Tecchan Becomes a Stray Human: 'Revolt of the Animals' / Revolt of the Animals Part 2

In my previous article, I covered a unique work from "Perman" called "Animal Liberation Zone." Please refer to the link below for details, but it was a grand sci-fi concept like "Planet of the Apes" where animals take the place of humans as the rulers.

Also, when considering humans, animals, and plants all as Earthlings, the argument that should only humans be allowed to act so arrogant? appears in this work, and this was a precursor to themes that would frequently appear in Fujiko's works later, such as stories dealing with extinct animals and the episode of Kibo in "Doraemon."

However, there is a work drawn with a similar theme about five years before this one. It is one chapter from a work called "Tebukuro Tecchan," which can be called the origin of elementary school-targeted works like "Doraemon" and "Kiteretsu Daihyakka."

When re-reading "Tebukuro Tecchan" now, many themes that are frequently depicted in the later Fujiko world appear. In the Fujiko F Note, there is an article that covered "Tebukuro Tecchan" once in the past, but this is a work that deals with the swap trope, a favorite of Fujiko-sensei, where people swap with people, and people swap with animals.

Now, let's take a brief look at the contents of this work. Please pay attention to the fact that the development is quite similar to "Animal Liberation Zone," which I wrote about in the previous article.

First, let's start with a recap of the synopsis of "Tebukuro Tecchan."

This work was serialized in Kodansha's elementary school magazines "Tanoshii Ichinensei" through "Tanoshii Sannensei" using a grade-level advancement system. It is a story about Tecchan (Tetsuo), who wears gloves that allow him to create mysterious tools, and his girl friend Yoko-chan, causing a commotion with the tools they create.

The fact that the story unfolds triggered by mysterious tools is said to be the origin of Fujiko's children's manga, as it connects to the later "Doraemon."

From the beginning of this work, Tecchan creates a drug that "makes animal brains equal to humans" and tries it out on various animals.

First a mouse, then a stray dog. When he talks to the intelligent dog saying, "It's nice weather, isn't it?", it suddenly displays knowledge surpassing Tecchan, saying, "Indeed, it is a winter-type atmospheric pressure pattern."

The dog says it is hungry and asks, "Please give me some food," but when Tecchan brings leftover rice, it demands treatment equal to a human, saying, "Leftovers are bad for hygiene."

The dog starts cooking for itself, reads Tecchan's diary without permission, smokes a cigarette, spreads out a newspaper, wears Dad's kimono, and watches TV. (The TV program it is watching is "Famous Dog Ahorashii")

Seeing such a dog, Dad gets furious and yells, "Get out!" and kicks it out of the house. The stray dog gets angry in a highly educated way, saying, "This is a violation of human rights."

That night, the combo of the intelligent dog and mouse vent their frustrations about humans. This is a very Fujiko-esque part.

Then, deciding they "want to get revenge somehow," they steal the medicine Tecchan made and plot to sprinkle it on all the animals in town. This flow is carried over entirely into the "Perman" story "Animal Liberation Zone."

The next morning. When Tecchan wakes up, it is already time to be late for school. He goes to the living room, angry about why no one woke him up, and finds three people (or three animals?)—a cat, a pig, and a horse—sitting around the dining table. Then, they tell Tecchan,"From today, this house belongs to us."and tell him.

Tecchan is shocked, thinking this is ridiculous. When the cat turns on the TV, the stray dog from yesterday is shown giving a speech.

Incidentally, in "Animal Liberation Zone," it was a chicken president who was giving the speech.

Tecchan notices that his mom and dad are nowhere to be found. When he shouts at the animals, "Where did you hide them?", they get angry and tell him to "Shut up."

He immediately dials 110 to call the police, but the one who appears isa gorilla police officer. And instead, Tecchan ends up getting arrested. This part is also very similar to "Animal Liberation Zone."

Tecchan was locked in a cell, but he is soon let out and taken to the dog Prime Minister. There, he is told by the dog that they had asked crows to scatter Tecchan's medicine from the sky. And also thatthey had locked the humans away in a certain place.

When he asks, "Why wasn't I locked up?", he is told, "Because you are the benefactor who made the medicine for us." They try to treat him like a pet, saying, "If you behave, we'll treat you well," but Tecchan says, "No thanks," and leaves on his own.

Now, the town is completely dominated by animals. Tecchan is treated as astray humanand has nowhere to go. So he thinks, why not make a medicine that cancels out the medicine that makes them smart? This development is also completely carried over into "Animal Liberation Zone."

And from here, it's a rapid development. The medicine is completed in just one panel, and he builds a plane to scatter it from the sky in one panel as well. He gets caught by the gorilla police officer and the crow patrol, but when he sprays the medicine on them, they return to being normal animals.

Then, he scatters the medicine all over town, and the town's animals return to their four-legged forms. The wild animals are returned to the zoo, butthe humans are locked inside the zoo cages. This part was also the same as "Animal Liberation Zone."

Reading it again, this work and the "Perman" story "Animal Liberation Zone" are quite similar. Roughly excerpting them...

It is practically the same story.

It is the Fujiko F. style to reuse motifs he likes in other works time and time again. Reading 'Revolt of the Animals' followed by 'Animal Liberation Zone' allows you to decipher Fujiko-sensei's creative patterns, which is quite fun, so I highly recommend everyone try it.

I introduce Fujiko's works from various angles.