Earlier KNT manga

[B.J.]

Several times, i have heard about a short KNT manga series that was released before the series started in February 1, 1990. I remembered the website owner sending me a copy of the first issue based on KNT episodes #1 and 2. There was also a second issue based on #3. I would like to know if there were anymore issues afterwards.

[felineki]

That would be the one that ran in Comic BomBom. It was by Yoshimi Hamada. There were more issues, but I'm not sure how many (the Comic BomBom Wikipedia article doesn't give any info on how long it ran). After its run was finished, all of the issues were compiled into a book:

[sans soul]

not gonna lie, speedy and guido look pretty ridiculous on that ;7

[felineki]

It's drawn in a pretty silly style that seems somewhat typical for childrens' manga as far as I can tell (the "Super Mario-kun" series has a similar look to it).

[Blackcat]

  PAY DAY!!!

Sorry^^

ANYWAY... how are the manga scanlations doing?

[TGLucario475]

not gonna lie, speedy and guido look pretty ridiculous on that ;7

i have to agree with you on that

[Mechadon]

Looks like they tried to fit 4 billiard balls in their mouth* and now their mouths are stretched permanently.

*Goodnight everybody. ^_^

[B.J.]

Is there any info on whether the manga was released before the actual anime or is the manga itself a tie-in with the series?

[felineki]

As far as I can tell, it's a tie-in. The first volume was released a couple months before the first episode of the show aired, but work on the show would have begun earlier than that. So it's based on the show, rather than being the other way around as I thought at one point.

[B.J.]

You said November 1989 is when it was released, right? Would that make the entire series' real debut that specific date or would February 1, 1990 (the anime's release date) be it?

[felineki]

Well, the show is the "main event" so to speak, so I'd consider the first episode's airing to be the official debut. It seems somewhat common for manga adaptations of anime to start being published before the show airs, possibly to attract potential viewers.

Aside from the manga, there were various preview articles and such published for publicity before the show actually aired. You can see one of these in the Japanese forum here at EE thanks to Violet. Interestingly enough, many of the names in this article are different from what is in the final show. The magazine this article was from is the January 1990 issue, only a month before the show aired, which seems a little late to be making name changes to me. But I suppose the article could have been written earlier and no one bothered to update it before it was published.

[B.J.]

Viewing Karamaru in this article, it would seem like he is the main antagonist as opposed to Koon.

[felineki]

Oddly enough, even though his picture is there, the article text doesn't mention Karamaru personally at all. It does mention Koon no Kami, although under the name of "Inari no Kami". That early name actually made it into one finished episode of the show. In the scene in episode 2 where Koon no Kami and Wanko no Kami meet and exchange a few words in the hall of the castle; when the teacher guy with the glasses and fan appears to explain that Koon no Kami is in a higher position of authority than Wanko no Kami, he actually says "Inari no Kami".

[Tigriss]

Oddly enough, even though his picture is there, the article text doesn't mention Karamaru personally at all. It does mention Koon no Kami, although under the name of "Inari no Kami". That early name actually made it into one finished episode of the show. In the scene in episode 2 where Koon no Kami and Wanko no Kami meet and exchange a few words in the hall of the castle; when the teacher guy with the glasses and fan appears to explain that Koon no Kami is in a higher position of authority than Wanko no Kami, he actually says "Inari no Kami".

Not only that, but Yattarou's name is listed as "Bagumaru" and Pururun was called "Puririn".

[sjonnoh]

and what about sukashii, or was that just....sukashii??

[Daisensei]

and what about sukashii, or was that just....sukashii??

Yes, his name wasn't changed.

Viewing Karamaru in this article, it would seem like he is the main antagonist as opposed to Koon.

It's mentioned Karakara Ichizoku (Karakara clan) as the main enemy and villain, under Kitsunezuka Inari-no-kami (Kitsunezuka Koon-no-kami in the aired series) command, but there isn't any mention about Karamaru.