is a Japanese

gag A gag is usually an item or device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely, or attemptin ...

manga artist, best known for his series ''

Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Yoshio Sawai. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from February 2001 to November 2005, with its chapters collected in twenty-one ' ...

'' and sequel ''Shinsetsu Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'', both serialized in ''

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...

''. ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'' was adapted into a 76 episodes anime series by the

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' '' GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

studio between 2003 and 2005.

Career

Sawai made his debut in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' drawing one shot manga such as ''Mutekiman'' and ''Fierce!! Rock Paper Scissors Island!!'', all of which have a gag aspect of manga, usually using

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

and visual gags. Not too long after beginning to work for ''Shōnen Jump'', Sawai began experimenting with various concepts regarding characters who fought with bizarre bodily functions, including a hero who fought with farts and a poop-headed hero. His most successful experiment was a ''

Fist of the North Star is a Japanese manga series written by Buronson and illustrated by Tetsuo Hara. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 245 issues published from 1983 to 1988 and initially collected in 27 ' ...

'' parody involving a strange afro-haired man who fought against "Hair Hunters" using his nose hairs in a post-apocalyptic society. The character, as well as the story itself, was ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo''. Over several one-shots, Sawai further defined Bo-bobo as well as introducing other characters, including damsel-in-distress Beauty, fellow nosehair fighter Gunkan (Captain Battleship), rival fart-fighter Heppokomaru (Gasser), and a strange star-shaped creature and fellow "Hajikelist" known as Don Patch. After the success of these one-shots, ''Bo-bobo'' became a weekly series in 2001, where it had a long and successful run until its conclusion in 2007. Sawai's art style is a mix of very blocky-looking characters and, sometimes, very detailed art. He tends to focus on the realistic appearance of his characters' facial expressions when they freak out. Because of the nature of his series, he has often written Bo-bobo version parodies of other authors' manga, including Akira Toriyama's '' Dragon Ball'',

Yudetamago is the pen name of the Japanese manga artists duo consisting of story writer Takashi Shimada and artist Yoshinori Nakai. They are best known for the popular manga '' Kinnikuman'', '' Ultimate Muscle'' (Kinnikuman Nisei), and ''Tatakae!! Ramenman' ...

's ''

Kinnikuman is a Japanese manga series created by the duo Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, known as Yudetamago. It follows Suguru Kinniku, a superhero who must win a wrestling tournament to retain the title of prince of Planet Kinniku. ...

'',

Kazuki Takahashi , known professionally as , was a Japanese manga artist. He made his serial manga debut in 1986, and is best known as the author of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'', published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1996 to 2004. The manga spawned a popular trading car ...

's ''

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, w ...

'', and

Tsugumi Ohba is the pen name of a Japanese manga writer, best known for authoring the ''Death Note'' manga series with illustrator Takeshi Obata from 2003 to 2006, which has 30 million collected volumes in circulation. The duo's second series, '' Bakuman. ...

's and

Takeshi Obata is a Japanese manga artist that usually works as the illustrator in collaboration with a writer. He first gained international attention for '' Hikaru no Go'' (1998–2003) with Yumi Hotta, but is better known for '' Death Note'' (2003–2006) ...

's '' Death Note''. He was also the leader of a team of gag-based manga artists (alongside Kyosuke Usuta, Amon Dai and Kouji Ooishi) who wrote a special 30th anniversary chapter of

Osamu Akimoto is a Japanese manga artist from Katsushika, Tokyo. He is best known for his long-running comedy series '' KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', which was continuously published in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' for 40 years from 1976 to 2016. With 1,960 chapt ...

's ''

Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo , often shortened to , and known in English as ''KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops'', is a Japanese comedy manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Akimoto. It takes place in the present day, in and around a neighborhood police station ( k� ...

''. (''Kochi Kame'') Sawai returned to the magazine in September 2008 with new series ''Chagecha''. He has also published a children's storybook, ''Kirarinchoshirizu''. In December 2011 Sawai started a spin-off manga of

Don Patch The universe of the manga and anime series ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'' is a home to a wide array of fictional characters. This article will lay out all the characters contained in this universe, and categorize them into the type of character they are i ...

from ''Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo'' entitled ''Fuwari! Don Pacchi'' in ''

Saikyō Jump is a Japanese monthly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Shueisha. The magazine was started on December 3, 2010 with three completely original titles and seven spin-off manga from series in '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and ''V Jump is a Jap ...

''. A sequel to the spinoff titled "Honnori! Don Patch" was serialized in the ''

Shōnen Jump+ is a Japanese online magazine for manga created by Shueisha, spin-off from its '' Jump'' line of magazines. Launched on September 22, 2014, the magazine operates as a free mobile app and website. The magazine serializes original titles and titl ...

'' app until its conclusion in August 2015. A new one-shot titled "Frontline Spirits" was released February 2021 on the ''Shōnen Jump+'' app

Bibliography

* (

Shueisha (lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...

) * (Shueisha) * * (2001–2005, Shueisha) * (2006–2007, Shueisha) * * (2008, Shueisha) * (2009, Shueisha) * (2012-2014, Shueisha) * (2014-2015,Shueisha) * (2018, Shueisha)

References

External links

* * 1977 births Living people People from Toyohashi Manga artists from Aichi Prefecture {{Manga-artist-stub