View source for Obake no Q-Tarō

{{Short description|Japanese manga series}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2012}}
{{Infobox animanga/Header
| name            = Obake no Q-Tarō
| image           = Obake.jpg
| caption         = Obake no Q-Tarō on the cover of [[Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday]]
| ja_kanji        = オバケのQ太郎
| ja_romaji       = Obake no Kyū-Tarō 
| genre           = [[Comedy]]
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga 
| author          = [[Fujiko Fujio]]
| publisher       = [[Shogakukan]]
| demographic     = ''[[Shōnen manga|Shōnen]]''
| imprint         = Tentōmushi Comics
| magazine        = [[Weekly Shōnen Sunday]]<br>[[Bessatsu Shōnen Sunday]]
| first           = 1964
| last            = 1966
| volumes         = 12
| volume_list     = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = tv series
| director        = [[Masaaki Osumi]]
| producer        = 
| writer          = 
| music           = Hiroshi Tsutsui
| studio          = A-Production<br>[[TMS Entertainment|Tokyo Movie]]
| network         = [[TBS Television (Japan)|TBS]]
| first           = August 29, 1965
| last            = June 28, 1967
| episodes        = 96
| episode_list    = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Print
| type            = manga
| title           = Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
| author          = [[Fujiko Fujio]] 
| publisher       = Shogakukan
| demographic     = [[Children's anime and manga|Children]]
| imprint         = Tentōmushi Comics
| magazine        = Shogakukan Learning Magazine<br/>{{Noitalic|And other Shogakukan children's magazines}}
| published       = 
| first           = 1971
| last            = 1973
| volumes         = 4
| volume_list     = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = tv series
| title           = Shin Obake no Q-Tarō
| director        = [[Tadao Nagahama]]
| producer        = Harutoshi Kawaguchi<br/>Kensuke Fujii {{small|(NTV)}}
| writer          = 
| music           = Naozumi Yamamoto
| studio          = A-Production<br>Tokyo Movie
| network         = [[Nippon Television|NTV]]
| first           = September 1, 1971
| last            = December 27, 1972
| episodes        = 70 (140 segments)
| episode_list    = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = tv series
| title           = 
| director        = Masuji Harada<br/>[[Hiroshi Sasagawa]] {{small|(Chief director)}}
| producer        = Junichi Kimura<br/>Yoshiaki Koizumi {{small|(TV Asahi)}}<br/>Yoshio Katō<br/>Seitarō Kodama {{small|(Shin-Ei Animation)}}<br/>{{small|([[Asatsu-DK]])}}
| writer          = 
| music           = [[Shunsuke Kikuchi]]
| studio          = [[Shin-Ei Animation]]
| network         = [[All-Nippon News Network|ANN]] ([[TV Asahi]])
| first           = April 1, 1985
| last            = March 29, 1987
| episodes        = 510
| episode_list    = 
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = film
| title           = Obake no Q-Tarō: Tobidase! Bake Bake Daisakusen
| director        = Hiroshi Sasagawa
| producer        = 
| writer          = 
| music           = Shunsuke Kikuchi
| studio          = Shin-Ei Animation
| released        = March 15, 1986
| runtime         = 15 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Video
| type            = film
| title           = Obake no Q-Tarō: Toidase! 1/100 Daisakusen
| director        = Hiroshi Sasagawa
| producer        = 
| writer          = 
| music           = Shunsuke Kikuchi
| studio          = Shin-Ei Animation
| released        = March 14, 1987
| runtime         = 15 minutes
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Other
|title = Video games
|content =
* ''[[Chubby Cherub]]'' (1985)
}}
{{Infobox animanga/Footer}}

{{nihongo|'''''Obake no Q-Tarō'''''|オバケのQ太郎|Obake no Kyū-Tarō|lead=yes}} is a Japanese [[manga]] series by [[Fujiko Fujio]] about the titular ''[[obake]]'', Q-Taro, who lives with the Ōhara family. Q-Tarō, 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 [[Cynophobia|deathly afraid of dogs]].

