Kokeru Moroboshi (諸星こける, Moroboshi Kokeru?) is a young boy who is a possible future son of Ataru Moroboshi.
Biography[]
He first appears when Lum attempts to help Ataru late to school for the 5th day in a row, by using her space-bridging technology to create a portal shortcut and makes a mistake causing a rift in the space-time continuum and sending herself and Ataru through time to 1991, over a decade in the future. Kokeru, having escaped from the protective care of his mother, discovers the teenage Ataru whilst he is trying to eat his lunch bento, spooking Ataru sufficiently that Kokeru has a chance to eat the bento himself. Ataru is initially hostile towards Kokeru, disliking the small child, but Lum takes a shine to him and offers him comfort. Ataru reluctantly buys the boy an ice cream cone before they decide they need to find his parents. Kokeru, whilst able to talk, is unaware of his parents' names, but does know his own. Ataru is startled to realize that Kokeru is his son, but Lum, noting the boy lacks horns, is devastated to realize he can't possibly be her child, breaking down in tears. Intrigued, Ataru decides to take Kokeru to his mother, so he can learn which woman will be his wife in twelve years, but upon actually reaching the class reunion, he worries about being mistaken for a kidnapper as the adults look for the kid. He initially tries to hide with Kokeru, but then releases him as the young boy wets his pants and inadvertently urinates on Ataru in the process. Kokeru promptly goes into the schoolyard and, much to Ataru's horror, he initially goes up to a very homely-looking woman, calling her mother. But it turns out that Kokeru is unable to identify his real mother, a matured Shinobu who promptly appears to collect him, although a disappointed Ataru asked Lum to take him back to his time before he could know it.[1]
He reappears in another possible future explored by Ataru, Shinobu and Lum after they plummet through the Room of Destiny, by opening a door with a key Inaba dropped during his first meeting with Shinobu. Once Ataru and Lum drift away due to Ataru spotting a pretty girl, Shinobu stumbles across two mature women, one of them leading a small boy by the hand. She overhears one of the women call the other "Shinobu", and then note that her son is also the son of Ataru. Hiding, Shinobu watches as the apparent older doppelganger continues on her rounds, scolding her son Kokeru when he flips up the skirt of a similarly young girl and demands she play. Wondering if they have somehow traveled to the future, she follows the pair whilst remaining in hiding. The older Shinobu and Kokeru head straight to the Moroboshi home, where they greet an aged version of Ataru's Mother and Ataru's Father. Shinobu is horrified, since this seems to confirm that she and Ataru are destined to marry, but Inaba emerges from a subspace portal nearby and they start talking. After reuniting with Ataru and Lum, who have had their own unpleasant encounters with this future, Inaba explains that this is a possible future, and that the Destiny Production Management Bureau can technically create alternative futures for them.[2]
He also appears in one of the nightmare sequences of Ataru's Mother where unlike the other versions of Kokeru, he is the son of Ataru and Lum.[3]
Personality[]
As a young child of about four years old, Kokeru doesn't really have much of a distinct personality. He is fond of food, very friendly with women, drools, and has poor bladder control. Various elders in his different appearances all note a very distinct resemblance to Ataru when he was about that age, and like Ataru he does show some distinctly perverse inclinations even at his young age; he gropes Lum's bosom in the manga, and flips up a female toddler's skirt. He is unable to identify his mother.
Trivia[]
- He appears way sooner in the manga than in the anime.
- Rumiko Takahashi was concerned about having depicted the future with Ataru and Shinobu having a son after it became Ataru and Lum's love story and created the story with Inaba to make that future she had drawn being one of the possible futures.[4]
Gallery[]
Reference[]
- ↑ Chapter 12 (13 in wideban)
- ↑ Inaba the Dream Maker (OVA), Chapters 329-330 (331-332 in wideban)
- ↑ Episode 78
- ↑ https://www.furinkan.com/takahashi/takahashi31.html