Don Dracula


Don Dracula is a manga by Osamu Tezuka that began serialization in 1979. An anime television series aired from April 5 to April 26, 1982.

Plot

After living in Transylvania for several years, Count Dracula has moved to Japan. In the Nerima Ward of Tokyo, he and his daughter, Chocola, and faithful servant Igor continue to live in the castle.
While Chocola attends night classes at Matsutani Junior High School, Dracula is desperate to drink the blood of beautiful virgin women; an appropriate meal for a vampire of his stature. However, each night that Dracula goes out on the prowl he finds himself getting involved in some kind of disturbance which leads to him causing various trouble for the local residents. With nobody in Japan believing in vampires, his very presence causes trouble amongst the people in town.
The slapstick comedy of the proud vampire adjusting to life in Japan is compounded by Professor Hellsing, Earl Dracula's nemesis for the past ten years. He has come to Japan to exterminate Dracula, but has the tragic flaw of suffering from hemorrhoids. In addition, Dracula is also pursued by Blonda, the first woman Dracula was able to drink blood from when he arrived in Japan. Because Blonda has a face only a mother could love, Dracula wants to get as far away from her as possible.
Published in the same magazine as Black Jack at the same time, Tezuka commented that creating the slapstick antics of the poor vampire was very enjoyable.

Characters

;Count Dracula
;Chocola
;Nobuhiko Ōbayashi
;Rip van Helsing
;Carmilla
;Igor
;Blonda Gray
;Police Inspector Murai

Other appearances

  • An anime television series of Don Dracula was commissioned in 1982 by Tezuka Productions, directed by Masamune Ochiai, with the voices of Kenji Utsumi as Don Dracula and Saeko Shimazu as Chocola. The series debuted in April 1982, but only eight episodes were produced, and only four of those eight episodes made it to air, due to the bankruptcy of the anime's sponsoring company. The four "lost" episodes were later seen when the anime was dubbed for airing in other territories, but remained unavailable in Japan until the series was released on DVD.
  • Don Dracula appears like a servant of Sharaku in Marine Express, and his daughter Chocola also appears in the role of Milly, the cyborg daughter of Duke Red.
  • Don Dracula appears as a hospital director in the manga episode "Like B.J." of Black Jack.
  • Don Dracula appears in the 2004 Game Boy Advance game, Astro Boy: Omega Factor, in the same role he had in Marine Express.
  • A more human-looking version of Don Dracula is used as a principal in the Black Jack anime television series, episode 57: "Pinoko's Exam Diary".