The Tragedy of P
Ｐの悲劇
P no higeki

The Tragedy of P takes place in the Heisei Aparment Building. The tenents association led by Mrs. Kakei has recently been cracking down on people violating the rule that states "pets are strictly prohibited". In fact, Mrs Kakei has just caused an elderly woman who refused to get rid of her dog to be evicted. Mrs. Haga on the other hand, is a very kind woman who lives above Mrs. Kakei.

One day, Mr. Haga brings home Pitto, a Humbolt Penguin. Mr. Sunstar, one of Mr. Haga's American clients, needed someone to watch Pitto for a week until he came back to Japan. Mr. Haga decided to score some points with Mr. Sunstar and accepted. Kota, the Haga's son quickly disobeys his mother, and tells everyone in his class that they have a new pet penguin. Mrs. Haga becomes very upset and worries that Mrs. Kakei will try to have them evicted if she were to find out.

Mrs. Kakei becomes suspicious when she begins to here noises in the middle of the night, and when her son, Hiroshi, begins to spend a lot of time visiting the Hagas. As other tenants are caught with pets and forced to move out of the building, Mrs. Haga begins to get very nervous. Mr. Sunstar has delayed picking up Pitto for a little while longer and Mrs. Kakei is becoming more and more suspicious. Mrs. Haga begins to wonder why Mrs. Kakei has such a grudge against animals and how she can be so unfeeling to those tenants with pets. After asking Hiroshi Kakei, she discovers that Mrs. Hakei had been unable to keep a pet dog recently because their apartment wasn't large enough. The fact of the matter was, Mrs. Hakei hated to see animals kept in such small apartments unable to run and be free.

Chapter Details

	Published In: Big Comic Original 1991 Vol. 2.20 The Tragedy of P
	Publication Date: February 5, 1991
	Pages: 4 (full color) 4 (red tint) 24 (black and white)
	Anime Adaptation: Episode 1: The Tragedy of P
Notes: Pitto is a Humboldt penguin. The Humboldt penguin is a South American penguin living mainly in the Pingüino de Humboldt National Reserve in the North of Chile and along the coast of Peru. Since the publication of The Tragedy of P the Peruvian government have labeled the Humboldt penguin as endangered and it is illegal to kill or possess one. The Tokyo Zoo hosts 135 Humboldt penguins, and in 2012 one escaped and lived in Tokyo Bay for 82 days before it was recaptured and returned to the zoo. As of 2012 there are only 32,000 mature adult Humboldt penguins left on Earth.