The Police Officer with the Connected Eyes (目ン玉つながりのお巡りさん), also simply known as Honkan-san (本官さん) or Police Officer(おまわりさん) for short, is a recurring character in The Genius Bakabon and many other titles as part of Akatsuka's Star System.
This character's popularity lead to Akatsuka re-using such an officer through several works, even in series and one-shots that otherwise had no other familiar characters participating.
Overview[]
Before the appearance of this officer in the series, there were many one-time and prototypical "Police" characters that often served their purpose for stories, including a short-tempered man with a somewhat similar nature.
However, as this character came into play, they quickly became a recurring part of the cast and as indispensable as the other main characters in the Bakabon series.
In early materials, the character's nickname was given as "The Police Officer with a Pistol", but later descriptions came to focus on their bizarre shape of eyes. The setting of one particular Bakabon chapter gives their actual name as Fuchio Shiratsuka, but as Akatsuka could often play with details for the sake of a story and its gags, this may not apply to the officer's usual appearances.
Physical Appearance[]
As suggested by the nickname, the first notable thing about this character is their wide eyes that would seem to be connected into a single large eyeball. They also have a single nostril in the middle of their upturned nose, and a sizable underbite.
They usually dress in their police uniform with no other fashions seen unless they are off-duty or cast in the role as something other than a cop. Their hair comes to usually be in a "sprout" shape, but can appear in other styles depending on the setting.
Personality[]
In most series this officer shows up in, they are short-tempered and will often shoot a gun in the air multiple times to announce that someone is under arrest or to threaten them with the death penalty. These offenses can range from actual crimes to any small, perceived slights or the officer's peace and ramen being disrupted. They are a glutton and fixated on money and lust for attractive people (usually a woman), and will strongly want to advance in their career at whatever cost. No matter what the officer's sexual preference is depending on the story, they often have that lewd, voracious and clingy sense of feeling and if there is no happy punchline in store, they can be driven to failure by their own foolhardiness or others' meddling.
The officer is not too fond of children, including their very own, and often will berate and grow aggravated with the nuisances that their offspring can cause. In one case, they outright murder a son, while others have them indirectly contribute to deaths of their children.
There are many times that the officer will be fired from their position due to their unreasonable behavior or failures, but will be re-instated all the same by the time of the next plot. Yet there are also other times that the officer will show great justice and a sense of loyalty in their job and actions.
This officer's special skills include singing and dancing to popular music, and their special model railroad hobby that won them the KC Railroad Club award. Of course, firing their gun would be their most common hobby of all.
The Officer's Situational Sexuality and Gender[]
While the officer is usually a basic straight male character in a lot of earlier appearances and bears an inappropriate and hopeless lust after women, Akatsuka would have fun playing with their sexuality and gender expression with several instances in which the officer is closeted or winds up ending the story with outright revealing themselves to be into men.
However, at times, it could also be difficult to merely call the officer a "gay man" as while their diary in Let's La Gon bears the stereotype and gag of conflating gay men with all being cross-dressers and "practically women inside", this officer feels strongly about that desire to be a "full-time" woman either way and is mortified at the idea of the secret being outed. Regardless of whatever the interpretation and intent of the officer's feelings on gender could be among readers, one gag punchline in Bakabon also depicts the officer quite literally emasculating themselves to become effeminate in behavior and mannerisms, having ripped out both testicles at the peak of their repressed sexual frustration.
While other characters usually set as male can also take on roles of women in certain stories in Akatsuka works, it is also notable that Akatsuka would at times use this specific character in womens' roles occasionally in the 1970s along with the other non-conformist instances of gender identity and sexuality that happened in that period. Still, there are points where the officer can be put into roles without those angles, when such is needed for the plot and gags (eg: being depicted as King Wa in Bakabon's Aihue Kingdom story).
Relationships with Other Characters[]
Bakabon's Papa[]
Papa often finds ways to prank and annoy the officer, finding great amusement in doing so. Some such pranks may end in the total humiliation and maiming, or in one case, even the officer committing suicide out of shame only to revive in time for the next story.
In one setting, Papa and this character knew each other as children and the officer was the butt of Papa's jokes even back then. As a child, they were considered rather naughty and considered to have great potential to grow up to be a thief.
Kaoru-chan[]
The officer and Kaoru-chan may have their paths cross, particularly if Kaoru is set as a crook the officer must apprehend. This has resulted in the two falling in love in more than one setting, and getting together by the punchline.
Isamu[]
Not the only son to be seen for this character, but one of the most notable due to the story he appears in. This child lies about having a stomachache to get out of going to school, and once at the doctor's office, proceeds to manipulate the doctor into mutilating himself after claiming that his scary appearance is making his stomachache worse.
In the end, Isamu winds up having actual stomach pains but is ignored by the officer due to the earlier nonsense he caused, and dies as a result. The officer is shown at Isamu's grave, crying and firing a gun, and it is also revealed that a grave for the "Scarecrow Doctor" has also been made (implying that the doctor had been killed).
Younger Brother[]
As a gag at the end of the original release of the chapter "Everyone is Fuchio-san", Akatsuka promised readers that they would get to meet "The younger brother of Fuchio Shiratsuka" in the next story. However, by the time the next chapter came out, the original frontispiece had the officer state that a younger brother was supposed to appear, but a better and more interesting story idea happened instead.
Temeo[]
A son existing in Waru Waru World, but looking pretty much identical to Isamu. The officer has become bored of being unable to perform arrests since the only illegal crime is murder, and uses this rather stupid son as bait for a criminal. When the kidnapping plan doesn't end in murder as the officer wanted, they shoot and kill Temeo themselves and have the criminal framed and arrested anyway.
"100 Dozen Sons"[]
In Boy Friday, the officer has somehow amassed a large brood of miniature lookalike sons that are too obnoxious to take care of, and who all demand Christmas presents from Santa. The officer, growing sick of these children, decides to hand off responsibility of them to Boss, Friday, and Bakame in hopes they can take the boys away "to see Santa" and get presents.
Unbeknownst to the officer, this results in the trio killing and cannibalizing all the children. While the officer is relieved to have had a peaceful time without the sons, they are seen calling out for them and wondering what happened as the stuffed and uncomfortable trio of Boss, Friday, and Bakame slip away.
Younger Sister[]
A sister for the officer is once seen in the first chapter of the Lied Comic Nyarome series. She is pursued by Nyarome, but is rude and aggressive to him. Her attempt to point out her older brother to Nyarome only winds up getting her beat up and scratched, and she cries to the officer about how she was bullied.
History[]
The officer's origins can vary depending on story, but it is agreed that their love of unreasonably firing a pistol lead to them deciding to become a private police officer in the neighborhood (though they can also be seen to be part of a bigger organization). In one telling in Let's La Gon, their previous job even depicted them as a hunter.
They have displayed expert knowledge in being able to guide people, but their passionate but bone-headed nature will continuously add to the difficulty in their day-to-day job and life.
Appearances in Animation[]
Osomatsu-kun (1988)[]
This officer appears in the first 19 episodes of the series, before abruptly being removed in likelihood due to the plans to adapt Bakabon for its own anime. However, the opening and ending sequences were never updated to reflect the change and the officer and Rerere still can be seen in those.