Soshiro Omote is a master of disguise and president of "The Face Pack" a club of disguise masters. Unfortunately Soshiro has ignored one of the cardinal rules of The Face Pack, which says there can be no random disguises in public. Soshiro's father, the principal of the school (and also secretly the first president of The Face Pack) sets out to prevent his son from using disguises so frivolously.
Using various disguises, Soshiro's father winds up making him walk in on a nude Meiko. In the end, Soshiro is able to reveal his true feelings for Meiko, in a quite touching finale.
Published In:
Shonen Sunday 1984 Special
Rumic World Vol. 2
Publication Date: March 26, 1984
Pages: 28 (black and white)
Anime Adaptation: None
Notes:
The Face Pack was created for the 25th Anniversary special issue of Shonen Sunday.
This special issue of Shonen Sunday contains a number of special gifts, including stickers and a one-page illustration as well as two-page poster featuring all the mangaka appearing in the magazine alongside their creations as they build a house together.
List of Masks Appearing in This Story
Ultraman (ウルトラマン) is the legendary Japanese suerhero who has been a staple of Japanese popular culture since his debut in 1966.
Tanuki (狸) are also known as racoon dog's and play a significant role in Japanese folklore and popular culture, whether it's from Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko or Tom Nook in Animal Crossing.
The Werewolf mask is not based on the traditional look of Lon Cheney Jr. from the 1941 film The Wolf Man although that film is what popularized the werewolf creature in popular culture.
The Ebisu mask should not be confused with a Taikofu (太弧父) is the "old widower" mask. Usually bald with long, low-hanging earlobes. It was used in Gigaku (伎楽) an extinct genre of dance performance from the Asuka period (538 - 710). The Ebisu mask is based on the character of Ebisu of the Seven Lucky Gods.
One mask that is briefly seen is a traditional female bride's mask.
Hyottoko (火男) is a comical Japanese character, portrayed through the use of a mask. His mouth is puckered and skewed to one side. Some masks have different eye sizes between the left and right eyes. He is often wearing a scarf around his head (usually white with blue dots).
Frankenstein's Monster's mask is based on the classic look of the creature as made famous by actor Boris Karloff in the 1931 film version of Frankenstein.
Dracula's mask is based on the classic look of Bela Lugosi's protrayal as the vampire in the 1931 film version of Dracula.
Tange Danpei (丹下段平) is the bald one-eyed man that Soshiro disguises himself as on his the bicycle. He is the drunken coach of boxer Joe Yabuki in Ashita no Joe.
Giant Baba (ジャイアント馬場) is the second character Soshite disguises himself as while riding his bike. Baba is a famous pro-wrestler, three time NWA Champion and co-founder of All-Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Mitsugu Chiyonofuji (千代の富士貢) is the sumo wrestler shown. He is one of the greatest yokozuna of modern times. He had a 21 year career and set a record for the most victories every at 1,045.
Shigeo Nagashima (長嶋茂雄) is a thirteen year veteran baseball player for the Yomiuri Giants as well as their former head coach. During his era as a player he was without doubt the most popular baseball player in all of Japan. He is the final masked character that Soshite dresses as in the bicycle sequence. He is also known amongst manga fans for being featured on the cover of the very first issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday
Godzilla is Toho's world famous kaiju and is probably the most famous monster to come from Japan since his debut in 1954.
Spock of course is based on the very famous Star Trek Vulcan portrayed by Leonard Nimoy from 1966 until his death in 2015.
The Rangda Ing Girah (“Widow of Girah Village”) is a creature of ambiguous significance in Balinese religious traditions. In Bali, she is typically referred to as Calonarang, which is also the name of her performance. Technically, she is a child-eating demon and queen of the evil witches (leyak).
Alien Baltan (バルタン星人) is the alien mask. This one of the most popular antagonists from Ultraman.
The skull mask is identical to the one worn by Ryoko Mendo in Urusei Yatsura.
The white mask is a look that appears frequently in manga and anime, but unfortunately I cannot locate a specific name for this style of mask. It's seen worn by the original Neo Geo mascot G. Mantle, Tuxedo Mask in the original opening of Sailor Moon and more recently by Kagetani Hiruko in Black Bullet. The name that seems to be most associated with the mask is Ying Yin.
Soshiro Omote - Omote (おもて) means "face" but omote (面) is also the term for masks used in Noh theater.
Menkui High - Menkui means "attracted to looks alone."
