Nyarome

**Nyarome** (ニャロメ), created by Fujio Akatsuka, is a prominent character in the later portion of the Extraordinary Ataro manga and part of Akatsuka's Star System.

His increasing role in the series lead to a spike in its popularity and the "Nyarome boom", although this would be all too temporary as the series would eventually be ended by order of Akatsuka's editor and Toei in favor of another series (in hopes to emulate the success).

## Overview

The inspiration for Nyarome came from Akatsuka's youth, when he and a friend named Okumura found a stray cat and decided to tie it to a rock, throwing it into a pond. Days later, Akatsuka would see that the cat had seemingly escaped from its likely predicament when he saw it in a field.

In thinking back to the animal, Akatsuka recognized it as something that knew no fear and that hadn't given up in its escape, so he and his friends came to view it with respect. This formed the basis for an initial obnoxious cat character, but one that would become synonymous with being a stubborn fighter. This motif, combined with a suggestion of a "Puss in Boots" figure at an idea meeting, formed the basis for the bipedal version of Nyarome that would be better known than the initial kitten he was seen as early on.

As with Iyami becoming more of the favored character in Osomatsu-kun, and Bakabon's Papa becoming the star of The Genius Bakabon, Nyarome would serve in that purpose for the late remainder of *Ataro*.

## Physical Appearance

Nyarome is a slender, bipedal cat with long, triangular ears. He has a large mouth, which also tends to hang open in a triangular way. In his earliest appearances, he walks on all fours and has a much smaller mouth and eyes.

He is usually colored orange, however he can also appear a bright red, yellow, or pink in color artwork at Akatsuka or any other artist's whim. Anime adaptations tend to have him colored either in the orange or bright red options.

In earlier appearances, Nyarome walks on all fours and has a rougher design, and is referred to as a "kitten" rather than being seen as a full-grown adult cat of an impressive 28 years old.

## Personality

Although he appears to be just a cat, if one walking on his hind legs and being to speak, Nyarome considers himself a "Nyangen" (nyan + ningen/human). He hates to be treated as an animal, and sees himself as being on the level of people around him.

He is a loud, mischievous, and stubborn type who likes to cause some trouble, but a simple-minded, kind gentle side can also be seen at other times. His intelligence is superior to the ordinary cats in town, but cannot measure up to that of humans; though he knows the four arithmetic operations, his intellect is more at the level of a kindergartner and he only knows the three hiragana of "shi", "no", and "ku".

Nyarome often likes to pursue human women as his potential lovers, crying out for them to marry him.

### Speech

In his early manga appearances, Nyarome could only shout his name, but his speech progressed to where he will end his sentences with that name. His dialect is also a bit distinct, with him pronouncing the word "Guardman" as "Gyardman" and other mutations on words ("shiawase"; "happiness" being "shyawase", and "kawaii"/"cute" being "kyawaii").

## Appearances in other works

*See also: Akatsuka's Star System*

* *The Genius Bakabon*
* *The Genius Bakabon's Old Man*
* *Osomatsu-kun*
* *The Flower of Dekoppachi*
* *Harenchi Masterpiece Series*
* *Gag + Gag*
* *Bukkare\*Dan*
* *The Popular Family*
* *Inspector Oni*
* *Mad Dog Trotsky*
* *Bugs*
* *Oh! Great Jailbreak*
* *Introduction to Manga*
* *Nyarome's World Expo Surprise Surprise Surprise Guide*
* *Cat's Eye News*
* *Let's La Gon*
* *Gag Guerrilla*
* *Nyarome*
* *The Great Stupid Detective Kogoro Hakuchi*
* *Bakumatsu Rare Dog Group*
* *Unkor Wat*
* *Song and Gag Theatre*
* *King of Gags*
* *Wanpei and Mo-chan*
* *Croquette-kun*
* *Kensaku the Architect*
* *Nyan Nyan Nyanda*
* *Waru Waru World*
* *Noragaki*
* *Gag Land*
* *Wonderful Fool*
* *Nyarome's Laboratory*
* *The Mean Old Man*
* *The Flower of Kikuchiyo*
* *Nyarome's Fun Classroom* book series and *Studies* spinoffs
* *Chibita and Nyarome and Akko-chan*
* *What Will Fujio Akatsuka Do!?*
* *Comedy is Coming Now*
* *Fujio Akatsuka's Literary Walk*
* *This Week's Awful Person*
* *Basho Matsuo*
* *Reading Dai-sensei*
* *Yarasete-ojisan*
* *Ramen Great Escape*
* *Sheeh! Comeback*
* *Greatest in Japan, Putaro's Family*
* *Gag Shop*
* *Songo-kun* (BomBom remake)
* *Collapse of the Sheeh! Religion*
* *Fujio Akatsuka's Animal Land*

## Appearances in Animation

### We are Manga-ka: The Tokiwa-so Story

Nyarome is shown to get into Akatsuka's ink and spill it, before yelling at him and leaving. He is later shown among other Akatsuka characters at the end.

### Osomatsu-kun (1988)

Nyarome is relegated to being a form of exposition in this series, often providing loud commentary or just screaming out what location the viewers are currently witnessing. This yelling once gets him beat up by Osomatsu and Choromatsu in episode 40, when they are attempting to make sure Dekapan's cranky son stays asleep.

### Furious Ataro (1990)

Nyarome appears in various adaptations of original Ataro plots, but has been modernized for the 1990s and makes his debut bothering Ataro and Batsugoro at the hot springs with his attempt at being a rock star. He is also shown to live out of an abandoned tour bus with Kemunpas and Beshi.

## Portrayals

### Voice Acting

* Furious Ataro (1969), We are Manga-ka: The Tokiwa-so Story, "Nyarome 2008" short, DVD commercial- Hiroshi Otake
* The Original Genius Bakabon- Kenichi Ogata
* Hitachin Television City: Nyarome's Fun Mathematics Classroom- Ikkei Kojima
* Osomatsu-kun (1988)- Shigeru Chiba
* Furious Ataro (1990)- Akira Kamiya
* Animation Weekly DX! Mi-Fan-Pu- Tomohiro Nishimura
* That's How Things Should Be!! Fujio Akatsuka★The Movie- Tadanobu Asano

Prior to Otake being established as the character's actor in the first Ataro series, Nyarome was voiced by Isamu Tanonaka in his earliest sighting.

## External Links

* Nyarome profile at Koredeiinoda (Japanese)