News
Gag Comedy Manga Afro Tanaka Ends
posted on by Joanne Mertz
The combined 22nd/23rd issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine announced on Saturday that the 11-year run of the popular manga Afro Tanaka will draw to a close in the next issue on May 13. Masaharu Noritsuke's story centered around the quirky life of an Afro-haired young man named Hiroshi Tanaka.
Launched in Weekly Big Comic Spirits in 2002, the gag manga underwent several title changes as it followed Tanaka through every stage of his life: Kōkō Afro Tanaka (High School Afro Tanaka), Chūtai Afro Tanaka (Dropout Afro Tanaka), Jōkyō Afro Tanaka (Tokyo-Bound Afro Tanaka), and the current serialization, Sasurai Afro Tanaka (Wandering Afro Tanaka). The manga has spawned over 40 volumes which have sold 3.6 million copies, and it inspired an animated music video from the three-man rock band Tsuru (GeGeGe no Kitarō, Cross Game).
The Jōkyō Afro Tanaka story was also turned into a live-action film starring Atsushi Tsusumishita of the comedy duo Impulse and Kei Tanaka. The movie opened in Japan last year.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
Update: Magazine's release date corrected. Thanks, Manga News
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