Unagi-Inu

**Unagi-Inu** (ウナギイヌ), "Eel-Dog", is a character appearing in The Genius Bakabon and as part of

## Unagi-Inu

### Age

Unknown

Akatsuka's Star System.

As his name suggests, he is a crossbreed between a dog and an eel.

## Overview

Unagi-Inu was created as the result of a heat-filled idea meeting at Fujio Pro, after the air conditioner in the room broke down. Akatsuka began to have ideas about an eel shop for the next Bakabon story, out of hunger and delirium.

There are two different stories that unfold from there, claiming to be the true origin behind the character's inspiration.

In the first, told by Kunio Nagatani, the Weekly Shonen Magazine editor Takao Igarashi tried to come up with a relevant plot idea involving such an eel shop, figuring that The Police Officer with the Connected Eyes would be suffering from heatstroke and craving to eat eel. Nagatani then pitched in the idea that the officer would hallucinate a nearby dog as the eel, and jump at it to try and eat it. Akatsuka then drew sketches, wondering if it would be funny if there were an animal that would be a combination of a dog and an eel. After seeing the design, Mitsutoshi Furuya liked the idea of the character, and Unagi-Inu was born. Igarashi was able to quickly receive the story of Unagi-Inu from the exhausted Akatsuka.

Igarashi's own telling differs; he claims that after he confronted Akatsuka about the idea of the eel shop, Akatsuka motioned for Igarashi to look outside, commenting "That dog looks like an eel!". Unagi-Inu was born from that exchange, as the idea of an eel-dog combination was too strong for Akatsuka to forget and he drew down such a figure.

## Physical Appearance

He is a long, slender animal with an eel-like body and tail, as well as a dog-like head and legs. He is black with a white underbelly, with white or blue tail fins, and large pink lips.

Because Unagi-Inu's pitch-black coloration and large lips can get him assumed to be a blackface caricature, there are some cases where merchandise may put him as a different color. The 1975 Original Genius Bakabon anime also depicted him a bright blue, in order to save on black ink and to have his features be distinguishable.

## Personality

Unagi-Inu is a polite, laid-back eel-dog who will often use honorifics in his speech and bark a "Wan wan!" at the end of his sentences. Because he is part eel and incredibly delicious to those who love eel meat, he must dodge being eaten by The Police Officer with the Connected Eyes and anybody else who may crave him.

When not actively in a role, he can be seen to introduce stories or go about town to witness and comment on whatever goes on. This leads to him having a lot more of a tsukkomi/"straight man" role in the Late Night! anime adaptation.

## Relationships with Other Characters

### The Police Officer with the Connected Eyes

This officer loves the taste of eel and craves the chance to eat it, but is unsuccessful in any pursuit of Unagi-Inu, who will give trouble in turn.

### Mother

An ordinary eel. She lives in the wet portion of their home designed for her needs. By the time of the Late Night! anime's settings, she has been deceased for 17 years and it is learned she had cheated on her dog husband with others. This resulted in various other siblings for Unagi-Inu.

### Father

An ordinary dog. According to the "Unagi-Inu Family Tree" article in Weekly Shonen Magazine #51 for 1972, he once had an affair with a Dog of Night.

### Unagi-Inue

An older sister of Unagi-Inu, apocryphally mentioned in the "Unagi-Inu Family Tree" article. She works as a POLA Cosmetics saleswoman. She married a frog named Korgenkowa, and they have a daughter named Unakowa. Korgenkowa also happens to be the son of Beshi, providing a link to his family tree.

### Unagi-Inuko

A younger sister of Unagi-Inu, apocryphally mentioned in the same family tree article. She works as a nurse.

### White Unagi-Inu

A pure white member of an identical species, introduced in the Rerere anime and used further in the pachinko games. Her predecessor in a sense was a female Unagi-Inu that had appeared briefly in the Heisei anime.

### Daughter

In the Late Night! anime, Unagi-Inu is revealed to have a daughter who wants to marry a human man. It is possible, though not confirmed, that her mother may be the Unagi-Inu specimen above.

### Son (Inu-Unagi)

One gag setting in the Let's La Gon manga once has Unagi-Inu showing off his son, who is a reverse of his usual appearance.

## History

Unagi-Inu was initially a speechless one-shot character in his first appearance, where he was grilled and eaten by Papa and the rest of the family in the punchline. Due to his unique design and unexpected popularity, Akatsuka would bring the creature back to use for more settings. In fact, Unagi-Inu comes to expect that he may be eaten and will try what he can to avoid that.

He will often dispense advice to others, or hurry away from the sight of dangers in the town.

## Appearances in other works

*See also: Akatsuka's Star System*

* *Osomatsu-kun*
* *Wanpei and Mo-chan*
* *Let's La Gon*
* *Bugs*
* *Gang Girl Keroko*
* *Bakumatsu Rare Dog Group*
* *Unkor Wat*
* *The Great Stupid Detective Kogoro Hakuchi*
* *Kensaku the Architect*
* *Song and Gag Theatre*
* *Gag Land*
* *Graphic Novel Poems*
* *The End of Unagi-Inu*
* *Wonderful Fool*
* *Run Away Run Away*
* *Nyarome's Fun Mathematics Classroom*
* *Nyarome's Fun Cosmology Classroom*
* *Nyarome's Fun Biology Classroom*
* *Nyarome's Fun Computer Exploration*
* *Nyarome's Fun Exploration of the Body's Mysteries*
* *Nyarome's Fun Sexual Education Classroom*
* *Nyarome's Big Blood Type Studies*
* *What Will Fujio Akatsuka Do!?*
* *Comedy is Coming Now*
* *Basho Matsuo*
* *Sheeh! Comeback*
* *Japan Laughter Story*
* *Yarasete-ojisan*
* *Greatest in Japan, Putaro's Family*
* *Songo-kun* (BomBom remake)
* *The Cat House Owner*
* *Collapse of the Sheeh! Religion*
* *Fujio Akatsuka's Animal Land*

## Appearances in Animation

### The Original Genius Bakabon

Unagi-Inu makes his animated debut in this series, having been missing from the 1971 anime due to it falling before he was created for the manga. His memorable first story is toned down some to have the plot not end in his death from cooking, but to instead show that he survived with only his head intact on a skeletal body.

### Osomatsu-kun (1988)

Unagi-Inu only appears once in an impact frame. But interestingly, model sheets and early merchandise for the anime imply that he was originally going to have more of a role.

### Heisei Genius Bakabon

Unagi-Inu first appears in episode 8A where Honkan tried to catch and eat him. He later appears in 8B where his family is introduced.
After episode 8, he appears a lot less, reduced to background roles.

### Rerere's Genius Bakabon

Unagi-Inu first appears in episode 1 and appears in later episodes as a background character. He gets his own spotlight story in Episode 4A. He also appears in the pre-episode warnings where he tells the viewer to watch the anime in a well lit room and far away from the TV.

Furthermore, he was given a love interest in the form of an unnamed white female eel-dog.

## Portrayals

### Voice Acting

* Original Genius Bakabon- Michihiro Ikemizu
* Heisei Genius Bakabon, pachinko games- Aruno Tahara
* Rerere's Genius Bakabon- Kozo Shioya
* That's How Things Should Be!! Fujio Akatsuka★The Movie- Hirofumi Arai
* The Genius Bakavon: ~Reviving the Dog of Flanders~- Honoka Akimoto
* Late Night! Genius Bakabon- Takahiro Sakurai

### Live Action

Unagi-Inu appeared in a CGI form in the second Nippon Television Bakabon special, but was not given any voice.

## External Links

* Unagi-Inu profile at Koredeiinoda (Japanese)