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The Laughing Salesman

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The Laughing Salesman
Volume 1 of the bunkobon version of the manga The Laughing Salesman.
笑ゥせぇるすまん
(Warau Sērusuman)
Genre
Manga
Black Salesman
(One-shot)
Written byFujiko Fujio
Published byShogakukan
MagazineBig Comic
DemographicSeinen
Published1968
Manga
Black Salesman
Written byFujiko Fujio
Published byJitsugyo no Nihon Sha
MagazineManga Sunday
DemographicSeinen
Original run1969 – 1971
Volumes6
Anime television series
Directed by
Produced by
  • Sōichi Besshi
  • Seitarō Kodama
  • Hiroshi Inoue
Written byYasuo Tanami
Music byKōhei Tanaka
StudioShin-Ei Animation
Original networkTBS
Original run Original run
October 10, 1989 –
September 29, 1992
Specials
December 26, 1992 – December 28, 1993
Episodes127 (List of episodes)
Manga
Written byFujiko A. Fujio
Published byChuokoron-Shinsha
MagazineChuko Comic Lite Special
DemographicSeinen
Original run1990 – 1995
Volumes5
Manga
The Salesman Returns
Written byFujiko A. Fujio
Published byJitsugyo no Nihon Sha
MagazineComic Densetsu Magazine
DemographicSeinen
Original run1996 – 2000
Volumes2
Television drama
Directed by
  • Mitsuo Ezaki
  • Takahito Hara
  • Hiroshi Ikezoe
  • Gō Nakajima
  • Kyōji Mafune
Produced by
  • Fumio Igarashi
  • Masaru Takahashi
  • Gō Nakajima
Written by
Music byKōji Endō (e-KLAY 1999)
StudioCosmic Utopia Corporation
Original networkTV Asahi
Original run June 26, 1999 – September 18, 1999
Episodes10
Manga
The Salesman Returns
Written byFujiko A. Fujio
Published byJitsugyo no Nihon Sha
MagazineManga Sunday
DemographicSeinen
Original run2001 – 2004
Anime television series
The Laughing Salesman NEW
Directed byHirofumi Ogura
Written by
  • Naohiro Fukushima
  • Asami Ishikawa
  • Midori Natsu
Music byKōhei Tanaka
StudioShin-Ei Animation
Licensed by
Original networkTokyo MX, Yomiuri TV, BS11, Animax
Original run April 3, 2017 – June 19, 2017
Episodes12 (24 segments) (List of episodes)
Video games
  • The Laughing Salesman (1991)
  • The Laughing Salesman (1993)

The Laughing Salesman (Japanese: 笑ゥせぇるすまん, Hepburn: Warau Sērusuman) is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko Fujio. The manga began as a one-shot series serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine on 1968, later becoming a full-fledged series published by Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Manga Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971. The manga tells the story of a salesman named Moguro[a] Fukuzou, whose job is to help people fill gaps in their soul. In reality, he often ruins the lives of his clients if they do not follow his strict instructions or if they betray his trust.

It is notable in Japan as the only series by the Fujiko Fujio duo to be darker and more mature in its themes than their previous works. An anime adaptation was produced by Shin-Ei Animation, directed by Toshirō Kuni and written by Yasuo Tanami. It aired on TBS from October 10, 1989 to December 28, 1993 with a total of 127 episodes. A second anime adaptation aired on Tokyo MX from April 3 to June 19, 2017.[2]

Plot

Society is filled with people who struggle through their lives or never achieved their goals. The stories in the series focus on individuals who meet a shadowy and ominous salesman called Moguro Fukuzou (喪黒 福造). Moguro promises to "fill your empty soul" and give them a better life, if they follow his advice or agree to his conditions. However, once Moguro's clients begin to enjoy the fruits of their new life, they often breach their conditions, betray his trust, or deny that they received assistance at all. When this invariably happens due to their avarice, greed or selfishness, Moguro punishes his clients by using their reliance on his aid against them. With their lives ruined, he believes that they have been justly rewarded and he looks for more potential clients that he can help in a similar way.

The names of Moguro's clients are often puns on their situation or predicament, or refer to aspects of Japanese culture or history. For example in Episode 18, the name of the client, Urashima Taichi, alludes to the legend of Urashima Tarō, a type of Japanese Rip Van Winkle.

Media

Manga

Fujiko Fujio first created the manga as a one-shot called The Black Salesman (黒イせぇるすまん, Kuroi Sērusuman) in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine in 1968. However the manga was deemed too scary for the publisher, and he ended up publishing the work in Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Manga Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971, under the same title as the one-shot. After the first anime adaptation's release, Fujiko A. Fujio continued the series from 1990 to 1995 in Chuokoron-Shinsha's Chūōkōron magazine, this time under the title of The Laughing Salesman (笑ゥせぇるすまん, Warau Sērusuman), and later in Manga Sunday from 1996 to 2000 as The Salesman Returns (帰ッテキタせぇるすまん, Kaettekita Sērusuman), with a bilingual (Japanese-English) version released in 2013.[3][4] The fourth sequel, The Dancing Salesman (踊ルせぇるすまん, Odoru Sērusuman), ran in Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Comic Densetsu Magazine from 2001 to 2002 and Manga Sunday from 2003 to 2004. Both the Chūōkōron version and The Salesman Returns have been published in both physical and digital formats, with volume 1 of the bunkobon edition of the former and volume 1 of the latter including the previously uncollected chapters from The Black Salesman. As of 2021, The Dancing Salesman chapters have yet to be collected in a tankōbon.

Anime

See also: List of The Laughing Salesman episodes

An anime adaptation of the manga was produced by Shin-Ei Animation and aired as part of the 1989–1992 variety show Gimme a Break (ギミア・ぶれいく, Gimia・bureiku) on TBS from October 10, 1989 to September 29, 1992 and later continued as 2 hour specials which aired from December 26, 1992 to December 28, 1993. It was directed by Toshirō Kuni and written by Yasuo Tanami, while Kōhei Tanaka composed the music. The opening song is titled Kodoku no Uta (孤独の唄, lit. Song of Loneliness) while the ending is titled Kokoro no Uta (ココロの唄, lit. Song of the Heart), both performed by Tomio Umezawa.

A DVD boxed set of the series was released by Pony Canyon on March 20, 2013. The anime has also been digitally remastered and released on various video on demand streaming services in Japan.

A second anime adaptation titled The Laughing Salesman NEW (Japanese: 笑ゥせぇるすまんNEW, Hepburn: Warau Sērusuman NEW) was also produced by Shin-Ei Animation. It was directed by Hirofumi Ogura, with Naohiro Fukushima, Asami Ishikawa and Midori Natsu writing the scripts and Kohei Tanaka composing the music. Fujio Suzuki designed the characters and served as chief animation director. Minoru Nishida was the art director, with Akiko Inoue in charge of color design. The series aired on Tokyo MX from April 3, 2017, to June 19, 2017.[5][6][2] It was streamed on Crunchyroll,[7] making it first The Laughing Salesman material available online outside Japan.[8] The opening song is titled "Don't" by NakamuraEmi while the ending theme is titled "Bam! The Time I Got Suckered" (ドーン！やられちゃった節, Dōn! Yararechatta setsu) by Junji Takada.[9]

Video games

Compile released the first video game based on the series for the MSX2 in Japan in 1991.

A visual novel of the series was released on the Sega CD in Japan on September 17, 1993. It was also developed by Compile and published by Sega, adapting three episodes of the anime. In the game, the player can change the outcome of the events of the customer. If the player makes the right choices, the customer can have a happy ending. However, if the player makes the wrong choices, the customer will get the bad ending just like in the anime.

Fukuzou Moguro makes an appearance as a guest character in the 2012 game Girls RPG Cinderelife developed by Level-5 for the Nintendo 3DS.[10]

Live-action drama

A live-action adaptation was produced by TV Asahi, which stars Shirō Itō as Moguro Fukuzou. It aired from June 26 to September 18, 1999.

Reception

In June 1999, the manga sold more than 3.5 million copies in Japan alone.[11]

Notes

  1. ^ "Mokoku" earlier in the manga.

References

  1. ^ a b Chapman, Paul (April 3, 2017). "Crunchyroll Streams "Alice & Zoroku" and "The Laughing Salesman"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  2. ^ a b Anita, Tai (2017-02-10). "Warau Salesman New TV Anime's Video Reveals April 3 Premiere". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  3. ^ 英語コミックス-帰ッテキタせぇるすまん(実日イングリッシュコミック) (The Salesman Returns). Amazon (company). ASIN 4408612790.
  4. ^ 英語コミックス 帰ッテキタせぇるすまん. Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha, Ltd. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  5. ^ "アニメ「笑ゥせぇるすまんNEW」2017年春スタート 喪黒福造は玄田哲章". アニメ！アニメ！.
  6. ^ "Doraemon Co-Creator's Warau Salesman Manga Gets New TV Anime". Anime News Network.
  7. ^ "Crunchyroll Streams The Laughing Salesman, Starmyu Season 2 Anime". Anime News Network. April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
  8. ^ Chapman, Paul. "Crunchyroll Streams "Alice & Zoroku" and "The Laughing Salesman"". Crunchyroll.
  9. ^ "Junji Takeda Performs Warau Salesman New Anime's Ending Theme Song". Anime News Network. March 13, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  10. ^ Loo, Egan (2011-10-16). "Sailor Moon's Tuxedo Mask/Kamen Joins Level-5's Girls RPG". Anime News Network. Retrieved 2017-01-05.
  11. ^ 「世紀末のココロのスキマお埋めします「笑ゥせぇるすまん」テレ朝系でドラマ化」『Yomiuri Shimbun』1999年6月22日付東京夕刊、9面。
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