Tsurupika Hagemaru

Tsurupika Hagemaru (つるピカハゲ丸, lit. "Little Baldy Hagemaru"), or simply Hagemaru, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shinbo Nomura. The series was published in the Shogakukan magazine CoroCoro Comic from 1985 to 1995. It tells the story of a young kid named Hagemaru and his ideas for saving money.

Tsurupika Hagemaru received the Shogakukan Manga Award for children's manga in 1987. The manga rapidly became a hit all over Japan. Due to its popularity, an anime adaptation was produced by Shin-Ei Animation in 1988. It was directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa and was broadcast by TV Asahi from March 3, 1988 to October 6, 1989.^[1] The 58 episode television also became a big hit, and, because of its popularity, a game was also created for the Family Computer. Since then, Tsurupika Hagemaru has been aired all around the world, most recently in India by Pogo TV and in Malaysia by Astro Ceria. The official English title is Hagemaru the Bald One.^[2]

Plot

Hagemaru Hageda is a young kid, studying in fourth grade, who lives with his parents in Japan. He is the only child of his parents and him and his parents are merely misers. They will do anything to save their money and this is a plotline for many episodes. Hagemaru also has a pet dog named Pesu (or Elvis in the English version), who often comments about Hagemaru's family being too miser and not giving him anything to eat.

He is best friend of his class-mate Masaru Kondo and in later episodes he has a crush on Midori, a girl from his class. In most of the episodes, the story revolves around his teacher (Miss Sakura) and his friends when Hagemaru goes to school. In the middle part of each episode, the top ten best stories are shown which is presented by Tonarida and Busu-chan with the words: "Bobechibo bochi!"

Characters

• Hagemaru: Hagemaru is the main protagonist of the series, a young kid, studying in fourth grade, who lives with his parents. He is very miser.
• Kondo: Kondo is Hagemaru's best friend.
• Tsuruko Hageda (Mom) and Hagezo Hageda (Dad): They are misers who always think before spending anything. Hagemaru's parents.
• Pesu: Hagemaru's pet dog. He speaks sometimes.
• Miss Sakura: Hagemaru's teacher. She always scolds and beats him.
• Kurumi-chan: A girl from Hagemaru's class. Both Kondo and Hagemaru have a crush on her.
• Tonarida and Busu Chan: They present the Best of 10 Short Stories.

References

External links

• Tsurupika Hagemaru (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia