Rascal - Started an image word chain (#46)

(#45) Off to the cabaret club -> 'Ra' -> Rascal

"Please, never peek while I'm washing."
"...No, I can see everything. And anyway, what on earth is that supposed to be in return?"

"Rascal the Raccoon" is a TV anime that aired on the Fuji TV network in 1977. It is the third installment in the series known as 'World Masterpiece Theater'.

It depicts the heartwarming daily life of the protagonist, Sterling North, and 'Rascal,' a young raccoon who became an 'orphan' after his mother was taken by a hunter.

When they first met, Rascal was so small it was hard to tell if his eyes were even open, but he grew up safely under Sterling's care, and for a while after that, happy days continued.

However, as he grew, Rascal's behavior, which at first was just harmless mischief, gradually escalated, eventually leading him to ruin the neighborhood fields. It even reached the point where a neighbor named Thurman, whose field was ruined, nearly shot him.

Sterling himself was hit by a series of misfortunes: the death of his mother, who had been hospitalized, followed by his father's business failure, and due to his own schooling, he decided to go to his sister's place in Milwaukee.

Considering these circumstances, Sterling decided to return Rascal to the forest.
The image used for this post shows Sterling and Rascal in a handmade canoe, heading deep into the forest to say goodbye so that Rascal wouldn't be able to return to human settlements and wouldn't be targeted by hunters again.

Well, from Rascal's perspective, having lost his mother while still a nursing infant and being effectively raised by Sterling, it goes without saying—even without being told "what on earth is that in return"—that it is a repayment for being raised (*1) (￣∀￣)

In this final episode, "Rascal's Return to the Forest," there is no problem since he is returning to the forest where he was born and raised.

However, I would like to take this opportunity to touch upon a certain real-world problem brought about by "Rascal the Raccoon."

"World Masterpiece Theater," which aired in the Sunday 20:00–21:00 time slot where "Rascal the Raccoon" was broadcast, is a popular series that basically airs one work per year from January to December, and highly popular works easily exceed an average viewership rating of
20%.

This "Rascal the Raccoon," which aired in 1977, was also hugely popular, and it's only natural that boys and girls all over the country thought, "I want to keep a raccoon just like Sterling! (≧▽≦)🎵"

However, taking advantage of that popularity, large numbers of raccoons were imported (*2) , and while it was fine that the number of pet raccoons increased, it is an undesirable and unnatural trend that raccoons that were abandoned because they couldn't be kept, or that escaped due to poor management of cages, etc. (*3) became feral, causing damage to fields and affecting the ecosystem.

In the first place, while raccoons certainly look adorable, they are basically fierce in temperament.
Even if you raise them from infancy like Sterling, they won't easily become attached to humans once they reach adulthood. They are not the type of animal that can be kept as a pet with the same feeling as a dog or cat.

On the other hand, while this is not just a problem with raccoons, because the number of organisms flowing in from outside Japan due to various factors and damaging the ecosystem by preying on native Japanese species or competing for living space, or causing damage to agricultural crops, etc., has increased,
a law called the "Invasive Alien Species Act (*4)" was enacted in 2005.
Raccoons were listed as a primary designated species, and since then, their import for non-academic purposes has been prohibited as "specified invasive alien species," and those that have taken root in the country have become targets for extermination as soon as they are found.
Many of them were brought across the sea to be pets and then abandoned, yet they were just trying their best to live.

This is by no means limited to raccoons, but once you take them in as pets, any creature is family.
If you're just going to abandon them easily because you can't handle them, I want to say: don't keep them in the first place.

Well, since the topic has taken a serious turn, uncharacteristic of me, I'll force a return to the repayment of Suru... or rather, to "Rascal the Raccoon" (￣∀￣).

Tonight's song is the OPopening theme for "Rascal the Raccoon".
The first song this week, performed by Kumiko Osugi, the St. Mary Children's Chorus, and the Columbia Yurikago-kai, is "Rock River e".

This song also became somewhat famous because it is a favorite of Funa Nakayama, the bronze medalist in the women's street skateboarding event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

As she says, it is certainly a good song, and I feel like listening to it before a match would get one's spirits up.

However, and this is just my personal, cynical opinion, the lyrics in the chorus

—are not necessarily lyrics one can wholeheartedly praise when you consider the circumstances that forced Rascal to come to Sterling (￣∀￣)
(As for Rascal, he might have been much happier living happily with his mother than meeting you—I think)

Oops, is it already this late tonight? It's time to go offer flowers at the hole in the oak tree in the Kettle Creek forest.

With that said,
I hope that tomorrow, too, will be a day where as many people as possible
can cast a kind eye on all living things around them👀🌈

■ Bonus

This is the car before the current one in this picture word chain train (46th car). If you were intrigued by the title "Off to the Hostess Bar" and the joke image on the bottom right, please take a look when you have some time to spare. I would be so happy that I'd do a little dance while singing, ♪Heidi Heidi Lilo Rasco Ride Win O Lilo Rasco♪ (￣∀￣)♪