The Opposites at Address 3

Frontispiece featuring the cast.

**The Opposites at Address 3** (あべこべ3番地) was a short-lived shojo manga by Fujio Akatsuka and Studio Zero, serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Margaret magazine through late 1964.

## Overview

Sacchan and her father strive to live out their lives happily at home, helping and living peacefully alongside their neighbors who happen to be a single mother taxi driver and her own young son Takeshi.

The series was a collaborative effort between Akatsuka and other artists, most frequently Jiro Tsunoda; Takeshi's mother in particular is evident of Tsunoda's touch while Sacchan herself is in the model of heroines like Akko-chan, and her father and brother also bear the Akatsuka/Fujio Pro touch. In keeping Tomoko Akatsuka's heroine hair and outfit concepts in mind, it is also likely that she had input in the development of Sacchan. Tokuo Yokota also provided minor character designs.

There is not really a prominent Star System presence in this title, other than Iyami making appearances in early chapters and Chibita and Hatabo in "An Abandoned Child". Sacchan herself would have her design re-purposed for the sister in Ken-chan and as a maid guest character in *Akko-chan*.

The credit for Studio Zero does not exist in the reprints for the DVD-ROM set, and some frontispieces are edited and re-arranged to remove such things.

## Characters

### Sacchan

(サッちゃん)

A young girl who is good at cooking and other home tasks to keep up the house and to fill the void of not having a mother around. She acts as an older sister figure to Take-chan and helps him out when he's in need.

### Sacchan's Papa

A simple cosmetics salesman who tries to go about his busy life at his job. However, he is also one to help cook and put on an apron to serve tea.

### Takeshi, "Take-chan"

(タケシ)

A mischievous young boy who can easily get into a mess due to his impulsivity, such as wrecking his mother's taxi when deciding to drive it, but is also resourceful when it comes to tracking shady criminals.

He relies on Sacchan's father as something like his own due to his own lack of such a figure in his life.

### Takeshi's Mama

A taxi driver in the town, very helpful yet also strict when it comes to her son or anyone else giving her reason to show her anger and strength.

## Serialization

The series ran through these chapters in Margaret:

1. **"The Opposites at Address 3"** (あべこべ3番地, #42)
2. (#43)- *unreprinted*
3. **"The Feud"** (いがみあい, #44-45 merger issue)
4. **"Marriage Interview"** (見合い, #46)
5. **"Capture that Thief"** (どろぼうを捕まえろ, #47)
6. **"Takeshi's Rebellion"** (タケシの反抗, #48)
7. **"An Abandoned Child"** (捨て子とノラ #49)
8. (#50-51 merger)- *unreprinted*

Any chapter titles, like most Akatsuka series, were added in the reprint; the original magazines only listed each story with the labeling of "rensai (story) 1", "2", and so on.

## Reprints

The manga never saw reprint until six chapters were digitized as part of the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set in 2002, and a print-on-demand version has been available for Japanese residents as part of the ComicPark service since 2006.

"An Abandoned Child" has also been reprinted as part of the "Tearful Akatsuka" anthology, but other than this there has yet to ever be another full current reprint of the work in either print or digital format that can be easily bought by all readers.

## External Links

* The Opposites at Address 3 at the Fujio Akatsuka Preservation Society (Japanese)