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海のトリトン [Umi no Triton] #2
Triton of the Sea Volume 2
In the vast, deep blue seas lurks many mysterious creatures and even mighty civilizations. With the humans on land and the Poseidon clan of the sea on the brink of war, Triton is caught in the middle. Branded a fugitive on land, Triton has returned to the ocean to reclaim his legacy and fulfill his vendetta against the Poseidon clan. As the last of a once proud and majestic sea kingdom, Triton and Pippy struggle to survive in the face of King Poseidon's evil schemes and the greedy exploitation of humans. Can Triton avenge and restore his people with so enemies around every corner? Don't miss the exhilarating conclusion of Osamu Tezuka's masterful tale of the sea! From the imaginative mind of Osamu Tezuka, creator of the beloved AstroBoy series, comes his original and thrilling take on the legend of Atlantis: Triton of the Sea!
200 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2013
1 person is currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Osamu Tezuka
2,137 books1,301 followersDr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) was a Japanese manga artist, animator, producer and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He is often credited as the "Father of Anime", and is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during his formative years. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the God of Manga."
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 21, 2020
WARNING: This review contains massive SPOILERS for Volume 1 of Triton of the Sea.
Triton, last surviving male member of the Triton Clan of sea-dwellers, has managed to survive everything the Poseidon Clan has thrown at him, including the 33 children of King Poseidon himself. He’s also managed to find the sole known surviving female member of his clan, Pipiko. Now it’s time to find a safe place to live and then–revenge!
The volume opens with an explanation of where the mer-beings come from. It seems that the kingdoms of Atlantis and Mu were highly advanced in magical science and developed techniques for fusing the genetic material of different beings together to create new species. The Poseidon Clan specialized in chimeric beings that combined multiple animals together that produced great power but monstrous appearance. Their crowning achievement was the Poseidons, a line of immortal kings.
The Triton Clan, conversely, turned themselves into a genetically stable race of merpeople (males with legs, females with tails) who were not only amphibious but aesthetically pleasing. The kingdoms of the pre-disaster world chose the Triton Clan to be protectors of the sea. The Poseidon Clan was outraged by this snub, and declared war on the Tritons.
While this war was going on, Mu and Atlantis suffered catastrophe and sunk. The amphibious Poseidon Clan survived in a small city with the remaining Mu supertechnology, while the Triton Clan was reduced to scattered tribes which were slowly exterminated by the still vengeful Poseidons. Eventually the Triton Clan was reduced to Triton, who was raised by humans in rural Japan, and Pipiko.
Which brings us to the present day. Triton, Pipiko and their dolphin allies need a safe place to live, and appeal to the giant tortoise Ganomoth. The ancient being offers them the shell of his great-grandfather, which is now an artificial island surrounded by dangerous whirlpools. He also counsels Triton to give up his vendetta against Poseidon.
While grateful for the hideout, Triton still bears a grudge against his clan’s enemy, and after stashing Pipiko at Tortoise Shell Island, heads for the sunken city.
What follows is a series of events that gets a bit complex. We switch to Poseidon’s point of view for a while. While the Poseidons are powerful and immortal in the sense of being unable to die, they still age, and as soon as they’ve produced a suitable heir, go into hibernation. The current Poseidon is getting up there in age, and tires easily now, but his 33 previous children were not immortal (and Triton killed all of them.)
Now Poseidon needs a new bride to make a 34th try, and all the signs point to Pipiko as the best choice. So despite the hazards of getting to Tortoise Shell Island, the mermaid is kidnapped.
Much to my relief, the production of a child by Poseidon involves him and the bride getting into a superscience device that blends their genetic material and creates a full-grown offspring. This is not explained to Triton, holed up elsewhere in the base, who assumes that Pipiko will “betray him” with Poseidon. (That’s a strange way of phrasing “will be raped by”, Triton. This is not one of your better moments.)
As it happens, another “bride” is substituted, and the subsequent battle with the 34th child of Poseidon allows Ganomoth to finally negotiate a peace treaty. Safe at last, Triton and Pipiko are able to have children of their own. (Mermaids lay eggs.)
But on a trip to the outside world, one of Triton’s children is captured by a Japanese fisheries official who has a plan for breeding mermaids as…um…well, maybe pets, but as folklorists know, there is a Japanese tale that eating the flesh of a mermaid gives immortality. Nevertheless, Triton rightly considers this unforgivable, and goes to rescue his daughter Green with the help of his son Blue.
