Zeni Geba

Zeni Geba (銭ゲバ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by George Akiyama. The series was originally serialized in Shogakukan's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Sunday from 1970 to 1971, with its chapters collected into two tankōbon volumes. Shōnen Sunday was once specified as "harmful" in some prefectures when the series has started, because of its violent and drastic depiction.[1]

Zeni Geba
Cover of the first bunkoban volume
銭ゲバ
Manga
Written byGeorge Akiyama
Published by
ImprintShōnen Sunday Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
DemographicShōnen
Original run1970 – 1971
Volumes2
Television drama
Written byYoshikazu Okada
Original networkNNN
Original run 17 January 2009 – 14 March 2009
Episodes9

The story was about a boy named Fūtarō Gamagōri (蒲郡風太郎) who lived in extreme poverty, who gained affluence and influence through a series of murders.
Zeni means money in Japanese and Geba means die Gewalt (power) in German, so the title can be translated into "Moneypower".

A film of Zeni Geba was released in 1970, directed by Yoshinori Wada, starring Jūrō Kara and Mako Midori, and featuring an appearance by science fiction author Izumi Suzuki. The series was dramatized into a TV series in 2009, and was aired from January to March by the NNN TVs in Japan, starring Kenichi Matsuyama. The original story was released shortly after when Student activism was on in Japan and thus reflected such historical backgrounds as represented in its use of the word ゲバ (geba) in the title. The background of the TV series, on the other hand, was adjusted to reflect the 2009 world, including positioning of the main character as a temp worker (派遣社員, haken shain) working at a factory.[2]

References
  1. (in Japanese) article from nikkansports.com 松ケン今度は「銭ゲバ」個性的キャラ怪演, viewed on March 28th, 2009.
  2. (in Japanese) Interview with George Akiyama:From "Zeni Geba" to "Seisho" (the Bible) - George Akiyama talks about life (『銭ゲバ』から『聖書』まで、ジョージ秋山が語る人生の極意), on nikkei Trendy.net, viewed March 28th, 2009.
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