Itaike-kun

Fujio and Mayu, from the frontispiece for the 1978 version.

**Itaike-kun** (いたいけ君) is the title of two gag one-shots by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, that were the last works of his serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday in 1977 and 1978.

The two are loosely related in that the 1978 version is a heavily revised, new take on the story concept of the first. Both are covered and compared within this article.

## Overview

A young man longs for a beautiful classmate, but doesn't have the confidence or nerve that other guys around him have to come on strong with his feelings. After all, he's simply too "itaike" (innocent/helpless).

The shojo manga designs in both versions are noticeable for standing out against traditional Akatsuka characters; the Fujio Pro assistant Hiroshi Nagaoka is believed to have been responsible for them as he was often utilized in this capacity before and had an identical style for women. He is also known to have been at the company until the end of the 1970s, upon which he departed and became an assistant for Kenichi Kitami (who had also gone independent).

## Characters (1977)

### Fujio Itai

(板井フジオ)

A second-year junior high school student who's admired the beautiful Yasuko from afar. One day, he manages to give her a love letter and fantasizes over how their relationship will unfold, but then becomes uncertain and nervous if the reality would be the same.

He becomes angered at seeing a more popular delinquent guy in his class get all the attention from the girls and declares that he must find out what Yasuko thought of his letter, but becomes flustered and shy when trying to pursue her for any answer.

### Yasuko Kasai

(笠井ヤス子)

Fujio's classmate, a tall and pretty girl that looks like she stepped right out of a shojo manga (in comparison to the more gag protagonist-styled Fujio). She is polite and kind, but he wonders what he truly is in her eyes.

After he sees her at the bar dating the delinquent classmate and then sees other signs of her leading a secret life more complex than he'd ever predicted, Fujio silently gives up on his feelings, deciding she's far out of his league and that he's still so helpless.

### Fujio's Older Sister

A tall, curly-haired young woman also in that more shojo manga-esque style. She knows of his feelings for Yasuko, but believes he won't have a chance unless he acts forceful and delivers on his true feelings.

### Fujio's Mother

A short, round woman in the more Akatsuka gag style. She breaks up the ridiculousness between her two children, and remarks over her son's behavior as a teenager.

### Delinquent Classmate

A sly-looking, slanted-eye young man with a single bucktooth who has no trouble attracting the attention of all the girls, to Fujio's aggravation. Yet even so, he is the one that gets to have that chance to go out with Yasuko.

## Characters (1978)

### Fujio Itaike

(板池フジオ)

A university student who's shy and awkward. He can go as far as to converse with a girl, but become flustered and uncertain over what exactly to do or if to act on his greater thoughts. After Mayu agrees to come over to his house, he's ecstatic but still a nervous wreck lost more in his fantasies than reality. Once seeing that Mayu seems to like Kazuyoshi more, he tearfully throws out his writing pen, realizing he's unable to reach their level.

This Fujio is designed in a less conventional gag manga style compared to the original, being taller and with small dot eyes.

### Mayu Okazaki

(岡崎麻由)

The classmate of Fujio. She is friendly with him and the two bond over common interests, to where she comes over to his house to listen to records and enjoy herself. However, even if he believes they'd seem rather close, it turns out he has an inability to impress her in the way she'd truly want.

As with her predecessor Yasuko, she is in a more shojo-esque style, though the disparity between her and Fujio isn't as jarring as before.

### Kazuyoshi

(一義)

An acquaintance of Fujio, who later appears at what Fujio believes is his and Mayu's chance at a date. Despite his louder, pushy behavior, he manages to successfully entertain and woo Mayu, causing Fujio to lose out on his idea of becoming her boyfriend.

## Serialization

* 1977 version: Weekly Shonen Sunday #50
* 1978 version: Weekly Shonen Sunday #23

The original frontispiece for the 1977 one-shot was not carried forth to reprints, where instead a new illustration is used to introduce the story.

However, due to the presence and influence of the 1978 version at the time, Fujio is shown to wear an outfit similar to his later counterpart, and Yasuko looks more like Mayu than anything like how she should look in the actual plot.

## Reprints

* Futabasha: The 1977 version is reprinted as extra content in the Power Comics tankobon edition of "Wonderful Fool"
* Shogakukan: The "Wonderful Fool" volume was digitized as part of the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set, while the 1978 version of Itaike-kun can also be seen in the "1970s" volume of miscellaneous one-shots and series samples. Print-on-demand versions of these volumes were made available through ComicPark.