Who Was Doraemon Co-Author Motoo Abiko Alias Fujiko Fujio (A)?

The co-author of Doraemon, Fujiko Fujio (A), has passed away on April 7, 2022, and the author had a gigantic impact not only on manga but on pop culture as a whole – here is who was Motoo Abiko alias Fujiko Fujio (A).

Japanese outlets reported on April 7, 2022, that Fujiko Fujio (A) passed away on the morning of the same day at his home in Kawasaki City, he was 88 years old. Police reported they received an emergency call at around 8:40 AM reporting that Fujiko Fujio (A) was found lying down. When an officer got to the scene, they confirmed Fujiko Fujio (A) had passed away. Police are currently investigating the cause of death.

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Who was Fujiko Fujio (A)?

Fujiko Fujio (A) was the pen name of Motoo Abiko, who was a manga author, a mangaka, who penned over 50 manga titles in his 70 years-long career, with varying genres and target audiences. Motoo Abiko was by far one of the most popular mangaka in Japan and worldwide thanks to his work on Ninja Hattori-kun, Obake no Q-Tarō, and Doraemon.

Born in 1934 in a temple family, Motoo Abiko received a priest’s education and most notably became friends with Hiroshi Fujimoto in grade school. Both Motoo Abiko and Hiroshi Fujimoto aspired to become mangaka and would draw together, with Motoo Abiko making his debut in 1951 at 17 years old while still attending high school.

After graduating from high school, Motoo Abiko joined a local newspaper and was in charge of several interviews and caricatures. He later moved to Tokyo in 1954 together with Hiroshi Fujimoto so they could become mangaka, and published several manga such as Ninja Hattori-kun in 1964, a cult series in Japan.

The Fujiko Fujio pen name explained

Moreover, starting 1964, Motoo Abiko and Hiroshi Fujimoto formed a duo using the pen name Fujiko Fujio. The name Fujiko came from the fusion of FUJImoto and AbiKO. The Fujio part comes from “Fujio Tezuka”, a pen name referencing Osamu Tezuka that Hiroshi Fujimoto would use before his official debut.

The duo created many legendary series together such as Obake no Q-Tarō which became a massive hit after its TV anime adaptation in 1965. Obake no Q-Tarō was a comedy series featuring a ghost who’d keep playing pranks on people but was terrified of dogs.

Doraemon is one of the few classic franchises rivaling new popular shonen such as Demon Slayer

Last but not least, the Fujiko Fujio duo made Doraemon, one of the most popular manga of all time, which still has several anime adaptations getting released to this day. Doraemon is the story of a young boy called Nobita who ends up finding the titular Doraemon, some kind of blue space alien cat robot from the future who can whip out gadgets out of his dimensional pocket. Most of the stories feature Nobita begging Doraemon for something, only for Nobita to misuse one of the gadgets and learn a life lesson the hard way.

When Stand By Me Doraemon 2, the latest movie in the franchise, was released in Japan in November 2020, it was only beaten at the box office on release week by the Demon Slayer Mugen Train movie.

The breakup of the Motoo Abiko and Hiroshi Fujimoto duo

After many successful manga series together, several of which became incredibly popular with children and adults, Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko decided to break up their duo in 1987. Motoo Abiko continued under the pen name of Fujiko Fujio (A) while Hiroshi Fujimoto took the pen name Fujiko Fujio (F), and later on, changed it to Fujiko F Fujio following advice from Kamen Rider’s Shotaro Ishinomori.

After the breakup, Hiroshi Fujimoto continued Doraemon alone, expanding the adventures of Nobita, Shizuka, Gian, Suneo Genta, and Doraemon. Hiroshi Fujimoto / Fujiko F Fujio has regrettably already passed away in 1996 from liver failure. He posthumously won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Grand Prize for Doraemon in 1997. The Doraemon manga ended with 45 volumes after his death, but its influence is undeniable to this day.

Doraemon’s Influence in Japanese Media

It’s important to note that ever since the late 80s and early 90s, Japanese media in general constantly includes references to older classics. In a sense, you could say Japanese pop culture has been copying itself for 30 years now. And Doraemon is one of the most influential classics constantly getting referenced. Take Detective Conan for example, Conan’s school friends are all expies of the group of kids in Doraemon.

Expies, References, and Takopi’s Original Sin by Taizan5

There are also dozens of characters in games and anime who are direct references to Doraemon. One of the most popular examples is Monokuma in the Danganronpa series, and they both have the same seiyuu (Japanese voice actor) Nobuyo Oyama.

Japanese authors also regularly make brand new series directly based on Doraemon’s concept. The most recent example is shonen manga Takopi’s Original Sin, which was a huge sensation in Japan in early 2022. The manga features an alien octopus, Takopi, who tries to use his gadgets to help a girl getting brutally bullied at school.

Doraemon’s success is, rightfully, mainly attributed to Hiroshi Fujimoto, but the series wouldn’t have existed without Motoo Abiko. His other series are also quite influential, though most are unknown outside Japan. With Motoo Abiko passing away, we lost yet another legend in the history of manga.