My Uncle (ぼくのおじさん)

A Team ARiN presentation

Has everyone started their homework for the composition contest?

Not yet.

You can write about any adult in your lives.

Like your father, your mother,

or one of your grandparents.

Can we write about you, Minori-sensei?

That sounds good!

You have to write nice things about me, though.

That's too hard!

Do your best to finish this over the holidays!

It's due when classes start again.

Okay, stand up.

My grandpa is a painter,

and is still quite popular.

I saw him in a magazine, Mori-kun.

He had a refined look.

He reminded me of Watase Tsunehiko.

You'll write about him, then?

Yeah, that's the plan.

You'll choose your mom, Hirata-san?

My mom is all I have, so there isn't much choice.

She is a well known chef, though.

It'll work. She's pretty, too.

Who will you write about, Yukio-kun?

My family is very normal.

What does your dad do?

He's a civil servant.

My mom is a housewife.

What about your granddad?

The one on my dad's side passed last year,

and I don't really know the one on my mom's side.

Oh!

My dad is in management, though.

My Father

My Mother

Yukio, food!

My Sis

My Sist

My Siste

My Sister

I can't do that!

It has to be an adult.

Yukio-kun?

Hi, uncle. What is it?

Are you studying?

Am I interrupting?

No, I'm taking a break.

That's great.

I was thinking, Yukio-kun...

Today should be the day

the new Shonen Kick comes out, right?

Sure is.

I stopped reading it, though.

Why is that?

Mom made me.

I'm also almost finished elementary school,

so I want to read more appropriate books.

Consider this, Yukio:

I need manga.

Why?

Great question!

Philosophers are always working their minds.

It used to be basically a rite of passage for philosophers to fall into the canals.

They weren't trying to grab any fish in there, to be clear.

It was because they were so deep in thought.

I was in bed all day thinking quite hard.

I need to give my brain a rest after all that.

That's not all, either.

Philosophers of today

are failures if they can't have a conversation about popular manga.

Yukio.

You should know

that I am on the forefront of modern philosophy.

Mom will whip me if she finds out.

Have the book store put a cover on it.

Then I'll write some Latin on the cover.

A cover on a weekly manga?

Whatever. Give me some money, then.

Naturally.

That isn't enough.

Yukio, aren't you going to read it?

I would read some.

Then you should pay your half.

That's in the interest of fairness.

That isn't fair! I wasn't planning to buy it.

Then pay for a third of it.

No problem there.

My U

My Un

My Unc

My Uncl

My Uncle

He is my dad's younger brother.

He is a freeloader in our home.

He sleeps in so late in the mornings

that when he wakes up, breakfast is already long over.

He doesn't contribute anything to the home,

so nobody tries to take care of him.

Even Nyamu gets more attention than he does.

He doesn't have anything to do, but he won't even teach me.

So very simple.

If I were to do this problem,

it'd be done in 3 seconds flat.

I'm convinced he just didn't know.

He won't even take us to the zoo.

Uncle, take us to the zoo!

My heart is too kind for that.

I can't stand to see the animals in cages.

He is just scared that he'd be confused for a sloth and thrown in their cage.

If he could at least do sports...

Bring it on!

He is so bad that it takes no effort to score a goal on him.

With the way that he is, sometimes my parents try to get through to him.

You're not that young anymore.

You can't keep this up forever.

Good point.

You're right.

He says that, but he won't do anything.

At least keep your room a bit cleaner.

You're setting a bad example for the kids.

Also, stop leaving your bed out all day.

Consider this:

a philosopher spending all day in bed

doesn't mean he is just lazing around.

He's deeeeeep in--

A person should act like a human

before he calls himself a philosopher.

Apologies.

You two are completely unbelievable.

Why?

When I was a kid,

I also had an uncle of my own.

I was always made to greet him properly, like this.

When you said hi to him,

what would your uncle do, as an uncle?

He would pat my head,

and give me souvenirs.

I'd say hi to you a hundred times if it came with souvenirs.

I've never gotten a souvenir from you.

A souvenir isn't a souvenir unless it was brought from somewhere far away.

I'm just here... in the house.

That means no souvenirs.

That isn't true! My mom and dad give us things all the time.

Hold on a minute...

How about this?

You don't mind if I just go buy something for you?

You'll do it?

- Okay, then-- - My uncle is going to buy something?

This is unbelievable.

It could come at any time, morning or night.

I have a bad feeling about this.

You just

wait patiently for your surprise.

Yay!

Yukio!

Stay calm! We just have to kill it!

I brought you a souvenir, as promised!

Now you have to be nicer to me.

You kids are--

Yukio!

Keiko!

What is it? Why are you being so noisy?

It's because of Uncle!

Mom!

Mom, wake up!

- Uncle! This is your fault! - Mom!

What should we do?

Mom, are you okay?

At times like this, a little dose of reality does the trick.

Misinformation has roots that run deep.

It isn't unusual for a small lie to trigger an irrational fear in people.

What does that mean we should do?

You just need to tell her it's a fake.

It will work.

Give it a try.

Mom.

Mom, it's fine. The centipede is just a toy.

Keep your pranks under control!

How old do you two think you are?!

How old do you think you are?

The kids asked me for it.

We didn't ask for a centipede.

I was hoping for a doll or a cute book.

Sis, I was thinking.

Isn't it time

to start teaching the kids to be tougher?

Imagine that this were a tropical island.

You might see centipedes.

Snakes, even lizards.

You'd even see centipedes all over the house.

Not only that,

- you might see ones thiiiis-- - Drop it.

We're eating.

If we lived in a place like that,

it wouldn't be great if they panicked every time.

Thankfully, we live in Japan.

Still, though.

I want to teach them to be tougher kids.

They aren't your kids!