Jajako-chan

Cover to the Akebono kashihon edition.

**Jajako-chan** (ジャジャ子ちゃん) is a gag work by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, aimed at young girls. It ran in Shojo Friend as a weekly serial through 1965 to 1966, with a revival through 1967.

## Overview

Like the later Hennako-chan, this feature revolves around a young girl named Jajako who gets up to mischief and outwits others who displease her. The stories are short and simple in being 2 pages long, and sometimes contain cameos of other Akatsuka characters.

Although Okazu-chan had a mischievous protagonist, Jajako would be Akatsuka's first heroine which would venture into darker comedy in her exploits. As a character that would be a naughty child retaliating against unreasonable demands and showing that Akatsuka's female characters could be as chaotic as his male ones like Chibita, her series was popular enough to receive a second run.

Jajako would be revisited once more in the 1970s for Shogakukan's Elementary School 5th Grade magazine, with some changes to her character design. However, usage of the character beyond this one-shot reverted to her classic look.

Jajako's *Shojo Friend* series was initially succeeded by Tecchan is Back to Fighting, and then Hippie-chan.

## Characters

There are not many recurring characters in the series, due to its gag-a-week nature.

### Jajako

The protagonist. She finds herself stifled or pushed around by adults and other peers, which can lead to her getting revenge on them or finding ways to have her fun. She likes frogs.

Jajako has a habit of showing up in other Akatsuka series as part of his Star System, most notably popping up in Osomatsu-kun. Her design was also duplicated for Nanako in You Love Me-kun, who appears to have been intended to be Jajako under another role until Fujio Pro opted to consider them separate entities in recent years.

### Jajako's Parents

Her mother is often seen more, and is left helpless to her daughter's antics. Her father appears in one strip as well, and seems to be a salaryman.

### Hennako

From the 1967 version of Hennako-chan. She becomes Jajako's rival towards the end of the second Shojo Friend run, and is a formidable opponent. There is some degree of difference in her character design when compared to her own series.

## Serialization

*See List of chapters in Jajako-chan for more information*

The series originally ran in Shojo Friend from June 22, 1965 (#25) to July 5, 1966 (#27). It would disappear from the pages until a revival on March 28, 1967 in issue #13, running until #44. All in all, there were 87 chapters produced. The final five chapters of the series featured a bit of crossover, with Hennako showing up to challenge Jajako and make trouble for her.

In November 1974, the concept was briefly revived in *5th Grade,* as a one-shot revolving around Jajako's first love and her broken heart. This version has yet to be reprinted, outside of its appearance in the Akebono Bunko edition.

## Reprints

* Akebono: "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works", 1 volume (1970). A bunko edition was later released in 1976.
* Shogakukan: The Akebono volume is digitized as part of the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM set, released in 2002. It can also be ordered on-demand (but only for residents of Japan) from Comic Park's site.

## External Links

* Jajako-manga strips for free reading at Koredeiinoda (Japanese)