Chagecha: Research Notes

Tucker

Title: 

• Chagecha  チャゲチャ

  • Cha-geh-cha

Author

• Sawai, Yoshio 澤井 啓夫（さわい よしお)

  • Sah-wah-ee, Yoshi-oh

Characters

• Chagecha 

  • See above

• Masato

  • Mah-sah-toe

  • Note that the spelling as “Masoto” in the first chapter of the manga appears to be a mistranslation

• Morikyo, Oreo 森清オレオ（もりきよ オレオ）

  • Mo-ree-kyo, oh-reh-oh

  • Not pronounced “orio” like the cookie is, even if it is spelled the same!

• Kabu, Kintamarou 華部金玉郎（かぶ きんたまろう）

  • Kah-bɯ, Keen-tah-mah-roe

  • Family name means “testicle guy” because of course

Other

• Gure-Toukyou

  • Gɯ-reh Toe-kyoh

  • If I had to guess, gure is probably short for the Japanese pronunciation for the English word “great”...or it could be a reference to a “gray zone” where normal law and order doesn’t apply

• Yankii

  • Yawn-keyy (last syllable gets two beats)

  • Japanese delinquent subculture that spun off of ‘50s American greasers and then evolved in its own direction. Originally derived from “yankee” referring to Americans, but has lost that original meaning.

• Yan-ki

  • Yawn-key (last syllable gets one beat)

  • Play on yankii + ki (can mean energy or breath)

• Gekiatsu High

  • Geh-kee-ah-tsɯ

  • Means intense/violent heat

• Nanrei-Saiunkan High School 南冷砕雲館高校

  • Naan-ray Sigh-ɯn-kahn

  • Translates to something like “The Southern Chilly Cloud-Smashing-Building High School”...I’m starting to get the feeling that this author gets a kick from pulling ridiculous names out of his ass

  MaxyBee

• Yoshio Sawai

  • Notable people they were an assistant for

    • None known

  • Notable people they had as assistants

    • Atsushi Namikiri (Switch, Red Blue)

      • on Chagecha

    • Yusei Matsui (Assassination Classroom)

      • on BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo

    • Naoya Matsumoto (Kaiju no.8, Nekowappa!)

      • on Shinsetsu BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo

  • Other works

    • BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo (2001-2005, 21 volumes, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • The hajike (go wild) mega-hit, as a Fist of the North Star parody with a dude with a big yellow afro fighting with his nose hair quickly devolves into madcap reference humour, absurd non-sequiturs, and more scat than you can poke a stick at. Had video games and a wildly popular anime, brought low by complaining parents and cancelled before its time. The manga wrapped in late 2005, took a month off and returned as…

    • Shinsetsu BoBoBo-Bo Bo-BoBo (2006-2007, 7 volumes, Weekly Shonen Jump)

      • It’s more BoBoBo, but now they have a koala assassin. The shine had come off of the series by now, partially due to its controversy, and it wrapped a bit after a year of publication.

    • Kirarincho no Obake Festa (2009, 1 volume)

      • After Chagecha’s failure, Sawai pivoted into making this children’s book under Shueisha’s wakuwaku kids’ book line. Not an unheard of move, Toriyama did the same with Toccio the Angel way back when after all. Oh, it’s about the prince of the ghost kingdom deciding that it’s more fun to be silly than to scare people silly.

    • Fuwari! Don Patch (2012-2014, 3 volumes, Saikyo Jump)

      • Characters from the BoBoBo universe are rebooted into a cute Yotsuba&!-esque slice of life, but instead of a curious green-haired girl you have Don Patch, a small orange ball covered in very squishy looking spikes. I own this in print. You didn’t need to know that.

    • Honnori! Don Patch (2014-2015, 1 volume, Shonen Jump Plus)

      • Given the chance to be on the hot new thing, Sawai restarted his Yotsuba&! clone in Shonen Jump Plus, where it muddled around for a year and quietly wrapped up.

  • Publishing

    • Run Dates: 

      • September 13th, 2008 to November 1st, 2008

    • Series it replaced

• Dogashikaden! by Kosuke Hamada (2 vols, flop)

• Series that replaced it

  •  Meister by Kaji Kamiya (2 vols, flop)

• Series that started at the same time as it

  • Asklepios by Toru Uchimizu (3 vols, flop)

• Chapters/Volumes: 

  • 8 chapters/1 volume

• Publishing

  • Run Dates: 

    • September 13th, 2008 to November 1st, 2008

  • Series it replaced

• Dogashikaden! by Kosuke Hamada (2 vols, flop)

• Series that replaced it

  •  Meister by Kaji Kamiya (2 vols, flop)

• Series that started at the same time as it

  • Asklepios by Toru Uchimizu (3 vols, flop)

• Chapters/Volumes: 

  • 8 chapters/1 volume

Manga Itself / Misc thoughts

• This is the fastest cancellation in Weekly Shonen Jump history. Whether the author or editorial called it quits first, its reception was so poor that the other side agreed to wrap it up and move on

• Friend of the show Andy’s Islands of Patch Cafe and Manga Properties fame has once again supplied the author portrait and weekly comments for this series. Among the comments this time we have an editor wedding, an enthusiastic beginning, and a thankful exit. 

• Sawai says in the volume edition that he tried to approach gag manga from a different direction in this work, admits he didn’t make it happen, and thanks the Jump staff for letting him try.

• Sawai had the image of classic delinquent video game series Kunio-kun/River City Ransom in mind when creating Chagecha.

• Volume extras include:

  • Kuro Fukuro (Black Owl), a one-shot about a delinquent elderly man.

  • Staff illustrations

  • Text pages related to the work or Sawai’s life.

• Do you remember back on Cyborg Grandpa G, when I was like “I used to know the guy who translated this, they do muscle fetish art now”. Well, this was also fan-translated by StrangerAtaru. Perhaps now that you’ve read Saint Muscle, you too can understand the beauty of muscles. 

• Chagecha started the same year as Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro’s Toriko and Sawai, being a big Shimabukuro fan (he credits Seikimatsu Leader den Takeshi! with inspiring his work as a mangaka), he ALSO has his own muscular lead character introduced while smoking a tree. It’s… cooler in Toriko.

• BoBoBo references:

  • Dengaku Man and Don Patch are on the first colour page for this series

  • In chapter 2, Chagecha smashes the delinquent statue into one resembling Don Patch from BoBoBo.

  • In chapter 2 one of the schools on the hierarchy map is “nose-hair technique high”

  • Mysterious Tiger Mask is also just Don Patch, having lost his spikes and gained a disguise. That’s why he insists he doesn’t have a leek (Don Patch’s weapon) and explains whyhe freaks out seeing that one delinquent covered in traffic cone ‘spikes’.