The story is usually focused on the antics of Q-Tarō and his friends. The manga was drawn in 1964–1966,1971–1974,1976 by the duo [[Fujiko Fujio]] (Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko). An English manga volume was published in Japan as ''Q the Spook''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.keibunsha-books.com/shopdetail/000000016138/|title = Q the Spook オバケのQ太郎}}</ref>

There are three [[anime]] series adaptations of ''Obake no Q-Tarō''. The first was shown on the [[TBS Television (Japan)|Tokyo Broadcasting System]] (TBS) in black and white, and ran from 1965 to 1967. The second series, produced in color, ran from 1971 to 1972 on [[Nippon Television|Nippon TV]]. The third series ran from 1985 to 1987 on [[TV Asahi]]. 

The series was broadcast in the United States in the 1970s as '''Little Ghost Q-Taro''', making it one of only three works by Fujiko Fujio to reach North America.<ref name="oxnard press courier 19750119">{{cite news |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/oxnard-press-courier-jan-19-1975-p-46/ |url-access=subscription |title=Sunday TV Programs |newspaper=Oxnard Press Courier |page=46 |date=January 19, 1975 |location=[[Oxnard, California]] |access-date=May 24, 2021}}</ref> In France, one of the episodes of the 1965 series was aired in November 1967 as part of [[France 2|ORTF Chaine 2]]'s Japanese week, complete with French subtitles.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oba Q, le petit fantôme |url=http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/fiche-2420-oba-q-le-petit-fantome.html |website=Planète Jeunesse |access-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240321202409/http://www.planete-jeunesse.com/fiche-2420-oba-q-le-petit-fantome.html |archive-date=March 21, 2024}}</ref>

==Characters==
*{{nihongo|'''Q-Tarō'''|Q太郎}}
:Voiced by: [[Machiko Soga]] (1965), [[Junko Hori]] (1971), [[Fusako Amachi]] (1985)
:The protagonist of the manga, Q-Tarō has a fear of dogs and cannot transform although he is an [[obake]].

*{{nihongo|'''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 an elementary school student. Q-Tarō calls him {{nihongo|"Shō-chan"|正ちゃん}} and Shota calls Q-Tarō {{nihongo|"Q-chan"|Qちゃん}}. His grades are generally poor, and he was once second from the bottom of his class. 

*{{nihongo|'''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 and the eldest son of the Ohara family who is a middle school student. Unlike Shota, his academic ability during his middle school days are average. Whenever Shinichi is at home, he usually spends his time listening to music, specifically enjoying records from the Beatles and Elvis Presley. 

*{{nihongo|'''U-ko'''|U子}}
:Voiced by:  [[Hiroko Maruyama]] (1971), [[Eiko Masuyama]] (1985)
:U-ko, a [[judoka]], is Q-Tarō's girlfriend obake.

*{{nihongo|'''Doronpa'''|ドロンパ}}
:Voiced by: [[Misae Kita]] (1965), [[Yoshiko Yamamoto (voice actor)|Yoshiko Yamamoto]] (1971), [[Fuyumi Shiraishi]] (1985)
:Doronpa is an American obake. Q-Tarō tends to have a rivalry towards him due to the fact that U-ko idolizes Doronpa's intelligence and he likes to annoy Q-Tarō because he is ''Japanese''.

*{{nihongo|'''P-ko'''|P子}}
:Voiced by: [[Yōko Mizugaki]] (1965), [[Kazuko Sawada]] (1971), [[Yūko Mita]] (1985)
:P-ko is Q-Tarō's younger sister.

*{{nihongo|'''O-jirō'''|O次郎}}
:Voiced by: [[Makoto Kōsaka]]→[[Reiko Katsura]] (1971), [[Keiko Yokozawa]] (1985)
: O-jirō is Q-Tarō's younger brother. Although he can understand others' speech, he can only say "bakeratta". Only Q-Tarō understands what O-jirō says.

*{{nihongo|'''X-zō'''|X蔵}}
: Father of Q-Tarō, P-ko, and O-jirō.

*{{nihongo|'''O-zetto'''|おZ}}
: Mother of Q-Tarō, P-ko, and O-jirō.

*{{nihongo|'''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.

*{{nihongo|'''Hakase'''|ハカセ||"Professor"}}
:Voiced by: ''Mitsuko Aso'' (1965), [[Sumiko Shirakawa]] (1971), [[Kaneta Kimotsuki]] (1985), [[Naoki Tatsuta]] (1985, stand-in)
:Shota's smart classmate.

