等兵" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  13. "NoraKuro's Tiger Hunt" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  14. "国産動画 - のらくろシリーズ｜玩具映画フィルム｜おもちゃ映画ミュージアム". おもちゃ映画ミュージアム (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-10-06.
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