One of the problems anime distributors used to face was that as a series went on, sales plateaued or dropped significantly enough that there were losses abound. With the shift in the last few years to season sets, it’s been far less of an issue for them, but it’s still one for manga companies. Which is why I personally get very excited when I see a company promote an ongoing series that’s a ways past its first volume. Kodansha Comics has done that on their always awesome and informational tumblr this week where they look at one of their lesser known titles that’s coming out with a new volume in a few weeks. Animal Land from Makoto Raiku is getting its eighth installment released on October 15th in print form
Animal Land is one of our lesser known series! It’s the story of Taroza, a human boy who can understand the speech of all animals. However, in this dog-eat-dog world, that turns out to be more of a curse than a blessing— he can understand the screams of dying animals as they are eaten by carnivores, and it distresses him greatly. To fix this horrible tragedy, he sets out to find a way to make carnivores and herbivores understand each other. There’s a mysterious Tower of Babel that may hold the key, but that raises more questions. Just the ability to communicate won’t solve all problems— in fact, it could create entirely new tragedies. If the hunters are able to understand their prey… isn’t that very cruel to them as well? They HAVE to eat meat to survive, right? Is there no way for EVERYONE to be happy?
The best part of this series is that it grows and matures with its protagonist. Taroza (that’s him on the cover!) starts out as a baby, and the tone is relatively lighthearted then. However, as he grows up, the situation becomes more and more dark. At this point in the story, Taroza is a young man, and the situation has come to a head in a pretty serious way. There are also other humans scattered about that may become Taroza’s friends or foes (or both), and there’s the overall mystery of how the Earth became this post-apocalyptic animal haven in the first place…
Plot concept: Surrounded by his loving family, Taroza decides his own happiness should come before his grand quest to unite all of animal-kind. But when tragedy strikes, he realizes he must confront his inner demons and take on the dreaded Tower of Babel after all. Years later and fully grown, Taroza is ready for the ultimate showdown… but some familiar faces are blocking his path! Are they here to help or hinder his mission?
