Chota

**Chota**, created by Fujio Akatsuka and his then-wife Tomoko Akatsuka, is the lead character from the series Leave it to Chota.

## Overview

Chota is an uncommon example of a male character that had major input from Akatsuka's wife as an assistant, with her having developed what would be his standard look.

He is one of a few different characters from the early-mid 1960s that bear some sort of resemblance to The Sextuplets in base design, while his mother and father bear their own derivative character designs (being based from the Sextuplets' Mother and Otasuke's Father).

## Physical Appearance

Initially with the first chapter, Chota is a scruffy-haired, freckled boy with round glasses and prominent buckteeth. He wears a uniform jacket and shorts, along with running shoes.

From the second chapter on, his design is simplified to where he gradually loses his buckteeth and winds up resembling Osomatsu but with freckles, glasses, and occasionally messier hair. He wears the same general type of fashion that a Matsuno sextuplet would, with the exceptions of when his shirts and jackets have a plaid pattern. Just as the sextuplets would shrink over the course of their own series through art evolution, the Chota of the final chapter is much shorter and childish-looking than how he started out.

Chota is not really ever seen without his glasses, but one frontispiece shows that his eyes appear to be smaller behind them, in contrast to the Matsunos' larger eyes.

## Personality

Chota is a confident, energetic boy who is ready and willing to work whatever job opportunities he sees out there. He is always in search of work that he can be a handyman to, but can wind up with way more than what he ever bargained for and even be dragged into situations that don't even necessarily involve a handyman's type of expertise.

No matter how upset or in danger Chota may get, he must see to it to find some way of his perils through whatever crafty opportunities are available. He can also have a mischievous side, however, that can also get him into such trouble. Even if he may seem comparatively nicer and less chaotic when compared to a Matsuno sextuplet, he still can punch and pick fights with smaller children or those he may see as worthy of it.

## Relationships with Other Characters

### Father

Chota can go on jobs along with him, or it is this man that presents Chota with the task he must fulfill. Though Chota's dad seems like he can be more responsible than his son, he is also quite foolhardy and it can be questioned who of the two is more of the child figure and who is the parent.

### Mother

Chota's mother is mostly seen as a housewife and not active in plots, but supports him and his father in their ventures and is even the motivator keeping them in line.

### Otasuke/Demekin

The two are best friends, with this other boy often just so happening to show up in a timely manner to assist Chota with whatever is going on or to react to such.

## Trivia

* In the "next series notice" in Shonen's September 1963 issue, Akatsuka's prototypical design for Chota had him with a large, dumpling-like nose similar to The Sextuplets' original look, as well as smaller eyes and no glasses. He also wore a handyman outfit like his father.
* Aside from his own series, Chota was at times used as a featured character for California Raisins advertising illustrations in Weekly Shonen Sunday through 1964 and 1965, prior to Akatsuka crafting the "Raisin-chan from California"/"Super Raisin-chan" comic strips featuring the Japanese mascot for the brand.