Little Ghost Q-Taro

Little Ghost Q-Taro[1][2] (Japanese: オバケのQ太郎, Hepburn: Obake no Kyutarō) is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko Fujio about the titular obake, Q-Taro, who lives with the Ōhara family. Q-Taro, also known as "Q-chan" or "Oba-Q", is a mischief-maker who likes to fly around scaring people and stealing food, though he is deathly afraid of dogs.

Little Ghost Q-Taro
Little Ghost Q-Taro on the cover of Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday
オバケのQ太郎
(Obake no Q-Tarō)
GenreComedy
Manga
Written byFujiko Fujio
Published byShogakukan
Shueisha
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Sunday
Shōnen Book
CoroCoro Comic
Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday
DemographicShōnen, children
Original run1964 – 1973
Volumes6
Manga
Shin Q-Tarō
Written byFujiko Fujio
Published byShogakukan
MagazineCoroCoro Comic
DemographicChildren
Original run1976 – ?
Volumes4
Anime television series
Directed byMasaaki Osumi
Music byHiroshi Tsutsui
StudioTokyo Movie
Original networkTBS
Original run 29 August 1965 – 28 June 1967
Episodes96
Anime television series
Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
Directed byTadao Nagahama
Produced byHarutoshi Kawaguchi
Kensuke Fujii (Nippon TV)
Music byNaozumi Yamamoto
StudioTokyo Movie
Original networkNippon TV
Original run 1 September 1971 – 27 December 1972
Episodes70 (140 segments)
Anime television series
Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
Directed byMasuji Harada
Hiroshi Sasagawa (Chief director)
Produced byJunichi Kimura
Yoshiaki Koizumi (TV Asahi)
Yoshio Katō
Seitarō Kodama (Shin-Ei Animation)
(Asatsu-DK)
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
StudioShin-Ei Animation
Original networkTV Asahi
Original run 1 April 1985 – 29 March 1987
Episodes510
Game
Chubby Cherub
DeveloperTOSE
PublisherBandai
GenreAction
PlatformNintendo Entertainment System
Released1985
Anime film
Obake no Q-Tarō: Tobidase! Bake Bake Daisakusen
Directed byHiroshi Sasagawa
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
StudioShin-Ei Animation
ReleasedMarch 15, 1986
Runtime120 minutes
Anime film
Obake no Q-Tarō: Susume! 1/100 Daisakusen
Directed byHiroshi Sasagawa
Music byShunsuke Kikuchi
StudioShin-Ei Animation
ReleasedMarch 14, 1987
Runtime15 minutes

The story is usually focused on the antics of Q-Taro and his friends. The manga was drawn in 1964–1966 by the duo Fujiko Fujio (Fujiko F. Fujio and Fujiko Fujio A) and in 1971–1974 by just Fujiko F. Fujio. An English manga volume was published in Japan as Q the Spook.[3][4]

There are three anime series adaptations of Little Ghost Q-Taro. The first was shown on the Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) in black and white, and ran from 1965 to 1968. The second series, produced in color, ran from 1971 to 1972 on Nippon TV. The third series ran from 1985 to 1987 on TV Asahi.

