Kyūkyoku Chōjin R

Kyūkyoku Chōjin R (究極超人あ～る) is a manga series written and illustrated by Masami Yuuki. It was serialised in Shogakukan's Shōnen Sunday from 1985 to 1987. The series revolved around a teenage robot named R. Ichiro Tanaka. Later, it was revealed that R's creator Dr. Narihara only built R for a failed attempt to take over the world.

Characters

 * R. Ichiro Tanaka (R・田中 一郎)

A fifteen year-old android boy who begins going to a Japanese school. He is naive, friendly and airheaded, but loves to eat rice. R has a tendency to turn his head around 180 degrees, take off his hands or feet, and get off a bicycle without stopping it. He is modelled after Dr. Narihara's son Akira, whom is barely aware of R's existence.
 * Dr. Nariyuki Narihara (成原 成行)

A self-proclaimed mad scientist who built R. His original plan was to utilize R in a plan for world domination, but scrapped the idea when Narihara realized it would be too much work. He throws R away, and only restarts interest in him when R enrolls himself in school. Narihara has a wife and a son named Akira, whom he based R's looks on. Narihara and his wife originally told the Camera Club that Akira died and was rebuilt in an Astro Boy-esque accident, only to have Akira walk by shortly after. R's younger sister, who Narihara builds near the end of the series. Both R and R29 have the same airy facial expression, but R29 is smarter than him and more devoted to her "father". She later becomes the key tool in Narihara's second attempt to take over the world. At her insistence, Narihara names her R. Hideko Takamine, but she prefers "R. Deco" or "Carmen". She was designed by Akemi Takada.
 * R #29 (R・29号 (アール・デコ))

Entry Year 1984

 * Sango Otojima (大戸島 さんご)

A tomboyish, gentle girl who is in the camera club. She first meets R on a club trip to the forest, where she learns of his love of rice. She has an abnormal motor nerve. At first she is horrified that he is in her homeroom class, but befriends him soon enough. Sango later appears to have a crush on R.
 * Shiiko Horikawa (堀川 椎子)

Sango's best friend, whom is very athletic, and is the only member of the Camera Club seriously considering a career as a photographer. She is quick-witted and is often called "Mother of the Camera Club", whom repeatedly saves the club from a variety of crises. She is always present to keep Sango company, but towards the end of the manga, she begins to appear less and less.
 * Asano & Kishida (あさの と きしだ)
 * (Asano), (Kishida)

Two members of the camera club whom are close friends. Asano wears glasses and has a stuttering problem, and Kishida has small eyes and slicked-back hair. They are mostly in the background of the camera club.

Entry Years 1983 & 1980

 * Tosaka the Senior (鳥坂センパイ)

The president of the Camera Club. a senior student who has enormous school pride, a sense of justice, an aggressive personality and a tendency to flip people the middle finger. He is very arrogant and unreasonable. Despite having graduated late into the series, he still helps with the Camera Club, and it is hinted that he sleeps in the club room. While his temper is short with R, he enjoys R's company, since R follows his orders and willingly takes a beating. Tosaka is always seen with sunglasses over his eyes (even when his glasses are off, his eyes are hidden by his hair), and gets around via motorcycle.
 * Tawaba (たわば [束場])

The oldest member of the Camera Club, aged 20 at the start of the series, and it is hinted that Tawaba has been held back a few years. He is a chain-smoker, easily-agitated and cynical. Tosaka appears to be his best friend, but Tawaba is deeply annoyed by R's presence.

Entry Year 1985

 * Sayoko Amano (天野 小夜子)
 * (Drama CD), (OVA)

A girl who begun going to her old classroom (the former Camera Club's room) as a ghost. Her body was still in the hospital, unconscious from a traffic accident. (but her injury is extent in which the elbow was abraded.) Sayoko hated returning to her body, but she recovers instead of moving into a Harukaze high school. She can be rather controlling and mean, and clashes with Tosaka. She became the camera club's president of R's successor, and won a large amount expense from Division of Enforcement. She had been drawn to R's body in many cases because she liked the magnetic field generated from R.
 * Shimasaki (島崎)
 * (Drama CD), (OVA)

The effeminate, pudgy leader of the Civil Engineering Research Club, whom always has eyes like stars. He becomes student body president after Marii graduates, but tends to pay more attention to building and construction than actually running the council. He's kind, sort of timid, and has a strong sense of responsibility. In the OVA, he and his construction crew rescue R and company from being lost in the forest and give them a ride to the next train station.

