Digging deeper into Akiyuki Nosaka's wartime fairy tale "The Sea Turtle and the Boy": A moving story and its evaluation

A collection of war stories by Akiyuki Nosaka: The Sea Turtle and the Boy - A story of children living in the shadow of war

■Overview of the work

"Nosaka Akiyuki War Children's Stories: The Sea Turtle and the Boy" is an OVA based on the original work by Nosaka Akiyuki, and was released by Bandai Visual on April 23, 2004. It is a short, 45-minute story with only one episode, but it is packed with deep content. It was directed by Yasumi Tetsuo and produced by Shin-Ei Animation. This work depicts the horrors of war and the purity of children, and is a story that deeply touches the viewer.

■ Story

Tetsuo, who was burned out of his home during the Naha air raid on October 10, 1944, lives with his mother and grandmother at his aunt's house in a village in Urasoe, where he transfers to a national school. Tetsuo feels a bit out of place in his new environment, but he makes friends with Norio, a bully, and Hanako, whose brother was seriously injured in the air raid and hospitalized. Tetsuo starts playing with his classmates and has almost forgotten the horror of the air raid. However, when Hanako's brother dies, he is confronted with the reality of war once again. To comfort Tetsuo and Hanako, Norio takes them to a secret place called "Gama," a cave teeming with life, where sea turtles and dugongs come and go. Tetsuo and his family forget the horror of war for a time, but the village in Urasoe is bombarded from the air and bombarded from the sea, and Tetsuo is separated from his family. He reunites with Norio and Hanako, but Hanako collapses and Tetsuo escapes alone into the "Gama." The film depicts Tetsuo trying to protect the sea turtle eggs despite being starving.

■Explanation

"The Sea Turtle and the Boy" is one of the war fairy tales by Akiyuki Nosaka, who is also known as the author of "Grave of the Fireflies." This story depicts the horrors of war from the perspective of children, conveying a history that must never be forgotten. According to the official commentary by Bandai Visual, it begins with the sentence, "A very long time ago, there was a war..." and deeply moves viewers by contrasting the horror of war with the innocence of children.

■Cast

Tokiwa Yuki plays the role of Tetsuo, Namatame Kento plays the role of Norio, and Mimura Yuna plays the role of Hanako. Many other voice actors also participated, including Hashi Takaya as the teacher, Murakami Sota as Kenta, Ishihara Takuya as Haruo, Ozaki Chiaki as Yoshiko, Hisamatsu Yuko as Tetsuo's grandmother, Mizuhara Rin as Tetsuo's aunt, Egawa Hisao as the voice of adults, Onishi Takeharu as a male voice, Yanagisawa Eiji as a voice actor, and Sato Ai as the narrator. This cast realistically expresses the misery of war and the innocence of children.

■ Main staff

The original story was written by Akiyuki Nosaka, the art was by Seitaro Kuroda, the planning was done by Junichi Kimura (TV Asahi) and Yoshio Kato, the director was Tetsuo Yasumi, the script was Nobuyuki Fujimoto, the direction was Ken Ushikusa, the character design was Shuichi Seki, the animation director was Koichi Maruyama, the art director was Minoru Nishida, the color design was Hiromi Imaizumi, the cinematographer was Kazuhiro Sasaki, the sound director was Akira Okuma, the music was Osamu Sakuraba, the sound effects were Akiko Muto (Sound Box), the image animation was Tadahiko Horiguchi, the title was Hironori Nagatomo, the editor was Hajime Okayasu, the producers were Taro Iwamoto (TV Asahi), Sojiro Masuko, and Kumi Ogura, and the production was done by TV Asahi and Shin-Ei Animation. These staff members worked together to portray the misery of war and the innocence of children.

■ Evaluation and impressions

"The Sea Turtle and the Boy" has been highly praised for depicting the horrors of war from a child's point of view. It has been particularly praised for its realistic portrayal of Tetsuo's growth and suffering. The "toad" scene, in which the viewer temporarily forgets the horrors of war, deeply moves the viewer. Furthermore, Tetsuo's efforts to protect the sea turtle's eggs deeply moves the viewer by contrasting the horrors of war with the innocence of children.

■Reasons for recommendation

"The Boy with the Sea Turtle" is recommended by many viewers as a work that depicts the horrors of war from the perspective of children. In particular, the scene with the "toad" where the children temporarily forget the horrors of war deeply moves viewers. Also, the sight of Tetsuo trying to protect the sea turtle's eggs deeply moves viewers by contrasting the horrors of war with the innocence of children. Furthermore, the film has been praised for its realistic portrayal of Tetsuo's growth and suffering. For these reasons, "The Boy with the Sea Turtle" is recommended by many viewers.

■ Related works

"The Sea Turtle and the Boy" is one of Akiyuki Nosaka's collection of war fairy tales, and is related to other works such as "Grave of the Fireflies." These works depict the misery of war from the perspective of children, deeply moving viewers. Akiyuki Nosaka's other works also depict the misery of war and the innocence of children. By watching these works together, you can gain a deeper understanding of the misery of war and the innocence of children.

■How to watch

"The Sea Turtle and the Boy" is available on DVD from Bandai Visual. It may also be available online. It is recommended that you watch it carefully to understand the horrors of war and the innocence of children.

Conclusion

"Nosaka Akiyuki's War Children's Stories: The Sea Turtle and the Boy" is highly praised as a work that depicts the misery of war from a child's point of view. In particular, it has been praised for its realistic portrayal of Tetsuo's growth and suffering, the "toad" scene that allows Tetsuo to temporarily forget the horrors of war, and the sight of Tetsuo trying to protect the sea turtle's eggs. For these reasons, "The Sea Turtle and the Boy" is recommended to many viewers. Please watch it to understand the misery of war and the innocence of children.