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Warning: Nudity, Sex scenes, Coarse language, etc


Story
If you managed to get past nudity and sex scenes without going straight to the Manga… then thumbs up to you and here’s the guts of the story, “Yamikin” the Japanese equivalent of the bottom feeding “loan shark” and everything that comes with it. Legality problems, shady backers, gang pressure, con artists, the sex industry, though most of all trying to get their money back from the people who take loans. And I’m not gonna pretend to be an expert on the Japanese loan shark system, but the story has an element of realism to me because, it’s ... pretty close to the same shit I see in my neck of the woods and most likely most of you have seen it too “lending money to desperate people, idiots or just fucken losers with bad credit at ridiculously high interest rates”. This at least, for the first few chapters, is the story.

Think of pathetic people getting themselves into debt and being forced to pay it back by any means and I mean “by any means possible”. Let your imagination go there and it probably still won’t come close... Expect to be challenged, repulsed even, expect to see the scum of society, expect to think, to judge, to feel, though also expect the stories to grip you by the throat without a hope of letting go, and why? The hook in these stories is, they can make you believe that these extreme situations could and probably do happen. This is mostly done with facts and dialogue aimed at the realist in you. Also Manabe Shohei “the author” plays on your faith in humanity, and for me at least, I found my faith in humanity “laughing” as it passed me by, waving its middle finger in the air. In saying that the only reason I could downgrade this story is because it might make you uncomfortable, and you have been warned so, that’s not a real reason, also at the moment the story overall is starting to take shape, the main character Ushijima-kun is looking to move up in the ranks of the underworld, which is adding depth and is just making this even better, so for the story, a big 10


Art
I’ve only read one other manga by “Manabe Shohei” though his art sort of reminded me of the mangaka “Hanazawa Kengo” author of “I am hero” and on some level, I thought of the Manga “Shamo” as well, just without the water colors. It has that uniqueness to it, maybe not as refined but it does have a gritty feel. Meaning it’s not the prettiest but in all honesty in relation to the story and characters “it fits the feel perfectly”, it had a down and dirty charm almost. Anyway the art holds up the story, it may not be for you anatomically correct nuts, but for the “connoisseur” it should be good, like is said, it has its own charm. Based on how well the art works with the story I’m going with a 9

Characters
There’s only really one main Character in this. He is the head of the Yamikin company, “Ushijima” .This guy is no protagonist, he is not likeable, he’s more like an antihero, he’s smart and emotionally detached; the guy is all business. Even though he goes through some development it’s not in the form of the “hero” it’s more like the reader gets a better understanding of his perspective and challenges as a Yamikin, so maybe you can respect his smarts. He is the most developed character at this time. It’s not that big a deal because only 22 chaps have been translated so far. So while there are a few other core characters, underlings, workers, rivals etc, being established now, only a couple of them have really been explored. In saying that the characters who have been moving the story so far “the slaves” aka the people owing money, more than make up for this. The “slaves” have been developed with simple and relatable faults and desires like addiction, greed, peer pressure, boredom etc. Very relatable at least in understanding how they got themselves in the shit and even if you do start to feel sorry for them, the author has a way of twisting your loyalties between the loan shark and the slave. The author just knows what he’s doing, so for characters it’s an easy 9

Enjoyment
It’s like that saying “it hurts so good” I don’t know if it says too much for my mental state, and I feel like, it's better not to like it as much as I do, but whatever, I suppose in some ways it’s like that feeling you get when looking down at pitiful people, in your head you’re like “YES” my life aint that shit! Well something like that, anyway I’m enjoying it and it’s a 9 for me

Overall
I’m giving it a solid 9, and to everyone who turns their head away when they pass an accident, or can’t watch a train wreck happen, this story is not for you, it’s no fucking fairy tale! But if you don’t mind a darker themed story line, exploring the human psyche and no fluff, this could become addictive. So definitely give it a shot and I better mention there is some humor in this so, as I sign out I’ll leave you with one of lighter quotes from one of the scums in this story…see you around.

“If I had the power like a Sayan, I’d gather up all this world’s suffering into a spirit bomb and shove it up their asses” - Aizawa

Story
Q.P was known as the Billy badass of his generation, you know the type, king ding-a-ling, Mr. Elephant tusk! Though now, 4 years later “older and wiser” QP is back in his hometown and all he wants to do, is live a normal life like the rest of the lambs of society, just eating grass and shitting green. But like any lamb there is always a wolf not too far away. This is where the story gets interesting.

Here’s the bottom line, QP former “Delinquent king” and his friend Azuma Ryou, underworld gangster aka “God of death” both trying to make each other see that ... they don't belong in the world their each trying to live in. Who’s right and who’s wrong is not a clear cut situation, it’s a head scratcher. I won’t tell you my conclusion but I will say the story line and the complexity of relationships made me think a little more than the other works from “Takahashi Hiroshii”. I think it’s because for the “author” the story line is a little more grown up and more relatable in some ways, in comparison to other works. Don’t get me wrong there is still some classic delinquent humor in this and it’s probably more than enough to give you that good dose of delinquent mayhem… though like I said expect some more grown up themes as well. The storyline is actually split between two time periods via flashbacks, young thugs trying to prove themselves to adult gangsters trying to survive. I settled for an 8 for the story but I’m leaning hard on a 9 and it is bugging me

Art
I like Takahashi Hiroshi’s art style, though it will probably feel a little dated for Gen X but frankly who gives a shit, the art is more than enough to move the story. The character designs are signature Takahashi “especially QP” he’s a big bastard and Takahashi always does well drawing the big boys and really he’s a master at anything else delinquent/gang orientated. In saying that, for those of you who are familiar with Takahashi other works like “Crows” and “Worst” I thought the fight choreography wasn’t as good as either of them, which puzzled me because he wrote this straight after Crows and before Worst. In saying that the fights are probably still choreographed better than a lot of the delinquent manga out there (Im looking at you Gang King) Therefore I gave the Art a 9. (If you haven’t read Crows or Worst do yourself a favor and rectify that)

Character
The development for QP and Azuma is a lot deeper than the other characters More or less the other characters are just side kick fodder… comic reliefs, lambs to the slaughter, the usual, just enough to move the story. In saying that, Its not a bad thing, although not fully detailed you get a good sense of who's who. Also some of the character developments seem believable and relatable at times so I don’t have any real complaints about development except, maybe the last side story which happens at the completion of the main story, it gives more depth to a certain character, it was weird to me and seems drawn out, but I guess its subjective some might like the extra info, I didn’t, but whatever. I’ll just let it slide and you can decide. So another 9


Enjoyment
It was good for me, made me laugh, good action and relationships and sometimes it had a more serious vibe happening. The only thing I thought it could have just ended at the completion of the main story, so not a major and maybe I’m a little bias because I'm comparing this to other works by the same author which were better to me, that's why I’ll give it an 8 though leaning hard on a 9


Overall
I’ve already said it all so overall score 8 and don’t forget there is a QP Gaiden after this at around 200 pages; it’s well worth the read. It’s like cold brew after work or that cigarette after lovin, for you poor bastards that don’t know…translation “satisfying”