So many legendary franchises have been launched by manga originally serialized in the magazine for the manliest of boys, Weekly Shonen Jump. Mazinger Z, Cobra, Kinnikuman, Dr. Slump, Hokuto no Ken, Dragon Ball, City Hunter, Sakigake!! Otokojuku, Saint Seiya, Rurouni Kenshin, One Piece, Naruto, and countless other fan favorites made their mark on the public, often being spun off into popular anime and merchandising empires. One of the first strips in Shonen Jump to really become a massive hit with the public was Hiroshi Motomiya’s Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daisho, which made its debut in October 1968 with issue #11. The story’s protagonist is Mankichi Togawa, a middle school delinquent being raised by a widowed mother in a tiny rural fishing village. Mankichi is known as “the boss of the brats,” due to his devoted following of downtrodden younger kids. With the huge success of the manga, this anime adaptation debuted the following year, in September 1969. Unlike the standard format of 25 minute weekly episodes that has been the norm for most televised anime, Otoko Ippiki Gaki Daisho was shown as a daily serial, with each story comprising of six parts running about seven minutes each, shown from Sunday through Friday. Here’s the third serial, a joint production between TSHS and Hokuto no Gun. You can visit their site here: www.hokutonogun.com