The Genius Bakabon (1971 anime)

**The Genius Bakabon** (天才バカボン *Tensai Bakabon*)is a 1971 anime adaptation of Fujio Akatsuka's manga.

It was produced by Tokyo Movie and the Yomiuri Television Group, and aired on Nippon Television Network from September 25, 1971 to June 24, 1972 for a total of 40 episodes.

## Overview

*The Genius Bakabon* would be the next program broadcast after Tokyo Movie's adaptation of ***The Star of the Giants*** wrapped up. The final episode of the series depicted the Bakabon family appearing after the credits, in a "baton pass" type of scene depicting the *Giants* cast welcoming the characters' new show.

As the Bakabon adaptation was sponsored by Otsuka Pharmaceutical and there was pressure from the Japanese PTA to make the series more child-friendly and softer, many violent expressions and radical scenes from the original manga were removed or toned down.

Bakabon's Papa was also given a regular job as a hedge-trimmer, as Otsuka Pharmaceutical did not like the idea of him being unemployed. This modification had greatly frustrated Akatsuka, who was insistent that Papa should remain without a job and as a wanderer; while the idea of Papa being a gardener in itself wasn't necessarily offensive to Akatsuka, it was more of the idea that he'd willingly have a job and work rather than it being a free-nature act.

Bakabon was given more of a role himself as well, with his school life often depicted and new characters created for the show such as his teacher and his rival Nakamura. Sakura fromKikanpo Gen-chan, who appeared once in a cameo in the manga, was given a larger role as Bakabon's girlfriend. While the Police Officer with the Connected Eyes appeared in the show, the decision was made to alter the design to give separated eyes.

All episodes except the final one consist of two 11-minute shorts each. The series mostly sources from the Weekly Shonen Magazine run, along with some stories from Weekly Shonen Sunday.

## Staff

* Director- Sōji Yoshikawa (ep.1-22), Hiroshi Saito, Eji Okabe (33-40)
* Screenplay- Hideko Yoshida, Keisuke Fujikawa, Ken'ya Oda, Masaki Tsuji, Mon Shichijō, Shun'ichi Yukimuro, Yoshiaki Yoshida
* Animation Direction- Tsutomu Shibayama
* Art Direction- Jin Kageyama
* Music- Takeo Watanabe
* Production Cooperation- A Production, Toyo Workshop
* Production- Yomiuri Television, Tokyo Movie

### Voice Cast

* Bakabon's Papa- Masashi Amenomori
* Bakabon- Keiko Yamamoto
* Bakabon's Mama- Eiko Masuyama, Haruko Kitahama (uncredited understudy, episode 35 skit B)
* Hajime- Takako Sasuga
* Police Officer- Isamu Tanonaka
* Rerere- Ryūji Saikachi
* Nakamura- Kaneta Kimotsuki
* Sakura- Kazuko Sawada

## Theme Song

**"The Genius Bakabon"** (天才バカボン)

Lyrics- Tokyo Movie Planning Department/ Composer- Takeo Watanabe/Singers- Idol Four (Teichiku Records)

This song became widely popular, to the point where many cover versions were made in the ensuing decades afterwards. It was played at Akatsuka's funeral in 2008, and covers have appeared in the Genius Bakavon film as well as the live drama.

### Lyrics

* English
* Kana&Kanji
* Romanji

None

西から昇ったお日様が　東へ沈む

「あっ、たいへん！」

これでいいのだ

これでいいのだ

ボン　ボン　バカボン　バカボン　ボン

天才一家だ バーーカボン　ボン

柳の枝に猫がいる　だからネコヤナギ

「えっ、ホント！」

これでいいのだ

これでいいのだ

ボン　ボン　バカボン　バカボン　ボン

天才一家だ バーーカボン　ボン

四たす四は六でもない　八はパーなのだ

「ウワ　カッコイイ」

これでいいのだ

これでいいのだ

ボン　ボン　バカボン　バカボン　ボン

天才一家だ バーーカボン　ボン

崖から落ちてケガをした　だからガケなのだ

「ウッ　カッコワルイ」

これでいいのだ

これでいいのだ

ボン　ボン　バカボン　バカボン　ボン

天才一家だ バーーカボン　ボン

赤がスタート黄でダッシュ　それで事故なのだ

「キャー　アブナイ」

これでいいのだ

これでいいのだ

ボン　ボン　バカボン　バカボン　ボン

天才一家だ バーーカボン　ボン

バカでなくてもバカなのだ　それが天才だ

「ヘッ　ムツカシイナァ！」

これでいいのだ

これでいいのだ

ボン　ボン　バカボン　バカボン　ボン

天才一家だ バーーカボン　ボン

None.

