Happy Character Guide and Background Review


   Umino Miyuki     A young woman stuck trying to raise two younger
                    brothers and a younger sister.  The children are
                    nice, but a little uncontrolled.  Umino had been a
                    tennis player before, and is returning to the sport
                    to try to win the prize money that will help the four
                    of them out.  Right now, they are pretty poor.  Umino
                    looks like Yawara.
   Sakurada Jyunji  A Yakuza member, who originally tried to hire Umino
                    to be a Soapland girl (prostitute.)  He looks like a
                    tough-guy Matsuda.  His partner is a goon, but Jyunji
                    is a little too smart for his own good.  He makes the
                    mistake of respecting Umino's skills, and liking her
                    as a person.
   Wanibuchi        Yakuza boss.  He's a nasty, good-looking guy that has
   Kyouhei          recognized Umino's potential, and wants to cash in on
                    her in a big way.
   ____ ______:     Umino's friend, and tennis pro.  She is helping Umino
                    train.
   Ootori Utako     A very rich ex-tennis pro.  She's very flamboyant,
                    and a control freak.  She also sponsors many upcoming
                    tennis players.  Is Ryuugasaki's main rival.
   Ryuugasaki       Fat tennis sponsor.  Used to be a player, herself, and
                    calls herself the queen of tennis.
   Chouko           Daughter of Ryuugasaki.  Pretty, but vain tennis player.
                    Is very jealous of Umino.
   Keiichirou       Son of Utako.  Looks like Kazamatsuri.  A very
                    good tennis player, but is afraid of his domineering
                    mother.  Is currently helping Umino train.


   _Happy_ starts out simply as a story about the trials and
tribulations of Umino.  She has to take care of her two younger
brothers, and one sister, on her own.  They are poor, but surviving.
One day, two Yakuza decide that since Umino is so pretty, she'd work out
well as a Soapland girl.  They pressure Umino into agreeing, but she
discovers that an upcoming tennis tournament is going to have a big
purse.  So, she starts training, and then people start recognizing her
as a former tennis player who had shown potential before dropping from
the scene a few years earlier.
   There are two rich former tennis pros, women with serious ego
problems.  One of them decides to sponsor Umino, only if the girl can
beat the rival's daughter.  Enter the spoiled rich girl, Chouko, who does
everything to sabotage Umino's training -- including buying an expensive
racket for one of her minions, then planting said racket in Umino's locker.
Umino is then branded as a thief.
   At the same time, things have gotten more serious in the yakuza camp.
Before, the yakuza were portrayed as bumbling clowns (although Jyunji is
having a change of heart.)  But, Kyouhei has gotten involved.  Kyouhei
is presumably the president of a finance company, but is really the head
of a Yakuza family and is involved in loan sharking.  Umino's older
brother had gotten a loan from Kyouhei, but couldn't pay it off.  He ran
away, and hasn't been seen since.  Kyouhei wants to get his talons in
Umino, officially to take a cut of Umino's winnings to pay off the loan.
He goes to Utako to strike a deal.
   Eventually, things turn really ugly.  Chouko spreads rumors that Umino is
a lesbian that has seduced other players; that she is a foreign spy; and
that she can't afford to pay her rent anymore.  Her life completely falls
apart, but with one bright spot -- Keiichirou overcomes his dependancy on
his mother and declares that he loves Umino and will do anything for her.
Unfortunately, while Keiichiro is developing backbone, Chouko hires a woman
to slip into Keiichiro's bed when the boy is still sleeping, and start
humping him just as Umino arrives at the door.  Umino's world has turned
completely black on the first day of the big Cinderella Tennis Tournament
(which has a huge cash prize for the winner.)

                               =========

   Happy uses the same artstyle as Yawara and Master Keaton.  And some
of the same character designs.  However, while it had started out with a
light-hearted, bouncing pace, it is becoming more ominous and devious.
   In my opinion, Urasawa Naoki is best as an artist.  Yawara is a big
exception.  However, I think that she does better when she is drawing
the pictures and someone else is doing the writing.  Happy has great
artwork, but I dislike reading it.

                                            -- Curtis H. Hoffmann
                                               Oct. 13, 1995