Yoshiyuki Tomino's directorial debut, "Triton of the Sea," is full of glistening anger and thirst [Nostalgic Anime Retrospective No. 93

The final chapter of Yoshiyuki Tomino' s "G no Reconguista V," "Beyond the Line of Death," was released this month. The roots of Tomino's anime can be found in "Triton of the Sea" (1972), the first TV series he directed.
The original is a comic by Osamu Tezuka, but the animated version is heavily rearranged. The main character, Triton, is a descendant of the Triton tribe and retaliates against the Poseidon tribe, which destroyed his tribe. This final episode is an original work by director Tomino, but it is not very good in terms of direction, as there is too much explanation through dialogue. Rather, the first episode, "The Boy the Sea Calls," which depicts Triton's departure from the fishing village where he was raised, shows the brilliance of new director Yoshiyuki Tomino.

The cape towering above the seashore is the goal that the protagonist must surpass, a symbol that divides the worlds of sea and land.

The first episode, "The Boy the Sea Calls," was storyboarded and directed by director Tomino (storyboarded under the name Minoru Axutani), and depicts "Triton, an outcast in a fishing village," "Triton's upbringing," "The attack of Poseidon," and "Triton's departure and farewell to his foster parents" in a density that is hard to imagine in 30 minutes. The spectacular depiction of the monster unleashed by Poseidon's tribe attacking a small fishing village is also a highlight.

The small fishing village where Triton lives has a cape called "Boar's Neck Cape," which serves as an important stage. It is dangerous to dive into the swirling waves just below the cape. Cape Boar's Neck appears in the following important scenes.

(1) At the beginning of the first episode, Triton climbs up to Boar's Neck Cape. Ippei, an old man who is Triton's foster parent, yells at Triton to stay away from the cape. However, Triton boldly jumps off the cape into the whirlpool and survives.

(2) After Triton jumps off the cape, Ippei recalls his encounter with Triton. Triton was a baby that had been abandoned 13 years earlier in a cave at Cape Boar's Neck. It was Ippei who rescued the baby and raised it, despite the villagers' cold eyes.

(3) The white dolphin Lukar, who once carried the newborn Triton to the fishing village, senses the movements of the Poseidon tribe and goes to tell Triton. Behind Lukar is a reflection of the boar's head cape.

(4) Luká carries Triton to the cave at Boar's Neck Cape. Triton's parents tell him that the Poseidon tribe attacked them and that the surviving Triton has no choice but to fight the Poseidon tribe, the rulers of the sea. At home, Luker says, there should be a Triton tribe costume and a dagger (the Sword of Orihalcon).

(5) Triton finds the Triton tribe's costume and dagger at home, just as Luká had taught him, and asks, "Why did you hide them until now?" and turns his back on Ippei and runs off. Triton, with nowhere to go, ends up at Cape Boar's Head.

(6) Salamandra, a monster unleashed by the Poseidon tribe, attacks the fishing village, but thanks to Luker's quick thinking, Salamandra hits its head on the Boar's Neck Cape. The cape collapses under the impact, and Salamandra dies.

In scene (1), the children watching over Triton as he climbs the boar's neck cape are not to be missed. In other words, the act of climbing the boar's neck cape and jumping into the whirlpool is a test of courage. ...... The goal to be overcome is destroyed in scene (6). The goal itself disappears, and the story shifts gears.
In scene (3), Luker tries to contact Triton, but Cape Boar's Neck rises in front of the house where Triton is. In a sense, the cape is a symbol that separates the world of the sea from the world of the land. （The cave scene at the cape in (2) and (4) also becomes more convincing if we consider that Triton was born at the boundary between the sea and the land. The cape that separates the sea from the land is broken and lost in scene (6), which removes the barrier in Triton's mind and motivates him to travel to the sea.

A bruising portrayal of a boy struggling with his identity between sea and land.

The scene in which Triton leaves Ippei after learning the secret of his birth (5) is also very movingly depicted.
When Triton finds the orichalcone sword that Ippei had hidden in the back of the house, he is shocked to learn that he is not a land person but a Triton, as Luker had said, and stands there saying, "I, I ...... Triton, where are you going?" Ippei calls out. The camera follows Triton as he rushes out onto the beach, shrugging off Ippei's voice. A piece of stone falls from out of frame ...... and when the camera pans, Triton is already climbing up the rock face of Boar's Neck Cape. The slight omission of time conveys Triton's frustration at having nowhere to go.
Triton slumps down on the cape as if exhausted. As the camera pans upward to capture a close-up of his pained expression, a lucerne is bouncing across the shimmering blue sea. ...... Yes, the answer is there. Beyond the cape lies the world beyond which the anguished Triton must go. Triton's lines in this scene are few and far between, but the scorching sun powerfully painted in the background, the avant-garde theatrical accompaniment, the raucous tress lines, and the honest camera work give Triton real life. It's flawlessly beautiful. Triton's hesitation, anger, and even exhaustion ooze slowly from the screen.

Although I picked up only the scenes related to Cape Boar's Head this time, the first episode is also noteworthy for its avant-garde title. Triton has already left the land, and is bravely moving across the ocean on the back of Luker. Around him, an army of dolphins led by Triton is in the midst of a deadly battle with the Poseidon monsters that are attacking them.
The film begins with a scene of carnage, a technique familiar from "Mobile Suit Gundam: Char of the Counterattack" (1988) and "G no Reconguista" (2014), and the essence of Tomino's anime. Ambitious and glittering, "Triton of the Sea" is a must-see.

(Text by Keisuke Hirota)