*{{nihongo|'''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. His name is also similar to the rich boy in [[Kaibutsu-kun]] He has an assortment of 0's and 100's at will.

*{{nihongo|'''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 {{nihongo|"Yotchan"|よっちゃん}} and U-ko lives with her.

*{{nihongo|'''Yukari Kawai'''|河井 ユカリ|''Kawai Yukari''}} (1985 anime only)
:Voiced by: [[Yoko Asagami]] (1985)
:Shin'ichi's girlfriend. She is a middle school student, and P-ko lives with her.

*{{nihongo|'''Koike'''|小池|}}
:Voiced by: [[Hiroshi Ōtake]] (1965), ''Akira Shimada'' (1971), [[Shingo Hiromori]] (1985)
:Ramen eater character that Q-taro always eats his ramen if he comes to Koike's room. He also appears too as a ramen eater in [[Doraemon]], he appears as a teacher in [[Ninja Hattori-kun]], he appears as Michio's father in [[Ultra B]], and he becomes both between ramen eater and teacher in [[Biriken]].

*{{nihongo|'''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==

{{expand section|date=March 2015}}

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-Tarō's popularity was that the series was grounded in everyday Japanese life, with Q-Tarō questioning the structure of Japanese society and the comedic situations that occurred because of Q-Tarō misinterpreting it.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dyBdDwAAQBAJ&q=viewer+ratings+Q-taro&pg=PA152|title = Anime: A History|isbn = 9781844578849|last1 = Clements|first1 = Jonathan|date = 7 October 2017| publisher=Bloomsbury }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9miRAgAAQBAJ&q=Q-taro&pg=PA280|title = A Nation of a Hundred Million Idiots?: A Social History of Japanese Television, 1953 - 1973|isbn = 9781135869779|last1 = Chun|first1 = Jayson Makoto|date = 6 December 2006| publisher=Routledge }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nvHVAAAAMAAJ&q=q-taro|title = The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons|year = 1983| publisher=Chelsea House Publishers |isbn = 9780877543992}}</ref>

''[[Pac-Man]]'' creator [[Toru Iwatani]] cited the series as inspiration for the designs of the [[Ghosts (Pac-Man)|Ghosts]] in the ''Pac-Man'' video game series.<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Kohler |first=Chris |url=https://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/05/pac-man-30-years/ |title=Q&A: Pac-Man Creator Reflects on 30 Years of Dot-Eating &#124; Game&#124;Life |magazine=Wired |publisher=Wired.com |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref> In the manga series ''[[To Love Ru]]'', the ghost character [[Shizu Murasame]] has a fear of dogs as an homage to ''Little Ghost Q-Taro''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hasemi |first1=Saki |last2=Yabuki |first2=Kentaro |author-link1=Saki Hasemi |author-link2=Kentaro Yabuki |title=[[To Love Ru]] |volume=11–12 |year=2019 |orig-year=2008, 2009 |publisher=[[Seven Seas Entertainment]] |isbn=978-1-947804-23-4 |chapter=Character File 14}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist|group="n"}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*60s {{ann|anime|486}}
*70s {{ann|anime|1731}}
*80s {{ann|anime|7545}}

{{Fujiko Fujio}}
{{Weekly Shōnen Sunday - 1959–1969}}
{{TMS Entertainment}}
{{Shin-Ei TV series}}
{{Shin-Ei Animation}}

[[Category:1960s Japanese television series]]
[[Category:1964 manga]]
[[Category:1965 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:1971 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:1985 anime television series debuts]]
[[Category:Anime series based on manga]]
[[Category:Children's manga]]
[[Category:Comedy anime and manga]]
[[Category:CoroCoro Comic]]
[[Category:Fictional ghosts]]
[[Category:Fujiko Fujio]]
[[Category:Ghost comics]]
[[Category:Japanese comedy television series]]
[[Category:Nippon Television original programming]]
[[Category:Shin-Ei Animation]]
[[Category:Shogakukan manga]]
[[Category:Shogakukan franchises]]
[[Category:Shōnen manga]]
[[Category:Shunsuke Kikuchi]]
[[Category:TMS Entertainment]]
[[Category:TBS Television (Japan) original programming]]
[[Category:TV Asahi original programming]]
[[Category:1987 films]]
[[Category:1986 films]]