The Poseidon Clan sees their chance. Their other main goal is to conquer the land-dwellers, and they work to turn Triton and the Japanese people against each other, and then the clan will attack the weakened survivors.
This leads into a final battle against Poseidon, but although that menace is at last ended, the future of the Triton Clan is still in doubt….
There’s plenty of exciting, imaginative action in this series, leavened with some silly humor. There are interesting monster designs, and some discussion of environmental issues.
The ending is bittersweet, and will not be to everyone’s taste.
On the less good side, Pipiko is more of a trophy than a person with agency, and is actively useless in an air environment. This is one of those old-fashioned adventure stories where the men are the ones getting things done. And this extends into the next generation, where Green is largely a passive captive while Blue actively seeks her and Triton with the help of human allies.
While not as bad as Namor about it, Triton does have a bad temper and a vengeful streak that gets in the way of more sensible actions.
Content notes: Lots of dolphins are hurt and killed, some South Sea Islanders are depicted with exaggerated features that come off as racist (and this gets a note to the readers from the translation staff), peril to children, a monster uses noxious body fluids as a weapon.
Overall: This story is very influenced by Greek mythology, and Triton comes off as a well-done pastiche of a Greek hero of that type, for good and ill. It’s something you’ll want to check out at your library if you can before investing in your own copies.
Triton, last surviving male member of the Triton Clan of sea-dwellers, has managed to survive everything the Poseidon Clan has thrown at him, including the 33 children of King Poseidon himself. He’s also managed to find the sole known surviving female member of his clan, Pipiko. Now it’s time to find a safe place to live and then–revenge!
The volume opens with an explanation of where the mer-beings come from. It seems that the kingdoms of Atlantis and Mu were highly advanced in magical science and developed techniques for fusing the genetic material of different beings together to create new species. The Poseidon Clan specialized in chimeric beings that combined multiple animals together that produced great power but monstrous appearance. Their crowning achievement was the Poseidons, a line of immortal kings.
The Triton Clan, conversely, turned themselves into a genetically stable race of merpeople (males with legs, females with tails) who were not only amphibious but aesthetically pleasing. The kingdoms of the pre-disaster world chose the Triton Clan to be protectors of the sea. The Poseidon Clan was outraged by this snub, and declared war on the Tritons.
While this war was going on, Mu and Atlantis suffered catastrophe and sunk. The amphibious Poseidon Clan survived in a small city with the remaining Mu supertechnology, while the Triton Clan was reduced to scattered tribes which were slowly exterminated by the still vengeful Poseidons. Eventually the Triton Clan was reduced to Triton, who was raised by humans in rural Japan, and Pipiko.
Which brings us to the present day. Triton, Pipiko and their dolphin allies need a safe place to live, and appeal to the giant tortoise Ganomoth. The ancient being offers them the shell of his great-grandfather, which is now an artificial island surrounded by dangerous whirlpools. He also counsels Triton to give up his vendetta against Poseidon.
While grateful for the hideout, Triton still bears a grudge against his clan’s enemy, and after stashing Pipiko at Tortoise Shell Island, heads for the sunken city.
What follows is a series of events that gets a bit complex. We switch to Poseidon’s point of view for a while. While the Poseidons are powerful and immortal in the sense of being unable to die, they still age, and as soon as they’ve produced a suitable heir, go into hibernation. The current Poseidon is getting up there in age, and tires easily now, but his 33 previous children were not immortal (and Triton killed all of them.)
Now Poseidon needs a new bride to make a 34th try, and all the signs point to Pipiko as the best choice. So despite the hazards of getting to Tortoise Shell Island, the mermaid is kidnapped.
Much to my relief, the production of a child by Poseidon involves him and the bride getting into a superscience device that blends their genetic material and creates a full-grown offspring. This is not explained to Triton, holed up elsewhere in the base, who assumes that Pipiko will “betray him” with Poseidon. (That’s a strange way of phrasing “will be raped by”, Triton. This is not one of your better moments.)
As it happens, another “bride” is substituted, and the subsequent battle with the 34th child of Poseidon allows Ganomoth to finally negotiate a peace treaty. Safe at last, Triton and Pipiko are able to have children of their own. (Mermaids lay eggs.)
