Noragaki (series)

The cover of the first volume by Ebookjapan.

**Noragaki** ( のらガキ *Noragaki*, lit: "Nobody's Brat"/"Stray Brat") is a gag manga by Fujio Akatsuka, serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday through 1975 to 1976.

## Overview

Compared to its predecessor of Boy Friday, *Noragaki* is a sometimes chaotic, sometimes warm humanity tale about an abandoned young boy raised by cats. No matter how much adversity Noragaki might face, his strong will keeps him from backing down.

The title was previewed during what would be the last stages of *Boy Friday*, appearing in the #3-4 merger issue for 1975 as a 32-page pilot chapter. Noragaki then hijacked the title on three separate but close instances afterwards (#5 and #6 for "Boy Friday Continues", and #8 with "Boy Friday + Noragaki"), granting viewers more of a look at his life and story; at the time initially declaring himself to be "The New Boy Friday" and claiming Boss and Friday to have died.

Soon after with issue #12, the *Boy Friday* title was extinct and replaced with *Noragaki.* Though Bakame carried over from the previous series, as he had in the "Boy Friday Continues"/"Boy Friday + Noragaki" stories, the title itself has no connection to it and freely ignores the past to set up its own story.

## Characters

### Noragaki

A young, raggedy child who was abandoned by his mother on a snowy day. Since then, he was adopted by a stray cat who treated him as her own son.

In "Boy Friday Continues", he is first referred to as "Friday" but eventually gives up the charade in "Boy Friday + Noragaki", declaring to Bakame ***"I'm not Friday!"*** and returning home to his cat family, only to be scolded by his Mom for having left in the first place.

### Mom (Oryu)

An old talking cat who acts as Noragaki's mother, holding a more genuine love and care for him than his own birth mother ever had. Because of her age, she can be somewhat vulnerable and have poor eyesight. She was originally a tough lady gambler with a dragon tattoo on her back, even in being a cat, but quit her illegal occupation to reform and be a parent to Noragaki.

Her design was slightly different in the pilot chapter, where she also referred to her son as "Tama" (while he received the "Noragaki" nickname and insult from Diamonro's father, and then from Diamonro himself).

### Grandpa

A grumpy old cat with a beard that existed in the pilot chapter, who scolded Noragaki for his reckless behavior. He and Mom, together with Noragaki, are shown to attack the Police Officer with the Connected Eyes to defend their territory.

At the end of the original pilot, Grandpa, Mom, Noragaki, Diamonro, and another cat set off on an adventure through the desert. This cat did not carry forth to the "Boy Friday Continues" and "Boy Friday + Noragaki" stories, and was not retained for the series proper.

### Papa and Siblings

An additional four cats that appeared in the "Boy Friday + Noragaki" story but did not carry forth to being recurring cast for the actual *Noragaki* series. The father figure has eyes and forehead wrinkles much like Bakabon's Papa, while the three kittens consist of two brothers and a sister for Noragaki.

Bakame becomes jealous when seeing Noragaki enjoying his time with his siblings in the plot, still feeling close to him from when he was his "Friday", but the cats trick him into counting while they go "hide", leaving Bakame to still be counting by the end of the plot.

### Diamonro

A spoiled but lonely young rich boy who longs for a mother and affection. His values and upbringing are brought into question and he comes to sympathize with Noragaki and his mother after meeting them, becoming a good friend to our protagonist.

His design is somewhat re-used from Camera Kid in The Genius Bakabon, down to him repeating the "Kurukuru!" spinning gag in a chapter.

### Diamonro's Father

A man who uses money and gifts in place of actual love and care for his son, though this is also out of his own lack of intelligence. His own values can be unstable, however, and he starts to recognize his son more.

### Unanbo

Though seemingly an ordinary eel, this creature turns out to be excellent at handling a gun and takes on the role of a policeman. However, he is also at odds with a certain officer he shares the very eyes of, who would like to eat him if they so got the chance.

### Bakame

The shell-less turtle from Boy Friday, who was imported into this title and settings and who tags along with Noragaki and Diamondro.

## Serialization

* Weekly Shonen Sunday: 1975 #3-4 merger issue (pilot chapter), #5 and #6 ("Boy Friday Continues"), #8 ("Boy Friday + Noragaki"), #12- 1976 #25. Also present in a special issue for June 20, 1975.

Original tankobon reprints excluded the "Boy Friday"-labeled chapters, while eBookJapan opts to count them as part of Boy Friday (as they technically ran under its name anyway).

## Reprints

* Shogakukan: 5 volumes were printed in the "Shogakukan Sunday Comics" line, with significant revisions and some dialogue changes made. These volumes were later reprinted in a digital format as part of the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM set in 2002. The pilot chapter appears in the "1970s" DVD-ROM book, while the chapters serialized as "Boy Friday Continues"/"Boy Friday + Noragaki" are put into their own DVD-ROM book.
* eBookJapan: The same volumes used above were sourced for a 4-volume eBook collection of the series.

## External Links

* Buy and read Noragaki at eBookJapan
* Noragaki page at Koredeiinoda (Japanese)