The main character is a boy who loves to daydream and a
fish, later becomes a mermaid in his imagination
Setting:
The film was published in 1964 by Osamu Tezuka. I think
the time setting of the story reflects the background of 1960's.
The story begins with a boy sitting at a beach. The boy
and mermaid swim in the ocean. He lives in a country that imagination is
prohibited.
What they want:
The boy wants to keep the imagination.
The society want people not to imagine anything, wants
everyone to be the same.
Conflict:
The boy is imprisoned for his imagination and tortured
every time he remembers the mermaid. Finally, he can't remember how she looked.
Ending:
He escapes and returns to his house. He gets depressed
because only he can see is a small fish. His ability of imagination has gone.
He takes the fish with him and disappear in the sea.
Next:
As I saw two mermaids jumping out from the sea at the
last, I think they went to another country where imagination is allowed.
Theme:
1. Freedom of imagination
Since the film is published in 1964, Osamu Tezuka wanted
to appeal the lack of freedom at that time. After the WWII, there was a big
campaign called 安保闘争(Anpo Tousou 1960) in
Japan and it was against the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. It was caused because
people didn't want to be in the control of America.
2. Discovery of new countries/culture
In 1960s, few people went to foreign countries. Japanese
didn't know the other countries, like the boy who is not allowed to imagine. I
think Osamu Tezuka wanted to tell people that there are many places where you
can express yourself freely.
