Kōtarō Makaritōru!

Kōtarō Makaritōru!
Cover art for the first volume of the manga Kōtarō Makaritōru!, released in Japan by Kodansha on January 20, 1983
コータローまかりとおる!
Genre	Action, Comedy
Manga
Written by	Tatsuya Hiruta
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Original run	1982 – 1994
Volumes	59
Manga
Shin Kōtarō Makaritōru!
Written by	Tatsuya Hiruta
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Shōnen Magazine
Original run	1995 – 2001
Volumes	27
Manga
Kōtarō Makaritōru! L
Written by	Tatsuya Hiruta
Published by	Kodansha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Shōnen Magazine
Original run	2001 – 2004
Volumes	8

Kōtarō Makaritōru! (コータローまかりとおる!, lit. "Kōtarō Breakthrough!") is a shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Hiruta. It was published by Kodansha in Shōnen Magazine from 1982 to 1994 and collected in 59 tankōbon volumes, and was followed by two sequel series: Shin Kōtarō Makaritōru!, which ran from 1995 to 2001 and collected in 27 volumes, and Kōtarō Makaritōru! L, which ran from 2001 to 2004 and collected in eight volumes. All three series are boy's manga that revolve around fighting and fanservice. The early chapters feature slapstick and toilet humor, but as the series progresses the story arcs become more serious, with some characters dying. It was adapted into a live action movie and a novel in 1984 and a pachinko game in 2007.

In 1986, Kōtarō Makaritōru! received the Kodansha Manga Award for shōnen.^[1]

Characters

Kōtarō Shindō - A high school aged karate expert who is descended from a long line of ninja. While he may be a fighting genius, he lacks common sense and any inhibitions whatsoever, but possessing a strong sense of justice. He spends most of his time getting into trouble with school officials, and trying to steal girls' panties, especially Mayumi's. He is very protective of three things: his long hair, his panty collection, and Mayumi.

Mayumi Watase - Captain of the 7th Discipline Squad, Mayumi is Kōtarō's childhood friend and chief romantic interest. She's the only one who seems to be able to keep Kōtarō in check. While she's nowhere near Kōtarō's level, she's not a damsel in distress. She's got a good grip on the basics of both karate and judo. Mayumi also happens to be a member of the school's Decency League; much to Kōtarō's annoyance.

Teruhiko Tenkōji - A bald samurai who patrols the school as the enforcer of the Decency League. Early on, he appears to be an enemy of Kōtarō's, but as the series progresses the audience learns that he gradually changes into Kōtarō's main rival and best friend. He comes from a high class traditional family and has an iinazuke (fiancé that his parents picked for him) named Sayoko. Being called "baldie" or "bald" drives him insane, since he insists that his head is not bald, but merely shaved. His fighting ability is on par with Kōtarō, arguably the only character in the series who is a true match for him. Though his chief ambition is fighting and defeating Kōtarō in a fair duel, they have never really fought each other on even terms, and it is implied that both of them actually do not want that fated duel to ever happen, because that would mean the end of their current friendship and relationship. After defeating a berserk and addled Tenkoji who was hypnotized by the mind-altering Kugutsu dance in the Japan Dome, Kōtarō himself stated sadly that "I don't want to lose to Tenkoji, but I don't want to win, either."

Kōtarō Makaritōru

The original Kōtarō Makaritoru contained seven major arcs and 1 side series. Initially the comic was filled with slapstick comedy and small sexual humor, but as the story progressed, the comic became more mature and serious. However, some of the classic humor remained.

Beginning of Kōtarō

The very first arc of Kōtarō Makaritōru introduced Kōtarō Shindō, Mayumi Watase, Teruhiko Tenkōji, and Red Rose to the series, who became the main characters. It also showed some of the ongoing humor such as Tenkōji's head would light up when exposed to electricity, Kōtarō's most important treasures, Tenkōji's hatred over people calling him a baldy. (In his defense, he says he shaved his head once... and the hair never grew back. So he's not "bald", the "hair just never grew back")

The first archive started the knowledge of the unknown syndicate known as the Snakebone Syndicate that controls the school with fear. As how the president of the Discipline Group explained, the Syndicate is needed to prevent the outbreaks of many small school gangs from taking over the school. He also explained that the Syndicate controlled over 50% of the school grounds, preventing the small gangs from gaining powers.

