The boy appears as an American, African-American, and sometimes Japanese; he can be distinguished by his swooping black hair that covers one eye.
8-Sided Mansion (八角形の館): A young man unable to decide what to do with his life is approached by a witch that uses a coin to seal his fate as a manga artist.
When his life becomes difficult he uses his one allowed visit to a strange 8-sided building to switch to an alternate reality where he has become a successful boxer.
The Melted Man (溶けた男): A successful Japanese chemist secretly contracted by the U.S. military to develop the ultimate bio-chemical weapon discovers a young student studying in an abandoned university classroom late at night.
Finding out that the student isn't registered at the school, the chemist tries to track the boy down only to learn that he'd died a long time ago while also doing chemical weapon research for the military.
Wind Hole (風穴): The main character, whose name is never given, recounts what happened to his friend, Kazuo Sakai.
The man reaches the point of collapse when Sakai finds the exit and carries his friend to a nearby clinic late at night.
When a nurse goes to get him, the body collapses in a heap to reveal Yuriko, leaving the man to wonder if instead it had been Sakai that had fallen into the pit.
Aircraft Down (墜落機): A cowardly, inept Japanese air force pilot in an alternate future flees from a dogfight and ends up crashing on an island.
2-Headed Snake (双頭の蛇): In the 1990s (20-some years from when the story was written), America has become an integrated society with blacks and whites living and working together.
However, a white pharmacist, named Kikero, living in Chicago has created a secret society called "soutou no hebi" ("the 2-Headed Snake").
As a result, they find themselves taking over Tezuka's manga projects while discovering that their hostages are really escapees from a prison in Hokkaido.
Soon after, the spirit of a young girl, who had died before heaven was ready to accept her, takes over Okuchin's body for 1 month.
Tomoe's face is cut off her body as a result, and it turns into a mask that then brings disaster and death to whoever is unfortunate enough to come into possession of it.
Including Fushimi, and then ultimately Tezuka himself, several hundred years later he is approached by a toy designer that wants dolls made up with Tomoe's likeness.
Kisetsu the Successful (大あたりの季節): A school boy that has uncanny good luck becomes the target of jealousy from the schoolyard bully.
The bully then tries to use the time stream to win the school's prettiest girl for himself, only to find the other boy constantly beating him to the punch.
After the resulting battle, the boy wakes up the next morning lying in the road, healed from his fever, but there's no indication that the coffee shop ever existed.
The Purple BEMs (紫のベムたち): A school boy constantly spends his time protecting his mentally-backward younger brother from being bullied by neighborhood children.
One night, the younger brother is late in returning home, and the hero discovers the boy out in the hills, having been abducted by bug-eyed monsters from space.
After being confined to the classroom by his teacher, he is visited by an unknown man that claims to be a great thief who needs Okuchin for his plans.
1, Shōnen Champion Comics, Akita Shoten, 1970, printed in Japan Tezuka, Osamu The Crater, vol.
2, Shōnen Champion Comics, Akita Shoten, 1970, printed in Japan Tezuka, Osamu The Crater, vol.