DLE‘s gag anime starring YouTube comedian Naoki Fujiwara x Naoki Fujiwara launches on February 22
Yasumi Yoshizawa‘s gag comedy manga Dokonjo Gaeru is getting a spinoff short skit anime titled Dokonjo Gaeru Yanen beginning on February 22. The project launched an official X (formerly Twitter) account, TikTok account, and YouTube channel with an official promotional video on Friday.
YouTube animator Sorotani serves as the director, character designer, technical director, and editor of the show at DLE. This is the second anime presented by au’s Sukima no Anime Project after Sakigake!! Reiwa no Otoko Juku.
YouTube comedian Naoki Fujiwara x Naoki Fujiwara voices all roles in the anime. The comedian is the star of the YouTube comedy series Gal to Hakase no Energy Kenkyūjō (tGal and Doctor’s Energy Research Institute).
The episodes will stream every weekday (except holidays) at 7:00 a.m. JST on YouTube, X, and TikTok.
© Yasumi Yoshizawa, eBookJapan Plus
The original manga follows a boy named Hiroshi who accidentally squishes a frog. However, the “Flat Surface Frog” Pyonkichi turns into an imprint on Hiroshi’s shirt, and the two become constant companions.
The Dokonjo Gaeru manga series launched in Shueisha‘s Weekly Shonen Jump magazine in 1970. The gag manga follows the antics of Hiroshi, Pyonkichi, the heroine Kyōko, the delinquent gang member “Gorillaimo,” the sushi shop worker “Ume-san,” and others. It inspired two television anime in 1972 and 1981. An adult Hiroshi and Pyonkichi have appeared in television commercials for Taiho Pharmaceutical’s Solmac medicine for the digestive system. The series also inspired a live-action television series starring former AKB48 idol group member Atsuko Maeda in 2015.
The television anime ranked #100 in TV Asahi‘s nationwide poll of the top 100 anime in 2009. It also ranked #56 in TV Asahi‘s 2006 poll of 100 Japanese celebrities. Director Masaaki Yuasa (Kaiba, Mind Game, Ping Pong) personally recommended two episodes from the anime to run in a screening of his Kick-Heart short. The story inspired a 2013 American hybrid live-action/animated pilot under the English title Gutsy Frog with Frankie Jonas (Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) and Mischa Barton (The O.C.).
Sources: Comic Natalie, Dokonjo Gaeruyanen’s YouTube channel