Rainbow Parakeet (七色いんこ, Nana-iro Inko) (German: Regenbogenfarbener Papagei) is a manga series created by Osamu Tezuka dealing with the adventures of the eponymous phantom thief. Collected in seven volumes, it has been published in France by Asuka.
Rainbow Parakeet is a genius as an actor, and a thief at the same time. As he is not a full-time thespian, he is usually hired as a replacement.[1] During the performance, he steals from the wealthiest members of the audience or even actors, depriving them of the contents of their purses or their jewelry.[2][4] True to his alias name "Rainbow Parakeet", he can assume the role of almost any part and change into any costume, and his repertoire is immense.[1]
His methods are a mystery, even to the detectives charged with apprehending him: Police Inspector Senri and his daughter, Police Detective Mariko Senri.
A thief who is also a professional mimic (although he called himself a layman in acting), he usually steals from the rich among the audience, causing Detective Senri and her daughter Mariko to pursue him.
Police Inspector Senri
Police Detective Mariko Senri
Inspector Senri's daughter. While she is passionate about capturing Rainbow Parakeet, she is also in love with him.
Tamasaburō
A dog who is as good at disguising himself as Parakeet. Tamasaburo soon joins Parakeet in his work.
Each typical episode adapted or paid homage to a play from the West, or from the Japanese theater, both traditional and modern.[5] Examples include Ibsen (Episode 3. Doll's House) and Shakespeare (Episode 35. The dog Tamasaburō faces the threat of being fed to a lion named Shylock).[6][3][7]
The work has been adapted into several stage plays. The 2000 adaptation starred Goro Inagaki as Rainbow Parakeet and Rie Miyazawa as Mariko.[8] The 2018 adaptation featured an all-female cast, with Junna Ito [ja] as Rainbow Parakeet and Konoka Matsuda as Mariko.[9]
Parakeet appeared as detective "Sherlock Homespun" in an episode of the 1980s series, where he was an English cyborg private detective who helps Astro Boy recover an artificial sun created to help exploration in Pluto.
^Shūkan shinchō, 43 (40–44), p. 120: "..代役専門の天才的俳優で金持ちだけを狙う怪盗でもある。(..brilliant actor specializing in substituting, and a thief who preys only on the rich)".
^ abTezuka, Osamu (2013), "Ningyō no ie" 人形の家 [Episode 3: Doll's House], Nanairo inko, vol. 1, Tezuka Production
^See for example, Episode 3, where he leaves his calling card and steals a piece of jewelry called "Stella Blanca" from an eminent actress.[3]
