TV-Series
Description
Rerere no Ojisan, known as Uncle Rerere or Old Man Rerere, is a recurring character from Fujio Akatsuka's works, prominently featured in the *Tensai Bakabon* franchise. His design drew inspiration from Shigeru Sugiura's art style, particularly for facial expressions and hand gestures, with Akatsuka's assistant Kenichiro Takai helping finalize the appearance.
He appears as a bald elderly man with elongated, alien-like earlobes, no visible nose, shiny black eyes, and a wide mouth typically showing three large teeth (two upper, one lower). Horizontal lines above his mouth represent his mustache. He commonly wears a checkered-pattern yukata, historically colored yellow or green, and wooden geta sandals. Flashbacks depict him younger with a full head of black hair and dressed in a business suit.
His personality centers on an unwavering dedication to street sweeping. He habitually sings "Clean, clean~" while working and asks passersby "Are you going out?" (*Odekake desu ka?*) – a trait that earned him the early tentative name "The 'Are you going out?' Man." Generally easygoing, he reacts fiercely to anyone disrupting his cleaning, smacking litterers or obstructers with his broom. He views pollution as his greatest enemy. His commitment persists in all conditions, including rain (with an umbrella) or late at night, and he has been shown sleeping in the street to remain near his territory. He performs this duty unpaid, seeing it as a natural calling.
His backstory reveals he was once married and fathered five sets of quintuplets, totaling 25 children. The chaotic household led to his sweeping habit to manage messes and "sweep" the children out for school. His wife has since passed away, and his grown children have left him solitary. Despite this loneliness, he finds fulfillment in his cleaning routine. Earlier, non-canonical appearances occasionally showed him with a young son resembling a miniature version, inconsistent with the quintuplet backstory.
He has several relatives: a twin brother named Yoyoyo, distinguished by "Yo" katakana-shaped eyes and a preference for checkered suits; a cousin-like figure named Tarita, a former classmate of Bakabon's Papa; and Rururu, a non-canonical brother created as a mascot for Astel Tokyo. These relationships sometimes cause identity confusion, such as Yoyoyo being mistaken for him.
Beyond *Tensai Bakabon*, he appears across Akatsuka's "Star System" including *Osomatsu-kun*, *Extraordinary Ataro*, *Dr. Geba Geba*, *Oh! Great Jailbreak*, and over 20 other titles. In animation, he features in multiple *Bakabon* adaptations (1971–2018), *Osomatsu-kun* (1988), and *Osomatsu-san* (as a visual in-joke in Episode 23). Fumio Kohinata portrayed him in live-action Nippon Television specials (2016–2018).
He appears as a bald elderly man with elongated, alien-like earlobes, no visible nose, shiny black eyes, and a wide mouth typically showing three large teeth (two upper, one lower). Horizontal lines above his mouth represent his mustache. He commonly wears a checkered-pattern yukata, historically colored yellow or green, and wooden geta sandals. Flashbacks depict him younger with a full head of black hair and dressed in a business suit.
His personality centers on an unwavering dedication to street sweeping. He habitually sings "Clean, clean~" while working and asks passersby "Are you going out?" (*Odekake desu ka?*) – a trait that earned him the early tentative name "The 'Are you going out?' Man." Generally easygoing, he reacts fiercely to anyone disrupting his cleaning, smacking litterers or obstructers with his broom. He views pollution as his greatest enemy. His commitment persists in all conditions, including rain (with an umbrella) or late at night, and he has been shown sleeping in the street to remain near his territory. He performs this duty unpaid, seeing it as a natural calling.
His backstory reveals he was once married and fathered five sets of quintuplets, totaling 25 children. The chaotic household led to his sweeping habit to manage messes and "sweep" the children out for school. His wife has since passed away, and his grown children have left him solitary. Despite this loneliness, he finds fulfillment in his cleaning routine. Earlier, non-canonical appearances occasionally showed him with a young son resembling a miniature version, inconsistent with the quintuplet backstory.
He has several relatives: a twin brother named Yoyoyo, distinguished by "Yo" katakana-shaped eyes and a preference for checkered suits; a cousin-like figure named Tarita, a former classmate of Bakabon's Papa; and Rururu, a non-canonical brother created as a mascot for Astel Tokyo. These relationships sometimes cause identity confusion, such as Yoyoyo being mistaken for him.
Beyond *Tensai Bakabon*, he appears across Akatsuka's "Star System" including *Osomatsu-kun*, *Extraordinary Ataro*, *Dr. Geba Geba*, *Oh! Great Jailbreak*, and over 20 other titles. In animation, he features in multiple *Bakabon* adaptations (1971–2018), *Osomatsu-kun* (1988), and *Osomatsu-san* (as a visual in-joke in Episode 23). Fumio Kohinata portrayed him in live-action Nippon Television specials (2016–2018).