is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masaya Tokuhiro. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump from March 1988 to June 1990; midway through serialization, its title was changed to New Jungle King Tar-chan, and continued until April 1995. The overall series' chapters were collected in 27 tankōbon volumes.
The manga was adapted into a 50-episode anime television series produced by Group TAC, broadcast on TV Tokyo between October 1993 and September 1994.
Plot
The series is about Tar-chan, a young man who was raised in the African savanna by the chimpanzee Etekichi, and his adventures protecting his home, his wife Jane, and his animal friends. As the series progresses, the simple episodic gag premise is switched to a fighting premise. Although long battles and emotional development began to unfold, after the end of these battles, the series would return to its gag style, switching back to the fighting style with each new battle.
Although the story is called Jungle King Tar-chan, Tar-chan and his friends actually live on a savanna, and a jungle setting is never actually used.
Characters
Tar-chan is a young man who was raised in the African wild. His address is: African Savanna, Three Trees 7-4-10. He was abandoned in the savanna as a baby and found and raised by Etekichi. Other than this his past is unknown. Though there are often many humorous flashbacks to his past, whether or not any of them are true is unclear. Tar-chan's hobby is cooking, and his specialty dish is eggplant with mustard and misozuke. He is a dangerous drunk. He loves nature and animals and protects them from poachers. He can imitate the special abilities and speak the language of various animals, because he was raised by animals himself. With his superhuman reflexes and strength, he is a well-known fighter around the world, yet he is usually forced by his wife Jane to do the cleaning and supply the food. He does not seem interested in protecting his reputation as a grappler though; only in protecting the peace of the jungle. When Tar-chan first met Jane he could not speak human language well. He was able to master submission holds after reading a fighting book for only one night, which demonstrates amazing mental ability. However, he still lacks general common sense. Tar-chan has super human abilities and strength and typically fights with his bare hands, but there are times when he will use weapons such as a blowgun and boomerang. He also has superhuman recovery, and has been known to recover quickly from injuries that take a normal man several weeks to recover from. When he takes on too much damage, he powers up by defecating, known as . His body is extremely flexible, and he can bend backwards to lick his own buttocks. Additionally, he can stretch the skin of his scrotum to glide, in a manner similar to a Japanese giant flying squirrel. Although he is a brave man who cannot ignore those in danger, he is also an incredible pervert and treasures his many pornographic magazines left behind by tourists, which he collects. However, he said "to react to a beautiful girl is the instinct of the average man, the only one I truly love is Jane".
A former playmate of Tar-chan's and now his wife, when she was 17 she traveled to Africa for a photo shoot and fell in love with Tar-chan. After marrying Tar-chan she became so comfortable with living in the wild that she eventually became fat. Jane is the brains of the Tar-chan Family, having taught human language to Tar-chan and often taking part in the planning of fights. She can speak French, Russian, Chinese, and several other languages. She can also understand the Chimpanzee language and she communicates with Etekichi. She is capable of beating up Tar-chan and the others (as a gag), but is also shown to be strong enough to defend herself. She will do anything to make money and always bets on Tar-chan and Pedro during tournaments. She is saving money to open up a wildlife protection company. Jane is a lacto-vegetarian. She is also seen eating candy and manjū, implying she is not too picky with food. At one point she is given special pills from Renhou that make her thin again, but becomes fat once again after receiving medical treatment for a near-fatal injury. Afterwards she bears Tar-chan 12 children: 6 boys and 6 girls. She reappears in the short story "Jane's Fruit Diet".