The Flower of Kikuchiyo

Cover to eBookJapan edition.

**The Flower of Kikuchiyo** (花の菊千代 *Hana no Kikuchiyo*) is a 1981-1982 gag manga series by Fujio Akatsuka, serialized within Shogakukan's magazine Monthly CoroCoro Comic.

## Overview

The cat Kikuchiyo isn't any ordinary pet. Besides talking and being as intelligent as a man, the untimely death of his original millionaire owner leads him to gain a 10 billion yen inheritance. Now out on his own in the world, Kikuchiyo manages to find a new family to live with, using his riches to gain an easy way in.

The character of Kikuchiyo was modeled after Akatsuka's own cat, who had become popular at the time in commercials.

## Characters

### Kikuchiyo

The hero of this story. He is doomed to become a stray unless he can find a new home to live in, and quickly befriends Tamao. Much like Nyarome, he has a love for human women, even if they are young girls, and seeks to date them; he has a particular interest in Tamao's classmate Hanako.

In the final chapter, Kikuchiyo tricks all the other animals in the city into boarding a Noah's Ark and setting it out into the sea, where it sinks in the storm. With this, he ensures that he'll be the only animal left alive and the most popular one that everyone will pay attention to now.

### Tamao

The lead human (nothing to do with the Tamao from Otasuke-kun). He is a nerdy young elementary school boy who comes across Kikuchiyo, thinking of him as a simple stray but becoming excited to find out that he's a billionaire. He must deal with the antics of Kikuchiyo, along with preventing his dad from trying to eat the cat.

### Tamao's Father

A gluttonous man who'll eat anything he sees in front of him, yet not enjoy a regular meal like the rest of the family. This causes great annoyance to his wife and son, as well as the fact that he has a longing to eat their new cat.

### Tamao's Mother

A strict woman who is initially opposed to the idea of having a pet in the house due to her repulsion towards cats. However, after learning Kikuchiyo is rich, she becomes all too happy to have him as part of the family.

### Hanako

Tamao's classmate, a young girl both desired by Tamao and Kikuchiyo but that the latter seems to have more luck with getting a chance with. She and Kikuchiyo once feud and break up, leaving Tamao to think he'd be able to get closer to her, only to reconcile all too easily by the end.

During the time this series ran in *CoroCoro*, Hanako also appeared in Waru-chan as a snobby and rude classmate of the title character. In turn, Waru-chan also made a cameo in this very series. However, Hanako appears to be an overall re-use of the Miyo character from Mame-tan to start with.

## Serialization

* Monthly CoroCoroComic: April 1981-March 1982

There are 12 chapters in all:

1. **"Pick Me Up, Nya!!"** (おれをひろえニャ!!)
2. **"I Love You Mari-chan, Nyo!!"** (マリちゃん愛してるニョー!!)
3. **"Leaving Town, Nya!!"** (町を出ていきニャ!!)
4. **"Robinson Crusoe, Nya!!"** (ロビンソン　クルーソーニャ!!)
5. **"The Appearance of a Rival, Nya!!"** (ライバル登場ニャ!!)
6. **"Revenge is Scary, Nya!!"** (ふくしゅうはこわいニャ!!)
7. **"I Want to Fly in the Sky, Nya!!"** (空を飛びたいニャ!!)
8. **"Love Song, Nya!!"** (愛はうたニャ!!)
9. **"Working Seriously, Nya!!"** (まじめに働きニャ!!)
10. **"I Want to Be Popular, Nya!!"** (人気ものになりたいニャ!!)
11. **"The Great Snow Festival, Nya!!"** (雪まつりで大ふんとうニャ!!)
12. **"The Town's Most #1 Popular, Nya!!"** (町一番の人気ものニャ!!)

Kikuchiyo became a part of the Star System after this series, appearing in other works with his name.

The '90s Akatsuka work of The Cat House Owner is seen as a self-parody and spiritual successor, exploring a similar premise in which a rich old woman dies, but going with the idea that the cat (Spaghetti) is worthy enough to become a famous landlord to humans and animals alike.

## Reprints

* Futabasha: 1 volume in the "100 Tenland" Comics imprint
* Shogakukan: The above volume was digitized for the Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works DVD-ROM set. A print-on-demand version is available through ComicPark.

## External Links

* The Flower of Kikuchiyo at eBookJapan (Japanese)
* "The Flower of Kikuchiyo" write-up at the Akatsuka Preservation Society (Japanese)