To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha ran a creator spotlight called “Great Jump!!” (すごい ジャン!!) to get some thoughts of their current artists about Jump. The creator spotlight started in the 1998 Weekly Shonen Jump issue 29 with both Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin) and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece) being interviewed. This spotlight continued in 30th issue with Masanori Morita (Rokudenashi Blues, Rookies), Ryu Fujisaki (PSYCHO+, Hoshin Engi), Kazuki Takahashi (Yu-Gi-Oh!), and Hiroyuki Takei (Itako no Anna, Death Zero, Butsu Zone).
The third part of this spotlight series continued with the 31st Weekly Shonen Jump issue in 1998 with the following creators:
- Akira Toriyama (Dr. Slump, Dragonball)
- Kazumata Oguri (Hanasaka Tenshi Tenten-kun)
- Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro (Seikimatsu Leader Den Takeshi!)
- Masakazu Katsura (Video Girl Ai, DNA², I”s)
Kazumata Oguri (小栗かずまた) was currently serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump with his gag manga Hanasaka Tenshi Tenten-kun (花さか天使テンテンくん). The issue which this article was printed contained the 68th chapter of the series. The series started in 1997 issue 11 and would have a total of 161 chapters when it ended in issue 30 in 2000.
The article begins with asking Kazumata Oguri about his memories of Weekly Shonen Jump, which have been roughly translated below:
The first manga I was of course “Kinnikuman!” I watched the anime first, then I saw the manga at a friend’s house, which led me to discovering it in Jump. I remember crying so many times watching “Kinnikuman.” I still have some “Kinkeshi” back at home too. I also liked “Dragonball”, “High School Kimengumi”, “Black Angels”, and… “Charge!! Men’s School” were some of my favorites. I think “Dragonball” was better with the earlier comedic parts! That scene where Goku defeats the great Piccolo left a strong impression on me. I also liked “Gakuen Johobu H.I.P.”, “Akaten Kyoshi Nashimoto Kotetsu”, “Kyoryu Daikiko”, and “Baoh.” So yeah, I used to read Jump a lot… and the “Famicom Shinken” articles were also interesting. Anyways, I really like Jump since it’s like visiting a familiar candy store every time!!
Kinnikuman (キン肉マン) was created by the writer/artist combination of Yudetamago (ゆでたまご) and ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1979 through 1987 for 393 chapters. The series would later go on to have several spin-offs and sequels.
Kinkeshi (キン消し) are small rubber action figures that were sold at random in Gashapon starting in 1983. These toys were also sold outside of Japan under the title “M.U.S.C.L.E”. These toys were primarily based around the characters from the Kinnikuman franchise.
Dragonball (ドラゴンボール) was drawn by Akira Toriyama and ran from 1984 through 1995 in Weekly Shonen Jump.
High School! Kimengumi (ハイスクール!奇面組) was drawn by Motoei Shinzawa (新沢基栄) and ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1982 and 1987 for a total of 261 chapters. An earlier series by the author was called Sannen Kimengumi, or Third Year Funny-Face Club (3年奇面組) which was published in 1980 through 1982.
Black Angels (ブラック・エンジェルズ) was drawn by Shinji Hiramatsu (平松伸二) and ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1981 and 1985 for 179 chapters. This series was previously released digitally in English by Manga Reborn, but is no longer available.
Charge!! Men’s School (魁！！男塾) was drawn by Akira Miyashita (宮下あきら) and ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1985 and 1991 for a total of 313 chapters. The entire series is available digitally in English on Manga Planet as part of their Subscription Plan.
Gakuen Johobu H.I.P. (学園情報部HIP) was drawn by Jun Tomizawa (富沢順) and ran for only 29 chapters between 1984 and 1985 in Weekly Shonen Jump.
Akaten Kyoshi Nashimoto Kotetsu (あかてん教師梨本小鉄) was drawn by Keiichi Kasugai (春日井恵一) and ran for 30 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1986 and 1987.
Kyoryu Daikiko (恐竜大紀行) ran in Weekly Shonen Jump for 12 chapters between 1988 issue 51 and 1989 issue 12. The series has been republished multiple times, including a full color edition that has been released in English under the title Dinoventure – Stories of Dinosaurs and is available on Kindle via Amazon.
Baoh (バオー来訪者) ran in Weekly Shonen Jump for 17 chapters between 1984 issue 45 and 1985 issue 11. Hirohiko Araki would then later create Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure starting in 1987.
Famicom Shinken (ファミコン神拳) was an article series that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1985 and 1988. The articles would focus around various Nintendo Famicom (NES) games with additional drawings and comics.
For the author illustration, Kazumata Oguri added himself going through his box of Kinkeshi. The large text on the illustration roughly translates to “I don’t even know half of their names…” followed by the smaller text of “Ah… it’s Benkiman.”
Continuing with the references to Kinnikuman, the article then highlights the similarity between the series and Kazumata Oguri’s Hanasaka Tenshi Tenten-kun with both main leads having a character imprinted on their foreheads.
The author spotlight article then ends with the authors comments on some of their past works:
Toufunokado (トウフノカド)
When I applied for the Akatsuka Award for the first time, I was suddenly won the runner-up prize. The “Yamano-kun” in the story is the prototype of “Kindness-kun.”
Kindness-kun (親切くん)
This is a shocking and dark story that critically looks at the other side of “Kindness.” It was rejected once, but I was able to revise it. This then became the prototype for “Tenten-kun.”
Hanasaka Tenshi Tenten-kun (花さか天使テンテンくん)
I turned Kindness-kun into an angel, then added a “straight man” to make the jokes easier to understand. I was also interested in different “abilities.” Let’s aim for a world full of dreams and laughter!
Toufunokado was a short gag manga published in the 1994 Weekly Shonen Jump Summer Special issue. Within that issue he included this author comment in the Table of Contents:
Hi, it’s nice to meet you! I’m not quite there yet, but I’d be honored if as many people as possible would laugh at me!!
Kazumata Oguri also had another 25 page short gag manga called Fun! Dwarf Family (楽しい!ドワーフファミリー) that ran in the 1995 Weekly Shonen Jump Spring Special issue. However for space considerations, and that it wasn’t related to the other series, it was not included in this article.
Kindness-kun was a short gag manga published in a special issue of 1996 Weekly Shonen Jump Winter Special issue.
In July 2019, Kazumata Oguri posted some images from this original short gag manga.
Portions of this article referenced Jajanken for background information related to various Weekly Shonen Jump series.
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