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Gon (manga)

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Gon
Second English volume cover (Paradox Press edition), featuring Gon
ゴン
GenreComedy[1][2]
Manga
Written byMasashi Tanaka
Published byKodansha
English publisher
ImprintWide KC
Magazine
  • Morning
  • (1991–2002)
  • Morning Shin Magnum Zōkan
  • (1998–1999)
Original runSeptember 1991 – March 14, 2002
Volumes7
Video game
Gon
DeveloperTose
PublisherBandai
GenrePlatformer
PlatformSuper Famicom
Released
  • JP: November 11, 1994
Manga
Gon-chan
Written byMasashi Tanaka
Published byKodansha
MagazineComic BomBom
Original runDecember 15, 2005 – December 15, 2006
Manga
Written byMasashi Tanaka
Published byKodansha
MagazineMonthly Afternoon
Original runMarch 24, 2012 – February 25, 2013
Anime television series
Directed byKim Gil-Tae (Chief Director)
Produced by
  • Ahn Hyun-Dong
  • Ham Wook-Ho
  • Osamu Yoshiba
Written byIsao Murayama
Music byKim Tae-hoon
StudioDaewon Media
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo)
English network
Original run April 2, 2012 – September 26, 2015
Episodes76 (120)[3][4]
Video game
Gon: Baku Baku Baku Baku Adventure
DeveloperNamco Bandai Games
PublisherBandai
GenrePlatformer
PlatformNintendo 3DS
Released
  • JP: June 14, 2012

Gon (Japanese: ゴン) is a Japanese manga series created by Masashi Tanaka. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Morning and its special editions from September 1991 to March 2002. The series follows the adventures of the titular dinosaur character, Gon. The manga has spawned multiple adaptations, including video games and an anime series.

Synopsis

The manga is about a small dinosaur named Gon and his adventures in the wilderness, long after the Age of the Dinosaurs.[5] A silent comic, the manga makes use of no dialogue or sound effects and follows an episodic format. Each chapter typically follows Gon trying to find something he wants (usually food, sleep, or solitude) and becoming entangled in the lives of other creatures in the surrounding area, with his encounters ranging from friendly to violent. Being unusually strong and invincible, Gon always wins his fights against bigger foes. The manga has very little continuity between chapters.[6]

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Masashi Tanaka, Gon began serialization in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Morning in September 1991.[a] It was also briefly serialized in the special issue of Morning, Morning Shin Magnum Zōkan (before its rebranding as Evening), in the magazine's fourth to eighth issues, published between 1998 and 1999.[9][10] It completed serialization on March 14, 2002.[b] Its chapters were compiled in seven tankōbon volumes under Kodansha's "Wide KC" imprint, published between March 19, 1992, and March 22, 2002.[12][13] A compilation volume, titled Gon Selection, was published under Kodansha's "KC Deluxe" imprint on August 23, 2012.[14] Also included in the volume is a one-shot story that was published in Evening on May 13, 2003, titled Gon to Yukaina Nakamatachi (ゴンとゆかいな仲間たち; 'Gon and His Cheerful Friends').[15]

Between 1996 and 2000, Paradox Press, a subset of DC Comics, published Gon in North America in eight volumes.[16][17][18] Like other English-translated manga at the time, its pages were reversed to read from left-to-right.[7][19] CMX, another subset of DC Comics, reissued Gon in a seven-volume series from July 31, 2007, to January 27, 2009.[20][21] Unlike the Paradox Press versions which were reversed for western readers, these stories are printed in the original sequence, and in their original right-to-left format.[20] Kodansha Comics later reprinted the seven-volume series between August 30, 2011 and August 21, 2012.[22][23] In the United Kingdom, Gon was published in a single volume by Mandarin Books in 1994.[24][25]

A spin-off manga by Tanaka titled Gon-chan (ゴンちゃん) was serialized in Kodansha's children manga magazine Comic BomBom, starting in the magazine's January 2006 issue, published on December 15, 2005.[26][27] It completed serialization on December 15, 2006, in the magazine's January 2007 issue.[28][29]

In February 2012, it was announced in that month's issue of Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon that Tanaka will resume Gon in the next magazine's issue in March, coinciding with the anime adaptation's release.[30] Gon was serialized in full color in Monthly Afternoon from March 24, 2012,[30] to February 25, 2013.[31][32] A 98-page black-and-white one-shot story was later published in the magazine on September 25, 2013.[32][33][34]

Video games

The first video game adaptation of the manga was Gon, a platforming game published by Bandai for the Super Famicom. It was released in Japan on November 11, 1994.[35] Another platformer, Gon: Baku Baku Baku Baku Adventure, was developed for the Nintendo 3DS and released in Japan on June 14, 2012, and later in South Korea by Namco Bandai Games.[36] Gon is also a licensed playable character appearing in the PlayStation port of fighting game Tekken 3.[37][38]

Proposed film

In July 2005, it was announced that a computer-generated animated film based on Gon was in development, with Motonori Sakakibara attached to direct and Sprite Animation Studios to produce it as their "first CG animated feature film". It was slated for release in 2007.[39][40] No other news or activity would come out since then.

