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1[[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_2696.JPG]]
2 [[caption-width-right:259:Kore de ii no da! [[note]]Characters from left to right: Rerere no Ojisan, [[{{TriggerHappy}} Omawari-san,]] [[{{RidiculouslyCuteCritter}} Unagi-Inu,]] [[{{CharacterTitle}} Bakabon,]] [[{{BrainyBaby}} Hajime-chan,]] [[{{Housewife}} Mama,]] [[{{TooDumbToLive}} Papa]][[/note]]]]
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5'''''Tensai Bakabon''''' (天才バカボン lit. Genius Bakabon) is a [[{{Shonen}} Shōnen]] gag manga written by Creator/FujioAkatsuka which debuted in 1967. It originally ran until 1969 in Weekly Magazine/ShonenSunday. It follows the adventures of Bakabon and his Papa. It has had five anime adaptations, a theatrical film which crosses over with ''Literature/ADogOfFlanders'', of all things, and three live action [[{{MadeForTVMovie}} TV movies.]]
6The five anime adaptations are:
7* ''Tensai Bakabon'' (1971-1972)[[note]]This is often referred to as "the 1971 series"[[/note]]
8* ''Ganso Tensai Bakabon'' (1975-1977)
9* ''Heisei Tensai Bakabon'' (1990)
10* ''Rerere no Tensai Bakabon'' (1999-2000)
11* ''Anime/ShinyaTensaiBakabon'' (2018)
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13In preparation for Akatsuka's 80th birthday, ''Dengeki Bazooka'' magazine ran a sequel to the series titled ''Shounen Bakabon'', where Bakabon finally goes to school and makes friends with a whole new cast of characters. However, with Bazooka's discontinuation in early 2016, the series' fate is left up in the air. It currently sits at 1 volume.
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15In 2018, a new anime has been announced called ''Anime/ShinyaTensaiBakabon'' (Midnight! Tensai Bakabon) in accordance with the series' 50th anniversary, produced by Creator/StudioPierrot, the same studio that produced ''Heisei''. It comes with a whole new voice cast and some familiar faces from Pierrot's then-recent Akatsuka series, ''Anime/OsomatsuSan'' (I.E., Creator/MiyuIrino as Bakabon, the first male voice actor to play the young boy, and Creator/TakahiroSakurai as...Unagi Inu) and aired as part of the Summer 2018 anime season.
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17For brevity's sake, the other adaptations will henceforth be known as ''Ganso'', ''Heisei'', and ''Rerere''.
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19! Koredeiinoda! Tensai Bakabon features these tropes nanoda:
20* ABoyAndHisX: Just the adventures of a boy and his Papa.
21* ADogNamedDog: Unagi Inu, [[{{MixAndMatchCritters}} who is precisely that]].[[note]]Unagi Inu means Eel Dog.[[/note]]
22* AprilFoolsPlot: A classic chapter (that had been adapted 3 times!) revolves around Papa reading in a newspaper that it is April Fools' Day. He decides to then pull a punch of pranks around town such as pretending his arm is severed and convincing Rerere that [[{{FlyingBroomstick}} that his broom is magic.]] When Mama asks him why he is doing such awful things, he answers it was because he read about April Fools' Day in the newspaper. It turned out that the newspaper was [[{{FailedASpotCheck}} old,]] and Papa decides to seek vengeance on the newspaper boy for lying to him.
23* BrainyBaby: Hajime-chan. He is only a few months old and can speak multiple languages and is capable of playing shogi, as well as use the computer, reading, and explaining the Pythagorean theorem.
24* CampGay: Kaoru-chan.
25* CanonForeigner: The 1971 anime featured Bakabon's school life more prominently, necessitating the addition of his teacher and classmates such as Nakamura to the cast. Sakura, whom Fujio Akatsuka created for another manga ''Kikanpo Gen-chan'', also appeared prominently in this anime as Bakabon's girlfriend.[[note]]Sakura appeared in the ''Bakabon'' manga only once.[[/note]]
26* CatchPhrase
27** Papa's famous "Kore de ii no da!"[[note]]"It'll be alright!"[=/"That's the way!" or alternatively, “This is how it should be!”=][[/note]] to the point Akatsuka's own website is named after it.
28** Rerere no Ojisan always says "Odekake desu ka? Rerere no re?" [[note]]"Odekake desu ka?" means "Are you going out?/Are you leaving?[[/note]] "Rerere no re" could also double as his VerbalTic.
29* CharacterCelebrityEndorsement: Yup, even the Bakabon gang. They've advertised things such as Chip Chops, car wax, book rental stores, and cup noodles.