From the beginning, the Discipline Organization (Namely Mayumi) are hunting down Kōtarō because of his hair is longer than the school regulation allows. However, the hunt became more ravaging when the Student Council President Takaro Ichirō would pay 1,000,000 Yen to anyone that cuts off Kōtarō's long hair, causing the whole school to be on the hunt. In truth, he hated Kōtarō and his bad press and would do anything to get rid of him. The hunt ended with Kōtarō and Mayumi surrounded by varies of clubs of the school, and the Student Council President, which caused Kōtarō to cut off his ponytail, forcing Ichirō to pay the one Million Yen to him (Which he never did). But later, Kōtarō revealed that it's no more than a wig that he cut off to show Mayumi.

Later, Kōtarō and Tenkōji had their very first fight at a school rock band competition, which Kōtarō sneaked on to become the main singer of an unknown band by holding the original member hostage. He continuously insulted Tenkōji by singing 'Baldy' with every lyric because boldness nearly got him killed the last time they met, and revealed that he shaves his head rather than natural boldness. Eventually they have their first battle starting with Kōtarō writing baldy on Tenkōji's forehead, which he quickly corrected by writing a 'not' on there. The battle continued with Kōtarō tries to dull Tenkōji's blade by using smut, which failed because of the force Tenkōji has. While Tenkōji's distracted by Mayumi, Kōtarō thought of a plan to defeat him, by connecting electricity to his blade, and shock him. The electricity shock caused Tenkōji's head to light up like a lightbulb, literally.

Few days later, the Discipline Groups has started to use Kōtarō as bait to fish out the members of the school's syndicate, the Snakebone. But from the Red Rose point of view, she wants the captain of one of the school's Judo club, whose also a member of the Snakebone, to fight him. The captain, Kimura Masahiko, accepted after hearing that Kōtarō defeated his number one adversary, Teruhiko Tenkōji, and gets his members of the club to capture him. Initially they didn't succeed until Red Rose interfere by accurately throwing a rock at Kōtarō from the distance of 50 meters, knocking him unconscious.

Masahiko wants to test out Kōtarō's ability first because he still have some doubts with his strength, so he sends all 100 men to fight him. Kōtarō easily defeated all 100 of them without wasting any time. Meanwhile, Tenkōji's plan worked, and quickly followed Kōtarō along with his subordiants, Aota and Akai. Initially the both of them were at a draw, but Masahiko quickly overpowers Kotaro with the help of his members, causing Kōtarō to nearly lose, until Mayumi's arrival. She tried to help Kōtarō, but was knock back by Masahiko rather quickly, causing Kōtarō to explode with power unimagined by anyone. He quickly release the choking from Masahiko, and brutally defeats him. Red Rose, along with two members of the syndicate, was shocked, but Red Rose was, for some reason, enjoying this.

The news of Kōtarō defeating one of the strongest Judo Artist quickly spread, in news, chatting, and more. Causing Ichirō to act again, by summoning Tenkōji and the Captain of the Discipline First Squad, Sadoya Shunperi. Ichirō proposes that whoever eliminates Kotaro will be the new Captain of the whole Discipline squad, a position that Tenkōji current is at. The winner will also receive one Million yen, which is a price that Tenkōji refused. He only wants to eliminate Kotaro in an honorable battle, while he knows that Sadoya will kill Kotaro in every possible way.

The first time that Kōtarō and Sadoya battle, Kōtarō was at a disadvantage because Sayoda had a pre-emptive strike. He almost defeat Kotaro until Mayumi interferes again, causing the table to turn and allowing him to escape. Meanwhile, Tenkōji had an unexpected visit of the Red Rose, and starts to investigate who she is. After Kōtarō escapes, Sadoya warns Mayumi to be careful of the next Discipline Group Meeting, which was tomorrow. During the meeting, Sadoya purposely came in late to force everyone out of the room to get some information about Kōtarō from Mayumi. Tenkōji arrive after the meeting was over because he was trying to find out who the Red Rose was all night.