Entry Year 1986

 * Makoto Hyodo (兵藤 信)
 * (Drama CD), (OVA)

A friendly male student with transvestite tendencies. He meets the camera club by answering their call for attractive female models, revealing his gender shortly after, much to the club's later horror. He appears to hold some sort of affection for Go, and is good friends with Erika.
 * Erika Saionji (西園寺 えりか)
 * (Drama CD), (OVA)

A female freshman student, whom R discovered when he accidentally tripped and pulled down her skirt. Despite being in the wrong school, Erika is hyper, sweet, and cheerful. Her older sister Marii also goes to school and is embarrassed by her younger sister's presence. Erika has a very outward crush on R, and has fought with Sayoko over this.
 * Go Magaki (曲垣 剛)
 * (Drama CD), (OVA)

A somewhat-lunkheaded member of the camera club, mostly seen with Makoto and Erika. He enjoys flower arrangement, and whenever he is shocked or surprised, he makes a reaction similar to The Scream painting. He, Erika and Makoto are very close as a group, and look up to R, Shiiko and Sango as their senior students. Makoto is his childhood friend from kindergarten.

Student Council

 * Marii Saionji (西園寺 まりい)

The pushy leader of the student council. Marii is nearsighted, but refuses to wear her glasses in public for fear of ruining her image. Known at school as the "Iron Woman", she hates the Camera Club, mostly R and Tosaka, and is often accompianied by her makeshift assistant Iwashimizu. Her family owns a stamp tour agency, something that comes into play during the OVA. She loves volleyball and getting adoration from the student body. Her design was based on Maria Kawamura, whom is also her voice actress.
 * Hitoshi Iwashimizu (鰯水 等)
 * (Drama CD) : (OVA)

Marii's companion and adviser. He is handsome and narcissistic. He is known as a "seducer" and for having a very good memory, but can be quite spineless. Iwashimizu formerly hated and avoided the Camera Club, but he compulsively joined because of a careless word, and his activity with them increases through the series. He appears to be in love with Marii. The intellectual adviser of the student council. His first name is unknown. He wears glasses. His face is plain but he is a very cool-headed realist, and is the student council's brain. He only appears in the manga.
 * Kamoike (鴨池)

Manga
The original Kyūkyoku Chōjin R was written and illustrated by Masami Yuuki, published by Shogakukan in nine tankōbon volumes through January 18, 1986 and August 18, 1987. In later years, they were re-released into five volumes. The manga was re-released in five kanzenban volumes. The first two volumes were re-released on March 17, 1998, the third and fourth volume released on May 16, 1998 and the final volume released on July 17, 1998. The manga was re-released again in 4 kanzenban volumes between August 10, 1991 and November 9, 1991.

Cameos
R was one of the characters used for the PlayStation Portable game, Sunday VS Magazine: Shuuketsu! Choujou Daikessen!, which is used to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Shogakukan's Shōnen Sunday and Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine manga magazines.

In another of Masami Yuuki's anime, Assemble Insert, R and other characters cameo several times. R, Sango, Makoto, Hiroshi and Erika appear firstly in an ad for "Kougaman", a parody of the super sentai tokusatsu genre. Kougaman was actually a fifteen-page sentai parody in the manga, with elements designed by Yutaka Izubuchi. In the second OVA, R is shown renting a tape of Assemble Insert part one, then as a photographer at the music awards. In turn, the character Chief Hattori cameos briefly in the beginning of the Kyukyoku Chojin R OVA, and early in the manga as a detective following R.

OVA
On September 26, 1991, one original video animation movie was released by Bandai Visual. The plot featured R and the Camera Club going on a stamp tour throughout Japan, the tour agency being owned by Marii's family, whom added the threat of the Camera Club being closed down unless they could collect all the stamps by 6:00 PM. In August 1991, a variety of concerts were held, featuring Hiroko Kasahara, Sango's voice actress. On July 25, 2001, Bandai Visual released an DVD for Kyūkyoku Chōjin R.

Soundtrack
On March 21, 2007, Columbia Music Entertainment re-released 4 CDs for the series, based on the original LP released from the mid-eighties. There were Drama Special, Anime Original Karaoke, Manatsu no Ichiyazuke and Kyukyoku Chojin R Box, which featured the entire cast of characters either singing, performing radio dramas, or the female voice actors performing songs based on the series.

Reception
In 1988, Kyūkyoku Chōjin R received the Seiun Award for the best comic of the year.