History Literature / RingingBell

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03553241670.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Take note of the poster's layers. The foreground how it starts. The background represents the rest of the movie's tone.]]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/03553241670.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:Take note of the poster's layers. The foreground how it starts. The background represents the rest of the movie's tone.]]

[[caption-width-right:250:Take note of the poster's layers. The foreground represents Chirin's innocence, while the background represents what he will become.]]

* BrokenAesop: The moral of the story is supposed to be that VengeanceFeelsEmpty and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters obsessing over it can make you into a monster]], as [[spoiler: Chirin kills Woe but the sheep all reject him for his monstrous appearance and behavior and he's now alone in the world after having killed someone who he came to see as a surrogate father figure.]] The anime somewhat fumbles this, however, as [[spoiler: Chirin attacking Woe isn't portrayed as him doing it out of the desire for revenge, but rather to protect the other sheep in the pasture after being reminded of his mother protecting him. This makes the other sheep rejecting Chirin at the end come off more as a mix of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and UngratefulBastard.]]

* BrokenAesop: The moral of the story is supposed to be that VengeanceFeelsEmpty and [[HeWhoFightsMonsters obsessing over revenge can make you into a monster]], as [[spoiler: Chirin kills Woe but the sheep all reject him for his monstrous appearance and behavior and he's now alone in the world after having killed someone who he came to see as a surrogate father figure.]] The anime somewhat fumbles this, however, as [[spoiler: Chirin attacking Woe isn't portrayed as him doing it out of the desire for revenge, but rather to protect the other sheep in the pasture after being reminded of his mother protecting him. This makes the other sheep rejecting Chirin at the end come off more as a mix of NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished and UngratefulBastard.]]

* GutturalGrowler: In the English Dub, Young Chirin's voice starts out cute and cheerful. But as the movie progresses, his voice slowly starts getting deeper as the story progresses. Once he accidentally smashes the eggs from a mother bird's nest and attacking a snake. His voice becomes very deep and gruffer and at times actually sound like [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Rita Repulsa.]]

* VocalEvolution: In the English Dub, Young Chirin's voice starts out cute and cheerful ([[AnimalSpeciesAccent complete with a bleating pattern]]). Later in the film, [[EvilSoundsDeep his voice starts getting much deeper]] and [[GutturalGrowler gruffer]] (such as Chirin crying over accidentally destroying eggs from a bird's nest and mourning his mother's death) to reflect on Chirin's loss of innocence and his determination to kill the Wolf. He even losses his bleating style of talking as a result.

** Chirin is based off of the Japanese onomatopoeia ちりんちりん (chirinchirin), which means jingle; ding (sound representing the ringing of small bells), thus "Chirin no Suzu" can also be translated as "Ringing Bell" (which was used as the title for the English version). [[spoiler:His name also rhymes with "{{Kirin}}", a mythological monster that can be only found in the mountains]].

* HatedByAll: Even in death, Chirin still finds no peace. In an ending exclusive to the prototype version of the story and it's own adaptations, he is remembered, not as a tragic lamb who sought vengeance, but an evil monster that mother lambs tell to their offspring, warning them that if they cry, Chirin will come to take them away and kill them.

* DaylightHorror: Chirin, in his adult form, ''really'' sticks out like a sore thumb in [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_3030.jpeg this shot]] from the Storygate Picturebooks version.

* UncertainDoom: [[spoiler:It's never made clear in the book or the film as to whether or not Chirin perished in the snow storm. The ending states that no one ever saw him again (which could be because he died or simply because he never left the mountains again), but that the sound of his bell can still sometimes be heard ringing. This could mean that he is still alive, but it's also possible that the sound is merely a traumatic memory for the sheep, or that all that's left of Chirin is a mournful spirit forever bound to the place that became his grave. The kamishibai and Lyrica comic versions imply that he is indeed still alive.]]