## Episode List

1. バカボン一家だコニャニャチハ/赤ちゃんはホンモノがいいのだ
2. モシモシ早く生まれておいでね/コニャニャチハ赤ちゃん
3. 赤ちゃんはハジメちゃんなのだ/ハジメちゃんがはじめてしゃべったのだ
4. 天才児はハジメちゃんなのだ/ハジメちゃんの中継は中止なのだ
5. 免許証なんか知ってたまるか/バカボンのロボットいい研究ね
6. アラジンのランプは大男なのだ/パパのむすこはダレなのだ
7. 都の西北ワセダのとなり/モシモシお月さんコンバンハ
8. パパの警官ゴクローサン/アッホヤッホー山へいこう
9. カネのなる木はいかがかね/ごちそうはレバニライタメなのだ
10. バカは日本製がいいのだ/俳句で電報うったのだ
11. ヤットコはこわいのだ/きょうはだいじな日なのだ
12. 物置きみたいな人なのだ/いぬがパパでねこがバカボンなのだ
13. クリスマスはクルシミマスなのだ/おかしなふしぎなチャペルなのだ
14. ソウジキはベンリなのだ/もちつきはドロボーがうまいのだ
15. お年玉はイタイ! のだ/たこあげはタコにかぎるのだ
16. 服をきていると死刑なのだ/スキーがなくてもヤッホーなのだ
17. 夜まわりはこわいのだ/殿さまはクルシイのだ
18. バカボンとパパの旅ガラスなのだ/ガッコウの先生がせめてくる
19. パパは会社でコニャニャチハ/クツミガキはこどもがいいのだ
20. 運動会はパパにまかせろ/バカボンの学芸会なのだ
21. けんかに勝つのはむづかしいのだ/パパの10万円は夢なのだ
22. 怪獣の木がテレビに出たのだ/ガードマンはお化けなのだ
23. それでもパパはヒイキするのだ/バカボンのひなまつりなのだ
24. バカボンのクラス委員せんきょなのだ/ナポレオンはぐっすり眠るのだ
25. パパはモーレツ記者なのだ/バカボンの旅行はハワイなのだ
26. バカボンとハジメは兄弟なのだ/パパは男のなかの男なのだ
27. バカボンが初恋をしたのだ/チョキンチョキンともうけるのだ
28. 父親参観日はつらいのだ/押花をつくると先生が困るのだ
29. パパがテレビで歌うのだ/別れはつらいものなのだ
30. 親切にするとパトカーに乗れるのだ/バカボンが誘拐されたのだ
31. おまわりさんは清く正しくつらいのだ/バカボンの親切にしまショウなのだ
32. バカボンのひとりたびなのだ/ふとらないと犯人になれないのだ
33. ジャーン! バカボンのくびがないのだ/パパの巣箱は大きいのだ
34. バカボンの結婚式なのだ/パパはこうして植木屋になったのだ
35. 魚をつると密輸犯人にされるのだ/パパとママがケンカをしたのだ
36. パパは真面目が欠点なのだ/パパは運転の名人なのだ
37. 時の記念日はねむいのだ/パパはゴルフでカッコいいのだ
38. パパがヘンシーンと変身したのだ/パパのデベソは100円玉なのだ
39. パパが二人になったのだ/パパはサーカスのスターなのだ
40. バカボン一家がサヨウナラ

## Overseas Broadcast and Adaptations

### "Meet the Boneheads"

TMS Entertainment attempted to market the series (as well as The Original Genius Bakabon) internationally under this title as a combined license, as well as a few of their other series under localized names.

A pilot may have been produced by Ocean Studios in the same time-frame as the other attempts. However, if it was produced, it has never been screened.

TMS' International catalog still lists their Bakabon adaptations under this title, and showcases the names that were given to the characters.

Bakabon's Papa was named **Bill Bonehead**, Bakabon was **Bobby**, Mama was **Barbara**, and Hajime was named as **Bo**. Other character name changes and further details are unknown, besides TMS seeming to count the first two series as one.

A Malaysian dub of *The Original Genius Bakabon* also uses English opening and ending title screens with the "Meet the Boneheads" logo, although the original Japanese songs are retained.

### India

A Hindi dub of the series commenced broadcast on Hungama TV in 2007.

Unlike earlier dubs that utilized the opening and ending materials from TMS, this one includes an English "Ganso Tensai Bakabon" logo (still indicating it of the same source possibly used for the "Boneheads" pilot master).

## References

1. ↑ http://www.tms-e.co.jp/english/search/introduction.php?pdt\_no=272 TMS International's entry for "Meet the Boneheads"
2. ↑ http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k7/aug/aug85.php Press Release by Hungama TV

## External Links

* TMS Catalog entry for series (Japanese)