Mr. Tonegawa

• Name — Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues • Ja Kanji — 中間管理録トネガワ • Ja Romaji — Chūkan Kanriroku Tonegawa • Genre — * Office comedy • Parody • Creator — Nobuyuki Fukumoto

• Type — manga • Author — * Tensei Hagiwara • Nobuyuki Fukumoto (collaboration) • Illustrator — * Tomohiro Hashimoto • Tomoki Miyoshi • Publisher — Kodansha • Magazine — * Monthly Young Magazine • (June 20, 2015 – January 23, 2018) • Comic Days • (March 5, 2018 – June 8, 2020) • Imprint — YMKC Special • First — June 20, 2015 • Last — June 8, 2020 • Volumes — 10

• Type — tv series • Director — Keiichiro Kawaguchi • Producer — * Toshio Nakatani • Atsushi Kirimoto • Toshiyuki Satō • Ryōsuke Tanaka • Ayuri Taguchi • Writer — Mitsutaka Hirota • Music — Takahiro Yamada • Studio — Madhouse • Network — Nippon TV (AnichU) • First — July 4, 2018 • Last — December 26, 2018 • Episodes — 24 • Episode List — List of Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues episodes

• Portal — yes is a Japanese manga series written by Tensei Hagiwara and illustrated by Tomohiro Hashimoto and Tomoki Miyoshi. It is a spin-off to the Kaiji manga series by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. It was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Young Magazine from June 2015 to January 2018, and later moved to the Comic Days manga app in March 2018 and finished in June 2020. Its chapters were collected in ten tankōbon volumes. The series comically depicts the struggles and conflicts of Tonegawa, a middle manager who is an executive of the Teiai Group and leads a large number of blacksuits, but is most concerned about the mood of the tyrannical Chairman Hyōdō. A 24-episode anime television series adaptation, produced by Madhouse, aired from July to December 2018 on Nippon TV's AnichU programming block. Sentai Filmworks licensed the anime series and an English dub began streaming on Hidive in August 2018. The show was also streamed on Crunchyroll. By November 2018, the manga had over 2.9 million copies in circulation.

The series follows Yukio Tonegawa, the right-hand man of the company's chairman, Kazutaka Hyōdō, and the top executive of the Teiai Group, one of Japan's largest consumer finance conglomerates. In order to distract Chairman Hyōdō from boredom, Tonegawa gathers eleven of his blacksuit subordinates and forms Team Tonegawa in order to plan a so-called "game of death" that will keep Hyōdō pleased. Troubled by the chairman's interference, the threat of loss of trust from Tonegawa's subordinates, illness, the members' blunders, and unplanned accidents, the team struggles in various ways to execute the project.

• Yukio Tonegawa: • A senior executive of the Teiai Group, he is a hard-working man with a keen understanding of psychology who commands high trust from his subordinates. He frequently provokes the displeasure of Kazutaka Hyōdō, whose feelings he struggles to read, and despite his year-round service, he is seldom rewarded. He retains scars from a sea snake bite sustained while working at the Teiai branch on Hateruma. His favorite foods are yakiniku and yakiniku bento. Years after leaving the company, he is last seen staring at a setting sun on a beach.