* CanonForeigner: The Sanrio adaptations adds a larger cast to the previously minimal animal kingdom, including butterflies, the rabbit, the snake and the bird and the bear. There's even some other animals in the Lyrica comic as well.

* ChekhovsGun: The titular bell Chirin wears around his neck [[RuleOfSymbolism proves to be significant]]. It is stated early on that he wears it because his adventuring causes him to get lost, and his mother needs to hear the bell ring to find him. This precise situation happens early on. At the end of the film, he still wears the bell around his neck. That bell is the only thing that allows the sheep to identify him, but they reject him because they cannot believe that someone they knew turned into a ferocious beast. [[spoiler:When he vanishes, everyone can hear his bell ring from the mountains. The song at the beginning of the Japanese version of the film reveals that the ringing bell is a symbol and a reminder of the tragedy of Chirin.]]In the Lyrica adaption [[spoiler:after Chirin dies alone in the snow, a note mentions that wherever a small lamb cried after that night, their mother would tell them that the monster with the ringing bell would come to kill it if it continued crying.]]

* ComicBookAdaptation: During the film's production in 1977, Sanrio released a comic adaptation of the film which follows Chirin's life after his birth. The comic was only seen in a June 1977 issue of ''Lyrica''.

** Chirin doesn't tell Woe that he's out for revenge and the audience doesn't know either, as opposed to the anime where he simply gave up his revenge just to be with Woe. When the duo return to attack the sheep farm again, Chirin, in the book, surprise kills Woe and then reveals his revenge, while the anime, he kills Woe to defend the sheep from him (it was this change that unfortunately muddied the story’s moral). Either way, after killing Woe, Chirin regrets this.

* DespairEventHorizon: Chirin leaps over this line twice when he learns that his family is dead and when he finishes his revenge to kill Woe. In the case of the latter, he realizes that his quest was AllForNothing as it essentially destroyed his past, his future, his innocence and his reputation - leaving only the wolfsheep he is today.

* DespairEventHorizon: Chirin leaps over this line when he learns that he killed Woe out of hate, and that his quest was AllForNothing as it essentially destroyed his past and his future - leaving him completely alone.

** Woe kills the entire flock of sheep, not just Chirin's mother, leaving him with a horrible case of survivor's guilt and questioning why the other sheep were killed.

** In the original book, Wor immediately agrees to train Chirin as opposed to the anime, where he reluctantly tries to convince him to return to being a sheep and the events from Chirin trying to kill Woe when they first meet to the incident with the snake and the bird is specifically written for the anime.

** Chirin doesn't tell Woe that he's out for revenge and the audience doesn't know either, as opposed to the anime where he simply gave up his revenge just to be with Woe. After killing Woe, Chirin regrets this.

* MeaningfulName: Chirin is based off of the Japanese onomatopoeia ちりんちりん (chirinchirin), which means jingle; ding (sound representing the ringing of small bells), thus "Chirin no Suzu" can also be translated as "Ringing Bell" (which was used as the title for the English version). [[spoiler:His name also rhymes with "Main/{{Kirin}}", a mythological monster that can be only found in the mountains]].

* BloodlessCarnage: With only a momentary exception in the film adaptation,[[note]]which contains a shot of Woe tackling a deer to the ground, displaying a spray of blood as his teeth sink into its neck[[/note]] all violent events in all versions of this story are completely bloodless, despite the prototype version mentioning blood. When Chirin's mother is killed by Woe, there are no marks on her body at all let alone an open wound on her throat or stomach, as is typical of wolf attacks. In addition, it is explained that Chirin was scarred and bruised during his [[TrainingFromHell training with Woe]], but the visuals suggest otherwise. Finally, there isn't any blood shown when Chirin [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice runs Woe through with his horns]].

''Chirin no Suzu'' (チリンの鈴 – Literally translated as "Chirin's Bell"), released out of Japan as ''Ringing Bell'', is a children's story by Creator/TakashiYanase. It was written around 1969 for ''PHP'' magazine and was first published in 1971 as part of Yanase's ''Twelve Pearls'' anthology of other stories. After being officially published as a standalone book in 1978, the story was later adapted into an anime film by Creator/{{Sanrio}} that same year. The story is about an [[SweetSheep adorable little lamb]] named Chirin, who wears a bell around his neck. He is warned by his mother not to stray past the fence around the farm that the sheep live on, for a wolf named Woe (also known as the Wolf King in the anime) lives in the nearby mountains and will surely eat him. Chirin does as he's told, and lives in happiness.

Until one tragic night, the [[SugarApocalypse farm is attacked]] by [[SavageWolves the aforementioned Woe]], and [[FamilyExtermination all of the sheep are killed and eaten]]. Among the victims on Woe's menu is [[BreakTheCutie Chirin's mother, who is throttled to death while trying to protect him]]. Confused and angered by this, Chirin runs off to find Woe and kill him. Using his smarts, knowing that he's far too weak to do the deed, he tricks Woe into becoming his apprentice, no longer wanting to be a weak sheep, but instead wanting to become a strong wolf like him. Things go [[DownerEnding downhill from there]].

* BestServedCold: Chirin waits two years to avenge his mother.

* BookEnds: The anime and the Lyrica adaptations both start and end with snow.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the prototype version of the story, Chirin's father warns his son of the terrible danger that lies in the mountains in the form of Woe right the story's beginning. In the ending of said version, a mother sheep warns her son of another danger...Chirin himself, who kidnaps and possibly even eats little lambs as punishment for crying. Also counts as a CallBack.

** Neither the book nor the anime include the ending of the mother sheep wanting her child about Chirin, though the epilogue of the anime includes two lambs curiously trying to go beyond the fence, but their mother pulls them back.

* AdaptationInducedPlotHole: Chirin's father, who appeared in the very first version of the story along with other variations (such as the Lyrica and kamishibai adaptations), is omitted from the official book and anime. As a result, there are no rams to be seen in either the anime or the book which makes you wonder how the lambs are born.

In its native Japan, the story has been retold in many forms, including a ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamishibai kamishibai]]'' (paper play) version, a comic adaptation by Sanrio's now-defunct magazine Lyrica, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwGvR4-5mjk a street performance by Team Swit©h]], school plays, [[https://twitter.com/2mikaduki/status/1151106209644044290 marionette]] [[https://twitter.com/2mikaduki/status/1150384358559059968 shows]], [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c7532761831.jpg a "Musical Fairy Tale" LP alongside Anpanman by Polydor Records]] even [[http://dcblog.jugem.jp/?eid=172 dramatic readings]]. For those who are interested in the book, [[https://archive.org/details/chirin-no-suzu-storybook click here for the Japanese text]] [[https://archive.org/details/ringing-bell-chirin-no-suzu-storybook-fan-translation and here for an English translation.]] If you want to see the ''kamishibai'' version, choose [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNWrMdN8pMI this link]]. If you want to read an extended variation of the story with other Yanase works from the book ''Whose Song is This?'' ("あれはだれの歌"), click [[https://blog.goo.ne.jp/ska-me-crazy2006/e/2d2269eee29327a372b2c364505984a5 this link]]. If you would like to listen to an audio adaptation of the movie by Audio Theater Company Mittey, please choose [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExX8rfjZbWg this link]]. Select [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtWrdZZ8J8A this link]] to see a 2003 flash animation adaption by Storygate Picturebooks. To see amateur scans of the movie storybook, click on [[https://archive.org/details/chirin-no-suzuringing-bell-movie-storybook this link.]] If you want to read the very first version of the story, press [[https://archive.org/details/twelve-pearls this link]]. Since the original book's release and the success of the 1978 animated film, Chirin has become a Japanese pop culture icon, while the story quickly became a pop culture staple with Japanese audiences.