Anime

In June 2008, it was announced during that year's Licensing International Expo that Korean production company Daewon Media had completed a deal with Kodansha to co-produce a computer-generated anime adaptation of Gon for release in early 2010, with pre-production to be completed by the end of 2008.[41] The release date was delayed to late 2011 after the contract for financing its production was not finalized until December 2010.[5] The release date was again delayed to April 2012.[30]

The series was eventually aired in Japan on TX Network from April 2, 2012, to March 25, 2013, for a total of 50 episodes.[42][43] It featured Motoko Kumai as the voice of Gon, with Kenyu Horiuchi and Yūji Mitsuya in various supporting roles.[42] The anime was renewed for a second season, which aired on TX Network from April 4, 2015, to September 26, 2015, for a total of 26 episodes.[4][44][45] The second season was added to Netflix in 2016.[32][46]

Reception

Gon won multiple awards in 1998, including the Excellence Award in the Manga division at the second Japan Media Arts Festival in 1998,[47] the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material and Best Humor Publication at the Eisner Awards,[48] and the award for Best French Edition of Foreign Material at the 1998 Manga Festival in France.[49]

The manga has been praised for its lack of dialogue or onomatopoeic words, which allows it to be universally understood and appreciated regardless of the reader's background.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. Debuted in the magazine's 39th issue of 1991,[7] cover dated September 19.[8]
  2. Finished in the magazine's 15th issue of 2002,[10] released on March 14 of that same year.[11]

References

  1. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (May 28, 2016). "Elex Media Licenses Parasyte, Gon Manga". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2026. Gon is a comedy manga that follows a plucky little dinosaur as it makes its way through the great wilderness with other animals.
  2. Thompson, John (2007). Manga: The Complete Guide. Del Rey Books. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8.
  3. "Gon, The TV Series". Daewon Media. Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  4. Zahed, Ramin (June 19, 2013). "Second Season of Daewon's 'GON' Is a Go!". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on June 24, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  5. Loo, Egan (January 12, 2010). "Gon Manga's Korean CG TV Animation Pushed Back to 2011". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 28, 2024. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  6. ""Gon," a Manga Without Boundaries". Geeks. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  7. Beronä, David A. (2021). "Gon". EBSCO Industries. Archived from the original on June 19, 2026. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  8. コミックモーニング 1991.0 39. Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Archived from the original on June 20, 2026. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
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  10. ゴン（７） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on June 22, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  11. モーニング2002年15号詳細情報. Manganetto. Archived from the original on June 17, 2026. Retrieved June 17, 2026.
  12. ゴン（１） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on January 12, 2026. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  13. ゴン（７） (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on September 18, 2004. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  14. ＧＯＮ　ゴン　ＳＥＬＥＣＴＩＯＮ (in Japanese). Kodansha. Archived from the original on June 22, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
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  23. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (August 21, 2012). "North American Anime, Manga Releases, August 19-25". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on June 3, 2026. Retrieved June 22, 2026.
  24. Cormack, Kevin (January 23, 2023). "Make Everything E.X.P.L.O.D.E. — The Other Works of Akira's Katsuhiro Otomo in English". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on May 10, 2026. Retrieved June 23, 2026. In contrast, in the UK, like Memories, it was released by Mandarin Books, along with Gon (by Masashi Tanaka) and the Steve Oliff-colourized Akira Volume 1.
  25. Gon. Amazon. ISBN 9780749396855. Archived from the original on June 23, 2026. Retrieved June 23, 2026.
  26. コミックボンボン　２００６年１月号. Interq.or.jp (in Japanese). December 15, 2005. Archived from the original on June 21, 2026. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  27. コミックボンボン2006年1月号. Bombom.jp (in Japanese). Comic BomBom. Archived from the original on July 30, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  28. コミックボンボン　２００７年１月号. Interq.or.jp (in Japanese). December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on June 21, 2026. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  29. コミックボンボン2007年1月号. Bombom.jp (in Japanese). Comic BomBom. Archived from the original on July 30, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
  30. Loo, Egan (February 24, 2012). "Masashi Tanaka's Gon Dinosaur Manga to Resume in March". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on December 16, 2024. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
  31. アフタヌーン 2013年4月号 【付録】 四季賞 PORTABLE 2012冬. Neowing. February 25, 2013. Archived from the original on June 20, 2026. Retrieved June 20, 2026. GON 田中政志 [GON: Masashi Tanaka]
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  33. 萩原朔太郎ら詩人をキャラ化！アフタで清家雪子が新連載. Comic Natalie. Natasha, Inc. September 25, 2013. Archived from the original on June 21, 2026. Retrieved June 20, 2026. また今号では、田中政志「GON」の読み切りが掲載。一挙98ページという大ボリュームで登場した。 [This issue also features a one-shot story by Masashi Tanaka titled "GON," which appears in a massive 98 pages.]
  34. アフタヌーン 2013年11月号｜アフタヌーン公式サイト - 講談社の青年漫画誌. Kodansha. Archived from the original on December 14, 2025. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
  35. "Video Game Den | スーパーファミコン | Super Famicom SNES reviews". www.videogameden.com. Archived from the original on April 25, 2025. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
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  37. Capps, Borealis (February 10, 2021). "The 13 Most Broken Characters In Tekken History". Game Rant. Archived from the original on August 23, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  38. Ciampi, Andrew (September 20, 2022). "Tekken 8: Forgotten Characters Who Deserve A Rematch". TheGamer. Archived from the original on September 20, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  39. "Moto Sakakibara to Direct 'Gon' for the Big Screen". Anime News Network. July 14, 2005. Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
  40. "Sprite Animation Studios Press Release" (PDF). Sprite Animation Studios. July 13, 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 20, 2026.
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  42. "Motoko Kumai, Kenyuu Horiuchi, Yuji Mitsuya Cast in Gon Anime (Updated)". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2012.
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