Karappe of the Wind

Cover to the first Akebono volume.

**Karappe of the Wind** (風のカラッペ *Kaze no Karappe*)  is a manga series by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro, later credited to Don Sasaki. It was serialized in Weekly Shonen King from #8 1970 to #15 1971.

## Overview

This period drama-based gag cartoon involves a talking crow Karappe and his best friend Karaten, as they journey through the mountains and get into different situations along the way. It spawned off of an earlier prototype one-shot serialized in Shonen King, "Traveling Glass Kataro", though it was retooled in some settings. This prototype had been immediately popular with readers and editorial, necessitating a serialization.

The series was initially a biweekly feature, with Don Sasaki providing "Karappe of the Wind Extra Edition" articles on some weeks between chapters. This was due to Akatsuka being busy with other series in the midst of having to write and draw for Karappe, though the series would gradually move to a more regular schedule.

Although Akatsuka was credited as both the writer and artist, while Sasaki would pen those extra features, this too would change during the run as he became busy with a revival of The Genius Bakabon. Sasaki would now wind up taking on the art duty; Karappe and Karaten became more super-deformed in style and the content got much cruder. Dotaro, who would slightly resemble the eventual protagonist of Let's La Gon, was also added to the cast.

Two issues after the title ended, a spinoff titled "I am Baccaras" would run until #30. In this work, Karappe (now named "Baccaras" for the setting) lives in modern Tokyo as a rich crow living in an apartment. The title comes from a portmanteau of *baka + karasu* (crow). Don Sasaki continued on as the artist as before, though the spinoff never saw reprint and was not able to achieve the brief popularity that its predecessor had.

## Characters

*See List of characters in Karappe of the Wind for more*

### Karappe

The protagonist, who is weak to his affection for human girls however quarrelsome they get. He tries to pursue them in hopes of marriage, to no avail. He may be clever, but his fighting and gambling skills are very poor.

In the pilot chapter, he is named "Kataro" but this is changed for the series proper.

### Karaten

A cowardly but passionate crow-tengu who was born without feathers, and simply resembles a human boy with a large beak for a mouth. He considers Karappe to be like his big brother.

When it comes to his speech, he can be seen to end his sentences with "de arimasu".

The basis of Karaten's design came from the Ichiro character in Otasuke-kun, although Fujio Pro has seemingly never considered him a "role" of Ichiro but merely a separate character with a similar appearance.

### Dotaro

An abandoned baby that Karappe and Karaten find in the rain. They raise him, and he grows up quickly to be strong, but he is also very loud, crude, and not too smart.

## Serialization

When it comes to the early period and its gap weeks, issues 13, 15, 17, and 19 for 1970 contained the extra features by Sasaki, while 9 and 11 had nothing in place.

There are at least 44 chapters in the series covered in the reprints, 45 if counting the "Kataro" pilot.

## Reprints

* Shonen Gahosha "Hit Comics": 2 volumes. This edition has both Akatsuka and Sasaki's names credited on the covers.
* Akebono: 4 volumes (1976). Only Akatsuka is credited on the covers.
* Shogakukan: The above Akebono volumes were digitized for the "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" DVD-ROM set in 2002.

## Media

* Harris Gum (of the Kracie Foods brand) would manufacture special Karappe-branded gum in 1970.
* Aoshima Bunka Kyozai would produce plastic models for the series
* Seika Note had various notebook designs featuring Karappe, Karaten, and Dotaro in its brand

Despite this level of merchandise, early plans for a Karappe anime by Toei wound up falling through, although a Harris Gum ad was produced.

## External Links

* Karappe of the Wind Wikipedia article (Japanese)