News

Ushijima the Loan Shark Manga Ends in 5 Chapters

This year's eighth issue of Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine revealed on Monday that Shohei Manabe's Ushijima the Loan Shark (Yamikin Ushijima-kun) manga will end in five chapters. If there are no delays, the manga will end on February 25.

Manabe previously stated earlier this month that he will end the manga this year.

The manga entered its final arc in October 2016. The manga has been running in Weekly Big Comic Spirits since 2004, and Shogakukan published the 44th compiled book volume last October. The 45th volume will ship on February 28.

The manga won in the General category of the 56th Shogakukan Manga Awards in 2011. The series was also nominated for an Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize in 2008 and 2010, as well as for France's Angoulême Comics Awards in 2008.

The manga depicts the human drama in the black market world, as seen through the eyes of the titular loan shark. Ushijima heads Kaukau Finance, an outfit that lends money at an illegal interest rate — "Togo" or 50% every 10 days.

A live-action television series adaptation ran from October-December 2010, and the first film opened in August 2012. A second season premiered in January 2014, with a second film then premiering in May 2014. The third season premiered in July 2016, while the third film opened in Japan in September 2016. The fourth and final live-action film, Yamikin Ushijima-kun The Final, opened in Japan in October 2016.

Source: Weekly Big Comic Spirits issue 8