Characters
  • Q-Taro (Q太郎)
Voiced by: Machiko Soga (1965), Junko Hori (1971), Fusako Amachi (1985)
The protagonist of the manga, Q-Taro has a fear of dogs and cannot transform although he is an obake.
  • Shōta Ōhara (大原 正太, Ōhara Shōta)
Voiced by: Kazue Tagami (1965), Yoshiko Ōta (1971), Katsue Miwa (1985)
A human friend of Q-tarō, Shōta Ōhara is a grade school boy. Q-Taro calls him "Shō-chan" (正ちゃん) and Shota calls Q-Taro "Q-chan" (Qちゃん).
  • Shin'ichi Ōhara (大原 伸一, Ōhara Shin'ichi)
Voiced by: Masako Nozawa (1965), Sumiko Shirakawa (1971), Yū Mizushima (1985)
Shota's older brother.
  • U-ko (U子)
Voiced by: Hiroko Maruyama (1971), Eiko Masuyama (1985)
U-ko, a judoka, is Q-Taro's girlfriend obake.
  • Doronpa (ドロンパ)
Voiced by: Misae Kita (1965), Yoshiko Yamamoto (1971), Fuyumi Shiraishi (1985)
Doronpa is an American obake. Q-tarō tend to have a rivalry towards him due to the fact that U-ko idolizes Doronpa's intelligence and he likes to annoy Q-tarō.
  • P-ko (P子)
Voiced by: Yōko Mizugaki (1965), Kazuko Sawada (1971), Yūko Mita (1985)
P-ko is Q-Taro's younger sister.
  • O-jirō (O次郎)
Voiced by: Makoto Kōsaka→Reiko Katsura (1971), Keiko Yokozawa (1985)
O-jirō is Q-Taro's younger brother. Although he can understand others' speech, he can only say "bakeratta." Only Q-tarō understands what O-jirō says.
  • X-zō (X蔵)
Father of Q-Taro, P-ko, and O-jirō.
  • O-zetto (おZ)
Mother of Q-Taro, P-ko, and O-jirō.
  • Tsuyoshi Saigō (西郷 強, Saigō Tsuyoshi)
Voiced by: Kaneta Kimotsuki (1965/1971), Hiroshi Takemura (1985)
Nickname: Godzilla. A bully in Shota's class and neighborhood.
  • Hakase (ハカセ, "Professor")
Voiced by: Unknown (1965), Sumiko Shirakawa (1971), Kaneta Kimotsuki (1985), Naoki Tatsuta (1985, stand-in)
Shota's smart classmate.
  • Kizao Kiza (木佐 キザオ, Kiza Kizao)
Voiced by: Unknown (1965), Kazuko Sawada (1971), Naoki Tatsuta (1985)
Shota's rich classmate who kisses up to Godzilla.
  • Yoshiko Koizumi (小泉 美子, Koizumi Yoshiko)
Voiced by: Mariko Tsukai (1965), Michiko Nomura (1971), Sanae Miyuki (1985)
Shota's female classmate, always referred to as "Yotchan" (よっちゃん).
  • Yukari (ユカリ)
Voiced by: Unknown (1965), Unknown (1971), Yoko Asagami (1985)
Shin'ichi's girlfriend and P-ko lives with her
  • Koike (小池)
Voiced by: Hiroshi Ōtake (1965), akira simada (1971), Shingo Hiromori (1985)
Ramen chief character, he also appear too as a ramen chief in Doraemon, he appear as a teacher in Ninja Hattori-kun, and he appear as a Michio's father in Ultra B
  • Kaminari (神成)
Voiced by: Reizo Nomoto (1965) and (1971), Shingo Kanemoto (1985)
Ohara's neighbor and Doronpa lives with him. And he resembles from Doraemon

Reception and impact

The popularity of the 1965 anime adaptation caused a cultural phenomenon called "Oba-Q boom" (オバQブーム Oba-Kyū būmu), which made the series have an 30% audience rating, high popularity with children and spawn a variety of Toys, songs and clothes, as well a host of imitators. The reason of Q-taro's popularity was that the series was grounded in everyday Japanese life, with Q-taro questioning the structure of Japanese society and the comedic situations that occurred because of Q-taro misinterpreting it. [5][6][7]

Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani cited the series as inspiration for the designs of the Ghosts in the Pac-Man video game series.[8]

References
  1. https://newspaperarchive.com/oxnard-press-courier-jan-19-1975-p-46/
  2. https://www.newspapers.com/search/#query=little+ghost+q-taro
  3. http://www.keibunsha-books.com/shopdetail/000000016138/
  4. https://www.youzikyouzai.jp/S/Page/GOODSDETAIL-19731
  5. https://books.google.pt/books?id=dyBdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=viewer+ratings+Q-taro&source=bl&ots=G__NG-aFF3&sig=ACfU3U0kDAKkX0c2VlImBEB8ZNGrgtDAmw&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiTvdHZof_pAhULAWMBHbRyDXQQ6AEwAXoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=viewer%20ratings%20Q-taro&f=false
  6. https://books.google.pt/books?id=9miRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA280&dq=Q-taro&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiqy8vyh4TsAhUH8BQKHSfiAk8Q6AEwAnoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=Q-taro&f=false
  7. https://books.google.pt/books?id=nvHVAAAAMAAJ&q=q-taro&dq=q-taro&hl=pt-PT&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiH0t3RiYTsAhUHohQKHRMGCIEQ6AEwBnoECAMQAg
  8. Kohler, Chris. "Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating | Game|Life". Wired.com. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
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