• Kenji Yamazaki: • A 30-year-old member of the initial black suit project team, he is a leader among the black suits who previously worked directly under the Chairman. Initially dissatisfied with Tonegawa's arrogant work ethic, he is ultimately moved by his superior's hard work and honest personality, becoming a loyal confidant. He is also tasked with taking care of Masayan. He eventually becomes one of the senior members of Teiai, instructing his black suit subordinates. • Jirō Saemonsaburō: • One of the initial black suits. He is 23 years old and was the youngest member before Nishiguchi joined. A remarkably capable and flexible contributor, he devises ideas like Restricted Rock-Paper-Scissors and stands out for his creativity. His free-spirited and abandon-filled behavior is typical of contemporary youth. A skilled mahjong player, he wins the Tonegawa mahjong tournament. His unusual last name leads others to often call him "Saemon." He eventually resigns from Teiai to run an event management company and enters an uxorilocal marriage with Saeko, changing his last name to Nishiguchi. • Toshimasa Kawasaki: • One of the initial black suits. He is 30 years old and was the first team member to contract the flu. He eventually resigns from Teiai and secures a new position at a major bank. • Keiichi Ogino: • One of the initial black suits. He is 35 years old. His birthplace is Zambia and he once aspired to be a comedian. While still working as a blacksuit, he reunites with his former comedy duo partner. They lose in the second round of the M-1 Grand Prix, but he remains busy creating new ideas. • Hidetoshi Nakata: • One of the initial black suits. He is 32 years old. He is the team's most enthusiastic bowler and enjoys planetariums. He frequently invites Nishiguchi to dinner, showing a particular interest in her. An airhead prone to careless remarks, he remains oblivious to the romantic affairs between Saemon and Nishiguchi. He tends to act silly and is true to his own desires. He eventually resigns from Teiai to become a professional manga artist, working on a series of four-panel strips but struggling with his editor, Komiya. • Heihachi Gonda: • One of the initial black suits. He is the oldest team member at 49 years old. After his career advancement was cut off, he spent his life avoiding responsibility until being directly ordered to substitute for an ill Tonegawa. Encouraged by Dōshita, he begins taking on more responsibility. He remains a blacksuit and wins an award for his photography hobby, confiding to Yamazaki that he has found a way to love himself without needing to get ahead professionally. • Kōji Dōshita: • One of the initial black suits. He is 32 years old and a former rugby team captain from T-Kyo University. An enthusiastic and hot-blooded sportsman, he encourages Gonda during his time as Tonegawa's substitute. His extreme sports-minded attitude leads him to strictly control Tonegawa's diet during a medical checkup, an approach Tonegawa describes as being "under surveillance." He has a petite younger brother named Takashi who works part-time for the team. He eventually returns to the PR department, establishes a rugby club, and wins a tournament. • Suguru Ebitani: • One of the initial black suits. He is 25 years old and a representative troublemaker who later becomes the first defector. Though extraordinarily energetic and enthusiastic, he cannot see the big picture, described by Tonegawa as "a cannon facing the wrong way." He eventually resigns from Teiai, and his personality changes significantly. He opens a small shrimp roll shop in Nerima and builds a successful business.

• Ton-san: • An assistant black suit hastily recruited during Tonegawa's Human Mahjong project presentation, he is not an official member but consistently performs chores. He is later promoted to fill the vacancy left by Tsukui's elopement, with his former choreman duties assumed by Ebitani. His real name remains unknown. • Saeko Nishiguchi: • A 22-year-old from Hakata, she is the lone female black suit in Tonegawa's team following the transfer of several members. She has a brother named Hiro. In her private life, she posts selfies on social media and gives homemade cakes to colleagues, with Tonegawa occasionally seeking her female perspective. She later has a brief office romance with Saemon. She eventually marries him and has a daughter. Not wanting two "Sae" parts in the family register, she adopts him into her family, and he changes his surname to Nishiguchi. • Tsukui • One of the added black suits, he is a temporary employee with somewhat narrow eyes. He is notably poor at fundamental business practices such as reporting, contacting, and discussing. His attempts to call the steelworks to deliver beams for the Steel Beam Crossing game fail completely. He substitutes a clothesline, resulting in all debtors surviving by forfeit. He is last seen going to a convenience store and does not reappear. • Junichi Miyazaki • One of the added black suits. He is from Nagasaki. • Masaya Ōsaki • One of the added black suits. He is from Takasaki. • Junsaburō Higashimitateda • One of the added black suits. Just like Saemon, he has an unusually complicated last name. • Shōta Yamada • One of the added black suits. He is the only one of the Yamadas to have suffered from appendicitis in the past. • Taichi Yamada • One of the added black suits. He has a small birthmark behind his ear. • Shōichi Yamada • One of the added black suits. • Hosoyamada • One of the added black suits. • Saburō Monjushirō • One of the added black suits. Just like Saemon, he has an unusually complicated last name. • Kyōsuke Kumanomidō • One of the added black suits. Just like Saemon, he has an unusually complicated last name. While the rest of the newly added members enjoy ordinary golf, he is the only one who enjoys minigolf. • Yūsaku Kanie • A new graduate, he is a somewhat nervous individual, particularly when answering phones. Ebitani nicknames him "Crab", and he reciprocates by calling Ebitani "Mr. Shrimp". He proposes the E-Card game during a presentation and receives guidance from Ebitani. The proposal is ultimately successful and the game is adopted.

