1988 · Comedy

Gorillaman

Nintendo exclusive

Japanese manga series

Released: 19 March 1988
Platforms: NES
Genres: Comedy
Developers: —
Publishers: Kodansha
Country: Japan

About

Gorillaman (Japanese: ゴリラーマン, Hepburn: Gorirāman) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Harold Sakuishi. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from 1988 to 1993, with its chapters collected in 19 tankōbon volumes. It was adapted into a two-episode original video animation (OVA) animated by J.C.Staff in 1992. A sequel, titled Gorillaman 40, was serialized in Weekly Young Magazine from 2020 to 2022. A spin-off, titled Gorillaman 40: Family Arc, was serialized in the same magazine from 2023 to 2024.

Gorillaman won the 14th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category in 1990. It has sold 12 million copies.

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Development

19-year-old Harold Sakuishi created his debut work Gorillaman from thinking about what would happen if someone like Golgo 13 lived in a school. He had previously spent a lot of time drawing and inking a manga while following the instructions of his editor, but it was still rejected. Annoyed, he spent months playing Bases Loaded before deciding to believe in himself and draw the manga that he wanted to draw, and said that, if Gorillaman did not work out, he would give up on being a manga artist.

The title character's gorilla-like appearance was inspired by a real-life classmate of Sakuishi. He initially planned for the character to just be quiet, but during a meeting, his editor suggested having him not say anything at all and the artist found it interesting. When Sakuishi initially proposed having Gorillaman speak in the final chapter, his editor opposed the idea. But after conducting a survey of the editorial staff, the majority thought it would be more interesting if he spoke, so they went with it.

Reception

In 1990, alongside The Silent Service, Gorillaman won the 14th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category. By 2022, it had sold about 12 million copies.