Nanpaman

Nanpaman (ナンパマン) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by. It was serialized in Weekly Young Magazine from April 6, 1987, with the chapters collected into 60 tankōbon volumes by Kodansha.

The manga was adapted into a Japanese live-action TV drama by Toei Company, which aired on TV Tokyo from March 28, 1993 to May 12, 2016. Both the manga and the TV drama series were initially licensed for English-language distribution in North America by Viz Media.

The TV drama series is well-known for its camera spins of various places (for speed line backgrounds) and chroma key compositing for comedic moments.

Plot
The series follows the exploits of Masayuki Nakamura, a sound editor who is always found chasing beautiful girls and who works at International Sound Effects Ltd. (インターナショナル音響効果有限会社).

His girlfriend is Tomoko Nakamura, another sound editor like him. However, Tomoko is very susceptible and jealous, often hitting Nakamura with a giant hammer when he does something perverted.

Main characters

 * Masayuki Nakamura
 * Portrayed by: Atsushi Tamura; Voiced by: Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
 * Nakamura is the main character of the series. He is a sound editor who currently works at International Sound Effects Ltd.. He invented the nickname "Nanpaman" for himself because Nakamura is a real pervert who tries to hit on any beautiful woman he meets or sees, failing every time.


 * Tomoko Nakamura
 * Portrayed by: Masami Hisamoto; Voiced by: Wendee Lee (English)
 * Tomoko is Masayuki Nakamura's partner. She is primarily responsible for arranging clients and other managerial tasks. Nakamura's skirt-chasing rouses her ire more than once. Though the partners frequently pick on fights or arguments, they actually form a great team together.


 * Tatsuhiko Nakamura
 * Portrayed by: Tatsuo Enomoto; Voiced by: Johnny Yong Bosch (English)
 * Tatsuhiko is Tomoko's older brother and Nakamura's partner at the beginning of the series. Tomoko is not related to him by blood, his father had adopted her when she was a child. He's a former sound designer with a strong sense of justice. Tatsuhiko become Nakamura's partner and takes over her brother's role after he is murdered by gangsters. His last wish before he died was for Nakamura to take care of his sister.


 * Akihiko Kotobuki
 * Portrayed by: Takeshi Kitano; Voiced by: Ian Sinclair (English)
 * Kotobuki is another sound editor who works at International Sound Effects Ltd.. He has a friend/rival relationship with Masayuki Nakamura.


 * Ayako Sugiwara
 * Portrayed by: Yoshino Kimura; Voiced by: Michelle Ruff (English)
 * Sugiwara is a sound mixer who often outsources certain tasks to the International Sound Effects Ltd. staff. Nakamura keeps a long and detailed list where Sugiwara owes him for the various favours he's done for her, which she always manages to avoid.


 * Andrew Hughes
 * Portrayed by: Jason Statham
 * The main antagonist of the series, Hughes is the mafia boss whom the main goal is to defeat Nakamura and his gang.

Recurring characters

 * Jeffrey Adams
 * Portrayed by: Jeff Manning
 * Adams is an American animator who formerly worked at Warner Bros. Animation before moving to Japan.


 * Sam Wilkerson
 * Portrayed by: Eric Kelso
 * Wilkerson is a sound editor who formerly worked at Advantage Audio before moving to Japan. He appears in 1996-2015 episodes.


 * Dave Gazzana
 * Portrayed by: Roger Craig Smith
 * Gazzana is an American filmmaker, cinematographer and cameraman who has done over 240 films.


 * Hai-Git Wong
 * Portrayed by: Alan Li Kam Lun; Voiced by: Lex Lang (English)
 * A Hong Kong cinematographer and actor, who is a friend to Nakamura.