Brave Dan
1962/07/15-1962/12/23
STORY
This is a unique adventure story featuring an Ainu boy and a tiger as the main characters.
The Ainu boy, Kotan, befriends the tiger Dan, who escapes from a train bound for the zoo, and eventually discovers great belowground ruins.
There, Kotan meets a mysterious old man named called "Upopo," who tells him about three keys to a treasure. Shot to death by the villain Kousekkoku, Upopo leaves Kotan with one of the three keys. Dan and Kotan are then swept into ugly battles between villains over the three keys.
DESCRIPTIONS
July 15, 1962 to December 23, 1962
Appeared serially in "Weekly Shonen Sunday" (Shogakukan, Inc.)
(The Heibonsha World Encyclopedia defines the Ainu as a "minority aboriginal tribe of Hokkaido, Japan.")
Although the central character of "Brave DAN" is an Ainu boy, the contents are pure fantasy. Here, Tezuka Osamu lets his prolific imagination run free, and the story, set in the vast wilderness of Hokkaido, reflects his lifelong love of nature and animals.
