Wednesday: Japanese Manga (Japanese Cartoon)

Hakushon Daimao/The Genie Family

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Genie_Family)

(Hakushon Daimao and his daughter, Akubi)

“Hakushon” is an onomatopoeia of sneezing in Japanese. “Mao” literally means “Satan,” “the Devil,” or “the Prince of Darkness [Evil].” On the other hand, “Dai (Grand/Big)” was added to the beginning of the word, “Mao.” So, “Daimao” was supposed to mean something very powerfully evil. However, as you see in the picture above, “Hakushon (Sneezing) Big Satan” is far from that image. Actually, this “Satan” cannot even use magic “properly,” because of which he is always laughed at. In addition, his nature is also far from that of Satan’s. Hakushon is very innocent and warmhearted – and HILARIOUS!!

Listen to the op song! So funny (even if you don’t understand Japanese)! – https://youtu.be/238shSa2kbU

This manga was created by the big anime agency called “Tatsunoko Pro(duction)” in late 60’s. They produced only TV programs and movies. So, “Hakushon” doesn’t have an original comic version. Tatsunoko Production created lots of TV programs like “Hakushon” and made a huge profit. After “Hakushon” became a big hit, they started the manga version in some monthly and weekly magazines for kindergarten or elementary school age boys.

(All Characters in Hakushon Daimao)

Although it was produced for very young children, they watched the program with their parents, grandparents, siblings, and so on, all of whom became big fans of this production. This program gained more and more popularity and lasted one year (104 episodes). In some area, it has been rerun over and over.

What is the magic of “Hakushon”? Obviously, it is NOT Hakushon’s magic that grabbed people’s attention because it always fails. Still, this character, along with that of his daughter named Akubi (Yawning), which came from “The Arabian Nights,” sets the audience to laughing a big laugh! No matter what you went through on the day when it was on air, you could totally forget about anything negative at least for half an hour. That was a MIRACLE DRUG!

Only the last episode, in which Hakushon and Akubi had to go back into the bottle for another 100 years, is serious (https://youtu.be/SBl9eglnxv0).