Papaman TV Proposal [Yoshikazu Yasuhiko]

 

Papaman [バパーマン] was a part of the many proposals for TV shows and films that Yoshikazu Yasuhiko produced for Tohokushinsha Film from late 1974 until 1977, whereas Papaman lands at the late 1975 mark. Yasuhiko produced this proposal in a manga format, which was unheard of at the time, and presented it to then

Papaman follows the adventures of Papaman, who has the same powers as Superman. He fights crime and the evil forces of Dr.Waltehid, a cyborg scientist who wants to take over the world. The story is told from the perspective of Papaman's son, who also has superpowers. Like Superman, Papaman is a normal salaryman in the daytime with a wife and child, and one who is usually very comically goofy. Papaman and his son come from a lineage of people who can morph and have aimed for centuries to do good by humanity, and the exploits are quite charming.

Yasuhiko mentions Papaman in his 1982 artbook published by Tokuma Shoten and states in the bylines that; "The relationship I had with Sunrise also bled over into the Sunrise Planning Office. After all, it was Mr.Yamamura, the treasury chief, who was very open to planning concepts, that accepted my plan to create a good proposal without almost any remarks. I thought it was something I could never do (i.e. delivering a proposal without backing). Anyway, I wrote a proposal with the artistic freedom I was given thanks to Mr.Yamamura's kindness. Almost all of them, except for the 1st draft of Kum Kum, were unexplored (unused). Taking the opportunity in editing this book, I decided to dig up my old dreams. However, it wasn't clear as to the whereabouts of these unexplored proposals. In the end, I only found two books, which were in their 'material stage' (concept art/themes that are not bound for formal presentation to TV backers and internal staff), before binding. However, this was be more than enough proof of a plan that Sunrise found boring." According to my source, Superman and Western comics were all the rage in Japan during the day, and that the series was meant to emulate the look of Marvel comics in coloring/concept if produced. However, it was ultimately shelved, and hasn't been discussed since the early 80s in publications.
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