Asuro-kun

Following Nemuro-san, I have created a picture book.
First, please try reading it from the link below.
If you are on a smartphone, please hold it horizontally; if you are on a PC, you can download it as is to read.

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Thank you for reading.

We always seek salvation in stories.

If someone is suffering, eventually someone will notice that suffering.
If someone is working hard, one day that effort will be rewarded.
If someone is lonely, someone who understands them will appear.

Such endings bring people peace of mind.
However, reality is not always like that.

There are efforts that end without anyone ever knowing.
There are jobs that go unappreciated.
There are times when you are not understood correctly, and only misunderstandings remain.
No matter how much you live for others, there are times when salvation never comes.

Even so, there are times when people must live for 'tomorrow'.

Asuro-kun is thought to be a lazy person.

But in reality, he was doing many things for the town in places where no one could see.

Asuro-kun does not talk about that fact himself.
That is because he did not do it to be recognized.
He also dislikes standing out.

I did not depict this figure as unconditionally correct.
I do not think that continuing to sacrifice oneself is correct for everyone.

In truth, Asuro-kun should also sleep.
He should read books he likes, run, go to places he doesn't know, and draw pictures he likes.

However, what I wanted to depict in this story is not the correct way to live.

It is the figure of a person who lives on, even while remaining unsaved.

Asuro-kun could not find anything he could do for himself.

In the end, no one ever noticed his efforts.

When tomorrow comes, new fallen leaves will pile up, broken things will be created, and someone will be in trouble.

That reality will not change at all.

Even so, Asuro-kun says.

These are not words filled with hope for “tomorrow.”
Nor are they a promise that everything will get better.

They are not an expectation that “tomorrow” will bring salvation.

When there is almost no reason left to live today, these are words to help you finish the day and move on to tomorrow.

People do not always live because they have noble dreams.
Nor do they always welcome “tomorrow” because they have great hope.

On days when you cannot find a reason for yourself, the small things you can do for someone else can become a reason to live.

This story does not assume that such a reason is correct, healthy, or beautiful.
I simply wanted to depict the fact that there are people who survive today in that way.

Even if today is painful, it does not mean everything will change “tomorrow.”
It does not mean things will get any easier.
It does not mean someone will notice, or that you will be rewarded.
It does not mean someone will say kind words to you.

Even so, you live for “tomorrow.”

That is the single will I have poured into “Asuro-kun.”

No matter what kind of day today is, you head toward “tomorrow.”
Human beings continue that repetition.