The fall issue of Mori no Senshi Bonolon, the illustrated tale produced by Tetsuo Hara, came out on October 15. Titled “Hedobon, the Lake Dweller” (湖にすむヘドボンの巻), it is handed out for free in Japan at Seven-Eleven stores, Denny’s restaurants and Akachan Honpo shops, among other places, while supplies last.
A lake without fish
The story is set on the shore of a lake surrounded by mountains. The fish have vanished, and the villagers are at a loss. A little girl, Roka, comes to weep at the foot of a giant camphor tree. Bonolon appears and dives into the lake with her, where the two of them spot a mysterious light.
To mark the release, a few of his sketches for this issue were shared on Tetsuo Hara’s official account, with this comment: “In these meticulous lines, you can feel the characters breathe.”
On the official website, the story is also available as a digital picture book, read aloud by voice actress Rie Takahashi, best known as Ai in Oshi no Ko and Emilia in Re:Zero.
A series made for children
Bonolon comes out once a season, on the 15th of January, April, July and October, in the free paper Polamel, sponsored by Seven Bank. Beyond the booklets, the series is read aloud in nurseries, preschools and elementary schools, and runs a drawing contest, now in its 21st edition, on the theme “Bonolon and the Nature We Love” (ボノロンとだいすきなしぜん). On October 2, the hardcover edition of the series was donated to 2,524 children’s centers across Japan.
For what the series means to its producer, read the interview “What lies at the bottom is love”, given by Tetsuo Hara to Oricon News in 2021. The summer issue is also covered on the site.
