A Complete Guide to 'Space Dog Toppi' / A Slightly Obscure but Masterful Work from Fujiko F. Fujio's Prime!!

In the Fujiko F. Notes, our grand goal is to review every single work by Fujiko F. Fujio, but there are still works that have not been introduced at all.

This time, I would like to take up one of those: a hidden masterpiece that was serialized for only half a year in 1984, a time when Fujiko F. Fujio was at the peak of his creative powers,Space Dog Toppi.

First, let's organize the surrounding circumstances of 1984, the year this work was serialized. This year marked Fujiko-sensei's 50th birthday, and many works reflecting his increased maturity were published.

Doraemon was still being serialized simultaneously in magazines from 'First Grade' to 'Sixth Grade,' and in addition, the 'Doraemon Long Tales' series was being serialized intensively from summer to spring.

Behind the scenes of 'Space Dog Toppi,' the greatest masterpiece of the 'Doraemon Long Tales' series,Nobita's Great Adventure into the Underworld, was being published.

It also overlaps with the period when the new 'Perman' was serializing three stories every month starting in April 1983. Other works like 'T.P. Bon' and various SF short stories were also being drawn. His schedule was unbelievably busy.

In the midst of all this, to commemorate themonthly publication of 'Bessatsu CoroCoro Comic', a work calledChupoko began serialization the previous year, but it did not become much of a topic and ended after only three stories.

This work, 'Space Dog Toppi,' is a work that could be called a revenge for that, and one can feel the enthusiasm for this project from the fact that the quintessential elements of Fujiko's works are poured into it without reservation.

However, although not as short as 'Chupoko,' this work also ended after a total of six episodes. Unlike 'Chupoko' or 'Mira-Cur-1,' which also ended in a short period, the fact that a proper final episode was drawn is at least a small consolation.

Now, let's summarizethe overview of this work specifically.

As for the type of story, it is aDoraemon style story depicting interaction with characters from another world, but the protagonist is a boy who can create gadgets himself, making it aKiteretsu Daihyakka type.

In other words, it is a work that takes the best parts of the patterns that Fujiko-sensei excelled at.

The protagonist is likely a junior high school student namedKosaku Takumi. I wrote 'likely' because the settings are not clear, but since he wears a school uniform with a stand-up collar and has craftsmanship skills that one wouldn't expect from an elementary school student, it is safe to assume he is a junior high student.

With an appearance somewhere between Nobita and Kiteretsu, perhaps this is also a case of taking the best of both worlds (?).

His personality is the type that, once he becomes absorbed in an invention, he shuts himself in his room and focuses on nothing else, which is exactly like Kiteretsu.

The other protagonist,Toppi, is a pet dog from a planet with a highly advanced civilization, but at the beginning of the first episode, he is brought to Earth by his owner and abandoned. He is quite a pitiful little dog.

However, even though he is a dog, he can speak human language and has a wealth of advanced scientific knowledge, with an intelligence level far above that of humans on Earth. While he does not create "secret gadgets" himself, he plays the role of providing the wisdom for Kosaku to build them.

In other words, Toppi is not just a character who provides secret gadgets like Doraemon, nor is he just a supporting character for the protagonist like Kiteretsu's Korosuke.

There is no doubt he is a higher-order animal, but since he looks exactly like a regular dog, Kosaku's mom serves him pet food, which he is very dissatisfied with. He is a vegetarian and his favorite foods are matsutake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and fruit, but he is rarely allowed to eat them.

The other appearing characters are people given roles familiar to those in Fujiko works.

The heroine corresponding to Shizuka is "Midori Aoyama", and her appearance is also very similar to Shizuka. Her relationship with Kosaku is that of childhood friends who are interested in each other, like Kiteretsu and Miyoko, and there are even some slightly romantic stories.

The character who resembles Suneo is "Nezumi", and the one who resembles Gian is "Kabaguchi". Like Suneo, Nezumi is the son of a wealthy family and has a mean personality. He also seems to be interested in Midori. He has established a relationship where he is equal to or superior to Kabaguchi, similar to Suneo and Gian in the early days of Doraemon.

Kabaguchi is a bully who, as his name suggests, has a mouth like a hippopotamus. Compared to Gian, he is a character with a much weaker impression.

Kosaku's family consists of his mom and dad. His mom says she doesn't like pets that much, but while she is startled by the talking Toppi, she tries to keep him for Kosaku's sake. She seems to be a kind mom who doesn't just nag.

His dad doesn't appear very often, but he leaves a strong impression in a story where he becomes a joint guarantor for a friend's debt and is almost forced to take on a 50-million-yen debt.