Around the middle of the archive, the Red Rose discovered Kōtarō's weakness, Mayumi. If Mayumi is in any trouble, Kotaro will definitely go and protect her in any way. Using this information, the Red Rose kidnaps Mayumi in order to see the true potential of Kōtarō. After defeating Sayoda in Battle Red Rose asks Kōtarō to become the chairman of the Snakebone Committee, but Kōtarō refuses preferring to be a free man.

Princess Clara's visit

The story began with an announcement that Princess Clara (Shana Hawkins) from Moore Country as a transfer student. Our twisted hero, Kōtarō, quickly announced that he will steal the princess's underwear as long as she remains at the school. Tenkōji was ordered by the student body president to guard Princess Clara as he fears Kōtarō's success might become an international embarrassment for the school. Tenkōji initially refused, until the Chairman of the school personally requested his assistance.

On the day of arrival, many people and media came to the school to celebrate her appearance. Among crowd are Tarako the Student Body President, Tenkōji, Mayumi, but no Kōtarō, although there is an extremely weird reporter that asking perverted questions.

When the Limousine arrived, Tarako wanted to be the first one to greet Princess Clara, but instead, he encounters her bodyguard Anthony, a giant man, instead. Chris, the Princess's other bodyguard, came out and had a little feud with Tenkōji. The Princess eventually came out, and greeted everyone around her. When Mayumi introduced herself to Clara, the weird reporter reappeared and asked a perverted question towards the Princess. In the mist of all this, an assassin ran up and attempted to kill the princess, but was stopped by Tenkōji, Chris, and the reporter. Though the assassin was injured, he still managed to take the reporter hostage, which caused the reporter to joke about this situation. Pissed, the assassin struck the reporter on the head, revealing waist long hair hidden under a wig. People instantly recognized the reporter as Kōtarō.

The assassin was quickly disposed of by Kōtarō and Tenkōji. Tenkōji then challenged Kōtarō to a fight. Kōtarō, ignoring Tenkōji, formally introduced himself to Princess, and wished her to be happy while staying in Japan. When Tenkōji about the announcement, Kōtarō quickly said that he was framed, but then lifted Princess Clara's skirt as a declaration that he will quickly obtain her panties as soon as possible. This resulted in a greatly angered Anthony trying to kill Kōtarō, who escapes using his wits. Before leaving, he asked Clara to wait for him, which to people's surprise when Clara innocently answered she will wait for him...

Kyōnrō Inemori, the current sensei of Shinta Karate Dojo, sparred with Kōtarō in order for Kōtarō to perfect the underwear removal technique. Mayumi was angered by this action and further enraged when she saw all the underwear that Kōtarō had stolen from her. To prevent Kōtarō from leaving and stealing the Princess's panties, Mayumi handcuffed Kōtarō to herself and told Kyōnrō to swallow the key. When Mayumi realized that they must do practically everything with each other because of the cuff, she immediately regretted what she had done, and begged Kyōnrō to spit the key out to no avail. This caused Kōtarō and Mayumi to spend the night with each other. In the morning, Kōtarō effortlessly escaped the handcuff and purposely recuffed only Mayumi.

Next day, Princess Clara asked Mayumi what kind of person is Kōtarō, to which Mayumi responded with nothing but insults. But to her surprise, the Princess actually doesn't see those as bad qualities. Kōtarō, who's been guarded by the male members of the Discipline Group decides to escape them. Although the Group tried attempted to stop Kōtarō from running, he easily outsmarted the members and hid in the women's locker room, awaiting for the Princess's arrival. Initially Kōtarō wanted to steal Clara's panties at that point, but after seeing the princess's naivety (and Tenkōji's interference), he decided not to steal it for now.

Battle of Sector E

Sector E in Tsurugamine High School is a place for delinquents. It is such a chaotic sector that isn't like a school at all. It's just a lawless place for delinquents to fight and they're divided into gangs.

In this arc, Kotaro took the school's monorail to this block and on the way, he met someone who claimed to be Kotaro. At this point, Kotaro is trying to keep a low profile and hide his long hair, thus nobody knew its him. However, with his free nature, it didn't take long for him to reveal himself.

