Obake no Q-Tarō

Obake no Q-Tarō (Japanese: オバケのQ太郎, Hepburn: Obake no Kyū-Tarō) is a Japanese manga series by Fujiko Fujio and later Fujiko F. Fujio[n 1] about the titular obake, Q-Taro, who lives with the Ōhara family. Q-Tarō, also known as "Q-chan" or "Oba-Q", is a mischief-maker who likes to fly around scaring people and stealing food, though he is deathly afraid of dogs.

Obake no Q-Tarō
Obake no Q-Tarō on the cover of Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday
オバケのQ太郎
(Obake no Kyū-Tarō)
GenreComedy
Manga
Written byFujiko Fujio
Published byShogakukan
ImprintTentōmushi Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday
DemographicShōnen
Original run1964 – 1966
Volumes12
Anime television series
Directed byMasaaki Osumi
Music byHiroshi Tsutsui
StudioTokyo Movie
Original networkTBS
Original run August 29, 1965 – June 28, 1967
Episodes96
Manga
Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
Written byFujiko Fujio
Published byShogakukan
ImprintTentōmushi Comics
MagazineShogakukan Learning Magazine
And others Shogakukan children's magazines
DemographicChildren
Original run1971 – 1973
Volumes4
Anime television series
Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
Directed byTadao Nagahama
Produced byHarutoshi Kawaguchi
Kensuke Fujii (Nippon TV)
Music byNaozumi Yamamoto
StudioTokyo Movie
Original networkNippon TV
Original run September 1, 1971 – December 27, 1972
Episodes70 (140 segments)
Anime television series
Directed byMasuji Harada
Hiroshi Sasagawa (Chief director)
Produced byJunichi Kimura
Yoshiaki Koizumi (TV Asahi)
Yoshio Katō
Seitarō Kodama (Shin-Ei Animation)
(Asatsu-DK)
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
StudioShin-Ei Animation
Original networkTV Asahi
Original run April 1, 1985 – March 29, 1987
Episodes510
Anime film
Obake no Q-Tarō: Tobidase! Bake Bake Daisakusen
Directed byHiroshi Sasagawa
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
StudioShin-Ei Animation
ReleasedMarch 15, 1986
Runtime15 minutes
Anime film
Obake no Q-Tarō: Susume! 1/100 Daisakusen
Directed byHiroshi Sasagawa
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
StudioShin-Ei Animation
ReleasedMarch 14, 1987
Runtime15 minutes
Video games

The story is usually focused on the antics of Q-Tarō and his friends. The manga was drawn in 1964–1966,1971–1974,1976 by the duo Fujiko Fujio (Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko). An English manga volume was published in Japan as Q the Spook.[1]

There are three anime series adaptations of Obake no Q-Tarō. The first was shown on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) in black and white, and ran from 1965 to 1967. The second series, produced in color, ran from 1971 to 1972 on Nippon TV. The third series ran from 1985 to 1987 on TV Asahi. The series was broadcast in the United States in the 1970s as Little Ghost Q-Taro, making it one of only three works by Fujiko Fujio to reach North America.[2]