As for the stories, each episode unfolds with Kosaku absorbing Toppi's wisdom and knowledge to create wonderful inventions. From here on, I will introduce all the episodes in brief while also touching upon Kosaku's inventions.

At the beginning, Toppi is abandoned by aliens from some planet. He decides to look for a new owner on Earth. It is unique that at this time he says, "Dogs have the right to choose too, you know," speaking up for the rights of the one being owned.

Meanwhile, when Kosaku is test-driving a radio-controlled airplane he built himself, it is crashed into by Nezumi's huge, custom-made fighter jet RC. When he goes to look for the crashed RC, he bumps into Toppi, and this is where the two have a fateful encounter.

Toppi has trauma from being abandoned by his previous owner due to the mom's dislike of dogs, so he checks this point with Kosaku, and is disappointed to hear that there is a dog-hating mom.

Kosaku secretly sneaks Toppi into a workshop he made by remodeling a shed in the garden. There, he receives advice from Toppi to make an "anti-gravity substance" for his RC, and is taught how to make it. This becomes his first memorable invention.

Toppi shows intelligence by speaking Japanese as soon as he arrives on Earth and reading encyclopedias with ease, but when Kosaku wonders about it, he says, "It's a long story," and doesn't answer. In the end, the reason for his high intelligence remained unrevealed until the final episode.

He also creates a chip that generates anti-gravity and a gravity controller to manage it. By building a remote-controlled vehicle he can ride in, he becomes able to fly through the sky. As expected in Fujiko's works, "flight" is a fundamental ability.

In this work, Midori Aoyama is depicted as cute, kind-hearted, and concerned about Kosaku.

Also, to correct Kosaku's tendency to become obsessed with a single thing, his mom suggests he keep a dog, which leads to him being able to keep Toppi.

Including the cover, the setting is efficiently explained over 24 pages, and from the second episode onwards, the story immediately dives into the main plot.

At the beginning, it is revealed that Toppi's favorite foods are matsutake mushrooms and bamboo shoots.

In this story, he becomes able to fly freely through the sky by wearing anti-gravity chips. Nezumi and Kabaguchi, who have their eyes on this technology, try to force him to get a patent so they can make money, but Toppi uses his ability to create illusions to threaten them and make them give up.

At this moment, he has the phantom space patrol say, "Earthlings cannot be trusted, as they are the kind of people who create weapons of mass destruction with nuclear power," offering a glimpse into Fujiko-sensei's own thoughts.

At the beginning, he creates a diamond by heating sugar cubes. The value is estimated at a minimum of 50 million yen. This story revolves around this 50 million yen, and the fact that such a large sum of money is being exchanged—something unlikely in "Doraemon"—indicates that the target audience for this work is older.

As revenge for being threatened by Nezumi and Kabaguchi with Frankenstein masks, he develops a suit that allows for easy transformation called the "Different Person Body Mask".

This is a brilliant story where this suit and the 50 million yen diamond intertwine, so I highly recommend you read it.

In this work, he develops a "Time Glass Scope" that can see into the future within 24 hours. The story unfolds by combining this item, cherry blossom viewing, and a faint love story with Midori-chan.

Personally, I consider this the greatest masterpiece among the six episodes of "Space Dog Toppi," and since I plan to create a separate article for it soon, I will omit the details here.

At the beginning of this story, Toppi is able to eat a large amount of his long-awaited bamboo shoots (and fresh ones, not canned). This is the only scene among the six works where he gets to eat his favorite food.

This story is a "time machine chaos" tale that uses a Time Notebook which allows for time travel. It is a brilliant story that intertwines a hike on Mount Oniyama, a mountain legendary for once being home to ogres, with the Time Notebook, and I plan to write a separate article on this work as well.

Also, this is the only work in which a tool that Toppi seems to have brought from his own planet appears. It is a tool called a Walking Collar that forces a lazy owner to go for a walk.

In this work, he uses a "gravity controller" and a device that breaks down rain to create a Sunny Cloud. This tool, the topic of Kosaku's jogging to resolve his lack of exercise, and the topic of Toppi's return all intertwine.

A moving ending is also prepared, and I plan to talk about this work in detail in a future "Final Episode Special".

Well, that concludes the overview of "Space Dog Toppi." There are only six works, but upon re-reading them carefully this time, I was surprised by their high level of perfection. They are masterfully crafted short stories that combine multiple elements: invention, daily life, and the charm of the characters.

If I had to say, I would have liked to see the future of Midori Aoyama and Kosaku. In other words, it is a work I want to read more of.

It is a work that is difficult to read outside of the Fujiko F. Fujio Complete Works, but I would definitely like many people to read the original.