The Laughing Salesman

The Laughing Salesman
笑ゥせぇるすまん (Warau seerusuman)
Genre	Horror, Psychological thriller, Drama
Manga
Written by	Fujiko Fujio A
Published by	Shogakukan (one-shot) Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha
Demographic	Seinen
Magazine	Big Comic Comic Sunday
Original run	1968 – 1971
Anime television series
Directed by	Yoshitomo Yonetani
Written by	Yasuo Tanami
Music by	Kōhei Tanaka
Studio	Shin-Ei Animation
Network	TBS
Original run	17 October 1989 – 24 March 1992
Episodes	103
Game
Developer	Compile
Publisher	Sega
Genre	Visual Novel
Platform	Sega CD
Released	17 September 1993
Television drama
Produced by	Masaru Takahashi Gō Nakajima
Network	TV Asahi
Original run	June 26, 1999 – September 18, 1999
Episodes	10

The Laughing Salesman (Japanese: 笑ゥせぇるすまん, Hepburn: Warau seerusuman) is a horror manga created by duo Fujiko Fujio, and later, Fujiko Fujio A. The manga began as a one-shot series serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine on 1968, later becoming a full pledged series published by Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Comic Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971. The manga tells the story of a salesman named Moguro Fukuzo, whose job is to help people fill gaps in their soul. However, in reality, he ruins people's lives if his clients backstabbed him or never asked him for help.

It is notable in Japan as the only series by Fujiko Fuji to have a more mature and darker theme as opposed to their previous works, focusing more on psychological drama, satire and horror. An anime adaptation was produced by Shin-Ei Animation, directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani and written by Yasuo Tanami. It aired on TBS from October 17, 1989 to March 24, 1992 with a total of 103 episodes.

Plot

In a society filled with people who do whatever with their lives, there are some who struggle with it or never achieved their goals. The story focuses on individuals who meet a shadowy and ominous salesman, Moguro Fukuzo, who promises them a better life if they follow his advice. However, the clients that Moguro meet often cheat, refuse to rely on his help, or worse - deny that they received assistance at all. When this invariably happens, Fukuzo punishes his clients by using their reliance on his aid against them. With their lives ruined, his is satisfied on his job and looks more for potential clients to ruin their lives with.

Media

Manga

Co-creator Motoo Abiko first created the manga as a one-shot in Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine in 1968. However the comic itself was deemed too scary for the publisher which forces him to release the series to Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Comic Sunday magazine from 1969 to 1971.

Anime

An anime adaptation of the manga was then produced by Shin-Ei Animation and aired in TBS from October 17, 1989 to March 24, 1992. It was directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani and written by Yasuo Tanami, while Kōhei Tanaka handles the music composition. The opening song is titled Kodoku no Uta (孤独の唄, lit. Song of Loneliness) while the ending is titled Kokoro no Uta (ココロの唄, lit. Song of the heart), both performed by Tomio Umezawa.

The DVD Box set of the series is later released by Pony Canyon on March 20, 2013.

Game

A Visual Novel of the series is later released on the Japanese Sega CD on September 17, 1993. It was developed by Compile and published by Sega, adapting three episodes of the anime.

Live-Action Drama

A Live action adaptation was then produced by TV Asahi, which stars Shirō Itō as Moguro Fukuzo. It aired from June 26, 1999 to September 18, 1999.

Reception

On June 1999, the manga sold more than 3.5 Million Copies in Japan alone.

External links

• The Laughing Salesman (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia