Smile
Art by Ami Onuki
Story by Yumi Yoshimura
Lettering by Kazushi Mitani
Published December 1, 2002
Published by Shogakukan
Puffy's very own illustrated story book. As far as I can tell, the book tells the story of a flea (!) named "Smile" - born on the back of a cat - who lives with a man and his many pets. Smile has a friend that is a tick. Smile has many adventures: he (I'm guessing it's a he) rides on an airplane (nestled in the fur of the family dog), peeps on naked women in a shower room (perched on the baseball cap of the man he lives with), and topples a sumo wrestler (by tickling his feet, apparently). Despite this, Smile realizes he can't evolve like humans, and that he's "not like others." Apparently something happens to the family dog (he dies, perhaps), and some other stuff - I can't read Japanese, and Ami's helpful English phrases are nowhere to be found at this point in the book (she actually does write phrases in English thoughout most of the rest of her illustrations, which helps a doofus like me understand). In the end, little Smile ends up perched on the shoulder of the man, who then smacks and kills Smile for some reason. Everything goes black for our little flea friend, and the final page shows Smile - decked out in angel wings and a halo - on his way to heaven. The end.
The book seems to be like a children's story book, but some of the subject matter would seem to be not aimed at children (though that may just be my point of view as an American). Regardless, Yumi's story is - if anything - original, and Ami's art is actually pretty good. She works mostly in crayon and marker, but there are a few instances of colored pencil and ink. Unlike many musicians who foray into the world of art (and suck very badly), Ami has nothing to be ashamed about in regards to her artwork. Of course, I'm just somebody with a measy web page on the internet - what do I know?
Anyway, YesAsia and Amazon Japan have the book for sale for around $9.
Other
Sorry, only a larger version of the cover of Smile; to scan any more would require the book to be ripped apart (Click for a larger version):
