Yuki Kikuchi presented a daily four-panel manga series on his Twitter account for 100 days starting in December 2019, which has since been published in book form. Some of you might remember and say, "Ah, that manga," because it became famous for coming under fire.
The protagonist is an anthropomorphic green alligator. He lives alone, works part-time and plays video games, his only hobby. The manga series straightforwardly describes the simple life of a rather spaced-out young male, with nothing dramatic happening. Underneath the fourth panel each day, a rather ominous countdown note reminds us how many days are left until his death.
A turning point comes around day 50, when some nice things begin to happen in the alligator's life. A girl alligator agrees to become his girlfriend. He begins to dream of becoming a professional video game player. Then, on the day when roadside cherry blossoms reach full bloom, the countdown also reaches the 100th day of his destiny.
This Twitter manga series became popular and attracted a lot of attention during its online distribution. Then, immediately following the distribution of its last episode on March 20, there was a sudden turnaround and a flare-up ensued. All the marketing that coincided with the manga's completion, including the announcement of the publication of its book version, production of an anime film, and the opening of a shop selling related merchandise, was received as too calculated.
This rubbed fans the wrong way, leading to the devaluation of the manga itself. On the other hand, this seems to be solid proof of the ingenuity of the story and of how deeply it affected its readers.
I didn't read this manga when it was serialized on Twitter, so I saw it for the first time in paperback form, the only version available now. Although the drawings are simple, I felt that the trick mechanism was well thought out and carefully planned. Foreboding scenes appear casually in various episodes. In one episode, his close buddy the rat is injured in a motorbike accident. In another, the alligator gets a scare while crossing a street. And words related to "dying" are repeated in various scenes in different contexts, preparing the readers for the lead-up to the 100th day. I also felt the mangaka managed it very skillfully when he did not illustrate the ending too clearly, leaving readers to bask in the afterglow filled with beautiful images of cherry blossom petals falling.
The revolutionary aspect of Osamu Tezuka is said to be that he introduced a realistic concept of death into the world of cute characters. In this sense, I believe that this manga is properly in line with the manga tradition following World War II. It reminded me of my trauma after reading "Touch" 38 years ago. The green alligator began to look like Kazuya Uesugi in that manga by Mitsuru Adachi. I knew that this might happen, so perhaps that's why I didn't willingly try to read the series during its run on Twitter.
This manga is very much like fireworks. Why? Because the emotion that wells up within the readers after they've followed the life of the alligator day after day for 100 days is a one-time event. It's not possible to relive such an experience by reading the paperback version, or even by watching an anime film. I suspect that this may have been a miscalculation on the part of the author.
Even so, no one says fireworks are worthless. This manga should also receive the fair share of appreciation it deserves.
-- Kanta Ishida, Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer
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