From: jly33321@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (John L.Yoon )
Subject: Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai
Summary: duh?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 02:36:02 GMT
Keywords: Character Guide


General Character Guide for Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai
------------------------------------------------------
(sorry, I whipped this up pretty quickly so there might be a few errors)


This is the best series that I have seen this season!  It is fairly new
comedy with around 16 episodes (I've only seen up to #13) but in the most
current issue of Newtype that I have (January), it is tied for 3rd place
in ratings with Crayon Shin-chan (also a fun show) at 16.9. 

One of the things that makes it so interesting is that there's no magical
girls, no giant robots, no giant blue talking cats.  Instead, the show gives
a rathering interesting (but maybe not entirely accurate) view of everyday
Japanese life and pop culture. 

The story is somewhat like Cinderella with a few notable exceptions.  There 
is no prince (or princess in this case) to save the poor schumck, Tsuyoshi,
from getting slapped silly by his mother and sisters.  The holy instrument
of communicating displeasure is the "SLAP" which is used at every availible
opportunity on Tsuyoshi by his sisters and mother.  One of the more 
common slapping techniques involves a slap by one of the females immediately
followed by slaps from the other two.


Tsuyoshi
--------
the youngest of three children (two daughters, one son).  Still in high
school.  Considering the abuse he absorbs from his family, he turned
out amazingly "well adjusted".  Generally, when anything goes wrong,
even if it isn't his fault, he's the person that gets the blame (and
consequently the slap).  His mother and sisters are domineering people
and have forced him to take on all the chores traditionally considered woman's
work such as cooking, washing clothes, etc. (in other words, he's a slave)
He has very bad luck and to make things worse, his birthday is on Christmas!
Although his subservient role to his sisters and mother could considered  
embarassing, the associated skills that he has aquired have proved
useful more than once.  He is a sincere, resourceful person and dreams of  
meeting the perfect girl, but until then, dirty magazines will suffice... :)

NOTE: This perfect girl might have just shown up in episode 13 and her name 
is Mai... she works at her parent's little mom'n pop bento shop.  

Keiko no onesan (hell bent for leather)
----------------------------------------
the older sister.  A chain smoking OL.  Makes a habit of getting totally
smashed after work and dragging various objects/landmarks home in her 
drunken haze.  The objects include bus stop signs, noren from restaraunts...
She's the more vicious of the two sisters and has developed slapping into an
artform.  She is supposed to be quite attractive (at least the cops in the
local police box think so..) but the fact that she hasn't married 
yet worries her mother.  Considering her short temper, it isn't very
surprising.  She's generally the first to initiate any Tsuyoshi bashing fest
that the other two will join in on.  She's also not very good at karoke..

Noriko
------
the younger of the two sister.  Works at a fast food restaurant.  Not as
good at slapping Tsuyoshi and almost appears to be "soft" compared to her
older sister Keiko.  Has a "weird" thing for gaijin.

Okasan (mother)
----------------
an unrefined (couldn't think of a better work) obasan.  Very reminisent
of Ichinose from Maison Ikkoku, but not as smart and definitely more
violent.  What she lacks in style is made up for in the power of her
slaps.  She's also a pachinko addict.  She has occasionally shown 
hesitation in slapping Tsuyoshi, but she can usually overcome it. :)
Still, deep down somewhere (really deep, really far down), she has a soft 
spot for Tsuyoshi.  The same could be said for the sisters.

Watanabei-kun
-------------
Tsuyoshi closest friend (by default, since no other friends have shown up
yet).  Watanabei is constantly trying to get to Tsuyoshi's sister, Keiko.
(can you say "drooling, animal lust"?  I knew you could..)  Keiko on the
other hand thinks Watanabei is a geek and a pervert.  He also supplies 
Tsuyoshi with dirty magazines for the occasional favor.

NOTE: Watanabei is played by Chiba Shigeru who is known for his weird
characters (Yotsuya from Maison Ikkoku, Megane from Urusei Yatsura).
This should give you an idea of what the character is like...

Yumi-chan
---------
Watanabei's kid sister.  She has a crush on Tsuyoshi and is very nice
to him but she is "just a little too young" :)  Yumi is nice to Tsuyoshi,  
but that is not to say that she is incapible of performing "the slap".
She has demonstrated her ability (but not on Tsuyoshi).

Keiko the dog
-------------
a mutt that Tsuyoshi found Yumi-chan "torturing".  Tsuyoshi mistook him for
a "her" and gave him a female's name, Keiko.  Actually quite intelligent   
and provides some comic relief once in a while.  

Otosan (father)
----------------
the absent figure who Tsuyoshi looks to for guidence in the lower of
his low points.  Tsuyoshi's father was re-assigned by his company to
another city.  Rather than uproot his family, he moved to his new 
assignment alone (not particularly uncommon in Japanese society), 
leaving Tsuyoshi at the mercy of his mother and sisters.

well, I hope this a was helpful and that you find Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai
as enjoyable as I do.

PS. the title for eps #14 is "Oh My God!" :)
-- 
John Yoon (std. disclaimer)  |   GO! GO! JUM..AIYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
jly33321@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu    |               <Hime-chan over a trap door>
jyoon@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu       |Slap me silly! <member of Tsuyoshi fan club>