If you’re as much of a filthy otaku as me, then I’m sure you’ve heard of Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. Sadamoto was one of the founding members of Gainax, the studio behind Evangelion, Nadia and, Gurren Lagann. On top of working as a character designer and animator, Sadamoto is also an accomplished manga-ka, with such titles as Route 20 and you guessed it--the Evangelion manga. Sadamoto has also worked on two one-shot compilations with writer, Takaha Mako. Those two one shots are System of Romance and Dirty Work. Since I couldn’t decide on which one to talk about, since they are both equally mesmerizing, I decided to do both of them at once.
System of Romance is a wild romp through the world of adolescent love, lust and, everything in between. We start off with an unnamed 16-year-old Japanese girl who’s talking to another 16-year-old Japanese girl about how she met some dude on an internet chat room and had sex with him IRL. Afterward, Japanese girl #2 tells Japanese girl #1 about how her boyfriend left her because he found out about her Chlamydia (yes, Chlamydia). On their way home from school the two girls find a wanted poster for a serial rapist/killer, who just so happens to be the same dude Japanese girl #1 boned the other day! Full of surprise and disbelief, Japanese schoolgirl #1 quickly attempts to head home, only to get kidnapped and brought to a secluded location by serial rapist-san! Without so much as a word, serial rapist-san begins to force himself on our heroine, who takes this time to reflect on all the wrong she’s done in her life. This includes, but is not limited to, not walking her dog in weeks, breaking her otaku brother’s Rei Ayanami figurine (Oh Sadamoto, such a shameless plug) and, telling Japanese girl #2’s boyfriend about her Chlamydia. Rather than kill her, serial rapist-san decides to let her live, saying that he’ll be on the run for awhile and if he can evade the police, he’ll come back for her. Unfortunately, he’s caught by the police and put to death. Fast forward to a few years later and our heroine has yet to find “a man who ever made her heart flutter like he did” (That is an actual quote from the manga).
Dirty Work takes place in a quaint little town in Japan that’s main exports are eggs and chicken manure. We happen upon a pair of high-school kids waiting for an old man to pass by on a bicycle. Why are they waiting for this old man? To beat him with a shovel, of course! Let's go back in time for a second: our two young protagonists, Tatsuo and Kana, have been childhood friends for as long as they can remember. They’re waiting for this old man because he is a teacher who allegedly grabbed Kana’s tits three times. So naturally, Kana requests that Tatsuo beat the crap out of him and that brings us to present matters. This situation is nothing new to Tatsuo, as he’s also killed a dog that ripped Kana’s skirt and her drunk of a dad, although, this time Tatsuo doesn’t feel like working pro-bono and demands that he be allowed to feel her up if he gets the job done. Tatsuo quickly knocks the old man out with the shovel and buries him in a pile of manure, making sure to leave an air hole for him because I guess, now his morality decided to kick in. The story ends with Tatsuo commenting that when he’s reincarnated, he’ll become her boyfriend, rather than a simple childhood friend. Kanna retorts by saying that no matter how many times they’re reincarnated, they’ll always be opposing elements and that Tatsuo will always support her in some way. Poor little Tatsuo, he’ll always be stuck in the “friend zone.”
As far as story goes, both of these feel like they belong in a tankouban with other self-contained one shots. It’s a fine example of the darker side of “Slice-of-Life” and if you like Sadamoto’s artwork, that’s just the icing on the Raping-Murdering-Unrequited-Love cake.
