Kantaro (series)

Frontispiece of "It's the Speed-Crazy Kantaro", from the Bunka kashihon.

### Original Run

May to September 1961 (Adventure King version)August 1963, October 1963, January 1964-April 1965 (Shonen Book version)

### Volumes

2 (Bunka, Shonen Book version), 1 (eBookJapan, Shonen Book version), see article for more details

**Kantaro** (カン太郎) is the title of two 1960s gag and adventure series by Fujio Akatsuka, created as spinoff features for the Kantaro character from Nama-chan.

## Overview

The first feature was serialized in Akita Shoten's shonen magazine *Adventure King* (*Bouken-oh*) from May to September 1961, as Nama-chan ran in the publisher's *Manga King*. This mini-series was an expanded take on a Western cowboy setting, which Akatsuka had originally touched upon in the chapter of "Western Nama-chan".

In this mini-series, Kantaro is a young cowboy who gets involved in kidnapping and arrest cases, and is accompanied by his grandfather Kanbe. The American TV series of *Bat Masterson* was also inspiring for Akatsuka, and he parodied the title character within the stories.

In August 1963, Akatsuka and assistant Kenichiro Takai would preview a new Kantaro feature in Shueisha's Shonen Book, under the one-shot "Kantaro's Part-Time Job". It was followed up by a sequel in October, and it was soon spun off to a full revival series that ran from January 1964 to April 1965. It became more of a Fujio Pro feature by this time.

The second serial is more in the vein of humor of Osomatsu-kun, and Kantaro's design now matches up with the finalized look for Chibita (who initially used his very design). Various other -kun characters guest-star, incorporating the nature of Akatsuka's Star System.

## Characters

### Kantaro

The mischievous youngster who headlines these series. The Adventure King series limits his family to his grandfather Kanbe, but his situation can change a lot depending on the chapter in the Shonen Book version.

### Iyami

The famous conman from *Osomatsu-kun* shows up in the Shonen Book series as a mentor figure or rival of Kantaro, with their dynamic not differing much at all from that of Iyami and Chibita.

### Hatabō

Appears in the Shonen Book series as Kantaro's best friend, or sometimes his rival.

## Serialization

### Adventure King version

This much shorter serial only consists of five chapters.

1. **"The Story of Stars Shining in the Chest"** (胸に輝く星の巻, May 1961)
2. "**The Story of a Man Who Challenges Violence"** (暴力に挑む男の巻, June 1961)
3. **"The Story of a Wanted Criminal... (Part 1)"** (おたずね者...のまき, July 1961)
4. **"The Story of a Wanted Criminal (Part 2)"** (おたずね者のまき2, August 1961)
5. **Untitled Final Chapter** (September 1961)

### Shonen Book version

With including the two preview one-shots for the series, there are at least 18 chapters of it that ran in its publication.

1. **"Kantaro's Part-Time Job"** (バイトのカン太郎, August 1963): Kantaro becomes bored and decides to disguise himself as his zookeeper uncle while the uncle sleeps, stealing his uncle's mustache and clothing in the process.
2. **"It's Kantaro and the Fine Art Family"** (ゲイジュツ家だよ カン太郎, October 1963): Kantaro tries to get a job with a painting family but chaos ensues. Originally published as the second "Part-Time Job" one-shot.
3. **"Kantaro Came to the West"** (西部へきたよ　カン太郎, January 1964): In a Wild West tale, Kantaro must round up wild cats.
4. **"It's the Boy Champion, Kantaro"** (少年王者だよ カン太郎, February 1964): Kantaro tries to co-exist and adventure out in the jungle and plains.
5. **"It's the Speed-Crazy Kantaro"** (スピード狂だよ カン太郎, March 1964): Kantaro becomes angered at a young woman in a race car mocking him, and enters a race against her.
6. **"It's Kantaro's Chushingura"** (忠臣蔵だよ　カン太郎, April 1964): Kantaro and Iyami are rivals in the Edo era.
7. **"I'm Cinderella Kantaro"** (シンデレラだよ　カン太郎, May 1964): Kantaro takes part in the Cinderella tale.
8. **"I'm the Special Squad Member Kantaro"** (特攻隊だよ カン太郎 June 1964): Kantaro fights in a war.
9. **"I'm Momotaro Kantaro"** (桃太郎だよ　カン太郎, July 1964): An old couple finds a peach that hatches Kantaro, who goes on to fight oni.
10. **"It's Aladdin's Lamp, Kantaro"** (アラジンのランプだよ カン太郎 August 1964): Kantaro and his father find a magic lamp while garbage-picking, but wind up summoning a genie.
11. **"I'm Urashima Taro Kantaro"** (浦島太郎だよ カン太郎 September 1964): Kantaro ventures under the sea and meets the princess Chikako.
12. **"I'm Snow White Kantaro"** (白雪姫だよ カン太郎 October 1964): Kantaro finds a magic mirror.
13. **"Kantaro in the Stone Age"** (石器時代だよ　カン太郎, November 1964): Kantaro competes in a Stone Age-era Olympics for the chance to marry.
14. **"I'm Detective Kantaro"** (名探偵だよ カン太郎 December 1964): Kantaro and Hatabo investigate a mystery at rival restaurants.
15. **"Kantaro's Iron Man"** (鉄人だーよ カン太郎 January 1965): Kantaro and Hatabo experience a fight between robotic creations.
16. **"I'm Blackbeard Kantaro"** (黒ひげだよ カン太郎, February 1965): Kantaro experiences a beard growth potion.
17. **"The Beggar Prince Kantaro"** (乞食王子だよ カン太郎 March 1965):
18. **"It's Kantaro and the Mermaid Princess"** (人魚姫だよ カン太郎 April 1965): Kantaro brings home a mermaid, to the shock of his mother and other people.

