Obake no Q-Tarō explained

Obake no Q-Tarō
Ja Kanji:オバケのQ太郎
Ja Romaji:Obake no Kyū-Tarō
Genre:Comedy
Type:manga
Author:Fujiko Fujio
Publisher:Shogakukan
Demographic:Shōnen
Imprint:Tentōmushi Comics
Magazine:Weekly Shōnen Sunday
Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday
First:1964
Last:1966
Volumes:12
Type:tv series
Director:Masaaki Osumi
Music:Hiroshi Tsutsui
Studio:A-Production
Tokyo Movie
Network:TBS
First:August 29, 1965
Last:June 28, 1967
Episodes:96
Type:manga
Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
Publisher:Shogakukan
Demographic:Children
Imprint:Tentōmushi Comics
Magazine:Shogakukan Learning Magazine
First:1971
Last:1973
Volumes:4
Type:tv series
Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
Director:Tadao Nagahama
Producer:Harutoshi Kawaguchi
Kensuke Fujii
Music:Naozumi Yamamoto
Studio:A-Production
Tokyo Movie
Network:Nippon TV
First:September 1, 1971
Last:December 27, 1972
Episodes:70 (140 segments)
Type:tv series
Producer:Junichi Kimura
Yoshiaki Koizumi
Yoshio Katō
Seitarō Kodama
Music:Shunsuke Kikuchi
Studio:Shin-Ei Animation
Network:TV Asahi
First:April 1, 1985
Last:March 29, 1987
Episodes:510
Type:film
Obake no Q-Tarō: Tobidase! Bake Bake Daisakusen
Director:Hiroshi Sasagawa
Music:Shunsuke Kikuchi
Studio:Shin-Ei Animation
Released:March 15, 1986
Runtime:15 minutes
Type:film
Obake no Q-Tarō: Toidase! 1/100 Daisakusen
Director:Hiroshi Sasagawa
Music:Shunsuke Kikuchi
Studio:Shin-Ei Animation
Released:March 14, 1987
Runtime:15 minutes
Video games
Content:

is a Japanese manga series by Fujiko Fujio 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.

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] In France, one of the episodes of the 1965 series was aired in November 1967 as part of ORTF Chaine 2's Japanese week, complete with French subtitles.[3]

Characters

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.

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 and Shota calls Q-Tarō . His grades are generally poor, and he was once second from the bottom of his class.

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.

Voiced by: Hiroko Maruyama (1971), Eiko Masuyama (1985)

U-ko, a judoka, is Q-Tarō's girlfriend obake.

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.

Voiced by: Yōko Mizugaki (1965), Kazuko Sawada (1971), Yūko Mita (1985)

P-ko is Q-Tarō's younger sister.

Voiced by: Makoto KōsakaReiko 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.

Father of Q-Tarō, P-ko, and O-jirō.

Mother of Q-Tarō, P-ko, and O-jirō.

Voiced by: Kaneta Kimotsuki (1965/1971), Hiroshi Takemura (1985)

Nickname: Godzilla. A bully in Shota's class and neighborhood.

Voiced by: Mitsuko Aso (1965), Sumiko Shirakawa (1971), Kaneta Kimotsuki (1985), Naoki Tatsuta (1985, stand-in)

Shota's smart classmate.

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 He has an assortment of 0's and 100's at will.

Voiced by: Mariko Tsukai (1965), Michiko Nomura (1971), Sanae Miyuki (1985)

Shota's female classmate, always referred to as and U-ko lives with her

Voiced by: Yoko Asagami (1985)

Shin'ichi's girlfriend. She is a middle school student, and P-ko lives with her

Voiced by: Hiroshi Ōtake (1965), Akira Shimada (1971), Shingo Hiromori (1985)

Ramen eater character that Q-taro always eats his ramen if he comes to Koike's room. He also appears too as a ramen eater in Doraemon, he appears as a teacher in Ninja Hattori-kun, he appears as Michio's father in Ultra B, and he becomes both between ramen eater and teacher in Biriken

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.[4] [5] [6]

Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani cited the series as inspiration for the designs of the Ghosts in the Pac-Man video game series.[7] 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.[8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Q the Spook オバケのQ太郎.
  2. News: Sunday TV Programs . subscription . Oxnard Press Courier . 46 . January 19, 1975 . . May 24, 2021.
  3. Web site: Oba Q, le petit fantôme . Planète Jeunesse . April 29, 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20240321202409/http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/fiche-2420-oba-q-le-petit-fantome.html . March 21, 2024.
  4. Book: Anime: A History. 9781844578849. Clements. Jonathan. 7 October 2017. Bloomsbury .
  5. Book: A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots?: A Social History of Japanese Television, 1953 - 1973. 9781135869779. Chun. Jayson Makoto. 6 December 2006. Routledge .
  6. Book: The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons. 1983. Chelsea House Publishers . 9780877543992.
  7. Kohler . Chris . Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating | Game|Life . Wired . Wired.com . 2012-07-23.
  8. Book: Hasemi . Saki . Yabuki . Kentaro . Saki Hasemi . Kentaro Yabuki . . 11–12 . 2019 . 2008, 2009 . . 978-1-947804-23-4 . Character File 14.