Fujio Fujiko

This section requires a bit of explanation. Hiroshi Fujimoto and Abiko (AKA: Abi-chan) Motou were friends that teamed up to work under the pen name "Fujiko Fujio". They eventually went their separate ways in 1987, with Hiroshi working under the name Fujiko (F) Fujio (FFF), and Abi using Fujiko (A) Fujio (FAF). FFF was the taller, thinner of the two, constantly wearing a beret and smoking a pipe. FAF was shorter, stockier, and always wearing sunglasses. FFF is best known for creating "Doraemon", while FAF reached lesser fame with "Smiling Salesman". I'd reviewed FAF's "Black Humor" a while ago.

In the 16-page Tokiwa Monogatari chapter, Hiroshi and Abi both arrive at Tokiwa on Oct. 30, 1954, and are taken to their room by Terada. The story is punctuated by recreations of photos that Abi and Hiroshi had taken at the time. They notice a hole in one door, supposedly made when Tezuka kicked it in anger at an editor. They're happy having a bigger room to work in, but the extra space scares them and they move their desks so they can have their backs against the wall. They meet Tezuka, who wants to go out to watch a movie with them, but an editor sleeping on the bed nearby wakes up and asks where the finished manga is. At one point, they're pulling an all-nighter, and they stick each other in the face with their pens if they fall asleep. On Sept. 2, 1955, Shinichi Suzuki arrives and they have a small welcoming party with Terada. At the end, Shinichi wraps himself up in a futon in an imitation of an Arabian dome tower (at this time, FAF is 21, Shinichi is 21 and Terada is 23.) On May 4, 1956, an 18-year-old Ishinomori and a 21-year-old Akatsuka are pictured drawing in their room. Ishinomori wants to use 3 panels on a B6-sized sheet of paper to have a spaceship fly in on the page in CinemaScope form. The editors turn the idea down as taking up too much of the page in only 3 panels, so Ishinomori fixes it by drawing more panel lines over the existing artwork. A little later, FAF and Ishinomori are in the kitchen washing up, when Shoutaro mentions that he's going to Ueno station to pick up his older sister who's coming to visit from the countryside. FAF imagines a female version of the grumpy Shoutaro, and is stunned to find that the woman is beautiful. The story ends with Terada getting a new camera and insisting on shooting up the roll with group photos, making everyone really impatient to get on with eating dinner.

Tokiwa Story