Yamikin Ushijima-kun

Yamikin Ushijima-kun was created by manga artist Shohei Manabe and debuted in Big Comic Spirits in 2004. The series provides a visceral, unflinching look at the predatory loan industry in Japan, centered on Kaoru Ushijima, a cold and calculating money lender. Manabe intended to strip away the glamour often associated with organized crime and financial underworlds, opting instead to portray the grueling cycle of poverty and exploitation that ensnares the manga’s diverse array of desperate characters.

The visual design of the series is characterized by its gritty, high-contrast aesthetic and meticulous attention to urban decay. Manabe’s artistic choices were deliberate, aimed at emphasizing the bleakness of his subjects' lives. Upon its release, the work received critical acclaim for its social commentary, eventually winning the Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category in 2011, and was widely noted for its psychological depth and stark realism in depicting the fringes of Japanese society.