My first reaction on hearing that "Charisma Man" was attempting a comeback was to ask, "Can it even work today?" Would the strip come across as funny, or just endearingly nostalgic? Worse, could it be completely misinterpreted and considered amateurishly silly, a gross exaggeration aimed at getting a couple laughs from people new to Japan?

Charisma Man, at least the way that I — a Japan resident since 1982 — see it, was not some rare beast that emerged occasionally from the swamps of eikaiwa to stalk the pickup bars of Roppongi; he was virtually every red-blooded male of pre-bubble and bubble-era Japan. In fact, he needn't even have been been male; back then, we were all Charisma Men and Women.

Though the original "Charisma Man" strip started in 1998, when things had already changed considerably, there were great numbers of us still here suffering the postbubble hangover, and the comic appealed to us. There were still plenty of perks and plenty of fun to be had, and we were all hoping it would continue.