Long overshadowed by more popular works, Ushijima, the Shadow Loan shark is an exceptionally realistic seinen manga. It immerses the reader in Japanese social misery. Harsh and uncompromising, this work depicts the margins of a modern Japan that many prefer to ignore.
An exceptional main character
Created in 2004 by Shohei Manabe, Yamikin Ushijima-kun (original title) has 46 volumes and ended in 2019. In France, it is known under the title Ushijima, the Shadow Loan shark. Despite its impressive longevity, this manga remains largely unknown to the general public, overshadowed by better-selling hits like Tokyo Revengers or Death Note.
The main character, Kaoru Ushijima, is an clandestine loan shark. He runs Cow Cow Finance, a company that lends money at exorbitant rates to desperate individuals. His rule is simple: "You borrow, you pay back", regardless of the client's situation.
Ushijima is therefore neither hero nor monster. He simply applies a cold and implacable logic. He is not there to judge or help. His role is to observe, collect, or punish. His humanity remains, but buried, almost inaccessible.
A dark mirror of Japanese social reality
Through its clients, the manga explores a gallery of terribly realistic portraits: ruined students, laid-off employees, women driven into prostitution, men addicted to gambling or sports betting...
Where many manga offer an escape, Ushijima brutally brings his reader back to the sad reality: debts, contracts, humiliations...
Basically, this work bluntly exposes the flaws of modern Japan:
- the precariousness of young graduates,
- isolation social,
- the obsession with success,
- the excesses of consumer society,
- the absence of a social safety net for the most vulnerable.
Visually, Ushijima is not at all attractive. The drawing is cold, functional and without exaggeration. There are no heroic poses, no grand effects... On the contrary, the aesthetic follows the line of the story: raw and direct. Oddly enough, it's precisely this sobriety that strikes and makes the manga more credible.
But why has this manga remained in the shadows?
Despite its narrative qualities and social relevance, Ushijima is rarely cited among the great seinen. Several reasons may explain this: first of all, it has not had an animated adaptation, despite adaptations into films and series; it must also be noted that the subject matter is considered too dark or too realistic for traditional readers, which is not helped by the absence of a charismatic hero and a stylized universe. Finally, its chilling and desperate tone puts off those looking for emotion or escape.
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