Characters
in this film are a boy, fish(a boy imagined it as a mermaid), boy's parents, and a government.
Setting
This story takes place in a distant country where daydreaming is prohibited by the government.
What do they want
A boy wants to believe that the mermaid does exist, and also he wants his parents and the people in his county to understand him.
However, the government wants to force people the way they think, by not allowing people to daydream.
What's the problem
A boy believes the mermaid does exist,and doesn't want to forget her. However, the government wants a boy to admit that what he saw is just a fish, not a mermaid, and tries to make him forget about it, by torturing him and making him read books.
What happens in the end
A boy is afraid that he is forgetting mermaid because he can't recall her face clearly. So he goes back to his home and look into a water tank where a mermaid used to be, but he only sees a fish. He despairs of the fact that he's not able to see a mermaid anymore. So he goes to the ocean and lets a fish go. A fish swims away from a boy, changing itself into a mermaid.
What would happen next
I think the government would allow people to daydream and express their own imagination because in the end, not just a boy but many other people could see a mermaid.
What's the theme
I think Osamu Tezuka was afraid in that time that people lose imagination because of control by the government. So I think he wanted to tell us that one's imagination should not be restricted by someone, what you believe can be real .
