A Traveler’s Diary

Name(s): A Traveler’s Diary / Aru Tabibito no Nikki / The Diary of Tortov Roddle / 或る旅人の日記
Format: Original net animation [ONA] (6 3-minute episodes)
Release Date(s): March 19, 2003 to June 4, 2003
Studio(s): Robot

A Traveler’s Diary is a short ONA series that chronicles the adventures of the titular character through a mystical, magical, mostly undefined fantasy world. Each episode averages about three minutes, and in each one Tortov is traveling along with his long-legged pig steed when he happens upon some peculiar events or creatures.

The stylized French animation-inspired art along with a suitably appropriate accordion-heavy score help make the washed out green and grey world engrossing along with the surreal, unexplained imagery Tortov comes across. Due to the short length of the episodes, most are without any confidently definable meaning, but regardless the bizarre imagery and delightful tone makes everything fun and full of small wonders, which is likely the exact feeling the show wants to impart on the viewer. If this were a longer series I’d certainly watch it, and it’s far better than The House of Small Cubes.

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A Traveler’s Diary Specials

AKA: Aru Tabibito no Nikki / The Diary of Tortov Roddle Specials / 或る旅人の日記
Format: Special (3 episodes)
Studio(s): Robot

Three special episodes of A Traveler’s Diary. The first one has Tortov eating a strange fruit and getting high off of his ass as he hallucinates, acting uncharacteristically unrefined with a pretty funny ending. The art style is noticeably different here, with much more saturated colors and a bit of a different face on Tortov. It may be different staff, given the three-year break.

The second episode is an instrumental music video that uses appropriate clips from the series in chronological order. It makes a decent recap of the series, but who needs a recap for something that’s only 16 minutes? Just rewatch it. The song is great though and in the style of the rest of the series.

The third is a very surreal short that displays the sudden invasion of giant apples throughout the city. No one knows where they came from or what’s making them suddenly appear. I don’t know why this is associated with A Traveler’s Diary because it has a completely different tone and doesn’t have Tortov anywhere in it. This goes for a mix of the humorously absurd and the inexplicably creepy, and may end up being the most memorable thing of this trio even though it’s so insubstantial in the end.

The music is a discordant off-key string piece that sounds like something out of an underground horror movie. This is an okay set of bonus material, not highly recommended even for Tortov Roddle fans but there’s enough creativity on display here in a short space to admire it a little bit.