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For the Disney Club Contest 59-Six New Fairytales

When I first read this particular fairytale, I was honestly a little put off by how perfect the main character was. I know he was meant as an example to children, but a boy with innumerable talents who can do no wrong doesn't really fit the bill for a compelling story. Then I drew a female Oni, and I knew how to handle this.

The main character, Momotaro, is a gardener at the Imperial palace, but makes regular trips home to visit his father and ailing mother and to bring them any money that he's earned. I'm omitting the part about him coming from an actual peach. Instead he was given this name because of his talent for nursing plants back to health.

The kingdom is periodically ransacked by Onis hailing from an island to the East, and they're demanding that the Empress appear before their matriarch, supposedly to discuss terms of unconditional surrender. At the worst possible time, Momotaro requests more time off to visit his parents, whose conditions are deteriorating, and he's "enlisted" to go in the Empress' place masquerading as her son in exchange for his family's welfare, his mission to help the army infiltrate the Oni stronghold and destroy them once and for all. Accompanied by a tiny but mighty Japanese Chin dog, Momotaro arrives at the demon island, but because a "prince" has come instead of the Empress, the Onis interpret this as a proposition of marriage to the Matriarch's daughter.

The warrior princess Tsun and her vicious pet monkey directs Momotaro to an ancient peach tree which hasn't produced any fruit since it was planted a thousand years ago, telling he has ten days to make it bloom if he wants her to accept his proposal. If she doesn't, the negotiations with the humans will go no further.

As Momotaro struggles to bring the tree back to life, all the while delivering messages to the army using a courier pheasant, he discovers that the Onis are struggling to survive on this island where nothing ever grows, the sun never shines, and citizens literally have to fight to live. Caring for the tree is a test from Tsun to see if he is the bringer of hope her people (and herself) desperately need.

If the tree won't bloom, perhaps LOVE will...

Description
For the Disney Club Contest 59-Six New Fairytales

When I first read this particular fairytale, I was honestly a little put off by how perfect the main character was. I know he was meant as an example to children, but a boy with innumerable talents who can do no wrong doesn't really fit the bill for a compelling story. Then I drew a female Oni, and I knew how to handle this.

The main character, Momotaro, is a gardener at the Imperial palace, but makes regular trips home to visit his father and ailing mother and to bring them any money that he's earned. I'm omitting the part about him coming from an actual peach. Instead he was given this name because of his talent for nursing plants back to health.

The kingdom is periodically ransacked by Onis hailing from an island to the East, and they're demanding that the Empress appear before their matriarch, supposedly to discuss terms of unconditional surrender. At the worst possible time, Momotaro requests more time off to visit his parents, whose conditions are deteriorating, and he's "enlisted" to go in the Empress' place masquerading as her son in exchange for his family's welfare, his mission to help the army infiltrate the Oni stronghold and destroy them once and for all. Accompanied by a tiny but mighty Japanese Chin dog, Momotaro arrives at the demon island, but because a "prince" has come instead of the Empress, the Onis interpret this as a proposition of marriage to the Matriarch's daughter.

The warrior princess Tsun and her vicious pet monkey directs Momotaro to an ancient peach tree which hasn't produced any fruit since it was planted a thousand years ago, telling he has ten days to make it bloom if he wants her to accept his proposal. If she doesn't, the negotiations with the humans will go no further.

As Momotaro struggles to bring the tree back to life, all the while delivering messages to the army using a courier pheasant, he discovers that the Onis are struggling to survive on this island where nothing ever grows, the sun never shines, and citizens literally have to fight to live. Caring for the tree is a test from Tsun to see if he is the bringer of hope her people (and herself) desperately need.

If the tree won't bloom, perhaps LOVE will...