Kōtarō Makaritōru!

Characters

Kōtarō Shindō is a high school student and a karate prodigy, carrying on a family tradition of ninja ancestry. He is a brilliant fighter but has very little common sense or self-control, though he does have a strong moral compass. He regularly gets into trouble with school authorities and has a habit of trying to steal girls' underwear, with his friend Mayumi's being a frequent target. He is fiercely protective of his long hair, his stash of stolen underwear, and Mayumi herself.

Mayumi Watase is the captain of the 7th Discipline Squad and has known Kōtarō since childhood, serving as his main romantic interest. She is the only one who can truly manage him. While not as gifted a fighter as Kōtarō, she is skilled in the fundamentals of karate and judo.

Despite Kōtarō's objections, she is also a member of the school's Decency League. Teruhiko Tenkōji is a bald samurai who acts as the Decency League's enforcer, patrolling the school. He starts off as an apparent adversary to Kōtarō but over time becomes his primary rival and closest friend.

He comes from a traditional, well-to-do family and has an arranged fiancée named Sayoko. He is very touchy about jokes concerning his lack of hair, insisting that he actually shaves his head. He is the only character whose fighting prowess matches Kōtarō's, though they have never truly fought at full strength. It is suggested that both are hesitant to do so, fearing it could damage their friendship.

Publication

Kōtarō Makaritōru! was serialized in Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine from August 25, 1982, to August 10, 1994. Its chapters were collected in 59 tankōbon volumes released from January 20, 1983, to December 14, 1994.

A sequel series, Shin Kōtarō Makaritōru!, ran in the same magazine from September 7, 1994, to January 31, 2001, and was collected in 27 volumes. A third series, Kōtarō Makaritōru! L, was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from May 16, 2001, to August 7, 2002, then transferred to Magazine Special from December 18, 2002, to July 20, 2004; it remains incomplete due to the author's poor health, and was collected in eight volumes.