That patchwork pig thingumyjig in Osamu Tezuka's comics

[dreamer_easy]

It's called Hyoutan-Tsugi and is based on a drawing Tezuka's kid sister made of a particular kind of mushroom. It's all over Buddha. In fact, it plays a pivotal role towards the end, making all the previous appearances actually kind of creepy.

Here's one of its random appearances:

Comments

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

The appearance at the end was fantastic, because apparently translators disagree on whether the Buddha ate mushrooms or pork in that meal.

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

In fact, it plays a pivotal role towards the end, making all the previous appearances actually kind of creepy.

Sounds like some of Steven Moffat's best work.