Kantaro

**Kantaro** (カン太郎), created by Fujio Akatsuka, is a character originating from the gag manga Nama-chan and later receiving his own series in two separate instances.

He is one of the early examples of Akatsuka's Star System, and would be influential in inspiring the initial design of Chibita (if not even actually being him).

## Overview

Kantaro serves as a mischievous, curious and strong young boy of an ambiguously grade school age who gets into all sorts of chaotic gag situations. Kantaro would be introduced in the *Nama-chan* series as a supporting character, being a young son of a *kanbutsu* (dried vegetables) shop owner. He would at times serve as a witness and spy to the rivalry between Nama and the bully Goroshichi, but would also tag along with Nama and Konpe on adventures.

Nama, Goroshichi, and other characters specific to *Nama-chan* do not exist around him in his solo stories, save for his grandfather Kanbe in the first Adventure King spinoff. By the time of his second series, this character can barely be distinguished at all from Chibita visually or in spirit. Kantaro in himself would be an early example of a supporting cast character in an Akatsuka work eventually outshining the actual protagonist (Nama himself).

Kantaro, as well as the eventual character of Chibita, was inspired by a young toddler Akatsuka had encountered during his late childhood in Nara. This child, nicknamed "John-John" by Akatsuka and others, was the son of a carriage driver and was often pushed around and pranked by older children. However, one trait that Akatsuka came to admire and envy within John-John was his resilience and daring attitude.

## Physical Appearance

Much like Chibita, Kantaro is a diminutive bald child with a single hair on his head. Initially, he had a round button nose and no markings on his face and remained with that sort of face through *Nama-chan* to his first series.

After Kenichiro Takai became Akatsuka's assistant and there was an overhaul in how the character was drawn, Kantaro was given an upturned, pointed nose and the same "cheek beard". This revised design of Kantaro can also be seen on the covers of the Kinran *Nama-chan* kashihon volumes, even if he never appears such a way in the actual series.

In Fujio Pro color artwork existing on the original Koredeiinoda site, Kantaro's shirt was colored a golden yellow and the button on it was orange, identical to Chibita's color scheme in the 1988 *Osomatsu-kun* adaptation by Studio Pierrot, while Chibita was given red to wear. It can be figured that as with his successor, there are no truly official colors and that it is up to a colorist's whim.

## Personality

Kantaro is described as quick-witted and with a mighty strength that would put adults to shame. He schemes and easily finds opportunities to make mischief and fun for himself, while making trouble for others. Although he would seem to be more fortunate than Chibita in being shown more often with family, he roams just as freely wherever he pleases.

In his earliest incarnation in *Nama-chan*, Kantaro is often later dragged along on Nama's adventures and can be seen to be a prototype to Chibita in personality. He is an innocent but mischievous kid who looks out for himself, and though bullied and pushed around, will never give up.

## Relationships with Other Characters

Kantaro is occasionally shown to have Hatabō as a friend and sidekick tagging along on adventures, though sometimes he may also be a rival. He is also connected to Iyami at times, with the older man as a rival figure who gets outsmarted by the boy.

In *Nama-chan*, he tags along with Nama and Konpe, but can be seen as a solitary character as well. He lives with his father, who resembles a taller version of him with facial hair. As with Chibita and as previously mentioned, this family setting becomes discarded and becomes dependent on a story in his own title.

## History

### "Kantaro" series

Kantaro would find himself with his own title by 1961, with Akatsuka launching it in the May issue of Akita Shoten's Adventure King magazine as a short feature lasting five months. After this time, *Osomatsu-kun* debuted in April 1962 and Chibita had appeared, initially with Kantaro's very design. It may have even been intended that Kantaro was cast in this new role for the series, as *Nama-chan* wrapped up around the same time (with Manga King's May issue released then).

By 1963, while -kun was popular, Chibita's design had been tweaked and was starting to become established. *Kantaro* would then be revived in the form of one-shots for August and October in Shueisha's Shonen Book, with Kantaro now having the new look transferred back to him. One setting in -kun also had Chibita named "Kan-chan" before the tankobon removed the references and replaced them with "Chibita", indicating that there was a possibility of these two being the exact same character after all.

A full revival of the *Kantaro* series would run in Shonen Book from January 1964 to April 1965, with familiar characters from Akatsuka's other titles (notably *Osomatsu-kun* and *Otasuke-kun*) acting in guest roles. During this period, the feature would seem to have been somewhat of a stealth try-out for a series to be titled after "Chibita". This proved successful, as the end quickly made way for the successor series *Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything* to start up.

The chapters originally published under the second run of *Kantaro* would subsequently be re-titled and re-branded in 1966 to be "Chibita-kun" for their tankobon release, and it is only in recent times that Fujio Pro wishes to differentiate that series from Chibita's features.

## Appearances in other works

*See also: Akatsuka's Star System*

* *Matsuge-chan* (as "Ken-chan")
* *Happy-chan* (as the young boy "Yo-chan")
* *Sudara-ojisan* (as a baby in a punchline)

## Trivia

* Some of Kantaro's adventures in his second series are better known through their adaptations as Chibita-centric stories in the 1966 Osomatsu-kun anime. Nine chapters were adapted as such, and some were entirely restructured to feature the rest of the -kun cast added into the plots. This is most evident with the stories "It's the Speed-Crazy Kantaro" and "Kantaro in the Stone Age", which became the skits "First Class Car Race Jo~" and "Dekapan Olympics".
* While his early design can be considered visually distinct enough from the design better known as Chibita's, there are some Nama-chan chapters (possibly reprinted out of order) where he is drawn a little closer to the "Kantaro"/"Chibita" design that would be popularized by Takai and further artists. This appeared to be the job of one of Akatsuka's assistants at the time, likely his wife Tomoko or that of Takao Yokoyama.

## External Links

* Kantaro (Nama-chan) profile at Koredeiinoda
* Kantaro (Shonen Book ver.) profile at Koredeiinoda. Design is erroneously attributed to the 1961 "Kantaro" feature in Adventure King.