Manga Reviews (the ’90s): “Tropic of the Sea” by Kon Satoshi (1990)

Overall, this is a delightful and entertaining manga and for those who want to enjoy a manga and not wanting a long manga series but are wanting a fantastic one-shot or even to introduce someone to a manga for them to read for the very first time, I definitely recommend Kon Satoshi’s “Tropic of the Sea”.  Highly recommended!

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MANGA TITLE: Tropic of the Sea (Kaikisen)

ORIGINAL YEAR OF RELEASE: 1990

STORY AND ART BY: Kon Satoshi

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Kodansha

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics

RATED: 13+

Available on September 17, 2013

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Yosuke’s family has a strange tradition: once every sixty years they receive an egg from a mermaid. When the egg matures his family dutifully returns it to the sea, where the whole process is then repeated. In exchange for this favor, the mer-people bless his coastal town with bountiful catches of fish and calm seas.

But as a commercial development encroach on the sleepy seaside village and Yosuke’s father is lured away from tradition towards modern properity, turning the egg into a tourist trap, what will happen to the promise their family made to the mermaids generations ago?

Satoshi Kon’s first feature-length manga, Tropic of the Sea includes a dozen black and white art plates from the original release plus a 5-page essay written by Kon in 1999 detailing his transition from the manga industry to the animation business.

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Kon Satoshi is known for his anime work.

From directing “Perfect Blue”, directing and writing films such as “Millennium Actress”, “Tokyo Godfathers”, “Paprika” and “Paranoia Agent” (to name a few), Kon Satoshi was no doubt one of the most respected people in the anime industry.  His oeuvre has been praised worldwide and many people highly anticipated his work.

But not many knew that Kon Satoshi would depart our world so quickly.  Kon Satoshi was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in May 2010 and would pass away at the age of 45 on August 24, 2010.

While many are familiar with Kon’s animated work, before Kon worked on his first animated film “World Apartment Horror”, he was actually a mangaka.

Kon debuted in 1984 with a doujinshi titled “Toriko” and would eventually become an assistant for the legendary Otomo Katsuhiro (uncredited but worked on “Akira”) and would make his professional debut in 1990 with the one-shot manga “Kaikisen” which would be published in “Young Magazine” by Kodansha.

And “Kaikisen” was released by Vertical Comics with the title “Tropic of the Sea”.

“Kaikisen” is about a young man named Yashiro Yosuke.  His family has one long tradition for generations and that is receiving an egg from a mermaid, replacing the water where the egg is submerged once a week and when the egg matures after 60 years, it must be returned to the sea.  In return for this favor, the mermaids bless the coastal town of Ade with many fish to catch, as well as the calming of the seas.

Yosuke’s grandfather is a big believer of this.  His father, a shrine priest, Yozo doesn’t believe in it.  But Yosuke’s deceased mother was a believer and has seen the mermaid.

Yozo is working with a powerful investor to built a resort in the coastal town. Yosuke has done it for his grandfather’s sake and is next in line to continue the tradition, but in truth, Yosuke doesn’t believe in the tradition as well.

But when Yozo shows off the egg on live television, the story catches the attention of the town, especially among Yosuke’s friends who want to see the egg.

Now that the public has heard that Yozo has to take care of the mermaid’s egg, he is ticked off and goes out to sea with his friend and at first Yosuke thinks he sees a mermaid out in sea swimming but it turns out to be a friend he went to school with, Nami.

As Nami and Yosuke begin hanging out, the wealthy and powerful investor, Ozaki Kenji has come and wants to see the family egg.

Meanwhile, Yosuke finds out that his father has been working with Ozaki and trying to get owners to sell their lots for the development of the resort and how the fisherman are opposing the landfill for Kamijima Marine Land.  Kamijima is where the egg is to be returned after sixty years.

And when Ozaki Kenji uses his wealth and power to get the egg, because of certain situations, Yosuke is starting to realize that the family tradition may be real.  Can he protect the mermaid’s egg?

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I’m in the process of reading Kon Satoshi’s manga that are available in the US and starting off with his first major manga, “Kaikisen”.

And I have to say that I was absolutely impressed with Kon’s early work.  The storytelling about a family tradition that is passed generation to generation and a young man who is next in line to carry on the tradition, not believing in it.

After all, taking care of a mermaid’s egg, making sure the water its submerged in is replaced every week and then 60 years later, returned to Kamijima Marine Land?  And if everything goes by the agreement made long ago, the people of the coastal town will be blessed with many fish for those in the fishing industry and most importantly, calm seas.

Because there is no proof, the main character, Yosuke and also his father have started to lose faith in tradition, while Yosuke’s grandfather will do all it takes to make sure the egg is protected and traditions continue, even those he’s older.

In the background, Yosuke’s father is working with a developer who wants to build a resort and also wants the mermaid’s egg.  Yosuke, must do all he can to protect it.

The manga is fascinating as it shows the relationship of the Yashiro family, the three generations of men, their belief in tradition and how each are different.

Yosuke, the main protagonist, is slowly starting to not believe in the tradition, meanwhile we are given a dramatic storyline between him and a childhood friend named Nami who has come back to the seaside town.  And you can tell she has a crush on him but Yosuke is too blind to know that.

But things become rather interesting as the manga then becomes an action/chase story as good vs. evil try to gain possession of the egg.  Yosuke, who wants to protect the mermaid’s egg from being taken by the wealthy resort developer.

The artwork is very good considering it’s an earlier work of Kon Satoshi and enjoyed how he was able to display human emotion through the various characters.

But overall, this is a delightful and entertaining manga and for those who want to enjoy a manga and not wanting a long manga series but are wanting a fantastic one-shot or even to introduce someone to a manga for them to read for the very first time, I definitely recommend Kon Satoshi’s “Tropic of the Sea”.

Highly recommended!

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