Aside from that, Kotaro also met Kenji Kisaragi in the monorail train; a man with a very serious look.

In Sector E, gangs always give 'welcoming ceremony' to people who just arrived. It is a test to see newcomer's strength. During the test, the 'Kotaro Impostor' was defeated in an instant and to save him, Kotaro revealed himself as the real Kotaro by defeating a Gang leader.

Then it comes to Kenji's test, one of the gangs employ a man who is very well skilled with knife, only to be humiliated by Kenji (showing that Kenji is a very skilled fighter).

Seeing the two newcomers are very high skilled, the gangs began to fight over who is getting them. Apparently Kenji already has a gang to join, and Kotaro refused all the gangs. Leaving the gangs behind, Kotaro eventually gained a follower, the impostor whose name remain not known. Kotaro kept on calling him Impostor.

Later on, Mayumi also arrived at Sector E with Megumi Yoshioka. With Megumi, Mayumi learns Kotaro's intention, going to Sector E. Apparently Kotaro is there for a treasure hunt, a ruby that's worth a few million yen that is hidden in Sector E.

Megumi then undress Mayumi and they both were disguised as "Punk"'s member, the strongest gang in Sector E. Soon after that, at their first encounter with a gang member, they found out that Punk has been defeated by a new rising gang, 'Cyclops'.

Kotaro later found the head of Punk, Hedgehog, crucified; feeling pity for him, he rescued the man. Hedgehog then, became Kotaro's follower too in Sector E.

Kotaro then met the China Rose, a gang consisted of transvestite with no actual fighting ability. Their only fighter is Kenji, whom Kotaro met earlier.

As the story progresses, Kotaro then met a Cyclops member, but Kotaro refused to fight. Impostor however, insisted Kotaro to fight, because he actually idolized Kotaro and felt sad that the Kotaro he idolized is running away. He then shielded Kotaro (by accident?) and was very badly wounded and lost consciousness, which caused Kotaro to shed tear and get really angry. That's when Kotaro decided not to run anymore, and he'll definitely defeat his opponent.

Impostor was saved by a cafetaria's cook. The only woman in Sector E.

At this moment, Mayumi and Megumi were already safe with China Rose's headquarter.

Cyclops' leader, a masked man, began his move as he found the ruby location.

Aside from that, the leader of Bombers gang, Mountain Cat, made himself a leader for the united Sector E, meant to unite and defeat Cyclops. China Rose were captured at this moment

Meanwhile, Tenkoji and his School Disciplinary Committee member arrived in Sector E. Tenkoji then met Kenji, whom he thought as an enemy. The fought and Kenji managed to damage Tenkoji with his weapon, an eight-sectioned staff. However Tenkoji, deploys a secret weapon, his light bulb head that shines, made Kenji lose his guard and was also damaged. They later both realized they're not enemies, Kenji wanted to save China Rose whose head is his brother (sister - transvestite), and Tenkoji is looking for Kotaro.

Soon they learned about Kotaro's whereabout and headed there.

Kotaro, with his cunningness and skill, managed to get the ruby before them. The ruby was hidden in an underground cave. In that cave, Kotaro fought with Cyclops' leader who uses whip and vice leader who uses rapier.

In the fight, Kotaro accidentally swallowed the ruby and he decided to just run, but as he jumped, Cyclops leader's whip managed to catch his legs, causing him to land on his head, breaking a rock and lost consciousness. At this moment, Tenkoji and Kenji has arrived, rescuing Kotaro. Realizing he's at disadvantage, Cyclops' leader retreated, also Kenji and Tenkoji's priority is to save Kotaro.

When Kotaro gain consciousness, he had an amnesia, but his usual carefree attitude and fighting skill are not lost. In this situation, he made a joke, reference to Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the Northstar), mimicking his action and changing his face to Kenshiro from Hokuto no Ken.

The team then continued to rescue Mayumi with the China Rose. Kenji who has developed feeling to Mayumi, rushed to the rescue.

Later Kotaro fled from Tenkoji and Kenji's care, meeting Megumi. He and Megumi managed to release the China Rose, but they're still trapped in a warehouse.

