Dame Oyaji
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese manga
series written and illustrated by Mitsutoshi Furuya
. It was serialized by Shogakukan
in Shōnen Sunday
from September 23, 1970 (issue 43) to July 28, 1982 (issue 30). Dame Oyaji received the 1979 Shogakukan Manga Award
for shōnen
manga. The manga was compiled in 39 volumes
, with Akebono Shuppan publishing the first 21 volumes under their Akebono Comics label and Shogakukan publishing the final 18 volumes under their Shōnen Sunday Comics label. All 39 volumes are available in eBook format via eBook Japan, the Shogakukan volumes (starting with volume 4) subtitled as the "My Way" arc.
Dame Oyaji is the story of Damesuke Amano, a hapless office worker who faces a tremendous amount of bullying on the job and especially at home, where he has (contrary to traditional Japanese notions of family) absolutely no power or say in the runnings of the household whatsoever. Amano lives with his wife, Onibaba, his beautiful teenaged daughter Yukiko, and his grade-schooler son Takobo. Onibaba is an imposing, violent heifer of a woman who regularly berates and even physically assaults her husband and who enjoys nothing more than making his life miserable; Yukiko and Takobo frequently join in physically and psychologically abusing their father. The original manga is said to have been quite shocking to early 1970s Japan, in which the father was often still traditionally regarded as the head of the household.
The series was adapted as a 26-episode anime
television series broadcast on Tokyo 12 Channel (now TV Tokyo
) between April 2 and October 9, 1974. Each half-hour episode comprised two shorter stories of approximately ten minutes in length. The anime toned down the original manga's level of violence considerably for a prime-time TV audience (although it is still quite violent) and featured episodes which focused more on Takobo and his everyday school and home life. The Takobo-focused episodes in particular are kinder and gentler than the series as a whole (for example, an episode in which Takobo fears losing his sister Yukiko, whom he idolizes, to marriage and, after trying various tactics to ruin her relationship with a potential suitor, runs away from home).
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Mitsutoshi Furuya
Mitsutoshi Furuya
is a Japanese manga artist. He made his debut as a manga artist in 1955 with kashi-hon manga. He started as an assistant of Osamu Tezuka in 1958, but is primarily known for starting out as an assistant of Fujio Akatsuka five years later...
. It was serialized by Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
in Shōnen Sunday
Shonen Sunday
, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...
from September 23, 1970 (issue 43) to July 28, 1982 (issue 30). Dame Oyaji received the 1979 Shogakukan Manga Award
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
for shōnen
Shonen
The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...
manga. The manga was compiled in 39 volumes
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
, with Akebono Shuppan publishing the first 21 volumes under their Akebono Comics label and Shogakukan publishing the final 18 volumes under their Shōnen Sunday Comics label. All 39 volumes are available in eBook format via eBook Japan, the Shogakukan volumes (starting with volume 4) subtitled as the "My Way" arc.
Dame Oyaji is the story of Damesuke Amano, a hapless office worker who faces a tremendous amount of bullying on the job and especially at home, where he has (contrary to traditional Japanese notions of family) absolutely no power or say in the runnings of the household whatsoever. Amano lives with his wife, Onibaba, his beautiful teenaged daughter Yukiko, and his grade-schooler son Takobo. Onibaba is an imposing, violent heifer of a woman who regularly berates and even physically assaults her husband and who enjoys nothing more than making his life miserable; Yukiko and Takobo frequently join in physically and psychologically abusing their father. The original manga is said to have been quite shocking to early 1970s Japan, in which the father was often still traditionally regarded as the head of the household.
The series was adapted as a 26-episode anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series broadcast on Tokyo 12 Channel (now TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...
) between April 2 and October 9, 1974. Each half-hour episode comprised two shorter stories of approximately ten minutes in length. The anime toned down the original manga's level of violence considerably for a prime-time TV audience (although it is still quite violent) and featured episodes which focused more on Takobo and his everyday school and home life. The Takobo-focused episodes in particular are kinder and gentler than the series as a whole (for example, an episode in which Takobo fears losing his sister Yukiko, whom he idolizes, to marriage and, after trying various tactics to ruin her relationship with a potential suitor, runs away from home).