I’ve just started Animal Land Doubutsu no Kuni どうぶつの国 by RAIKU Makoto 雷句誠. This is shonen, fantasy, adventure, tragedy, drama. The drawings are very old-fashioned although it’s not an old series and is still ongoing as far as I know Bessatsu Shounen Magazine in Japan and the tankobon are published in English in the US by Kodansha USA. The omake mostly are about the author’s dog, but some about the story.
I’ve only read 3 volumes at this time; however, must say volume 2 had overtones much like one of the parts of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen (won’t tell you what or how or which part (there are 4 – so ~17 hours of opera to watch all of Das Rheingold (The Rhine Gold); Die Walküre (The Valkyrie); Siegfried; & Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) – may I suggest the 1990 Metropolitan Opera version which has subtitles in many languages and a wonderful cast) watch and enjoy it for yourself. By volume 3 I was getting a strong Gene Roddenberry feel in the story and wonder if the author is a fan of Star Trek (TOS and NG – early part) or some of the early westerns that Gene Roddenberry wrote.
It’s refreshing to have a good story with a message, and done in a way that isn’t obtrusive. So far seems to be a modern-day parable.
seattlekifujin 