At the start of the story, we see this orphan boy going around to different animals, seemingly trying to find a home. He first sees a family of sheep, then of pigs. He tries to pick up a piglet, but is frightened by the mother pig's disgruntled reaction. He sees another family of chickens, and then a family of dogs. He once again picks up a pup, which angers the mother dog, and it chases him up a tree.
He begins to cry, and his tears land on a family of ravens. they swoop at him, and he falls into water, and begins to drown.
An old man on a boat finds him, and rescues him from the water.
He brings him home onto his little hut on an island and gives him new clothes, and feeds him. The boy eats to fast, and starts choking on what seems to be a bone. The man helps him clear his airway. night comes, and the two sit together in the hut, the man smoking a long pipe. They boy picks up a piece of straw and lights it to smoke, to the amusement of the man.
The boy begins to tell the man where he came from. The boy was living a normal life, in quaint little home with his mother. We see fighter jets in the background, and they begin to bomb his town, hitting his home directly.
He runs to his home, but it is burning down, seemingly with his mother inside.
The man feels pity for the boy, and embraces him.
the tone shifts as we see the pair fishing together, having a nice time.
They play a game which involves diving for a small turtle. (poor guy)
the two are having fun, until a sort of offical comes along, and demands their fish they have caught. (apologies, i did not realize the quality of this image was bad when i took it. i dont have time to retake it right now.)
the boy is angry and wants to fight the offical, but the man holds him back. The two embrace again, as the boy cries.
They now have no food, so the man goes out to fish again, leaving the boy behind. At some point, the mans hat washes up, and the boy is horrified, thinking he had died. He runs out to the water and calls for him, but there is no response.
He sits alone in the hut, miserable, but sees the man in the boat, far in the distance. overjoyed, he runs to him, and the two embrace.
The two go out fishing again, when they are spotted by military personnel. They yell at the man, who begins to row away. They point their guns at him. and they shoot. The manga ends with a far off shot of the boy embracing the mans body in the boat.
it's a pretty heart wrenching story, even if I cannot understand the words. The drawings are so fluid and full of emotion. I also find the simplistic layouts appealing. I am unsure why the man was shot in the end, but it looks like they were maybe encroaching on a settlement, as you can see a couple houses in the background in one panel.