But on a trip to the outside world, one of Triton’s children is captured by a Japanese fisheries official who has a plan for breeding mermaids as…um…well, maybe pets, but as folklorists know, there is a Japanese tale that eating the flesh of a mermaid gives immortality. Nevertheless, Triton rightly considers this unforgivable, and goes to rescue his daughter Green with the help of his son Blue.
The Poseidon Clan sees their chance. Their other main goal is to conquer the land-dwellers, and they work to turn Triton and the Japanese people against each other, and then the clan will attack the weakened survivors.
This leads into a final battle against Poseidon, but although that menace is at last ended, the future of the Triton Clan is still in doubt….
There’s plenty of exciting, imaginative action in this series, leavened with some silly humor. There are interesting monster designs, and some discussion of environmental issues.
The ending is bittersweet, and will not be to everyone’s taste.
On the less good side, Pipiko is more of a trophy than a person with agency, and is actively useless in an air environment. This is one of those old-fashioned adventure stories where the men are the ones getting things done. And this extends into the next generation, where Green is largely a passive captive while Blue actively seeks her and Triton with the help of human allies.
While not as bad as Namor about it, Triton does have a bad temper and a vengeful streak that gets in the way of more sensible actions.
Content notes: Lots of dolphins are hurt and killed, some South Sea Islanders are depicted with exaggerated features that come off as racist (and this gets a note to the readers from the translation staff), peril to children, a monster uses noxious body fluids as a weapon.
Overall: This story is very influenced by Greek mythology, and Triton comes off as a well-done pastiche of a Greek hero of that type, for good and ill. It’s something you’ll want to check out at your library if you can before investing in your own copies.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2020
I think this is a case where, your reaction to the first volume should dictate whether or not you get involved with the second volume. While it is a little bit better, all the major problems of the first half remain here. While there is a fairly tense climax, there is still a lot of deus ex ocean-a, where the answers to a lot of problems appear almost out of nowhere. And the pace is still going at a breakneck speed. And there are some chapters that I finished and was a bit confused about why they were there.
Triton's feud with the Poseidon clan comes to a head, as Triton's goodness is used against him, in a few ways. But the bigger danger is his family being targeted. And whether Triton pursues that feud himself or tries to hide from it and live peacefully, there's no escaping his destiny.
So, for me, this remained aggressively OK. I wasn't terribly invested from the first half, so it was hard to get truly excited in the second half. But I also could see glimmers of things that would have moved me if I'd come into those pages or scenes caring more about the characters. So yeah, if you liked the first half and are really rooting for these characters to make a happy life, you are probably going to find a lot here to like. The stakes haven't exactly ratcheted up, but they have come far more into focus.
And I thought the ending was pretty good too. (though I have some genetic questions about the future :D )
Triton's feud with the Poseidon clan comes to a head, as Triton's goodness is used against him, in a few ways. But the bigger danger is his family being targeted. And whether Triton pursues that feud himself or tries to hide from it and live peacefully, there's no escaping his destiny.
So, for me, this remained aggressively OK. I wasn't terribly invested from the first half, so it was hard to get truly excited in the second half. But I also could see glimmers of things that would have moved me if I'd come into those pages or scenes caring more about the characters. So yeah, if you liked the first half and are really rooting for these characters to make a happy life, you are probably going to find a lot here to like. The stakes haven't exactly ratcheted up, but they have come far more into focus.
And I thought the ending was pretty good too. (though I have some genetic questions about the future :D )
May 12, 2020
One of the best Tezuka books I've read. Great character development, creative creatures and locales, and an epic multi-generational plot, and mostly great for younger readers. A must-read for Tezuka / classic manga fans.
December 18, 2014
Right, this one wraps up the story of the little baby that ends up being the last of the Triton clan of Atlantis, and has to deal with Poseidon. It's run of the mil Tezuka "boy" type manga. If you read Astroboy, you certainly know what you're getting into. Which isn't a complaint. While it never rises up to classic Tezuka levels, it's far from a bad book. The story wanders a little bit in the first half, but once Tezuka finds his footing, the book rolls and always holds your interest.
January 25, 2014
love the characters but graphic wise is inferior to Tezuka's other works...the story is ok...I am not satisfied with the ending though.. I felt it is too abrupt. ..overall a good read and may satisfy all Tezuka's fan
December 22, 2013
An astounding heroic adventure. Full of humor, action and romance. Loved this!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews