The Laughing Salesman

The Laughing Salesman
Volume 1 of the bunkobon version of the manga The Laughing Salesman.
笑ゥせぇるすまん (Warau Sērusuman)
Genre	Dark comedy[1] Psychological thriller[1]
Manga
Written by	Fujiko A. Fujio
Published by	Shogakukan (one-shot) Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha Chuokoron-Shinsha
Imprint	Chūkō Comic Sūri
Magazine	Big Comic (one-shot) Manga Sunday Chūōkōron
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	1968 (one-shot) 1969 – 1971
Volumes	6
Anime television series
Directed by	Toshirō Kuni (chief) Yoshitomo Yonetani
Produced by	Sōichi Besshi Seitarō Kodama Hiroshi Inoue
Written by	Yasuo Tanami
Music by	Kōhei Tanaka
Studio	Shin-Ei Animation
Original network	TBS
Original run	Original run October 10, 1989 – September 29, 1992 Specials December 26, 1992 – December 28, 1993
Episodes	127 (List of episodes)
Television drama
Directed by	Mitsuo Ezaki Takahito Hara Hiroshi Ikezoe Gō Nakajima Kyōji Mafune
Produced by	Fumio Igarashi Masaru Takahashi Gō Nakajima
Written by	Reiko Yoshida Natsuko Takahashi Atsushi Maekawa
Music by	Kōji Endō (e-KLAY 1999)
Studio	Cosmic Utopia Corporation
Original network	TV Asahi
Original run	June 26, 1999 – September 18, 1999
Episodes	10
Anime television series
The Laughing Salesman NEW
Directed by	Hirofumi Ogura
Written by	Naohiro Fukushima Asami Ishikawa Midori Natsu
Music by	Kōhei Tanaka
Studio	Shin-Ei Animation
Licensed by	NA Crunchyroll
Original network	Tokyo MX, Yomiuri TV, BS11, Animax
Original run	April 3, 2017 – June 19, 2017
Episodes	12 (24 segments) (List of episodes)
Video games
The Laughing Salesman (1991) The Laughing Salesman (1993)
Anime and manga portal

The Laughing Salesman (Japanese: 笑ゥせぇるすまん, Hepburn: Warau Sērusuman) is a Japanese manga series created by Fujiko A. Fujio. The manga began as a one-shot series serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine on 1968, later becoming a full-fledged series published by Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Manga Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971. The manga tells the story of a salesman named Moguro^[a] Fukuzou, whose job is to help people fill gaps in their soul. In reality, he often ruins the lives of his clients if they do not follow his strict instructions or if they betray his trust.

It is notable in Japan as the only series by the duo to be darker and more mature in its themes than their previous works. An anime adaptation was produced by Shin-Ei Animation, directed by Toshirō Kuni and written by Yasuo Tanami. It aired on TBS from October 10, 1989 to December 28, 1993 with a total of 127 episodes. A second anime adaptation aired on Tokyo MX from April 3 to June 19, 2017.^[2]

Plot[]

Society is filled with people who struggle through their lives or never achieved their goals. The stories in the series focus on individuals who meet a shadowy and ominous salesman called Moguro Fukuzou (喪黒 福造). Moguro promises to "fill your empty soul" and give them a better life, if they follow his advice or agree to his conditions. However, once Moguro's clients begin to enjoy the fruits of their new life, they often breach their conditions, betray his trust, or deny that they received assistance at all. When this invariably happens due to their avarice, greed or selfishness, Moguro punishes his clients by using their reliance on his aid against them. With their lives ruined, he believes that they have been justly rewarded and he looks for more potential clients that he can help in a similar way.

The names of Moguro's clients are often puns on their situation or predicament, or refer to aspects of Japanese culture or history. For example in Episode 18, the name of the client, Urashima Taichi, alludes to the legend of Urashima Tarō, a type of Japanese Rip Van Winkle.

Media[]

Manga[]

Co-creator Motoo Abiko first created the manga as a one-shot called The Black Salesman (黒イせぇるすまん, Kuroi Sērusuman) in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine in 1968. However the manga was deemed too scary for the publisher, and he ended up publishing the work in Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Manga Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971.

A bilingual (Japanese-English) volume has been released as The Salesman Returns (帰ッテキタせぇるすまん, Kaettekita Sērusuman).^[3] It is published by Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha, Ltd.^[4]

Anime[]

An anime adaptation of the manga was produced by Shin-Ei Animation and aired as part of the 1989 – 1992 Gimme a Break variety show on TBS from October 10, 1989 to September 29, 1992 and later continued as 2 hour specials which aired from December 26, 1992 to December 28, 1993. It was directed by Toshirō Kuni and written by Yasuo Tanami, while Kōhei Tanaka composed the music. The opening song is titled Kodoku no Uta (孤独の唄, lit. Song of Loneliness) while the ending is titled Kokoro no Uta (ココロの唄, lit. Song of the Heart), both performed by Tomio Umezawa.

A DVD boxed set of the series was released by Pony Canyon on March 20, 2013. The anime has also been digitally remastered and released on various video on demand streaming services in Japan.

A second anime adaptation titled The Laughing Salesman NEW (Japanese: 笑ゥせぇるすまんNEW, Hepburn: Warau Sērusuman NEW) was also produced by Shin-Ei Animation. It was directed by Hirofumi Ogura, with Naohiro Fukushima, Asami Ishikawa and Midori Natsu writing the scripts and Kohei Tanaka composing the music. Fujio Suzuki designed the characters and served as chief animation director. Minoru Nishida was the art director, with Akiko Inoue in charge of color design. The series aired on Tokyo MX from April 3, 2017, to June 19, 2017.^[5][6][2] It was streamed on Crunchyroll,^[7] making it first The Laughing Salesman material available online outside Japan.^[8] The opening song is titled "Don't" by NakamuraEmi while the ending theme is titled "Bam! The Time I Got Suckered" (ドーン！やられちゃった節, Dōn! Yararechatta setsu) by Junji Takada.^[9]

Video games[]

Compile released the first video game based on the series for the MSX2 in Japan in 1991.

A Visual Novel of the series was released on the Sega CD in Japan on September 17, 1993. It was also developed by Compile and published by Sega, adapting three episodes of the anime. In the game, the player can change the outcome of the events of the customer. If the player makes the right choices, the customer can have a happy ending. However, if the player makes the wrong choices, the customer will get the bad ending just like in the anime.

Fukuzou Moguro makes an appearance as a guest character in the 2012 game Girls RPG Cinderelife developed by Level-5 for the Nintendo 3DS.^[10]

Live-Action Drama[]

A live action adaptation was produced by TV Asahi, which stars Shirō Itō as Moguro Fukuzou. It aired from June 26 to September 18, 1999.

Reception[]

In June 1999, the manga sold more than 3.5 million copies in Japan alone.^[11]

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• The Laughing Salesman (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia