is a shōnen

Shonen

The term refers to manga marketed to a male audience aged roughly 10 and up. The Kanji characters literally mean "few" and "year", respectively, where the characters generally mean "comic"...

 manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 by Kōji Kumeta

Kōji Kumeta

, is a Japanese gag manga artist. His most famous works are Go!! Southern Ice Hockey Club, Katte ni Kaizō and Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei. His other major works include √P Root Paradise, Sodatte Darling!! and...

. The manga ran for 26 volumes in Shōnen Sunday

Shonen Sunday

, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...

 from 1998 to 2004. The art style went through a huge change as the story went on, by the end of the story the art style was the same as the type used in Kumeta's next series, Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei

Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei

is a Japanese manga by Kōji Kumeta, serialized in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It is a comedy about a teacher who takes all aspects of life, word and culture in the most negative light possible. It satirizes politics, media, and Japanese society...

. An anime adaptation by Shaft

Shaft (company)

is a Japanese animation studio founded on September 1, 1975 by Hiroshi Wakao. They are best known for their unique use of gags and references notably in Pani Poni Dash!, Maria Holic, Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei, Hidamari Sketch, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and Bakemonogatari series.- History :Shaft was...

 has been announced.

Plot

The series follows the strange goings-on that surround Katsu Kaizō, an eccentric

Eccentricity (behavior)

In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...

 student who has a unique perspective on the world around him. He was once a child prodigy

Child prodigy

A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...

 but at the age of 7, his childhood friend Umi kicked him off the jungle gym and he suffered a head trauma, changing his personality. He gained a huge interest in various weird things such as UFOs and ghost

Ghost

In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

s.

At 17, Kaizō was hit by a human anatomy

Anatomy

Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...

 model accidentally dropped from the second floor of the school building. Being revived with a defibrillator, he starts to believe he was rebuilt as a cyborg

Cyborg

A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...

 by the president of the science club, Suzu Saien, who facilitates that belief for her own entertainment. Kaizō joins the science club and becomes a constant annoyance to Umi and also the bane of the existence of another member of the club, Tsubouchi Chitan.

At the time of his accident at the age of 7, Kaizō was also attending the Genius Cram School, a local institute for prodigies in various fields like sleeping or fashion

Fashion

Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...

. However, after the accident a dazed Kaizō destroyed the building by inadvertently mixing dangerous chemicals. Now the science club constantly runs into people that also used to attend that same cram school and display even more eccentric behavior than Kaizō himself.

Characters

A 17-year-old Junior in high school, Kaizō has led an interesting life. A former genius, Kaizō's life changed the day his friend Umi kicked him off the jungle gym at the local playground. Ever since that day he's become an eccentric young man who believes that aliens and conspiracy theories are around every corner. Recently he believes that he has been turned into a cyborg by Suzu. Many times, his strange ideas are actually true.

Umi has been friends with Kaizō for a long time and is in fact to blame for his strange behavior. Even though she feels some guilt over what happened, she cannot bring herself to admit what she did. In the beginning of the series, she seems fairly normal, but as it develops she is revealed to be a quite disturbed character. Is somewhat romantically interested in Kaizō, and likes cursing people.

Suzu is the head of the Science Club and the only Senior in the group. Upon meeting the eccentric Kaizō she decides to indulge his belief that she has turned him into a cyborg. She often appears indifferent to the strange things that occurs, or regards them with mild interest.

The smallest member of the Science Club who is instantly recognizable by his thick glasses. Chitan is pretty much everyone's personal punching bag, and was decided to be an "underling" by Kaizō, a role that Chitan more often than not actually slips into. He can can often be seen wearing weird "underling suits". He also likes trains very much.

The class president, known for her beauty. She apparently hates her first name and refuses to reveal it, and has an addiction to yakisoba

Yakisoba

', literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan, but originates in China. The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein, but has been more heavily integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen...

 bread. She is also homeless, skint, eats anything, and can be seen popping up in weird places together with her strange mother.

Chitan's junior at his part time job. Chitan aims to be close to her, but instead ends up following her around and stalking her. Afraid of her stalker, she is comforted by Chitan, not knowing that he is the stalker himself.

Chitan's twin brother, but without Chitan's personality faults. At his first appearance, he is identical to Chitan except for his skin tone. As the series progresses, he grows taller and more good-looking, at the same rate as Chitan grows smaller and uglier. Is friends with Kaizō, or maybe more (?).

One of Kaizō's class mates. An otaku who refuses to reveal that she is one, but she often slips and reveals herself. Her whole family are otaku as well.

Suzu's self-crowned nemesis. Used to be in a pop-group with Suzu until Suzu quit, leaving Jun stranded in Tokyo after moving there from Osaka. She now seeks revenge for that on Suzu.

Kaizō's home room teacher. A single woman, 26 years old. Wears sailor fuku in school.

The principal of Kaizō's high school. He is a masochist, and has his own dungeon

Dungeon

A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably belongs more to the Renaissance period...

 in the school. Seems to enjoy many of Kaizō's delusional ideas.

Kumeta's self insert. He is tormented by his editors, his manga doesn't sell, and he is very bitter. He becomes more and more broken as the series goes on.

Abrupt Ending

In the last chapter of the manga it was shown that Kaizō and Umi were actually patients of a mental ward and that the whole story shown to the readers were actually just a part of Kaizō and Umi's imagination. Suzu was in reality the doctor in charge of them and in order to help their recovery she let Kaizō and Umi create a city with model buildings and model people. As the city grew the two of them started to imagine themselves as a part of the city. At the end they made a full recovery and were allowed to leave the ward, they got an apartment and started to live together.

Aftermath

Many considered this to be an abnormal ending because Shogakukan had just released the fan book "" on January 10, 2004, whereas the series ended just some months later. Officially Kumeta said the series ended because of "lacking popularity", but since it is impossible for a company to release a fanbook for something that is not popular, this is not considered an official statement from Shogakukan. There several possible reasons for Kaizō's ending:

1. Shōnen Sunday was adjusting its main target to younger children. "Kaizō", which had switched from being a simple comedy manga to a satire story with some jokes on politics (e.g. Kim Jong-il

Kim Jong-il

Kim Jong-il, also written as Kim Jong Il, birth name Yuri Irsenovich Kim born 16 February 1941 or 16 February 1942 , is the Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea...

), was incomprehensible to young children.

2. It was because of an arbitrary order from the chief editor of Shōnen Sunday at that time, , who said "Can't let my child see this ("Kaizō")" in volume 25.

3. Kumeta reckoned that there was no hope for the series to ever be animated, so he decided to end the story and try a new topic. In the last chapter, Kumeta appeared alongside the people from the Genius Cram School, where he was featured as a manga artist who believes his series is entering volume 30 and soon will be animated.