- 6.7/107 votes
#1 - A Face You Can Depend On
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/17/1989
A handsome man crumbles under the pressure of the expectations of those around him and eventually seeks comfort in the bosom of a Buddha-like woman.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/108 votes
#2 - Easy Driver
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/24/1989
A salaryman takes driving lessons but is a terrible driver. Moguro gives him private lessons, letting him drive however he likes and enjoys the joke when the man causes a huge amount of damage.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/107 votes
#3 - The Friend Salesman
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 10/31/1989
Moguro sets up an unpopular and lonely salaryman with a lady by correspondence. When they meet in a park at night frequented by perverts, she turns out to be a mannequin whom Moguro causes to scream for help. The salaryman is then beaten up by citizens and arrested.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.1/108 votes
#4 - The Man in Disguise
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 11/7/1989
A married salaryman with a wife and child has a mundane life and wishes for some adventure. Moguro encourages him to wear a disguise and have nights out on the town, but then gives him a new life, in a small apartment with a wife and four children.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.2/108 votes
#5 - The View from the 47th Floor
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 11/21/1989
Moguro encourages a student to observe life from the top of a building and he falls in love with a woman he sees in an apartment building. Moguro sets up a meeting between them, but also tells her husband, a gang boss, who arrives and beats up the student.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 5.8/106 votes
#6 - In Valor There is Waste
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 11/28/1989
A cowardly illustrator dreams of being a hero so Moguro encourages him to be brave. The young cartoonist eventually summons enough courage to stop a robber, but is stabbed in his right arm, preventing him from ever drawing again.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.6/107 votes
#7 - Sloth
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 12/5/1989
A slothful salesman is very unsuccessful so Moguro offers to help. Moguro sells many properties on his behalf, however he keeps the deposits, causing the salesman to have a breakdown and really behave like a sloth
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.7/107 votes
#8 - The Separator
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 12/12/1989
A young celebrity does not want to marry his girlfriend, so Moguro says he will convince her to stay away, but he must never see her again. However the celebrity misses her and sees her again so Moguro joins them together permanently.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/107 votes
#9 - Woman on the Platform
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 12/19/1989
A dull young banker falls in love with a woman wearing a medical face mask he sees every day on the train. Moguro arranges a meeting, but demands that he does not love her only for her looks. The banker agrees, but then is horrified when she reveals her true disfigured face that is the result of failed plastic surgery.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.5/106 votes
#10 - The Sure Winner
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 12/26/1989
A student bets away his allowance at the horse races. After helping him win once, Moguro offers to help him one more time, as long as he never bets again. Later, after bragging about his win, the student is forced to accept ten million yen from a gangster in a bar to bet at the races. However, before he meets Moguro on the next race day, he gambles all the money and loses.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/108 votes
#11 - Closet Man
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 1/9/1990
Struggling manga writer Hikage Hisatoshi is having trouble creating and paying his rent. Moguro offers to move in to his apartment as long as Hikage stays in the closet. Hikage is so happy in the closet that he creates very popular and successful manga. Moguro then moves him to a purpose-built closet. Eventually, Hikage wants to leave and enjoy his success but finds that he can no longer live in the sunlight.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/107 votes
#12 - Daydream
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 1/16/1990
Company man Nakajima Kenichi always eats last night's leftovers for lunch. Moguro treats him to and exotic lunch at the Daydream Club in the basement. Nakajima enjoys it so much he and a workmate spend all afternoon the next day drinking there, but they return to work after 5pm and are both fired.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/105 votes
#13 - Golf 101
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 1/30/1990
Unconfident company man Maido Chiyorou feels left out at work, so he tries to learn golf after hours. He improves after lessons from Moguro where he learns to imagine the ball as someone he hates. Later, Maido joins in the work golf competition but under pressure he hits the co-worker he hates instead of the ball.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.0/107 votes
#14 - The Woman Who Wants to Marry
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 2/6/1990
The ambitious woman office-worker, Tsumanari Taiko, is only interested in tall, educated, wealthy men to the exclusion of all others. Moguro sends her on an island trip for singles where she meets and falls for a man who fits her criteria, however he is a fake and Tsumanari is horrified when she finds out.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.1/107 votes
#15 - Cutting
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 2/13/1990
Trainee hairdresser Demuno Fouta is too scared to hold a razor, so Moguro gives him a box of medicated cigarettes to increase his confidence. Demuno improves his shaving skills, but is distraught when the other hairdressers smoke them all during a mahjong night, not realizing that only the first cigarette was medicated. When called on to shave the boss, he makes a fatal slip.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.1/107 votes
#16 - Mr. Pervert
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 2/20/1990
A grumpy old man is encouraged by Moguro to become a pervert.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/107 votes
#17 - Part-Time Confidential
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 2/27/1990
College student Tsutsui Shinichi is offered high-paying part-time jobs by Moguro and takes one offered by an old man to go out and have a good time on his behalf, as long as the money is not spent on something pointless. Unfortunately Tsutsui loses a fortune to some thugs at a mahjong club and when he goes back to the old man's house with the thugs to get more money, they find that he's gone.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.9/107 votes
#18 - After The Dream
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 3/6/1990
Urashima Taichi, a middle-aged company man has a dream of to stay in a deluxe hotel at least once. Moguro convinces him to try it, and tricks him into going with a young woman who he thinks is his wife. When he finally leaves and goes home, he finds that a long time has passed, and someone else has been living in his house for the past 10 years. The story is based on the legend of Urishima Tarō.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.6/107 votes
#19 - The Guardsman
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 3/13/1990
Company man Ishino Takashi calculates how much he has lost playing mahjong and decided to quit. Moguro offers to protect him from ever playing again, but Ishino relapses and Moguro finds him playing mahjong again. The next night when Ishino comes home, he finds Moguro has turned his wife into a mahjong addict.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.7/107 votes
#20 - Her First Love
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 3/20/1990
Housewife Koino Yumemi regrets not marrying a potter in her youth and complains about her neglectful husband and disobedient daughter. Moguro reunites Koino with the potter and they run away to live together, however their new life together is not as idyllic as they imagined.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 6.4/107 votes
#21 - The Path to Karate
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 4/10/1990
Moguro saves the young company man, Karasumori Kiichi, from being beaten by thugs and convinces him to learn karate every day with a tough master. Karasumori finds it difficult but perseveres for a few lessons. When he meets the same thugs in an alley, he tries to fight them, but is badly beaten up.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.6/107 votes
#22 - The Man-Hater
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 4/17/1990
A career woman, Kariya Asako, is harassed by her boss and Moguro arranges for him to be fired for sexual harassment on a train. In return the Kariya must focus on her work and not become involved with a man, but she does. When Kariya's new boyfriend surprises her on a railway platform, she overreacts and accidentally pushes him in front of a train.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/105 votes
#23 - House Lights
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 4/24/1990
Middle-aged company man, Kaeri Takunai, has an unhappy home life, so spends his evenings aimlessly killing time. Moguro offers him an apartment as long as invites no women there, however he lets a female neighbour in, and so breaks his promise. Kaeri's family finds out and he is thrown out, but then is also prevented from entering the new apartment. Eventually he is back home, in the doghouse.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.2/105 votes
#24 - The Man in the Back Seat
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 5/1/1990
Moguro convinces a company driver, Ohkuri Yukumi, to give him stock tips so that he can buy shares and split the profits on the condition that the driver must not trade himself. However Ohkuri gets a hot tip, and uses company money to buy shares himself, but is then arrested for fraud and embezzlement.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 7.8/105 votes
#25 - Lady Killer Warning
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 5/8/1990
Office worker Musai Toshio leads a dull life and women ignore him, so Moguro gives him a makeover but Moguro makes him promise to be prudent in his relationships with women. Musai finally dates a woman at work, but then takes another woman out to lunch. Moguro then calls Musai's girlfriend who turns up at the restaurant and makes a scene.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Best Episodes of The Laughing Salesman Season 1
Every episode of The Laughing Salesman Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of The Laughing Salesman Season 1!
Based on the horror manga created by duo Fujiko Fujio, The Laughing Salesman tells the story of a salesman named Moguro Fukuzo, whose job is...
Genre:Animation
Network:TBS
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"A Face You Can Depend On" is the best rated episode of "The Laughing Salesman" season 1. It scored 6.7/10 based on 7 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 10/17/1989. This episode is rated 0.2 points higher than the second-best, "Easy Driver".