30** Perhaps even cooler is that the gas station Tokyo Gas has had two variations of the character Unagi Inu as their mascots since 2015. One of them is named Electric Unagi Inu; he looks nearly identical to the original character except he has lightning bolt whiskers and a socket for a belly button. The other is named Power Saving Unagi Inu; he has green fur as well as a combover and a flower on his head.
31** And then Japan Rail [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7xVGmBNWdI&t=88 actually made a PSA]] with Papa saving Bakabon from a lowered train crossing by hitting the emergency signal switch.
32** A 2022 PSA campaign involving the main cast intended to promote designated smoking areas that were being installed in cities as a way to discourage social smoking and limit cigarette debris in public spaces.
33* EnragedByIdiocy: Omawari-san. Bakabon and his Papa get this cop so angry that he resorts to [[{{TriggerHappy}} trying to shoot them]] whenever they pass the police station with their shenanigans.
34* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Omawari-san, also known as Honkan-san, which means Mr. Policeman or Mr. Cop, respectively.[[note]]Omawari-san is used by the Japanese to formally and politely address a policeman, while Honkan-san is a more slang term.[[/note]] His full official name is Mentama Tsunagari Omawari-san, or "Mr. Policeman with Connected Eyes".
35** In one chapter, Omawari-san claims that his real name is Futio Shiratsuka. Since this is an obvious play on Fujio Akatsuka's name and it's only mentioned once, it's debatable whether or not it's actually true or canon.
36* FlyingBroomstick: In some art and intros, Rerere is shown with this...but his broom in the actual series is just a normal one.
37* GoingCommando: Bakabon always does this, so says WordOfGod. In early manga illustrations, he actually wore pants, and in the 1971 anime, he's gotten at least one panty shot. However, it was decided that Bakabon has nothing under his kimono just like the old days in Japan, and he even gets a junk shot in the third anime opening.
38* LikeFatherUnlikeSon: You wouldn't expect someone like [[TooDumbToLive Papa]] to have a kid like [[BrainyBaby Hajime-chan.]] It's presumably because of how Papa was actually a genius once but hasn't been the same since the accident.
39* MixAndMatchCritters: Unagi Inu, who is half eel and half dog.
40* NeverTrustATitle: In case the fact that he has the word [[UsefulNotes/{{Baka}} baka]] in his name didn't tip you off, Bakabon is far from being a genius. (His baby brother [[{{BrainyBaby}} Hajime-chan, however,]] is.)
41* NoTitle: One of the manga chapters has no title, which featured Papa in a Western story. [[spoiler: It's revealed in the end that the entire story is a dream; when he wakes up, he was about to start the proper "Tensai Bakabon" story with the usual setting, only for Bakabon to inform him that there's not enough pages to tell it.]]
42* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Who ''doesn't'' find Unagi Inu to be utterly adorable?
43* SecondaryCharacterTitle: The story is initially about a little boy named Bakabon and his adventures with his pals, focusing so strongly on his point of view that his parents don't even get names, referred to only as "Papa" and "Mama." Over time, however, Bakabon's troublemaking father becomes the BreakoutCharacter, to the point that the series soon revolves around him and his various schemes. Bakabon himself is demoted to his occasional sidekick. Despite this, the dad is still never given a name, and is called "Bakabon's Papa" on merchandise.
44* SpinOffspring: ''Shonen Bakabon'' gives us Minimatsu, a child said to be the kid of [[TheDividual one of the]] [[Manga/OsomatsuKun Matsuno brothers]].
45* SpotlightStealingSquad: You'll have to constantly remind yourself that it isn't called the Bakabon's Papa Show. However, Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, and it's safe to say that everyone loves Papa.
46* ThemeTuneRollCall - The third opening has some form of this. We are introduced to our main characters Papa and Bakabon in the very first verse, and toward the end of the song, the audience is introduced to Mama, Omawari-san, Hajime-chan, and Unagi Inu.
47* TooDumbToLive: Papa, which he is known for being.
48* TransEqualsGay: Kaoru-chan is gay and often shown cross dressing.
49* TriggerHappy: Omawari-san. His most prized possession is his gun, and he's always chasing Papa and Bakabon around trying to shoot them.
50* UnnamedParent: Mama and Papa, obviously.
51** Unagi Inu's parents' real names are never disclosed either.
52* VerbalTic
53** Papa is known to end all of his sentences in "nanoda" or "'noda".
54** Rerere no Ojisan has "Rerere no re?"

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