Urashima Taro Book Report ②

ended up (in some regions, it seems the pattern is that he turns into a crane). And so, as mentioned above, Urashima did nothing wrong, yet he is punished by aging. One reason for this punishment is that Urashima is in despair. If Urashima had been having a good time at the bottom of the sea, time would have passed without him aging, and it's understandable that all his acquaintances would have become figures of the past. Also, it was the only means left to him. To give another example, there's a story called "Fullmetal Alchemist" which is similar. At the beginning of the story, the protagonists, brothers Edward and Alphonse, perform forbidden human transmutation alchemy to bring their dead mother back to life. It fails, resulting in Ed losing an arm and Al being forced to live in a suit of armor. To give an example from a game, like Playo, the mastermind in "Ace Attorney Investigations 2" is similar. Spoiler alert