The Blue-Eyed Delinquent

Frontispiece featuring Akatsuka's rendition of Denbei Ohda.

**The Blue-Eyed Delinquent** (青い目のバンチョウ) is a 1973 one-shot by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, adapted from Hisashi Yamanaka's 1964-1965 childrens' light novel.

## Overview

A tough boy named Denbei Ohda is the new student at school, instantly taking the other children by surprise or ridiculing his unusual appearance. Most confusing to them is the fact that he has Japanese parents and attempts to fit in as a Japanese child, while his looks and attitude are severely at odds with their usual expectations.

The manga adaptation is somewhat abridged, condensing elements from the longer light novel passages into a single chapter for the ease of adaptation. Thus, some details like that of Denbei's birth and upbringing are either left out or simplified.

This one-shot was produced as part of a special 5-week "Masterpiece Series" for Weekly Shonen Sunday, in which a different manga author took part in adapting a different novel for each of the weeks to commemorate the magazine's 15th anniversary. Akatsuka chose Yamanaka's light novel as he was strongly impressed by the plot and thought it would suit well for a manga short. However, his editor Takei would have the opinion of it being a "failed work" as it couldn't compete against the then-ongoing Let's La Gon in terms of recognition by readers.

## Characters

Aside from this cast, there is some presence of the Akatsuka Star System; Dekoppachi being seen as a student, Gon's Father and Beramatcha as unscrupulous salesmen, Non as Makiko's mother, and the Police Officer with the Connected Eyes as an Akaboko henchman.

### Denbei Ohda

The son of a carpenter that lives downtown. However, he stands out for the fact that he isn't a Japanese boy, but a blond-haired, blue-eyed American boy. He mainly speaks Japanese, however, and becomes angered at another student trying to make fun of him by telling him to speak in English, though he manages to humiliate the other boy.

Even if his appearance is American, he abides by his upbringing and feels at home in Japan and has an Edokko-style tone. His love for his parents extends beyond their race, and the fact he was adopted means nothing

### Makiko Kawada ("Maki-chan").

A girl in Denbei's class. She becomes curious about him and shows favor towards him. Her budding feelings for him are mocked by the other boys in the class, who grow jealous about her liking Denbei.

She doesn't like fighting, and gets angered when she hears of Denbei planning to fight. However, it becomes a necessity when he has to defend himself against a junior high gang.

### Mother

Denbei's buck-toothed mother, first seen reprimanding her son before the rest of the class. Her appearance baffles them as to how a clearly American boy could have a Japanese parent.

### Denjiro

Denbei's carpenter father, a hard-working but tough man with strong fists of his own. He named Denbei after an ancestor of his, feeling the name suited him best. Even though Denbei's heritage and true origins are called into question, Denbei only recognizes this man as his father in the end.

### Miyata

A delinquent of the school, who the other boys report to in wondering what to do about Denbei. He is shown to resemble Bakabon with messier hair and thicker eyebrows, though his amount of buckteeth are inconsistently depicted (initially two, then one). The two get along well, and Miyata has to rely on Denbei's help when he is attacked by Akaboko and his henchmen.

### Akaboko

A huge, ape-faced junior high student who is supported by his two lackeys. They ambush Denbei and Makiko at school, and are revealed to have tied Miyata to a tree. However, thanks to Denbei using a quick and effective use of brute strength, the bullies are scared away.

### Mr. Murdoch

A gun-toting American sailor who is pivotal in the climax to the one-shot, attempting to call Denbei and his father out on the fact that Denbei can't truly be a Japanese child.

## Reprints

* Futabasha: Reprinted as part of the Power Comics edition of "I am Violent Tetsu!", along with "Apache-kun's Great Rampage".
* Shogakukan: Digitized from the magazine print for the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set, while a print-on-demand edition was put out via ComicPark.

## External Links

* "The Blue-Eyed Delinquent" write-up at the Fujio Akatsuka Preservation Society (Japanese)