The 70s’ gag anime “Hakushon Daimaou” is amazing!

When it comes to Japanese anime, Hayao Miyazaki and Akira Toriyama's “Dragon Ball” are famous, but in the past there have been works by a wide variety of creators.

What I would like to introduce today is "Hakushon Daimaou". This work was created by a person named Tatsuo Yoshida. There is a first series that aired in 1969 and a second series that aired in 2020, but my favorite is the first series.

Hakushon Daimaou lives in a small pot and comes out when the pot's owner sneezes. He can use magic. The person who sneezed is the “master,'' so whatever the person says, use magic as instructed.

This is an anime based on the story of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp''. “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp'' is a serious story, but “Hakushon Daimaou'' is a gag manga. So this is hilariously funny.

Anime works often reflect the social background of the time, and when “Hakushon Daimaou'' was created, Japan was in an era of high economic growth. And even though this is a children's anime, it somehow feels melancholy. That was what made it so unique.

When Daimaou(Demon king) appears from inside the jar, he always says this line.

“呼ばれて飛び出てじゃじゃじゃじゃーん Yobarete tobidete jyajyajyajyaaan”

That line means “I jumped out when I was called.” This line was very popular among children at the time. 

What's interesting about this story is that the Demon King's “master'' changes depending on who sneezes. Usually, a weak-willed boy is the "master" of the demon king, and the boy uses the demon king's magic to get revenge for being bullied by the town's bad boys. However, every once in a while, something happens where the bad boy sneezes and becomes the "master" of the demon king.

And the demon king loves hamburgs. And he is really bad at bulldogs and numbers. It was a trend among anime characters created in the 1970s that the protagonist of an anime always had a “favorite thing'' and a “dislike thing.''

When this anime was aired around 1970, hamburgs were still very rare in Japan. So, after watching this anime, we decided that we really wanted to try the hamburg steak. At that time, it was generally not possible for anyone in Japan to eat a lot of meat.

If this first series were to be aired on TV again, I would definitely watch it.