Design Banking

**Design Banking** is a term used for when characters appear to be of the same or similar design "families", as Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro opted to re-use traits from popular characters to give some familiarity to new ones without them being an entire case of recycling or Star System usage.

This article will list some notable examples where this technique was used. Outside of Akatsuka's own works, examples by Katta Yoshi or other assistants may also constitute a special mention. Not all examples may be intentional design banking, or even be meant to come off as re-use, but are noted for the striking similarities with characters.

## Chocobee Be-Seal Series

This series of stickers not only re-used existing bit players from Akatsuka's Star System, but also relied on "design banking" for many of the other characters in the set; some would bear close resemblance to Stars, yet have enough differences to make them be seen as separate people.

## Chibita

*See also: Lookalikes of Chibita for more direct re-use and lookalikes of this character*

Though Chibita himself spawned from Kantaro and may have been the same entity to start, his refined design (itself inspired some from the face of Woodpecker Kanta and characters like Choromatsu from Jinx-kun/Sansuke from O-chan's Eleven Friends) would provide opportunity to have its traits applied to other characters through Akatsuka's career.

* Chibi from Radical 7th Years is a Chibita with a pointed mouth and wild, stringy hair. His design is in turn the prototype for Master in Geba Geba Brothers.
* Tama-chan re-uses Chibita's circular eyes and pointed nose, but has blush swirls rather than the "cheek beard". These features, coupled with Tama-chan's own "onion bulb" hairstyle, were then imported over to Mame-tan.
* The Kobito chocolates mascot "Kobito-kun", designed by Akatsuka, was patterned as a cross between Chibita and Tama.
* Waru-chan re-uses the bald, clefted head, pointed nose, and single hair.
* Songo-kun has Chibita's eyes and "cheek beard", but Osomatsu's nose and a head of dark hair.
* Yo-Yo Kapo-kun has Chibita's facial features placed on a taller boy's body, and dark hair with an angular cowlick.

### Sansuke

The earliest sighting of such a boy could technically be Kantaro as "Ken-chan" in Matsuge-chan, as he bore a similar bowlcut. However, the earliest iterations of this design were Sansuke and Choromatsu. In the -kun series, it was used as sightings of Chibita with hair early on (and in him playing different roles), while outside that and later on, it was clearly meant as separate characters.

The best-known characters with this look would be Ganmo from Akko-chan's Got a Secret!, and Otasuke from Otasuke-kun. When it comes to the matter of banking though, there are also characters that will inherit the very style of bowlcut or other features:

* Chibidon has the bowlcut and a similar face, other than his smaller eyes and visible nostrils.
* Kiyoshi of Professor Babatchi has a similar bowlcut, but in a more angular style. Though he also bears round eyes and a "cheek beard", his facial shape is also different enough to keep him from being an exact copy of this model.

## Osomatsu

*See also: Lookalikes of the Sextuplets*

* Saburo's brother in the unreprinted *Adventures of Saburo* is a clear, nerdier lifting of Osomatsu, while Saburo himself has the same facial shape and features but a shaved head.
* The original design of Kankichi in Akko-chan's Got a Secret! amounts to being a much smaller version of Osomatsu with a curly, spring-like cowlick and Chibita's style of "cheek beard".
* Jinta of Circus Jinta has the same facial shape and eyes, but also has some features more in common with the prototypical character that Osomatsu evolved from; Tosao of *Mister Kaguya*. These can be seen in his sharper nose, freckles, and scruffier hair with a centered fringe. Other than his round nose, Totoko's brother Fighting Yowai would also appear to have evolved from that sort of design.
* Sasuke of You're a Shinobi, Sasuke-kun is a slightly shorter Osomatsu with Kankichi's curly cowlick, a sharp nose, and freckles.
* Chota of Leave it to Chota evolves to resemble Osomatsu with sometimes scruffier hair, freckles, and glasses.
* Ken-chan is a small Osomatsu with a pointed nose and a curled edge to his fringe.
* $-chan of Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything is Osomatsu with freckles, a curled edge to his fringe, and occasionally a visibly protruding upper lip.
* The bully junior high school student in Kyuhei and Sister is essentially an older, freckled copy of Osomatsu with a shaved head.

## Iyami

*See also: Lookalikes of Iyami*

* The charlatan known as "Dr. Weird" is a jester hat-haired man with a three-tooth overbite and jaunty mustache, but his mustache and his nose are of a different shape. Still, his trickster role and other elements seem to have him to be a similar character.
* If Mr. Kyouyou of Radical 7th Years and You Love Me-kun is not to be thought of as merely a younger Iyami in a role, he can certainly be an example of Iyami's features being "banked" for a similar shady character.
* Waru Waru Mask of Waru Waru World, if not a bald Iyami in a role, would be Iyami if he were a costumed vigilante-style figure on a motorbike.
* Waru-chan's teacher, though initially bearing a differently-shaped nose, comes to resemble an Iyami with shorter hair and a lack of mustache.

## Hatabo

* Bokenasu of *Tamanegi Tama-chan* was a loose recycling of Hatabo's design, with certain facial features and his kappa-like bangs translated over to be the leaves and stem of an eggplant.
* Takohachi Abo of Run Away, Run Away is a Hatabo-like figure, but with some differences in his design such as his two buckteeth.

## Ichiro

*See also: Lookalikes of Ichiro*

While there are cases of direct duplication or shrinking of his design (ala Tensuke in *Circus Jinta*), there are instances where some features of Ichiro or his basic model will be banked:

* Satoimo in *Tamanegi Tama-chan*
* Karaten in Karappe of the Wind
* Kobayashi Boy in The Great Stupid Detective Kogoro Hakuchi will at times recycle Ichiro's characteristic "long shirt, tie, and shorts" fashion, as will Ryunoshin in Ojisan is a Persuman and his other Star System appearances.
* Hohobe in the Chocobee Be-Seal set is Ichiro with a black button nose, and viewed head-on.
* The minor character of the Kappa Prince in *Kogoro Hakuchi* recycles Ichiro's face and head shape.

## Akko

Beyond obvious copies like Totoko, or even Momoko, Akko's gentle face or other features can prove useful on some female characters.

* A "bun-less" Akko type can be seen in Akatsuka's competition comic *My First Dream*, along with a girl in the frontispiece that looks like Akko with a curly updo (if not being her in some form). Her friend Moko and Sacchan (of Opposite Address 3) can be seen to be re-used as well.
* Tomato of Tamanegi Tama-chan, particularly in her taller redesign in Omusubi-kun, is meant to have the "pretty girl" face of Akko and be the heroine equivalent.
* The sisters in Hana-chan Sleeps come to have the very same "Shojo" face that Akko was famous for, down to how it had evolved to look in the 1980s. This is not the case in the first four chapters, however, as they started out with more distinctive designs.
* Nami of MR. Masashi comes to resemble an Akko-chan with a different type of beehive hairstyle (worn long instead of with pigtails), with added makeup and jewelry.
* An ugly-faced "Akko"-type is seen in a chapter of Katta Yoshi's *Boy Bakabon*, and a later background woman has Akko's very face and pigtails but lacks the bun/beehive atop her head.

## Dekapan

* Piyo-Piyo ojisan from Kikanpo Gen-chan is a Dekapan-like figure with a dark, bow tie-esque mustache.

## Gorilla

Gorilla the Housekeeper, also known in the role of Giant Mama, is another notable character whose very archetype as well as aspects of her design would prove to be influential and "banked" for later creations.

* The Boss' Maid in I'm Violent Tetsu!
* Fukiko Yamada in Mom NO.1, who has Gorilla's tough, caring attitude but a more readily "cute" face

## Kaoru-chan

Kaoru's design, particularly his eyes and beard, may find themselves banked for similar characters who are as flamboyant yet rugged.

* Gengoro and Chojuro in *Bakabon* bear these sorts of faces, even if their noses are much different
* A teenage Kaoru lookalike with long hair is seen in *Nyarome's Fun Biology Classroom*

## Camera Kid/Ryunoshin

The "Why is that?" Freshman and other prototypical men who predated Camera Kid can be said to have been banked for his design. However, this character model himself proved useful for later offshoots as well.

* Ichiro Suzuki in *Bakabon-* This example is quite distinctive with a turtle-like mouth and nostrils, but drawn exactly the same as Camera Kid by Kunio Nagatani in "Nyarome's Big Blood Type Studies"
* Daigoro in *Let's La Gon*
* Diamonro in *Noragaki*

## Jajako

Aside from Nanako, who appears to have potentially been intended as a re-use of Jajako in a different role, Jajako herself has been banked for some similar-looking characters.

* Hippie-chan, while initially rougher in design, comes to resemble a Jajako with cheek swirls and stringy, pale brown hair.
* Ohime-chan, of Kunio Nagatani's *The Genius Pasuke*, is a taller Jajako without her "cheek beard" markings

## Other Examples

* Sacchan (1958) had her design significantly aged up and made taller to become Misuzu of Mother's Song/Iko from Mimi and Iko-chan. Yuriko on the frontispiece of A Sunflower and a Girl duplicates the basic design as well, though she looks different in the actual one-shot.
* The redesigned A-suke (formerly of *The Monkey's Foolish Guardman*) in Oh! Geba Geba was banked from Benkyouya of Geba Geba Brothers.
* Santaro of You Love Me-kun is Mr. Ken, but given darker hair. It can be debatable if it is an example of an entire lifting/banking of Mr. Ken's design, or simply Mr. Ken given a new role as a Star.
* Yoshiko in *1-Day Mama* and Mako in *Chimi-chan* resemble offshoots of Matsuge-chan, while Chako and Chimi have the very face of Ohana-chan from her early one-shots.
* The lead of *I'll Do It This Year!*, though with standard shojo eyes at points, also gains Okazu-chan's eyes at random throughout the one-shot and would otherwise have a similar face.
* The rubber alien from Nonsensical NO.1, #28 from *Osomatsu-kun*, and similar aliens by Akatsuka would pave the way for the design of Scatan in The Numbness of Scatan. His very face and short design are banked from those, but he gained antennae and other characteristics to set him apart.
* The Company President of I'm Violent Tetsu! is basically Ichiro's father from *Otasuke-kun*, save for the shape of his nose being flipped.