Osamu Tezuka's Star System
(Redirected from Ham Egg)
Over the course of his career, the mangaka Osamu Tezuka reused the same characters in different roles in different stories. For instance, the "actor" Shinsaku Ban, who played the detective in Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis, also played Astro Boy's teacher in Astro Boy. Due to the fact that numerous kanji all have the same pronunciations in Japanese, characters' names are usually phonetically identical but written with different kanji from story to story.
List
A partial list of Osamu Tezuka's most commonly used Star System characters follows:
- Shinsaku Ban: A bald, portly, middle-aged man with a big moustache. Often comical and grumpy yet good-natured. His facial hair earns him the nickname "Higeoyaji" ("moustache old man"). Usually plays a detective with sometimes a nephew/assistant named Kennichi (Kennedy in English versions). Shinsaku Ban first appeared as Astro Boy's teacher, then as a detective. In some versions, he is called Wally Kisagiri, and in the manga, his "Higeoyaji" nickname is translated as "Mustachio".
- Duke Red: A tall man with a large, hooked nose and spikey hair on the back of his head. First appeared as "Duke Red" in Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (a name he took back in the game Astro Boy: Omega Factor). Also played the title role in Osamu Tezuka's rendition of Cyrano de Bergerac. A few appearances in the Astro Boy manga can be noted.
- Acetylene Lamp: Also known as "Drake". A tall middle-aged man with a thin nose, large forehead, wide frowny eyes and often a small moustache with big glasses. He has a "notch" on the back of his head, and there is a running gag throughout Tezuka's work about how a lit candle will stand upright if placed in the notch on the back of one of this character's head (Tezuka even describes this in one of the manga, saying that he based the character on a classmate), and shows Lamp indeed holding a lit candle in some panels. Made regular appearances in Astro Boy. Also appeared in Tezuka's "Adolf" and in Phoenix.
- Ham Egg: A villain with a round head, a thin moustache, a wide grin, curly hair and sometimes wearing a top hat. Known for playing a cruel circus manager in Astro Boy, he also was the president's secretary in Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis and a hotel manager in Phoenix. Made several other appearances in Astro Boy (such as a gangster or a murderous surgeon).
- Skunk: A pale, blonde smirking man with a short brown nose. He almost always plays a villain. His full name is often displayed as Skunk Kusai (Kusai means "stinky", "fishy" in Japanese). He originally appeared as a gangster enemy to Astro Boy.
- Rock: A young "bad boy" with shiny dark hair, sometimes wearing sunglasses. He mostly plays villains, after having played juvenile heroes. He was first in Rock Home, as a child detective. He appeared with Astro Boy several times. He was in Phoenix. He also starred in animated Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis as Duke Red's brutal son.
- Hosuke Sharaku: A baby-faced young boy with a slightly large head. His main role was in The Three-Eyed One as Hosuke Sharaku where he is a three-eyed child with evil powers. He took back this character as the main villain in the game Astro Boy: Omega Factor. Hosuke also appeared as Shiro the youngest son in the Ayako trilogy.
- Ahill: A long-necked hirsute man, with small eyes and a flat nose. He appeared in some Astro Boy episodes and as Sakuemon the father in the Ayako trilogy.
- Chiyoko Wato: A good-natured round-faced young woman, who usually plays a nurturing role. She acts as a foster parent for Hosuke Sharaku and is Dr. Ochanomizu's assistant in some versions of Astro Boy.
- Sapphire: A young woman with slightly curly dark hair, who first starred in Princess Knight. She appeared as Astro's mother in Tezuka's newest rendering of Astro Boy. She was the queen of the Mu civilisation in the animated movie Marine Express (and the Astro Boy: Omega Factor game).
- Pinoko: A little girl with a big head and a bowl-cut. She first was the adoptive daughter of doctor Black Jack, who operated her and turned her into a cyborg to save her life. Pinoko played Ayako in the eponymous manga.
- Dr. Ochanomizu: A stocky man with a huge roundish nose. His main appearance was in Astro Boy's adventures. He also appeared as Gao and the Sarutas in the Phoenix saga.
- Prime Rose: A young girl with bushy red hair. She originally appeared as a warrior in black in Prime Rose, comic series in Weekly Shonen Champion, which was later adapted into an animated movie in 1983. In Astro Boy: Omega Factor, she is Lamp's daughter.
- Omotanium: Not a character per se, but a fictional "substance" à la kryptonite. It has different properties and performs different functions from story to story (such as destroying the brain system of a robot).
Note
- The Osamu Tezuka Star System with other Tezuka characters is listed and described in the Astro Boy: Omega Factor game, as the "Omega Factor": it is a memory data which raises Astro Boy's power as it levels up. To increase it, Astro has to make full acquaintance of characters throughout the game.