Kujou is a lawyer who would even defend the Devil. In this new Reiwa Era where chaos is spreading, he's the “guardian of darkness” who operates behind the scenes.
The smugglers in our tale–guys who have to clean up the bodies after mob assassinations in which heads get ripped off–are a cold-hearted silent veteran, an old man, and a young guy forced to do dirty work to pay back money he owes the mob.
When the young smuggler makes a mistake by allowing a captured rival to escape, the price he must pay for his error gets horrifically high…
Kujou is a lawyer who would even defend the Devil. In this new Reiwa Era where chaos is spreading, he's the “guardian of darkness” who operates behind the scenes.
A compilation of noteable submissions to the Afternoon Four Seasons Awards from 1987 to 2000 from major artists from when they were still newcomers.
**Note:** Do not confuse this for the [Afternoon Four Seasons Awards CHRONICLE 1987-2000 Selections](https://kc.kodansha.co.jp/title?code=1000000684) from 2013, which cut 23 of the 48 oneshots but still spread the remaining 25 across 4 seasonal volumes.
**Chapters:**
**Spring:**
1. Tsuchida Seiki - Miseinen (1987 Four Seasons Prize)
2. Takahashi Tsutomu - GOTAVOICE (1987 Spring Semi-Winner)
3. Matsumoto Taiyou - STRAIGHT (1987 Autumn Semi-Winner)
4. Irie Noriko - Neko no Te Kashimasu (1987 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize)
5. Ohtagaki Yasuo - Ronin Heartbreak! (1988 Summer Honorable Mention)
6. Sudou Masumi - Shounen-ou ni Shiroi Kumo (1988 Autumn Semi-Winner)
7. Akizuki Risu - Oku-sama Shinkaron (1988 Autumn Honorable Mention)
8. Nakayama Masaaki - Ridatsu (1988 Winter Semi-Winner)
9. Arai Hideki - 8-gatsu no Hikari (1989 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize)
10. Hiromoto Sinichi - Western Carnival (1989 Summer Honorable Mention)
11. Enomoto Shunji - Golden Lucky (1989 Autumn Honorable Mention)
12. King Gonta - A Mess on a Weekend (1989 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize)
13. Irie Kiwa - Haikibun! Sakanahime (1989 Winter Four Seasons Prize)
14. Hiramatsu Minoru - Ma, Ikka! (1989 Winter Honorable Mention)
15. Aoki Yuuji - Higan to Shigan no Ma De (1990 Semi-Winner)
16. Taguchi Masayuki - Shouteki Ningen (1990 Autumn Four Seasons Prize)
17. Sugawara Masayuki - Home Range (1991 Summer Semi-Winner)
18. Matoba Ken - Mei Tantei ni Hanarenai keredo (1991 Summer Semi-Winner)
19. Yasuda Hiroyuki - MOZOO (1991 Autumn Honorable Mention)
20. Oda Hideji - Sakana (1991 Winter Honorable Mention)
**Summer:**
21. Matsunaga Toyokazu - Killing Paranoia (1992 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize)
22. Ohara Shinji - Boku wa Otouto (1993 Spring Four Seasons Grand Prize)
23. Kuwahara Shinya - YOKO vs (1993 Spring Four Seasons Prize)
24. Samura Hiroaki - Mugen no Juunin (1993 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize)
25. Kuroda Iou - Ka, Nanten, Kuma (1993 Autumn Four Seasons Grand Prize)
26. Toume Kei - KUROGANE (1993 Autumn Four Seasons Prize)
27. Igarashi Daisuke - Obayashi ga Hikoeru Hi & Imada Fuyu (1993 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize)
28. Yoshikai Kanji - Kodoku no Oto (1993 Winter Semi-Winner)
29. Ashinano Hitoshi - Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (1994 Spring Four Seasons Prize)
30. Komai Yuu - Sonna Yatsua Inee!! (1994 Spring Honorable Mention)
**Autumn:**
31. Aramaki Keiko - GENOMES (1994 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize)
32. Kio Shimoku - Ten no Ryouiki (1994 Summer Four Seasons Prize)
33. Abe Yoshitoshi - Ame no Furu Basho (1994 Summer Semi-Winner)
34. Kiba Kouichi - JAGUA (1995 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize)
35. Nihei Tsutomu - BLAME (1995 Summer Special Prize)
36. Endou Hiroki - Kitto Kawaii Onnanoko dakara (1995 Autumn Four Seasons Prize)
37. Kitoh Mohiro - Vendémiaire no Migite (1995 Autumn Semi-Winner)
38. Asada Torao - Spoonman 3.18 (1996 Autumn Four Seasons Grand Prize)
39. Wakana Shouhei - Kamen Tenshi (1996 Autumn Four Seasons Prize)
40. Shinemon - Lunch no B (1996 Summer Honorable Mention)
**Winter:**
41. Hayashida Q - Sofa-chan (1997 Autumn Semi-Winner)
42. Kimura Kon - Koube Zaijuu (1997 Winter Four Seasons Prize)
43. Shinofusa Rokuro - Yasashii Kodomo no Tsukurikata (1997 Spring Honorable Mention)
44. Higuchi Asa - Yuku Tokoro (1998 Spring Four Seasons Prize)
45. Manabe Shohei - Yuuutsu Suberidai (1998 Summer Four Seasons Grand Prize)
46. Urushibara Yuki - Mushishi (1998 Winter Four Seasons Grand Prize)
47. Kumakura Takatoshi - Gurade (1999 Summer Semi-Winner)
48. Toyoda Minoru - Love Roma (2002 Spring Four Seasons Grand Prize)
**Selected Descriptions:**
Kio Shimoku - Ten no Ryouiki
A brief insight into the life of a young graduate student looking for work who finds himself in bed with a mysterious girl he has never seen before.
Abe Yoshitoshi - Ame no Furu Basho
Eshikawa is a man who has lost sight of his life and stumbles through it, with no clear meaning or purpose. One day, he is informed that his ex-girlfriend committed suicide, which sets his brain on retrospect mode. He goes on a journey of self-revelation and contemplates upon the myriad of human emotions, the joys and sorrows of normalcy.
Kiba Kouichi - JAGUAR
As a woman is returning home one night, she runs into a man who was just in a car crash. As he's dying, he asks her to throw a certain package into the sea.
Hayashida Q - Sofa-chan
Hayashida Q's debut work about a female couch spirit.
___
**See Also:**
- [MDList of Afternoon Four Seasons Award–winning oneshots](https://mangadex.org/list/d7b883be-732f-4d5b-8d92-818fa3c62555/afternoon-oneshot-four-seasons-award-winners)
- [blog post covering this series](http://sportable.seesaa.net/article/246888518.html)
- [Wikipedia article about this series](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%95%E3%82%BF%E3%83%8C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E5%9B%9B%E5%AD%A3%E8%B3%9ECHRONICLE)
- [Wikipedia article about the contest, including a list of winners](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%95%E3%82%BF%E3%83%8C%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B3%E5%9B%9B%E5%AD%A3%E8%B3%9E)
Shirou's ordinary life as a poor construction worker gets turned upside down when he comes across a naked girl, Lucy, who's fallen out of the sky! Her strange and unique personality entices him and he introduces her to his apartment buddies.
But after leaving for just a few minutes, he returns to the apartment to find Lucy gone, all his friends slaughtered and an ogre-like stranger standing amidst the carnage.
The big man suddenly pulls Shirou out of the apartment building just before it explodes! Shirou gets pushed down into the sewage system of the city and is saved by a mysterious man…
During the past decades, Japan has become the shining star of Asia, with its noteworthy achievements in the fields of science, technology, medicine, quality of life, and many others.
Yet, while there are a great number of rich and successful Japanese people, there are even more of those engaged in a furious struggle for something as simple as earning to cover their day-to-day living expenses; all the while battling dangerous and money-consuming addictions such as gambling and alcoholism.
What would these poor and not-so people do when they require the money to fulfill their never-ending desires, the desires that are part and parcel of being human? Just how miserable and dangerous might their lives become were they to fall into traps laid by *yamikin*, the loan sharks of the Japanese financial world's dark side, whose only goal is to ensnare such weak-willed souls?
Adapted into film and a J-Drama.
---
- **Won the 56th Shogakukan Manga Award for General Manga in 2011**
- **Won the 23rd Japan Media Arts Festival Social Impact Award in 2020**
An official spin-off delving into Ushijima's past! An official spin-off from the popular dark hero manga "Ushijima the Loan Shark" is here! The story is set in a juvenile detention center. The protagonist is a young Ushijima Kaoru. Before he even encountered the world of loan sharks, in the winter of his second year of junior high school, Ushijima swung a metal bat at Wanido Sanzo's head after a fight with the Wanido brothers, and was sentenced to juvenile detention for assault. What will Ushijima think on his first time in juvenile detention? At the same time, key characters like his classmate Karasaki, Shishitani (his older brother), who runs the loan shark company "Shishik" where Ushijima later works, and Nageki, the leader of the Monshudaa Rengo biker gang, are also living youthful, sharp, and brutal lives. This ensemble drama depicts the younger Ushijima and his friends' lives untold in the main story.