Yama n Naka no Shimitomo Naruo

山ん中の獅見朋成雄

• by Maijo Otaro
• published by Kodansha

Shimitomo Naruo has a mane. Back hair so thick 'mane' is the only word he can use to describe it. He can run faster than anyone, but that just proves he's more horse than man. So he starts studying calligraphy. Horses not being known for their penmanship.

All of which is an elaborate trick on Maijo Otaro's part; as the plot unfolds, it begins spiraling away into increasingly abnormal plot elements, somehow ends up obsessed with shaving women's backs, and then manages to provide a satisfying ending for perhaps the first and last time in his career.