Characters
  • Q-Tarō (Q太郎)
Voiced by: Machiko Soga (1965), Junko Hori (1971), Fusako Amachi (1985)
The protagonist of the manga, Q-Tarō has a fear of dogs and cannot transform although he is an obake.
  • Shōta Ōhara (大原 正太, Ōhara Shōta)
Voiced by: Kazue Tagami (1965), Yoshiko Ōta (1971), Katsue Miwa (1985)
A human friend of Q-tarō, Shōta Ōhara is an elementary school student. Q-Tarō calls him "Shō-chan" (正ちゃん) and Shota calls Q-Tarō "Q-chan" (Qちゃん). His grades are generally poor, and he was once second from the bottom of his class.
  • Shin'ichi Ōhara (大原 伸一, Ōhara Shin'ichi)
Voiced by: Masako Nozawa (1965), Sumiko Shirakawa (1971), Yū Mizushima (1985)
Shota's older brother and the eldest son of the Ohara family who is a middle school student. Unlike Shota, his academic ability during his middle school days are average. Whenever Shinichi is at home, he usually spends his time listening to music, specifically enjoying records from the Beatles and Elvis Presley.
  • U-ko (U子)
Voiced by: Hiroko Maruyama (1971), Eiko Masuyama (1985)
U-ko, a judoka, is Q-Tarō's girlfriend obake.
  • Doronpa (ドロンパ)
Voiced by: Misae Kita (1965), Yoshiko Yamamoto (1971), Fuyumi Shiraishi (1985)
Doronpa is an American obake. Q-Tarō tends to have a rivalry towards him due to the fact that U-ko idolizes Doronpa's intelligence and he likes to annoy Q-Tarō because he is Japanese.
  • P-ko (P子)
Voiced by: Yōko Mizugaki (1965), Kazuko Sawada (1971), Yūko Mita (1985)
P-ko is Q-Tarō's younger sister.
  • O-jirō (O次郎)
Voiced by: Makoto Kōsaka→Reiko Katsura (1971), Keiko Yokozawa (1985)
O-jirō is Q-Tarō's younger brother. Although he can understand others' speech, he can only say "bakeratta." Only Q-Tarō understands what O-jirō says.
  • X-zō (X蔵)
Father of Q-Tarō, P-ko, and O-jirō.
  • O-zetto (おZ)
Mother of Q-Tarō, P-ko, and O-jirō.
  • Tsuyoshi Saigō (西郷 強, Saigō Tsuyoshi)
Voiced by: Kaneta Kimotsuki (1965/1971), Hiroshi Takemura (1985)
Nickname: Godzilla. A bully in Shota's class and neighborhood.
  • Hakase (ハカセ, "Professor")
Voiced by: Mitsuko Aso (1965), Sumiko Shirakawa (1971), Kaneta Kimotsuki (1985), Naoki Tatsuta (1985, stand-in)
Shota's smart classmate.
  • Kizao Kiza (木佐 キザオ, Kiza Kizao)
Voiced by: Unknown (1965), Kazuko Sawada (1971), Naoki Tatsuta (1985)
Shota's rich classmate who kisses up to Godzilla. His name is also similar to the rich boy in Kaibutsu-kun
  • Yoshiko Koizumi (小泉 美子, Koizumi Yoshiko)
Voiced by: Mariko Tsukai (1965), Michiko Nomura (1971), Sanae Miyuki (1985)
Shota's female classmate, always referred to as "Yotchan" (よっちゃん) and U-ko lives with her
  • Yukari Kawai (河井 ユカリ, Kawai Yukari) (1985 anime only)
Voiced by: Yoko Asagami (1985)
Shin'ichi's girlfriend. She is a middle school student, and P-ko lives with her
  • Koike (小池)
Voiced by: Hiroshi Ōtake (1965), Akira Shimada (1971), Shingo Hiromori (1985)
Ramen chief character, he also appears too as a ramen chief in Doraemon, he appears as a teacher in Ninja Hattori-kun, he appears as a Michio's father in Ultra B
  • Kaminari (神成)
Voiced by: Reizo Nomoto (1965) and (1971), Shingo Kanemoto (1985)
Ohara's neighbor and Doronpa lives with him. And he resembles from Doraemon

Reception and impact

The popularity of the 1965 anime adaptation caused a cultural phenomenon called "Oba-Q boom" (オバQブーム Oba-Kyū būmu), which made the series have an 30% audience rating, high popularity with children and spawn a variety of Toys, songs and clothes, as well a host of imitators. The reason of Q-Tarō's popularity was that the series was grounded in everyday Japanese life, with Q-Tarō questioning the structure of Japanese society and the comedic situations that occurred because of Q-Tarō misinterpreting it. [3][4][5]

Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani cited the series as inspiration for the designs of the Ghosts in the Pac-Man video game series.[6] In the manga series To Love Ru, the ghost character Shizu Murasame has a fear of dogs as an homage to Little Ghost Q-Taro.[7]

Notes
  1. The series was written under "Fujiko Fujio" initially. When Fujiko F. Fujio and Fujiko A. Fujio decided to separate, F. Fujio took over this series.

References
  1. "Q the Spook オバケのQ太郎".
  2. "Sunday TV Programs". Oxnard Press Courier. Oxnard, California. January 19, 1975. p. 46. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  3. Clements, Jonathan (7 October 2017). Anime: A History. ISBN 9781844578849.
  4. Chun, Jayson Makoto (6 December 2006). A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots?: A Social History of Japanese Television, 1953 - 1973. ISBN 9781135869779.
  5. The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons. 1983. ISBN 9780877543992.
  6. Kohler, Chris. "Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating | Game|Life". Wired. Wired.com. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
  7. Hasemi, Saki; Yabuki, Kentaro (2019) [2008, 2009]. "Character File 14". To Love Ru. Vol. 11–12. Seven Seas Entertainment. ISBN 978-1-947804-23-4.
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