Don Dracula
Encyclopedia
is a manga
by Osamu Tezuka
that began serialization in 1979.
While Chocola attends night classes at Matsutani Junior High School, Earl Dracula is desperate to drink the blood of beautiful virgin women; an appropriate meal for a vampire of his stature. However, each night that Earl Dracula goes out on the prowl he finds himself getting involved in some kind of disturbance which leads to him causing various trouble for the local residents. With nobody in Japan believing in vampires, his very presence causes trouble amongst the people in town.
The slapstick comedy of the proud vampire adjusting to life in Japan is compounded by Professor Hellsing, Earl Dracula's nemesis for the past ten years. He has come to Japan to exterminate Earl Dracula, but has the tragic flaw of suffering from hemorrhoids. In addition, Earl Dracula is also pursued by Blonda, the first woman Dracula was able to drink blood from when he arrived in Japan. With a face only a mother could love, Earl Dracula wants to get as far away from her as possible.
Published in the same magazine as Black Jack
at the same time, Tezuka commented that creating the slapstick antics of the poor vampire was very enjoyable. Don Dracula appears in 2004 GameBoy Advance game Astro Boy: Omega Factor
, where he is a henchman of Sharaku
.
Chocola
Nobuhiko Obayashi
Doctor Fooler as "Professor Hellsing"
Camilla
Igor
Blonda Gray
Police Inspector Murai
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
by Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
that began serialization in 1979.
Plot
After living in Transylvania for several years, "Earl Dracula" (as Osamu Tezuka's official website calls him in English) has moved to Japan. (The English summary on the front page of volume 1 of the "Complete Works Edition" says that a mercantile firm bought Dracula's castle and moved it to Tokyo without knowing it was inhabited.) In the Nerima Ward of Tokyo, he and his daughter, Chocola, and faithful servant Igor continue to live in the castle.While Chocola attends night classes at Matsutani Junior High School, Earl Dracula is desperate to drink the blood of beautiful virgin women; an appropriate meal for a vampire of his stature. However, each night that Earl Dracula goes out on the prowl he finds himself getting involved in some kind of disturbance which leads to him causing various trouble for the local residents. With nobody in Japan believing in vampires, his very presence causes trouble amongst the people in town.
The slapstick comedy of the proud vampire adjusting to life in Japan is compounded by Professor Hellsing, Earl Dracula's nemesis for the past ten years. He has come to Japan to exterminate Earl Dracula, but has the tragic flaw of suffering from hemorrhoids. In addition, Earl Dracula is also pursued by Blonda, the first woman Dracula was able to drink blood from when he arrived in Japan. With a face only a mother could love, Earl Dracula wants to get as far away from her as possible.
Published in the same magazine as Black Jack
Black Jack (manga)
is a manga written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka in the 1970s, dealing with the medical adventures of the title character, doctor Black Jack....
at the same time, Tezuka commented that creating the slapstick antics of the poor vampire was very enjoyable. Don Dracula appears in 2004 GameBoy Advance game Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Astro Boy: Omega Factor
is a beat 'em up video game developed by Treasure Co. Ltd and Hitmaker, and published by Sega. The game was released for the Game Boy Advance console on December 18, 2003 in Japan; August 18, 2004 in North America; and February 18, 2005 in Europe. The game is based on Osamu Tezuka's manga and anime...
, where he is a henchman of Sharaku
Hosuke Sharaku
is the main character of the Osamu Tezuka manga and anime The Three-Eyed One . In some English versions, Sharaku's name has been "anglicized" to "Shallack". Indeed, the names "Sharaku Hosuke" and "Wato-San" are references to Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Hosuke Sharaku is also part of Osamu Tezuka's...
.
Characters
Hakushaku ("Earl" or "Count" in Japanese) Dracula- The legendary vampire who finds himself having a harder time living in Japan than he did in Transylvania. He spends his days sleeping in his coffin in the basement of his castle, and his nights prowling the streets of Shinjuku and Shibuya. He's weakened by water (in almost any form) and anything in the shape of a cross. He can be destroyed with a stake through his chest. Sunlight will turn him into dust, but Igor or Chocola will usually vacuum him up and then reconstitute him ala instant ramen with a magic spell that includes a cup of blood plus the contents of the vacuum cleaner.
Chocola
- Dracula's daughter who is currently attending night classes at Matsutachi Junior High School in Tokyo. Because she's half-vampire and half-werewolf, Chocola can survive in water just fine, but she'll still turn to dust when exposed to sunlight. She can eat normal human food, but prefers human blood. Unlike her father, she's willing to bite men as well as women, but she's accepted that classmates are off-limits. She's a member of the school's SF club.
Nobuhiko Obayashi
- Chocola's classmate at Matsutani Junior High, and a member of the school's SF club. He believes in aliens and UFOs, but not old-school creatures like vampires or werewolves. In volume two, he's forced to change to a day school because of his father's job, but he does still occasionally visit Matsutachi.
