Takahashi's first story was based on a popular song of the day, "Densen Ondo" (Electric Line Workman's Song) and also the mega-popular baseball manga "Kyojin no Hoshi" (巨人の星/Star of the Giants). This was actually published under the pen name "Nosaka Kemo", a precursor to her "Kemo Kobiru" alias.
The original manga upon which this is a parody was about an alcoholic father who pushed his son into baseball and made him endure hellish training in order to become the best. Takahashi's version included her beloved Osaka-based Hanshin Tigers versus the nearby Kobe team.
Published In:
The Diarrhea
Publication Date: 1975
Pages: 4 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation:
None
Notes:
This is the first story Takahashi published though her professional debut would not come until 1978 with "Those Selfish Aliens".
This was published in a dojinshi while she was still in high school. The book is bound by staples and is very much a high school production.
The title is a pun on the aformentioned Star of the Giants (巨人の星/Kyojin no Hoshi) which was written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Noboru Kawasaki. The kanji in Takahashi's version are pronounced the same way but written to give a different meaning. The first two kanji can be translated a number of ways, "Empty Trash", "Unprepared Garbage", "False Impurity" or "Empty Dust". "Hoshi" (星) means "star". It can also mean "perpatrator" or "suspect" in police jargon.
Additionally "kyojin" (虚塵/Empty Trash, etc) is a commonly used derogatory term for the Yomiuri Giants. Rumiko Takahashi has long been a fan of the Hanshin Tigers.