Following the end of the Shonen Book run, it was succeeded by the feature Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything, starring Chibita and an Osomatsu-like boy known as "$-chan".

#### Retitling as "Chibita-kun"/"Chibita" in further releases

After the pilot chapter of the Chibita-kun feature in 1966, it was decided to compile several *Kantaro* chapters together under the title and put it out as a tankobon. Because both characters were now otherwise identical in appearance and personality, there was very little complication with making the stories seem like they could be Chibita's own. The stories were given new titles.

The Studio Zero adaptation of Osomatsu-kun would also choose to adapt nine of the stories as Chibita-centric skits for the later portion of its run. They aired under these titles:

* Ep.40: **"First Class Car Race Jo~"** (自動車レース一等だジョー)/**"Chibita the Zookeeper**" (チビ太の動物園エサ係), adapting from "It's the Speed-Crazy Kantaro" and "Kantaro's Part-Time Job".
* Ep.46: B skit **"Fighting Robot Rampage"** (けんかロボット大暴れ), adapting from "Kantaro's Iron Man".
* Ep.48: B skit **"Dekapan Olympics"** (デカパンオリンピック), adapting from "Kantaro in the Stone Age".
* Ep.50: B skit **"I Do Not Need the Magic Lamp Anymore"** (魔法のランプはもういらない), adapting from "It's Aladdin's Lamp, Kantaro".
* Ep.53: A skit **"Keke, I'm a Detective"** (ケケッぼくは名探偵), adapting from "I'm Detective Kantaro".
* Ep.54: A skit **"My Head's Shine is the Best in the World"** (おつむのかがやき世界一), adapting from "I'm Snow White Kantaro".
* Ep.55: A skit **"Go to Chibita's Jungle"** (チビ太ジャングルへ行く), adapting from "It's the Boy Champion, Kantaro".
* Ep.56: A skit **"Chibitaro Came From a Peach"** (モモから生れたチビ太郎), adapting from "I'm Momotaro Kantaro".

While some were more or less faithful to the chapters and only had Chibita (Kantaro) as the starring role or other characters that had been involved, others were reworked to feature the rest of the -kun cast to different degrees; the story of "Kantaro in the Stone Age" was modified to be a story told by Chibita to his classmates at school, and the car race story had the rest of the cast join in.

Further *Chibita-kun* and *Chibita* reprints would continue to have re-titled *Kantaro* chapters commingled with the actual *Chibita-kun* stories from Shonen Book, and Akebono's "Osomatsu-kun Complete Works" opted to reprint five stories as if they were part of the series (likely due to the 1966 series' adaptation choices). The story about Kantaro and the mermaid was also rewritten as a "Chibita" mini-comic as merchandise for the Kobito chocolate company.

It is only in recent years that Fujio Pro has attempted to differentiate between Kantaro and Chibita, pointedly stating that they are different while eBookJapan has correctly sorted the stories out into their own eBook reprints.

## Reprints

* Bunka Publishing: 2 volume kashihon edition of the Shonen Book version (1965). Volume 2 is given the title "Do it! Kantaro" and contains "Dama-chan", "Yo-yo Kapo-kun", and one chapter of "You're a Shinobi, Sasuke-kun" as extra content. Volume 2 mistakenly utilizes the frontispiece of an Akatsuka-kun Can Do Anything chapter ("Musashi Miyamoto $-chan").
* Kodama Press: 1 volume, in their "Diamond Comics" imprint (1966). The series is retitled "Chibita-kun" for this volume and made to look like stories featuring Chibita.
* Akebono: Five chapters of the Shonen Book Kantaro are re-titled to be *Osomatsu-kun* ones centered around Chibita in vol.3 of the "Osomatsu-kun Complete Works" imprint.
* Kodansha: The same five edited Kantaro chapters can be seen reprinted in vol.4 of Kodansha KC Comics' re-bundling of the Akebono reprints for Osomatsu-kun.
* Shogakukan: The Bunka kashihon were digitized for the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM set (2002). "Dama-chan" and "Yo-yo Kapo-kun" are removed due to already being digitized in another book.
* eBookJapan: The Shonen Book version was released in 1 "Kantaro" volume in 2009. Some chapters appear to have been sourced and edited from copies that had been re-titled "Chibita", as one chapter accidentally refers to Kantaro as such in a panel towards the end.

The Adventure King version of Kantaro still has yet to ever receive a form of re-release, if its manuscripts or magazine copies are available to be republished.

## External Links

* Buy Kantaro on eBookJapan (Japanese)
* Write-up of the Adventure King version (Japanese) at the Akatsuka Preservation Society