Where to Start with Fujiko A. Fujio
— Choosing Between The Laughing Salesman and Manga Michi

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If you read Japanese and are new to Fujiko A. Fujio, open Volume 1 of The Laughing Salesman. Each story stands alone, so you can read one and close the book. If you would rather settle into a long story, start with Volume 1 of Manga Michi. One of the two is plenty for today. If you read only English, the choice is much smaller, and the next section explains what we could find.

There is a reason for offering two ways in. In 1968, while Kaibutsu-kun (The Monster Kid) was still running, the same artist moved into manga for adults and began The Black Salesman, which led to The Laughing Salesman. A character children laugh with, and a man in black who chills adults: that range is what makes this artist interesting, and your impression changes completely depending on where you enter.

If you read only English

Almost none of this artist’s manga has an official English edition. The database MangaUpdates lists The Laughing Salesman, Manga Michi, Ai... Shirisomeshi Koro ni..., Mataro Is Coming!!, Kurobe, Black Company Henkiro, Kaibutsu-kun, Ninja Hattori-kun, Pro Golfer Saru and Shonen Jidai as not licensed in English, and we found no announcement of a new edition. Here is what we could find.

One thing to watch when you search: books under the name Fujiko Fujio in English are likely to be Doraemon, which is by the other half of the duo, Fujiko F. Fujio. The next section explains the names. The links in the rest of this guide search for Japanese books, and Amazon.com may show few results.

The best place to start in Japanese

Fujiko A. Fujio’s work divides into three broad ways in. You do not need to follow them all in order. Pick the one closest to your mood.

If you cannot decide, we recommend the black humor, which is short and easy to finish. The Laughing Salesman is 5 books in all, and every story closes in one chapter. Even if you dislike serials, it is easy to stop partway.

Which half of “Fujiko Fujio” drew the book?

When you hunt for older books, the name is confusing. Fujiko Fujio was the shared name of two people, Motoo Abiko and Hiroshi Fujimoto. They announced their split in 1987, and from 1988 Abiko worked as Fujiko Fujio Ⓐ. Fujimoto’s name became Fujiko F. Fujio. Until the split, collaborations and solo works alike all appeared under the name Fujiko Fujio.

So the name on the cover does not tell you who drew it. Ninja Hattori-kun, Kaibutsu-kun and Manga Michi are solo works by Abiko published under the name Fujiko Fujio. Obake no Q-Taro, on the other hand, is a collaboration, and a 1976 one-shot was nearly the last work the two made together. If you are unsure, the list of titles on Shogakukan’s official Fujiko Fujio Ⓐ Digital Selection site is a good guide. A few collaborations are mixed in, but its 215 books include every volume of the Fujiko Fujio Ⓐ Land collection, which makes it close to a complete works.

What to read around The Laughing Salesman

The Laughing Salesman is the story of Fukuzo Moguro, a salesman who grants the wishes of troubled people and makes clients who break their promises pay the price. Its original title was The Black Salesman. After a one-shot in 1968, it ran in Manga Sunday from 1969 to 1971. The title changed when it became a TV anime. The 1989 anime raised its profile greatly, and that is when the title changed.

In the 5-volume Chuko Bunko edition, Volume 1 holds the stories from the Black Salesman era, and Volumes 2–5 hold the later serial. The e-book is said to be a digital version of this paperback. After that comes the sequel The Salesman Returns (2 books in Japanese, separate from the single bilingual book above). Moguro Fukujiro no Shigoto, in which Moguro’s younger brother helps people, has a topsy-turvy charm once you are used to the older brother’s stories.

If you want more in this vein, go on to Kurobe (3 books). The official site calls it an ambitious work of black humor for boys (our translation), and its all-black hero, who controls shadows, meddles in people’s fates wherever he goes. If you like short stories, Fujiko Fujio Ⓐ no Black Humor (2 books), compiled to mark 60 years of the artist’s career, is also a handy choice. Its second volume collects work from magazines for young men.

In Mataro Is Coming!!, the stories change by edition

Mataro Is Coming!! is a serial from 1972 to 1975 in which the bullied Mataro Urami takes revenge with his “grudge technique.” For this work alone, please learn about the editions before you read.

The first Akita Shoten volumes were nearly the same as the magazine versions. But when the complete collection Fujiko Fujio Land came out later, 34 of the 133 chapters were heavily redrawn in light of social conditions, and about 25 chapters are said to have been dropped. Some stories changed all the way down to the punchline. The 14 books of the Digital Selection are based on Fujiko Fujio Ⓐ Land, so they belong to this line.

In other words, the e-books are convenient, but they are not the form the stories took during the serial. If you want those stories too, you will need to look for the old volumes. If the bullying scenes are painful for you, Black Company Henkiro (6 books) is another option. Takeshi Ebihara, an assistant at the time, has said it is Mataro Is Coming!! with the nasty bullying taken out. Be aware that it is also about a junior high school student whose business is extortion, so it is not a cheerful work.

Manga Michi is a series spanning 43 years

Manga Michi is the story of Michio Maga and Shigeru Saino, who want to become manga artists. Maga is modeled on Abiko and Saino on Fujimoto, and Osamu Tezuka and other manga artists of the time appear under their real names. The official site introduces it as an autobiographical work “serialized over 43 years” (our translation). The story runs in this order.

The parts differ in magazine and period, but the story continues in chronological order. Publication order and reading order are the same, so there is nothing to puzzle over here. The end of Asunaro and the start of Risshi both include the visit to Tezuka’s home, so if the same episode appears twice, no pages are missing. In Ai... Shirisomeshi Koro ni... the manga’s style also changes, from what suited boys’ magazines to something more grown-up. Volume 2 includes “Saraba Tomo yo,” about Fujiko F. Fujio, who died while the serial was running. If you have followed the story of these two, it may be a chapter you will not forget.

One caution: do not read this too much as a historical record. The author said it was “70 percent true and 30 percent fiction” (our translation), and there are parts that are heavily dramatized and events shown out of sequence. It is better read as a story of youth than as a source for the history of Tokiwa-so.

Which edition to read

The parts included differ by edition. Before you buy, check whether Shunrai is included.

Hearing that the e-books total 37 may sound daunting. We would not recommend buying them all at the start. Read only the first e-book, and decide by whether you can ride the energy of two boys obsessed with manga.

If you want to start with something bright

If scary stories are not for you, start with Kaibutsu-kun or Ninja Hattori-kun. The 4 books of Ninja Hattori-kun are short, so they should be easy to pick up first. Shin Ninja Hattori-kun (8 books), the second run from 1981, is drawn with a new setting. Pro Golfer Saru is longer at 22 books, and the official site calls it the first golf manga for boys (our translation).

There is one more work to set outside these ways in. Shonen Jidai (5 books) is a long work about the single year from 1944 (Showa 19) to the end of the war, based on the novel Nagai Michi by Hyozo Kashiwabara. It shows a quiet side, different from both the black humor and Manga Michi.

Whichever way in you choose, one book is enough to begin. If it is tonight, try one story from The Laughing Salesman. When Moguro appears with his grin, you will meet this artist’s other face.