Hana no Kakarichou

Crayon Shin-chan is occasionally cited as the Japanese parallel to The Simpsons, but, in fact, creator Shunji Sonoyama's 1976 TV anime Hana no Kakarichou is a far stronger parallel and predecessor. Unlike 1974’s Dame Oyaji in which the father is henpecked and always abused, or 1989’s Kariage-kun in which the salaryman protagonist is an unrepentant a*shole to everyone around him, the protagonist of Hana no Kakarichou, Ayanoroji Mashumaro, simply suffers through the daily struggles of routine adult life with co-workers who tease but like him. And he maintains a loving & sexually active home life with his dear wife. Tonally Hana no Kakarichou feels a ... bit like a predecessor for George Akiyama's Koiko no Mainichi. In many respects, to create Hana no Kakarichou, Sonoyama simply transitioned the setting of his prehistoric slice-of-life stories Hajime Ningen Gon & Hajime Ningen Giatrus to 1970s “modern day” Tokyo. So the character design, typical of Sonoyama’s style, may put off viewers used to contemporary, more realistic aesthetics, but the design works well as cartoon exaggeration to emphasize basic characteristics. Viewers unused to more freewheeling vintage anime may also be surprised by how sexually frank and bold this show is.