Rainbow Parakeet, The (Manga)

Also known as 七色いんこ (Nanairo Inko)

Following both Black Jack (1973-83) and Don Dracula (1979), The Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82) was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Champion from March 1981 to June 1982 and features Tezuka’s take on the manga “dashing thief” character – one of the first, just barely beaten to the punch by the first appearance of Lupin III.

What it’s about

Are you in a bind? Are you in a fix? Despite the fact that no one knows who he really is, the Rainbow Parakeet‘s services are in high demand – whether you’re a theatre owner suddenly in need of an understudy for the lead role on opening night, an artist that needs an imposter to pose for a painting, or gangsters that need to fool the other crime families into believing that their critically injured boss is just fine and dandy. Whatever the case may be, if you need an actor with an uncanny skill for mimicry and disguise, then the mysterious and enigmatic Rainbow Parakeet is the one for you. There’s only one catch… he’s also a master thief that may just rob you blind in the process.

Although they may vary in length, the stories in Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82) are for the most part episodic and self-contained – and usually involve him replacing a lead actor in a performance and using it as an opportunity to steal from the audience. Often aided by Tamasaburo, a small dog trained in pantomime, he is pursued by the “tom-boy” detective Mariko Senri, a woman trying to prove herself in the male-dominated field of law enforcement.  Over the course of the series, an attraction develops between the two, and each must grapple with the resulting conflict.

Senri on stage

Each chapter is titled after its source material (Hamlet, for example), and the Rainbow Parakeet‘s adventure follows various twists and turns, usually mirroring the events of the play, but with some clever twist or sudden reversal. A good example of this is the play Twelve Angry Men. The original story features a jury in conflict, with one man convinced of the defendant’s innocence, and determined to block a guilty verdict. In The Rainbow Parakeet (1980-81) chapter of the same name, the Parakeet has ironically been chosen to sit on a jury where he is the only one convinced of the defendant’s guilt and is determined to see justice done.

The master at work

What you should know

In addition to being a straightforward “cops-and-robbers” action manga, The Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82) is also a thorough examination of theatre and film on the part of Osamu Tezuka, who was fascinated by both. Episodic in nature, each manga chapter features a self-contained story – much like Astro Boy (1952-68) and Black Jack (1973-83) – based upon a famous play or movie. Tezuka was an expert in various types of drama and so was able to draw from a wide range of source material, including Shakespeare, Noh drama, Greek tragedy, Kabuki comedy, film, theatre of the absurd, to name a few. As such, he was able to weave a tremendous amount of knowledge and thought on the subject matter into each chapter of The Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82).

Tezuka’s inclusion of the plays and films is masterful; each story remains unpredictable even if the reader is familiar with the source material, and comprehensible even if the material is utterly new. Although the sheer variety of the source material does lead to an inconsistency in tone, the action of the dashing-thief genre offsets this problem to some degree. The bigger problem is the inherent storytelling obstacle of any thief-related series, how to maintain suspense when the outcome is obvious (i.e. the thief gets away). Tezuka’s solution to this can be found in the intelligent way he handles the dramatic commentary. So, while it may not be the most action-packed heist story, it more than makes up for it through the use of clever plot devices and twists.

Of course, given that The Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82) deals with actors and the roles they play, it is a natural set up for Tezuka’s Star System. The list of guest stars in The Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82) reads like a “who’s who” list of Tezuka stars, and includes, among many others, Astro Boy, Black Jack, Shunsaku Ban, Duke Red, Kenichi, Rock Holmes, Hamegg, and even Osamu Tezuka himself.

What else you should check out

Check out the link below for chapter summaries and more detailed publication information on The Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82) serialization in Weekly Shonen Champion.

The Rainbow Parakeet (Weekly Shonen Champion)

After Don Dracula  (1979) came to the end of its run in December 1979 in Akita Shoten's popular Weekly Shonen Champion , it was a little over a year before Osamu Tezuka unveiled his new series. As a life-long aficionado of the theatre, Tezuka ...