Trips
STORY
A boy was living by himself on a desert island. Then, a bear, a pig, a lion and a cat drifted to the island, and they all lived happily together. One day, they made a raft together and with a dolphin tugging the raft they left the island. They came across a dangerous sea area where volcanoes were erupting. When they passed near an island, fierce birds attacked them. Then there was another island where tribes were always in battle. They also found themselves surrounded by masses of people who were just lazing around on the very noisy island they had created. Finally, the boy and the animals decided that they were better off living on their own desert island in the middle of the sea.
DESCRIPTIONS
This story uses neither words or any scenic descriptions. It looks like a series of panel cartoon. When you are too busy, you may feel like throwing everything away and escaping to a desert island. Tezuka Osamu wonders," What kind of journey people on a desert island dream about?" Would they want to play around in the convenient and comfortable world of civilization? Well, they might feel happy and relaxed just by imagining various journeys. Tezuka Osamu thinks this way. If I can feel satisfied with just imagining journeys, I will be able to enjoy freedom and solitude for a while in my imagination too, even though I am always busy with work. This might be the most "fulfilling journey" after all. A group of ten cartoonists and picture book writers each wrote a story about a journey for the picture book "The Book of Journeys". This piece is one of the stories printed in that book. Tezuka Osamu reveals his intricate sense of humor here, showing us that a journey might not be so much fun after all. Or, he might just be venting his anger at never having had time to take a real journey (because he had to work on drawing manuscripts even when he went on a trip).
