Nonki Megane is a career minor role player, usually cast as “one of the sailors/soldiers/staff members” or someone else’s assistant. Assumed to be based on Yutaka Aso, one of manga’s pioneers and creator of a popular strip known as Nonki na Tousan (1923) [‘Easygoing Daddy’], his own easy-going demeanour as a well-intentioned bumbler seem a good match. Although his debut in a commercial work came when he appeared as one of the members of the military unit in Mr. Cactus (1951-54), he is actually quite a bit older. Evidence from Tezuka’s boyhood manga works seem to suggest that he was an early partner to scrappy detective Higeoyaji – something which was later echoed in Astro Boy (1952-68) when he took on what is probably his most well-known role as the Principal at Astro Boy‘s school where Shunsaku Ban also happens to work as a teacher. Nonki Megane’s name is a compound of the Japanese words nonki meaning “relaxed” or “not in a hurry” and megane which means “glasses” or “spectacles”. So, in English, his name would roughly translate to “Easygoing Glasses”. Although his large round glasses and spotted nose are visually very similar to Osamu Tezuka‘s own in-manga appearance, Nonki Megane is actually relatively easy to recognize by his bald head, and especially by his broom-stick moustache. (Source: Tezuka In English)