Manga Revue Haru

漫画レビュー 春

Spring has come and the animals are coming out of hibernation. The rabbits play jump rope, while the polar bear and the raccoon dog play leapfrog. The frog and the monkey race on a car and a bicycle. School has started. The monkey teaches arithmetic, but the pig is fast asleep. They begin exercising in the school yard. The birds sing in the trees. The old goat goes to the mountain to clear land, while the old black cat washes clothes by the river. She finds a peach floating down the river, and takes it out of the water expecting to find Momotaro, only to find an ogre inside. The carefree polar bear goes to the pond to go fishing. In the pond, a small fish is swallowed by larger fish that is then swallowed by an even larger fish, and so on. The polar bear is happy to have caught such a large fish, but as he starts to head home with the fish over his shoulder, the fish fall out one by one. The old goat plays a drum and the old black cat plays a shamisen, while the pig and the duck dance to the music. In the end, a large crowd gathers around a sumo tournament in which the champion must defeat five wrestlers in succession. The mouse defeats the squirrel, only to be chased off by the black cat. The black cat is defeated by the bulldog, who is then shoved out of the ring by the duck. The monkey defeats the duck, goat, pig, and polar bear one by one, and emerges as the champion. The elephant awards a trophy to the monkey. However, the monkey collapses under its weight. [Source: Anidb, Japanese Animated Film Classics]