• Junichi Hagio: • One of the initial black suits. He is 35 years old. He is later transferred to the Teiai branch office in south Hateruma with Kikuchi and Nagata. He has a younger twin brother, Kōichi, who was previously rejected during a Teiai job interview by Yamazaki for having the same name and face. Though he, Kikuchi, and Nagata briefly return to Teiai headquarters as new members of Team Tonegawa, they are subsequently transferred again, this time to the branch office in Sarobetsu Plain. • Ryō Kikuchi: • One of the initial black suits. He is 35 years old. • Yūichirō Nagata: • One of the initial black suits. He is 37 years old. • Ataru Yaotome: • One of the added black suits. He is a former salesman who joined Teiai as a mid-career hire. After literally bending over backwards for Hyōdō's attention, he becomes the Chairman's secretary.

• Masayasu Honda: • A former restaurant employee, he is nicknamed Masayan and is a perfect physical double for Chairman Hyōdō. Recruited by Teiai to serve as a body double, he undergoes special training to replicate the Chairman's personality despite his own opposite nature. Spoiled by Team Tonegawa in Yamazaki's absence, he begins breaking personal belongings and ranking everyone except Yamazaki beneath himself until corrected by Kurosaki. He subsequently fears Kurosaki, with the phrase "Kuro's coming!" ensuring his compliance. He has a younger twin brother named Hiroyasu. He eventually reverts to his original personality and returns home. • Hajime Miyamoto: • A monitoring blacksuit from the Teiai underground forced labor facility, he also appears in the spin-off 1-nichi Gaishutsuroku Hanchō. He first appears asking the T-AI Boy robot to read his palm. • Ueno: • One of Tonegawa's classmates from high school days. • Shinanogawa: • One of Tonegawa's classmates from high school days. He and Tonegawa are known as the "Great Rivers Duo" because their surnames derive from real-life Japanese rivers (Tone River and Shinano River). • Nakabeppu: • One of Tonegawa's classmates from high school days. • Maho Kagawa: • One of Tonegawa's classmates from high school days. Tonegawa was her first love. • Okamura: • One of Tonegawa's classmates from high school days.

• Kazutaka Hyōdō: • An old man who is the leader of the Teiai Group, he is called "Chairman" by his subordinates. Greater emphasis is placed on his elderly qualities, such as going to bed precisely at 10 p.m. and meticulously maintaining his skincare routine during fall and winter. • Yoshihiro Kurosaki: • One of the top executives in the Teiai Group, he is a rival to Tonegawa, vying for the position of second-in-command. In contrast to Tonegawa, he possesses a knack for pleasing Hyōdō and often makes sharp, pointed remarks. He is known for stating difficult truths without hesitation, which consistently yields positive responses. Generally gentle and aloof, he occasionally causes Hyōdō to falter, yet demonstrates ruthlessness when necessary, such as violently slapping the unruly Masayan into submission. His dark expression in that moment leaves Masayan traumatized.

• Tarō Ōtsuki • Greg Cote • The foreman of Squad E in the underground facility and protagonist of the spin-off 1-nichi Gaishutsuroku Hanchō. He witnesses Aida's comedy routine but remains unamused. He also encounters Tonegawa in the "Tonegawa vs. Foreman" one-shot. • Takuya Numakawa: • Ootsuki's close aide, he witnesses Aida's comedy routine but remains unamused. • Kaoru Isawa: • Ootsuki's close aide, he witnesses Aida's comedy routine and is the only one of the three who laughs.

