A tale of deviants and the people who consume them…
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Mikoto Yamaguti
Translation/Adaptation: ZephyrRz
What They Say
High-schooler Masahiko Murai has exactly one thing going for him: a keen sense of smell. Not exactly the sort of defining trait that helps someone become one of the popular kids, especially given the malodorous scents he finds particularly appealing. But that’s okay. He’s set the bar pretty low in terms of his expectations. He doesn’t have to be cool or popular — or even liked. Just as long as he isn’t the biggest loser, he can get by.
As luck would have it, there’s always been one rung lower on his class’s social ladder, but when the “biggest loser” gets a girlfriend, a panicked Masahiko pulls a name out of his past — Haruka Mizusawa — playing the long-distance relationship card in a desperate attempt to keep his worst nightmare from becoming reality. Naturally everyone’s skeptical, but when Haruka shows up at school the next day and backs up Masahiko’s story, their skepticism is quickly laid to rest. You’d think that Masahiko was off the hook…
But what he failed to share with his classmates was that Haruka actually died years earlier…so who’s turned up wearing her face, and why is she playing along with him at all…? Masahiko’s about to learn that there are far more horrifying fates than being the biggest loser in school…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Scumbag Loser creates characters so flawed that we question whether or not it is horrific if they cease to exist. Over the course of the nearly 600 page story, we follow a high school class as they descend into the chaos of each trying not to be the biggest loser. We learn about troubled homes and witness explicitly degrading scenes of humiliation and peer-pressured sadism.
Yen Press has given Scumbag Loser a well deserved “Mature” rating. This rating does not come from titillation or fun subjects. Instead it comes from scenes of graphic violence, domestic abuse, child abuse, implied pedophilia and rape. This volume contains serious topics for mature readers who can understand the social issues beyond the pages.
The publisher’s summary sets up the initial story of Masahiko, who has an obsession of not being one of the “biggest losers” like his classmate Yamada who suffers through the indignities of bullying because he has poor hygiene, is fat, and very sloppy. When Yamada shows the bullies a picture of his new girlfriend, he rises in their esteem, leaving similarly overweight Masahiko as the biggest loser in the class. Masahiko seems to have one drive and that is to not be one of the biggest losers. From this new social position, Masahiko tries to convince his classmates he also has a long distance relationship with a beautiful girl, and this claim seems to summon a supernatural force that uses Masahiko’s insecurities to find others who are total losers.
Over the course of 14 chapters, Scumbag Loser unravels a mystery from the point of view of Masahiko, a police detective, and a nerdy girl with an idol complex. Both the detective and Masahiko seem bound to find out the source of crimes and a series of extreme personality changes in the community. When the supernatural force feeds on a loser, the loser comes back as a model citizen, rising up the social hierarchy. Masahiko decides to try to stop the supernatural force, even as he is manipulated by girls affected by the evil.
The detective realizes something is wrong when a report of a murder is tied to the name of an assailant at the school. With no evidence of a murder and the denial from everyone involved in what had been reported as a classroom attack, the detective probes deeper in the lives of the kids. As he tries to deal with the present situation, he reflects on crimes from the past.
Our third narrator, Yumi Ookura, wears a tracksuit and prominent glasses. Her scenes introduce a yuri element to the plot. Without any attempt to be fashionable, she seems like an unlikely candidate to become an idol. As her story progresses, we learn that she has her own perverted reasons for applying to an idol group advertising for girls who are the biggest losers in their class.
Characters have no redeeming attributes. Masahiko has a thing for foul odors, and his special skill is understanding people’s personalities based on their unique scent. The cover is not the only time Masahiko can be seen sniffing panties. In another plot thread, a father obsesses over the body of his daughter from her birth through teens. Several characters enact domination and humiliation over others by holding the victims’ heads down with a foot and requiring the prostrate to lick the stinky toes. A child is raped and murdered, and there are both pictured scenes and described acts of spousal abuse.
As all of these characters interact, we witness the effects of the monsters and realize that their actions have been ordained by people who “care.” Through the expanding story, we follow fleshed-out characters who disgust through behavior or appearance, and we learn how the social fabric tries to assimilate them via the analogy of monsters who alter personalities.
This book offers some interesting style elements that tend to make it unique. The soft cover is printed with a reflective clear coat that makes light reflect when tilted. The front covers features sweat drops glistening on Masahiko, a polka dot pattern in the white space around the figure, and the teeth, cell phone, and panties have a 3D effect. The back cover has a reflective black outline of the same scene. At 592 pages, I read with the book balanced on my leg or gently held by both covers with the spine resting on a table. While the spine has a noticeable curve, I never had to open it so much that it caused any creases. The first four leaves of the volume are glossy, with seven pages in full color. Three of those pages feature a full size bust of a main character involved in deviant behavior, and three pages feature full color story panels. Overall, the book is printed and formatted on large enough sheets that very few images get trapped in the gutter.
In Summary
Kikoto Yamaguti has created an epic where a flawed protagonist and his acquaintances face both the horrors of social expectations and bullying while being preyed upon by a supernatural force. Issues including domestic violence, incest, and pedophilia are used to plumb the reader’s sense of moral ambiguity, creating a story where the reader’s own sense of justice and retribution become the driving force of the horror. Monsters appear from the husks of teenagers who feel worthless because they cannot win approval from their families or peers, or those who simply do not have the social skills required to avoid the venom of bullies. At its core, Scumbag Loser examines the effects of social pressures and the evils enacted by those who seek retribution against the victims as well as villains.
Much like A Clockwork Orange, this omnibus does the important work of making the readers self-aware of our biases and harmful actions as citizens, peers, and as family members thoughtlessly attempting to change and control those closest to us.
Content Grade: A+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Mature
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: November 29th, 2016
MSRP: $30.00
