Run, Melos! (Nissay Family Special)

はしれめろす

Aired: 1981

A television special anime produced by Toei Doga and broadcast on Fuji TV's 'Nissay Family Special' slot, a 90-minute one-off adaptation of Osamu Dazai's classic short story 'Hashire Melos.' Sentenced to death by the tyrant King Dionysius of Syracuse, the shepherd Melos begs three days of grace to attend his sister's wedding, leaving his trusted friend Selinuntius behind as a hostage and racing home and back with all his strength to honor that pledge. Director Tomoharu Katsumata stages the journey in unusually realistic, almost live-action-like terms, faithfully transmitting Dazai's central themes of friendship, fidelity and faith in humanity. The result stands among the most acclaimed installments of the long-running Nissay Family Special anime block.