Written by Tensei Hagiwara and illustrated by Tomohiro Hashimoto and Tomoki Miyoshi, with cooperation from Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Mr. Tonegawa was serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Young Magazine from June 20, 2015, to January 23, 2018. The manga was transferred to the Comic Days manga app, where it was published from March 5, 2018, to June 8, 2020. Kodansha collected its chapters in ten individual tankōbon volumes, published from December 4, 2015, to August 11, 2020.

An anime television series adaptation was announced in February 2018. Produced by Nippon TV, VAP, Nippon Television Music Corporation and Madhouse, it is directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi, with Mitsutaka Hirota handling series composition, Haruhito Takada designing the characters and Takahiro Yamada composing the music. It ran for 24 episodes on Nippon TV's AnichU programming block from July 4 to December 26, 2018. Jay Kabira served as the series' narrator, and each episode includes different voice actresses and actors for the trademark sound effect "Zawa Zawa", among which are: Masako Nozawa, Miyuki Sawashiro, Yū Serizawa, Ari Ozawa, Kana Hanazawa, Tomoyo Kurosawa, Shiori Izawa, Megumi Han, Chō and Chiharu Sawashiro. The series also includes segments covering a portion of chapters from 1-nichi Gaishutsuroku Hanchō, a spin-off manga about the foreman Ōtsuki. The opening theme is "Sassō to Hashiru Tonegawa-kun" by Gesu no Kiwami Otome, the first ending theme is Farewell Letter by Pistol Takehara, and the second ending is Major Supporting Role by NoisyCell. VAP published the series on two DVD and Blu-ray box sets between December 12, 2018, and March 27, 2019, with the second set including a drama CD that adapted chapters from 1-nichi Gaishutsuroku Hanchō not shown in the anime. A 32-track original soundtrack was released on August 22, 2018. Sentai Filmworks have licensed the anime and an English dub began streaming on Hidive on August 3, 2018. Sentai Filmworks released the series on Blu-ray on October 15, 2019. The show is also available for viewing on Crunchyroll.

• Yūji Endō: • A yakuza and president of the Teiai-affiliated Endō Finance, he works under Tonegawa and often appears in a supporting role. While generally sympathetic towards Tonegawa, his outrageous actions—such as excessively brainwashing recent black suit graduates and abandoning Masayan in the woods without authorization—cause Tonegawa to become wary. His tendency to appear at inopportune moments and consistently produce negative outcomes makes him a disruptive figure. • Seiya Ichijō: • A young manager of a Teiai-affiliated underground casino, he oversees the man-eating pachinko machine known as "The Bog." When Tonegawa visits to recover the 1.5 billion yen lost to the machine, he is responsible for entertaining him. The reception is very poor, and Tonegawa is appalled by the blatantly rigged settings of the Bog. • Murakami: • Ichijou's underling and senior staff of the underground casino that Ichijō manages. At Ichijō's command, he blatantly rigged the settings of the Bog. • Kinezaki: • A representative of the Kansai branch of the Teiai Group. He is always high-handed and self-centered, ranting and yelling at his subordinates ("a yakuza-like man," according to Tonegawa). • Watanabe-kun: • One of the debtors, he had a problematic personality as a working adult. Despite his age, he is selfish and enjoys horse racing. His round facial features contrast with Kaiji's pointed ones. Endō summons him to a lecture on multiple debtors, where his childish actions are revealed, including spending company money on pachinko and using funds collected by his mother from relatives to bet on horses instead of repaying debts. • Satoshi Aida • One of the debtors, he is an aspiring comedian who performs a routine for President Hyōdō and Tonegawa in an attempt to promote himself. Chairman Hyōdō dismisses him as a genuine idiot unworthy of ridicule, while Tonegawa feigns a yawn to hide any amusement. Sent underground, he eventually manages to amuse Isawa with his jokes there. • Kaiji Itō • Masato Hagiwara • The protagonist of the main series, he appears in several recap scenes and at the end of episode 13 in the anime adaptation. He does not appear in the manga and is only referenced by name in a single line of narration.