Abashiri Family

Abashiri Ikka
Abashiri Ikka vol. 1, 1985 edition.
あばしり一家
Genre	Action, Comedy
Manga
Written by	Go Nagai
Published by	Akita Shoten
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Champion
Original run	August 10, 1969 – April 9, 1973
Volumes	15
Original video animation
Directed by	Takashi Watanabe
Produced by	Yukina Hiiro Shigenori Kurii
Written by	Takashi Watanabe
Music by	Takeo Miratsu
Studio	Studio Pierrot Tokyo Kids
Licensed by	NA ADV Films
Released	May 21, 1991 – November 21, 1991
Runtime	20 minutes (each)
Episodes	4
Live-action film
Abashiri Ikka: The Movie
Directed by	Teruyoshi Ishii
Produced by	Seiji Nanbaz Hideo Iwashita
Written by	Sadayuki Murai
Studio	Total Media Corporation Oscar
Released	November 21, 2009 (2009-11-21)
Runtime	75 minutes

Abashiri Ikka (あばしり一家^?, known in the United States as The Abashiri Family) is a Japanese manga series created by Go Nagai that originally ran in the magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion. Some of its characters returned with different names as part of other series, such as Cutie Honey, UFO Robot Grendizer and Mazinger Angels Z among others.

Some of the first stories were adapted into an original video animation by Studio Pierrot in 1991, and released in North America by ADV Films. The manga was also adapted into a live-action film released in 2009.

The series deals with the adventures of the Abashiri family, a clan of criminals who are feared by the police and other criminals alike, as they are a destructive force to be reckoned with. Although they are virtually unstoppable, they do not have great desires and many of their plans are normally minor and sometimes get undone by their own foolishness. That is unless they are attacked, at which point they will retaliate with full force, normally with deadly consequences for their enemies.

As the series progress the tone of the series becomes less crime-focused and becomes more a gag comedy with strong touches of eroticism. The series was originally conceived by Nagai as a form of protest and parody of the controversy that arose with Harenchi Gakuen. While having a grim tone at the beginning, the series lightens up as it progresses, although the graphic violence remains through most of it but becoming less frequent.

The series remained popular in its original run until Nagai decided to drop it along with other series that he was doing at the time in order to concentrate on the Devilman manga. Years later, a single one-shot story was published and has since been included in all new tankōbon series. A special crossover one-shot with Cutie Honey was also published in 2009, in commemoration of the 40 years anniversary of the magazine Shōnen Champion, where both series debuted in manga.