O-chan's Eleven Friends

Frontispiece for the first chapter.

**O-chan's Eleven Friends** (オーちゃんと11人のなかま, *Ootchan to jū ichi-ri no nakama*) was a general childrens' manga series by Fujio Akatsuka. It was published in Kodansha's Fun 5th Grader magazine from April 1962 to March 1963, and was the successor series to Boku Knows Best.

Its title was inspired by the Japanese title of the 1960 film ***Ocean's Eleven***; *Ocean and his Eleven Friends* (オーシャンと十一人の仲間 *Oshan to jū ichi-ri no nakama*).

Unfortunately, as Fun 5th Grader could not compete well against Shogakukan's similar 5th Grade magazine, it was discontinued at the March 1963 issue, leaving no successor work for *O-chan* to happen.

## Overview

> *"I'm O-chan. From this month's issue, I'll be sharing my happy friends every month. Nice to meet you!"*
>
>

> - Akatsuka's column comments introduction to chapter 1, from the magazine serialization.
>
>

This year-long slice-of-life style series revolves around the lives of O-chan and eleven others that he knows in his neighborhood; a group of children his age or younger, a policeman, and O-chan's own pet dog named Pell.

O-chan is looked up to by the other kids, and is often the one that they come to with a problem for him to help solve in some way. Each chapter focuses around a different cast member, or at the least is titled after them ("The Story of O-chan and Harry" barely features Harry until the end). Despite the title and premise, O-chan himself does not always appear prominently in a chapter as well.

Each story is at least five or six pages, making them very simple and self-contained. Aside from the "Ocean's Eleven" pun in the title, the worldview of the work being centered around a differing group of children could lend comparisons to Hal Roach's *Our Gang*/*Little Rascals* shorts that Akatsuka had been well-acquainted with by this time (to the point where he had even previously put out his own "Little Kid Gang" one-shot adaptation of the series).

## Characters

### Osamu, aka "O-chan"

(オーちゃん)

The title character, a 5th grade boy who is relied upon by all the others.

He is a typical "everyman" Japanese boy protagonist of Akatsuka of this period, with his design re-used from the lead boy Kentaro in *Sunset Angel*. He may also be seen as a more shojo-drawn Osomatsu (who was serialized in the same time), although his eyes are depicted in the separate style and never really close together.

His actual name is revealed by the end of the series, in both "The Story of O-chan and Harry" and the final chapter.

### Sansuke

(三助)

A young boy always clad in a kimono and coat. He acts as a sidekick to O-chan, and can be a bit of a troublemaker and nosy (particularly upsetting Ma-chan when he tells him that Santa isn't real).

His design would be more famously used for Ganmo in Akko-chan's Got a Secret!, from the kimono to his very face and bowlcut, and would also be re-used as Otasuke in Otasuke-kun.

The character of Choromatsu in Jinx-kun, published at the same time, shared this face and hair as well and could very well have been the same "actor". However, as far as their face template goes, it would wind up being more popularly associated with Chibita in months to come.

### Tomoko

(トモコ)

A tomboyish girl who is sporty and can pack a strong punch when angered. She is friends with Kayoko. She seems to have a crush on O-chan.

Tomoko was named after Akatsuka's wife and assistant at the time, as Moko would be in the Akko-chan's Got a Secret! serial.

Through the series,Tomoko gains a more shojo manga-esque design when compared to how her eyes and facial features are drawn more simplified in the early chapters.

### Kayoko

(カヨコ)

Tomoko's best friend, and the more feminine of the two. She wears her hair in braids, similar to certain Akatsuka heroines and even some other best friend-type characters (Yo-chan, Moko, etc.)

### Ma-chan

(マアちゃん)

A small, much younger boy who is curious but sensitive.

He is modeled in the style of the little brother-type characters of Akatsuka, slightly resembling a younger version of The Sextuplets. More accurately, his design is that of Yuki's younger brother Ken from Yuki's Blue Eyes (which was serialized at the same time *O-chan* began).

A predecessor to Ma-chan can be seen in the minor character of Marbo seen in Mother's Song.

### Ataru

(アタル)

A boy around O-chan's age, characterized by his bowlcut and his swirly cowlick. He is the first character spotlighted in the series, and the story revolves around his claims to tell others' fortunes.

His father looks as if he could be an early prototype to Batsugoro, of Extraordinary Ataro.

### Tsuyoshi

(ツヨシ)

A large-nosed, simple boy who wears a sweater with a "T" on it for his name.