Doctor Fooler as "Professor Hellsing"
- Dracula's enemy for the past 10 years who is determined to eradicate all vampires on Earth. Unfortunately, he suffers from a severe case of hemorrhoids. He follows Dracula to Tokyo where he gets a job as a teacher in Matsutani Junior High. However, after he tries to make some extra money selling Dracula's "cunning pencils" (hollowed pencils with a lens at one end and the test answers on a rolled up sheet stuck inside) he gets caught and fired. He never actually catches a vampire during the series.
Camilla
- A female werewolf that Dracula was once married to. They divorced shortly after Chocola was born because Camilla wanted to raise Chocola as a human killer. Dracula draws the line at killing humans outright. She only appears in one chapter.
Igor
- Dracula and Chocola's servant who is actually quite kind-hearted despite his fierce appearance. Spends most of his time either driving the family horse-drawn carriage, or vacuuming up someone's ashes. He's primary weakness is being exposed to naked women.
Blonda Gray
- An ugly woman who was the first person Dracula sucked blood from in Japan. Suffers from extremely high blood pressure. Was originally married to Dorian Gray back when both of them lived in Prague. As a student, Dorian made a pact with the devil to become successful, which led to his marrying the (at the time) beautiful Blonda. But, eventually he became violent and after three years was pulled into a picture frame. Blonda left him at about this point, and moved to Japan where she became a hostess at a bar and began over-indulging herself on ramen.
Police Inspector Murai
- An inept gun-toting detective who looks like a cross between Lupin's Inspector Zenigata and Gegege no Ge Kitaro's Nezumi Otoko. Tends to shoot his pistol randomly in the air when excited.
Other appearances
- An animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
TV series of Don Dracula was commissioned in 1982 by Tezuka Productions, directed by Masamune Ochiai, with the voices of Kenji UtsumiKenji Utsumiis a Japanese voice actor and actor from Kitakyūshū, affiliated with the self-founded Ken Production. He is married to fellow voice actress Michiko Nomura....
as Earl Dracula and Saeko ShimazuSaeko Shimazuis a Japanese voice actress from Isehara. Shimazu is notable for having had voice roles in all four of the major TV anime series based on the works of Rumiko Takahashi - she played Shinobu Miyake in Urusei Yatsura, Sayako Kuroki in Maison Ikkoku, Kodachi Kuno in Ranma ½, and Abi-hime in InuYasha...
(best known as Urusei YatsuraUrusei Yatsurais a comedic manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi that premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1978 and ran until its conclusion in 1987. Its 374 individual chapters were collected and published in 34 tankōbon volumes. The series tells the story of Ataru Moroboshi, and the alien...
's Shinobu Miyake) as Chocola. The series debuted in April 1982, but only eight episodes were produced, and only four of those eight episodes made it to air, due to the bankruptcy of the anime's sponsoring company. The four "lost" episodes were later seen when the anime was dubbed for airing in other territories, but remained unavailable in Japan until the series was released on DVD.
- Don Dracula appears like a servant of SharakuHosuke Sharakuis the main character of the Osamu Tezuka manga and anime The Three-Eyed One . In some English versions, Sharaku's name has been "anglicized" to "Shallack". Indeed, the names "Sharaku Hosuke" and "Wato-San" are references to Sherlock Holmes and Watson. Hosuke Sharaku is also part of Osamu Tezuka's...
in Marine Express, his daughter Chocola also appears in the role of Milly, the cyborg daughter of Duke RedDuke RedDuke Red is a fictional character created by Osamu Tezuka. His first appearance was in Metropolis, and quickly became one of Osamu Tezuka's most notable villains. While several of Tezuka's characters would reappear in different roles throughout his works, Duke Red was almost always portrayed as a...
.
- Don Dracula appears as a hospital director in the manga episode Like B.J. of Black JackBlack JackBlack Jack or Blackjack may refer to:- Games and cards :* Blackjack, the gambling game* Black Jack , also known as Switch, a name given to some variations of Crazy Eights in United Kingdom* The black Jack playing card- Products :...
.
- Don Dracula appears in Astro Boy: Omega FactorAstro Boy: Omega Factoris a beat 'em up video game developed by Treasure Co. Ltd and Hitmaker, and published by Sega. The game was released for the Game Boy Advance console on December 18, 2003 in Japan; August 18, 2004 in North America; and February 18, 2005 in Europe. The game is based on Osamu Tezuka's manga and anime...
in the same role he had in Marine Express.
See also
- Osamu TezukaOsamu Tezukawas a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
- List of Osamu Tezuka manga
- List of Osamu Tezuka anime
- Osamu Tezuka's Star SystemOsamu Tezuka's Star SystemOver the course of his career, Osamu Tezuka reused the same characters in different roles in different stories. The way that Tezuka used the characters in his "star system" can be seen as somewhat analoguous to a film director frequently casting members of a regular "stable" of actors in different...