This was a moving book. Shogo's mother has mentally abused him and her "dates" have physically abused him. This has lead to a hatred of love on his part. He acts out and lands in a mental institution. His strong feelings have caught the attention of the Gods. They punish him to keep experiencing life over and over, always meeting his true love, but both of them dying tragic deaths before they can do anything about it. Shogo does seem to finally learn the Gods lessons, but the punishment has been set and the life will continue. ( )

This was a moving book. Shogo's mother has mentally abused him and her "dates" have physically abused him. This has lead to a hatred of love on his part. He acts out and lands in a mental institution. His strong feelings have caught the attention of the Gods. They punish him to keep experiencing life over and over, always meeting his true love, but both of them dying tragic deaths before they can do anything about it. Shogo does seem to finally learn the Gods lessons, but the punishment has been set and the life will continue. ( )

This was a moving book. Shogo's mother has mentally abused him and her "dates" have physically abused him. This has lead to a hatred of love on his part. He acts out and lands in a mental institution. His strong feelings have caught the attention of the Gods. They punish him to keep experiencing life over and over, always meeting his true love, but both of them dying tragic deaths before they can do anything about it. Shogo does seem to finally learn the Gods lessons, but the punishment has been set and the life will continue. ( )

This was a moving book. Shogo's mother has mentally abused him and her "dates" have physically abused him. This has lead to a hatred of love on his part. He acts out and lands in a mental institution. His strong feelings have caught the attention of the Gods. They punish him to keep experiencing life over and over, always meeting his true love, but both of them dying tragic deaths before they can do anything about it. Shogo does seem to finally learn the Gods lessons, but the punishment has been set and the life will continue. ( )

I picked this one up by chance and I finished it in a single one hour setting thoroughly impressed with the depth, talent, and vision of Tezuka's story and illustrations. Apollo's Song, humorous but also visceral throughout, per Tezuka's style, is not only an epic morality tale on the meaning of love, an ancient Greek tragedy, a modern psychological tale, but it's also a manifesto on the inescapable essentialness of human nature. That is, humans are biological organisms that are created and/or formed through love and regardless of how and why some individuals reject love the necessity of love, e.g. maternal or romantic, remains constant and essential for life.

On the issue of the Moomin, I can confirm it's existence in Chapter 2, "No Man's Land."