### Kaoru

(カオル)

The timid son of the local baker. He has trouble being expressive and confident, but O-chan and Sansuke help him out.

### Noko

(ノコ)

A kind, funny young girl with large glasses, similar to the "geeky" type female characters in Akatsuka titles who were minor characters. She wants to be a big star in comedy.

Her mother has a bit of resemblance to Matsuyo in Osomatsu-kun, but it was one of Akatsuka's common mother designs (as it was based off his very own mother).

### Harry

(ハリ)

A black boy who loves baseball. He is notable for being depicted in a standard style like the other characters, in a contrast to the usual highly-caricatured depiction of black people in Akatsuka and others' comics of this period. This may have been due to *O-chan* being a more serious-toned comic, although the fact that Harry is a fast runner can be seen as stereotypical in its own way.

Unfortunately, Harry himself does not have a very significant role beyond the last page of his spotlight story and small cameos in the two chapters after (his skin is mistakenly not even given shading for "The Story of O-chan and Kayoko").

### Mr. Policeman

(おまわりさん)

A friendly neighborhood police officer that the kids rely on for help in some situations, and is the main adult in the story.

### Pell

(ペル)

O-chan's dog, who follows him and the other kids wherever they go.

## Serialization

The series ran with these following chapters:

1. **"The Story of O-chan and Ataru"** (オーちゃんとアタルのまき, April 1962): O-chan must help out Ataru, who seems to have no luck with his claims to telling what will happen to people.
2. **"The Story of O-chan and Noko"**(オーちゃんとノコのまき, May 1962): Noko wants to be an entertainer like her father and be noticed by people, so O-chan has to find a way to help her look like she's on TV.
3. **"The Story of O-chan and Kaoru"** (オーちゃんとカオルのまき, June 1962): Kaoru has difficulty with his singing lessons, leading to O-chan and Sansuke to have to help him gain confidence to sing.
4. **"The Story of O-chan and Sansuke"** (オーちゃんと三助のまき, July 1962): Sansuke decides to help his parents' sento get more visitors by getting the other kids dirty.
5. **"The Story of O-chan and Pell"** (オーちゃんとペルのまき, August 1962): Pell bites O-chan while trying to attack a mosquito that was on his skin, causing O-chan to become upset and Pell to run away. Ataru and Sansuke manage to find Pell, and help to reunite him and O-chan.
6. **"The Story of O-chan and the Policeman"** (オーちゃんとおまわりさんのまき, September 1962): O-chan and Sansuke encounter a thief, and get the other kids to get the police to arrest him.
7. **"The Story of O-chan and Tomoko"** (オーちゃんとトモコのまき, October 1962): Tomoko tries to get Sansuke to help her prepare for the school sports festival, after getting angry at seeing Kayoko practicing with O-chan.
8. **"The Story of O-chan and Tsuyoshi"** (オーちゃんとツヨシのまき, November 1962): Tsuyoshi attempts to take his sick father's place at work by disguising himself as him, but runs into trouble.
9. **"The Story of O-chan and Ma-chan"** (オーちゃんとマアちゃんのまき, December 1962): Ma-chan is told by Sansuke that Santa isn't real, causing him to become distressed and upset at his parents lying to him. O-chan, with the help of the policeman, helps preserve Ma-chan's beliefs and cheer him back up.
10. **"The Story of O-chan and Harry"** (オーちゃんとハリのまき, January 1963): O-chan and friends try to find some type of game to play. After Sansuke gets bullied by two crooks, Harry appears and saves him, and is introduced to the rest of the group of kids.
11. **"The Story of O-chan and Kayoko"** (オーちゃんとカヨコのまき, February 1963): Kayoko has an argument with her mom and runs away to O-chan's, while Sansuke decides to go search for Kayoko's mom.
12. **"The Story of O-chan's Goodbye"** (さよならオーちゃんのまき, March 1963): The other kids learn that O-chan may be moving away, and become upset.

## Reprints

* Akebono: Chapters of the series are reprinted as extra content in "Otasuke-kun" vol.6 for the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" imprint. This release is out-of-print, and the chapters are presented out of their correct order. A few of the frontispiece illustrations are also missing for the stories.
* Shogakukan: Most of the chapters were carried over to the extras in the DVD-ROM version of Otasuke-kun, but one ("The Story of O-chan and Pell") can instead be found in the "1960s" DVD-ROM book instead.

The series has yet to receive a full reprint of its own or any digital release via eBookJapan.

## External Links

* O-chan's Eleven Friends write-up at the Akatsuka Preservation Society (Japanese)