While people on social media have largely been preoccupied with the pandemic, the most buzzed-about happening online in Japan involves a crocodile — don’t roll your eyes just yet — which, at some point, transformed into a commentary on the follies of capitalism and its drive for continuous growth.
Since Dec. 12, Japanese Twitter users have been obsessed with “100-nichi-go ni Shinu Wani” (“The Crocodile That Dies In 100 Days”). This comic, created by an artist named Yuki Kikuchi, follows the daily life of a reptile that doesn’t realize that it will depart this mortal coil after 100 days. The individual strips offer glances into the relatively mundane existence of the central character, albeit with dark humor spiked throughout. The second installment captures this unease well — our green protagonist orders a futon, but finds out there is a year-long wait for the product. Unaware of what we know about its future, it happily buys it anyway.
This mix of the mundane and the morbid earned a large following, which logged in daily to see how the crocodile’s life would unfold. Readers developed a close connection with the character, albeit one clouded by knowing how it would all end. It’s not surprising that a comic dealing with everyday life would connect, but the twist with this work was the nod toward an uncomfortable truth in all stories. At some point, they will end, and you don’t know when.