$-chan

$-chan as he appears in the "$-chan's Big Circus" shapter

**Dorutaro** (ドル太郎), commonly referred to as **$-chan** (phonetic: ドルちゃん *Doru-chan*, lit. "Dollar-chan"), is one of the two protagonists of the short manga **Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything**, later re-titled **$-chan and Chibita**.

He is a young boy that acts as either a partner, foil, or both roles to that of Chibita.

## Overview

$-chan seemingly exists as a substitute for Osomatsu or any of his brothers, with his stories taking place in a scaled-back setting for Chibita where not too many recognizable supporting cast members exist. There could even be the question or joke if he may even be a sextuplet simply redesigned for another role.

Whether he starts as Chibita's friend or enemy in a story, the two wind up entangled together in each scenario by some means. He only exists within this series, and doesn't seem to re-appear anywhere outside it. Even with Chibita getting more attention in the stories, $-chan was considered the official mascot of the series and appeared alongside the other protagonists headlining features in Shonen Book.

## Physical Appearance

$-chan is a tall, slim boy who towers over Chibita. He is similar in appearance to Osomatsu, down to his round face and features. But unlike Osomatsu, $-chan's fringe curls outward and he has visible freckles on his cheeks, along with a curled edge to his lip that can often be seen.

Though $-chan is seen wearing various outfits in the different alternate settings of each story, his standard appearance would seem to have him wearing a uniform jacket and pants similar to the sextuplets', other than the jacket being depicted with a checkered/cross-hatched pattern (as opposed to stripe pattern).

When enrolling in Chibita's class in "$-chan's Big Circus", he is shown to wear a sweater over a dress shirt, paired with short shorts.

## Personality

Like Osomatsu, $-chan can be a cheeky trouble-maker and a bully, even seen casually harming a cat in his first appearance when he attempts to catch it to sell it. Around Chibita, there are settings where he can flaunt his superiority as either a bragging point or display of his natural ability, making the other boy jealous.

Although his name references the dollar, he is outright depicted as poor in two of the stories, and another depicts him as part of a traveling circus through Japan. While Chibita seems to be consistently depicted as an orphan or ambiguously solitary in the series, $-chan is confirmed to live with his mother but there being suggestions that he is neglected and otherwise treated poorly by her.

In troubled times, it is hard for him to earn money for them to eat, and he won't easily pay for food either (due to his love of money and savings). When being made to sell ramen to make money, he takes it seriously to the point of attacking a customer for not having any to pay for his bowl.

He is confident and adventurous, insisting on steering a ship by himself and powered by his love of thrills and riches. He is also depicted as proud of his athletic abilities and agility in the circus chapter, with him able to leap high and do acrobatic moves with ease.

## Relationships with Other Characters

$-chan is pushed around by his mother, who would seem to be fine with him not being around home and having the place to herself as long as she'd get to have money. His mother loosely resembles the mother of the sextuplets, other than wearing her hair in a bun and having much smaller glasses that expose her squinted eyes.

With Chibita, there are occasions when they are natural partners, with $-chan effectively serving as a substitute for Iyami as well. The two will set off on a scheme together, but wind up in a chaotic situation (such as trying to escape an island of cannibals, only to arrive at another).

## History

As $-chan's source series was a gag-a-month type deal, there is no technical linear history or as frequent gag developments as there would be for weekly Akatsuka characters like in Osomatsu-kun.

The only connecting points between each story of his series would be that he somehow meets Chibita each time, no matter what their dynamic may be, and the two often wind up stuck in unresolved and dysfunctional situations together. Even in times when $-chan is the victor to any fight, he will still be made a fool of; at the end of "$-chan's Big Circus", he falls off his family's moving truck and is left chasing after it in a panic to catch up.

## Trivia

* During the run of *Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything*, a chapter of *Akko-chan's Got a Secret!* (released August 1965) featured a boy resembling $-chan named **Joji**, but who was shown to wear glasses. As the Akko-chan series featured cameos of other Akatsuka characters but also had guests that were similar but different entities, it can be figured that Joji and $-chan may either be separate or that Joji was simply another "acting role" for him.
* Though his surname isn't directly given in stories, the references to him as "Akatsuka-kun" in the title and Shonen Book illustrations could indicate that as the very surname and as a loose stand-in for his creator.