Episode 12: I Saw a Bird
(featuring Larugeus)
Something upsets the animals at the zoo, including lions and tigers. The nightwatchman is attacked. Later, two other men find the cages empty and then they find the nightwatchman laying on the ground. His last words, "I saw a bird". Three white feathers are found clentched in his fist. Later, at fishing village what looks like a viking ship has appeared in the harbor and a little boy seeing the adults distracted sneaks into a boat. Naturally, Jun,Yuriko and Ippei show up to check out the strange ship, which has no crew. As they are examing what appears to be the ship's log book, written in a lanuage none of them can read a small white bird lands on the book and then the ship starts to collapse in on itself and to sink.
Everyone managed to get off safely including the bird which flies away from Yuriko and lands on the boat the boy snuck away in. The boy beaches his borrowed boat and enters a small shack. While he's drinking water from a bottle he brought with him the little white bird shows up again. At night the boy lights a fire, curles up in a blanket and goes to sleep, The bird flies away into the night.
Meanwhile, Professor Ichinotani has examined the book from the strange ship. Able to make out a date in the book he says its 998 years old. And that written on the last page are the words: "I saw a bird". Everything else about are normal records of weather and trade. Remembering the bird on the ship, Yuriko looks through the professor's book on birds looking for a photo of the same kind of bird. She finds one, but the bird in the book is ancient extinct bird called Larugeus, and it was a giant. The book goes on to say a flock of these birds was last seen in India, 998 years ago.
The next morning the boy is running around his island, shirtless and shoeless, with a diving mask on his head, a spear in one hand the white bird perched on the other. The bird flies off and the boy spears a fish. The bird comes back. As the boy is singing a song the bird flies around until for some reason it crashes into the ocean and the boy nearly drowns saving it. Again the boy falls asleep near his fire and the bird flies of into the darkness. The boy awakens later to the sound of a storm. On a chicken farm the chickens are distirbuted when the little white birds lands nearby. The next morning their are feathers and the bodies of dead chickens all over. Back on his island they boy knows none of this. Third bird has returned with blood on it. They boy is concerend about this until he notices two boats on his beach. When he runs to his little cabin men are waiting for him they address him as "Saburo". When they try to drag him to their boarts, the little bird attacks the men. And they flee. Saburo is happy to see them go, but he doen't realize that in the struggle his bottle of fresh water was knocked over and spilled out. There is no fresh water on the island. The men return to the fishing village and lie about being attack by a bird the size of an eagle rather than a bird the size of a finch. Someone in the village phones the police who phone Professor Ichinotani who tells them to carefully quaratine the bird. Jun, Yuriko and Ippei head for the village.
Saburo discovering his lack of water has returned to the village, with the bird. The villlagers follow him but are afraid of the little bird. He fills his water bottle but before he can get back to his boat police arrive and capture the bird. Taking it away in a cage. Saburo tries to run after the police vehicles. Jun stops him to warn him the bird is a monster but Saburo breaks free. The little bird in its cage is placed in a jail cell with guards and prisoners watching it. As they watch it begins to rapidly grow, soon it bursts the cage. And then the jail cell. And finally the jail. The flapping of its wings generates Typhoon (Hurricane) like winds.
When Jun spots Larugeus he knocks Saburo down to protect him from the massive bird. The boy breaks free to toward the his friend but his friend has forgotten him. As the giant bird flies away Saburao cries after it take me with you" but the bird just keeps going. leaving the broken hearted boy who dreams of big adventures behind. Sad music plays.
‹THE END›
