赤塚不二夫 ( 1936-2008 )Akatsuka's comic genius energized an era

Akatsuka's comic genius energized an era

2008/8/5

Fujio Akatsuka, dubbed the "god of gag manga," died on Saturday at age 72. Hearing the news, I found myself softly mimicking that all-too-famous cry of astonishment--"Shee" (pronounced "shay")--immortalized decades ago by one of Akatsuka's popular cartoon characters. Another classic Akatsuka line was korede ii-noda!, or "this is as it should be!" I imagine he would have said just that of his own passing.

Because Akatsuka had battled a series of grave illnesses for the last 10 years, I was sort of prepared for the worst. Still, as someone who grew up with his gag comics, I mourn his passing with a heartfelt "shee."

"Osomatsu-kun" (Mr. Pathetic) was the first Akatsuka work that completely bowled me over. The series' regular characters included a smarmy pseudo-francophile named Iyami, little Chibita who always clutched a skewer of oden morsels in his hand, and Dekapan and Hatabo. Other oddball characters kept popping up without rhyme or reason, and I remember laughing my head off at the most outrageously nonsensical story developments.

Akatsuka was initially commissioned to do non-serial cartoons. But in 1962, the weekly Shonen Sunday comic magazine asked him to do a four-week serial. In his autobiography "Korede Iinoda" (This is as it should be), Akatsuka recalled, "Since I was doing only four installments, I decided I could be as outrageous as I wanted, and go out with a bang."

It was this tremendous creative energy of his that totally floored little brats such as myself. "Osomatsu-kun" ran for more than five years and catapulted Akatsuka to stardom.

Until then, comics generally had the laid-back atmosphere of classic rakugo stories. But Akatsuka's works were fast-paced, pure slapstick. Page after page, readers were assaulted with gags and crazy scenes that made them writhe with mirth.

In retrospect, I think Akatsuka's creativity dazzled everyone because there was still a lot of stodgy common sense and gravity left in society at large back then. But his world of fast-paced nonsense also resonated with the energy that filled Japan in the 1960s and 1970s.

Were someone as talented as Aka-tsuka to appear today, I imagine he or she would either be overshadowed by the absurdity of our real world--more absurd than comics--or look out of place in the stagnant atmosphere of the present era.

It was 33 years ago that the late Juzo Itami, a film director, put his finger on Akatsuka's greatness with this comment, "I think society is trying to imitate (Akatsuka's) comics, not the other way round."

Gone is this genius who cracked up Japan during the Showa Era (1926-1989), leaving behind a society whose deterioration is accelerating.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 4(IHT/Asahi: August 5,2008)

赤塚不二夫さん死去　「おそ松くん」「天才バカボン」

2008年8月2日21時48分

赤塚不二夫さん＝０１年２月ごろ撮影

ネコとたわむれる赤塚不二夫さん＝８１年１２月撮影

　「シェー！」「これでいいのだ！」「ニャロメ！」など数々の流行語を生み、「おそ松くん」「天才バカボン」などで笑いのブームを巻き起こしたマンガ家の 赤塚不二夫（あかつか・ふじお、本名赤塚藤雄）さんが２日、肺炎で死去した。７２歳だった。葬儀の日取りは未定。喪主は長女りえ子さん。

　中国東北部（旧満州）生まれ。新潟県内の中学を卒業後に上京、化学薬品工場の工員をしながらマンガを描き、５６年に貸本マンガ「嵐をこえて」でデビュー。石ノ森章太郎さんら多くのマンガ家が住んだアパート「トキワ荘」で本格的な創作活動を始めた。

　５８年、初の月刊誌連載となった「ナマちゃん」を「漫画王」に発表。６２年に六つ子を主人公にしたドタバタギャグ「おそ松くん」を「週刊少年サンデー」に、変身願望をくすぐる少女マンガ「ひみつのアッコちゃん」を「りぼん」に連載して人気マンガ家に躍り出た。

　６７年、前衛的笑いの集大成「天才バカボン」と“反体制ネコ”ニャロメが登場する「もーれつア太郎」が連載開始。多くの作品がテレビアニメ化され、一大ブームを巻き起こした。０２年に脳内出血で倒れて以降は、東京都内の病院で、意識が戻らないまま闘病生活を続けていた。

　６５年に「おそ松くん」で小学館漫画賞、９７年には日本漫画家協会文部大臣賞を受賞した。