At that night, the united Sector E Gang is looking for Kotaro, and so is everyone. Finally the Cyclops' leader came, entered the warehouse and managed to defeat Kotaro and capture all the protagonists, including Tenkoji and Kenji and the United Gang's leader, Mountain Cat.

With this result, Cyclops' leader decided to make a game of death for his entertainment purpose before dissecting Kotaro for the ruby. The following morning, a giant contraption has been made. It is a giant device that can remove a person's head from the body made of wood beams and giant rock. Kenji's sister, Kotaro, and a Disciplinary Committee's member were made hostage attached to this device.

In the game, Kenji and Tenkoji were made to a duel of death. The winner can rescue the person affiliated with them. In the duel, Kenji gained an upper hand, but he was distracted by Mayumi's presence. Taking this chance, Tenkoji pierced his stomach, with an attack where everyone thought for sure, that would have killed him. Winning the battle, Tenkoji had his member rescued, but he chose to trade his life with Kenji's brother, Hiromi. Tenkoji however, whispered to Hiromi something that indicates that Kenji is alive.

Kenji apparently were already saved by the cafetaria lady.

While now, Tenkoji is about to get his execution, suddenly a knife were thrown from unknown position, releasing his neck from the device.

In the game, Kotaro's death sentence were change to hung, and Mayumi then were made to hold Kotaro's leg so he won't suffocate, but below Kotaro, is a burning metal plate. It is then matter of endurance before Mayumi fell and they both die. At the final moment, Mayumi confessed her feelings to Kotaro, which causes Kotaro to regain his memory. Seeing Mayumi about to fall, he gained super strength breaking the rope that binds him, and managed to save himself with Mayumi.

With both the protagonists safe and well, Kotaro then fought Cyclops' leader who apparently is his old enemy, Sadoya's brother, and Tenkoji fought with Sadoya's second in command.

While they're battling, the Discipline Committee's leader appeared in Sector E's cafetaria. Revealing that, the Cafetaria Lady, is actually Red Rose, and the ruby actually means leadership for Snakebone Syndicate, and that he is White Rose, the 'Brain' of Snakebone. Red Rose refused to give him the leadership position, and fled.

Meanwhile, Kotaro finally managed to defeat Sadoya, and thus ends the arc. In the epilogue, Kenji finally realized he has finally gain friends, Kotaro didn't seem to remember much that Mayumi confessed, and everyone then returns to their respective home: Kenji and China Rose were back to Sector E, Kotaro and companions, to where they belong.

Before leaving, the Sector E gangs then cheered for Kotaro and thanked him for getting rid of Sadoya from Sector E, making it a happy end for the arc.

School Tournament

To rebuild the dojo that the Cheerleader squad had demolished, and for the prize of 1,000 panties, Kōtarō enters the School tournament.

Side Series

The side series contained Three stories, first one about Kōtarō and Tenkōji had a shipwreck and are stranded on an Island in the south. (The reason why Mayumi wasn't there was because she went by plane.) There they meet up with a girl that looks extremely like Mayumi, except Kōtarō said Mayumi's boobs are larger. The two of them eventually saved the girl, named Mimi, and her tribe from a group of cannibals, and giving them courage to defend them. Although Mimi wanted Kōtarō to stay with them forever, he couldn't because of Mayumi.

The second side story was the first main storyline that Tatsuya Hiruta had planned to do, however scrapped eventually. The Main Characters that was first shown was Kōtarō, Nugumi, and Ichirō, however it wasn't the same Nugumi from the Sector E Saga. This Nugumi was more shy and innocent. The story began with Nugumi was harassed by gangsters, and was easily saved by Kōtarō, causing Nugumi to think that he's her knight in shining armor.

The third and final side story focused on Kōtarō, Mayumi, and Tenkōji's freshman year.

Band Series

This is about guitar war like movie "Crossroad". "Otomi Kyo" friend of Kotaro is a famous guitarist. There are others 2 guitarist characters, "Vai" and "Kaiser", that's supposed to be "Steve Vai" and "Yngwie Malmsteen". In the final "Otomi Kyo" duel guiar with "Kaiser" at concert hall.

References

1. Joel Hahn. "Kodansha Manga Awards". Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved 2007-08-21.

External links

• Kōtarō Makaritōru! (manga) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia