 Shusa Oshimi, a mangaka renowned for his extensive library of works, his lack of portraying awkward or clumsy lead characters, and situations where we normally would shy away from, uncomfortable moments that make us think and reflect, while also feeling disturbed. His work typically reflects a coming of age for young boys and girls, and how at that age everything seems warped, a perversion of youth as they cross into adulthood. Some manga titles are complex with drama, sex, violence, yet others, as those featured today are simpler, quicker stories that capture a fleeting moment in a person's otherwise mundane life. Join me today for this small journey into the big world of Shusa Oshimi's manga one-shots. Welcome back to the channel, everybody. Be sure to subscribe to see more content like this, as well as a follow-up on other Oshimi works. Before we get started, I won't be covering the larger material of Oshimi's bibliography in this video. Things like Welcome Back Alice, Blood of the Tracks, Happiness, all those deserve singular videos of their own. Instead, let's take a sidestep into the art of a one-shot. Telling a short story is already difficult enough, but having to do it in the length of a single chapter is even harder. You have to get that tone, characters, and visual style all in one 30-plus page book right in order to be successful. Said today on this video, we're taking a look at six one-shots that either ran for just one chapter or a singular volume. Let's get started. AventGuard Yumeko Released in 2003, it tells the story of high schooler Yumeko, an eccentric and quirky girl that is obsessed with art and seeing the male body part in real life. Not out of devious purposes, but mostly out of curiosity. Yumeko joins her school's art club and meets a fellow student that might just be willing to help out. Sitting at seven chapters, I'm not gonna lie, the art on this is pretty rough. This is early Oshimi, but the basis of his better efforts is in display here. The author's character style and habit of incorporating real-life art styles are on here with, no pun intended, an avant-garde look at sexuality and how today's culture has obsessively fond over the opposite sex, either through literature, TV, gaming, social media, or movies. Yumeko can be a little one-dimensional and naive as a lead character, which leads to some awkward story moments that may end up frustrating the reader. There's not a lot of story to go on, either. She's obsessed and meets someone that can help, but that person clearly has a different understanding on that obsession, which leads to conflict and a quick resolution. Some would say the story could benefit from extra chapters to flesh out the characters, but I think it would defeat the quirky nature of the story. This is sort of like a snapshot in this odd character's life and her quest to fulfill her artistic desires and curiosity. That art aside, I do think the story was just alright. Side note, this manga also contains Superfly, a weirdly horror-based story of a man that can shrink in size and man-style, and does some pretty pervy things to a woman he likes. So take that as you will. Next up is Sweet Poolside. Released in 2004, a nine-chapter story compiled in one book. The story follows Ota Toshihiko, a quiet seventh grader with unnatural, hairless skin. Meanwhile, Goto Ayako is the opposite, a suffering classmate with unnatural, hairy skin, causing her to shave every day. Look, let me be honest here. I'm not a fan of extreme close-ups in media. I can't really watch stuff like chewing food or teeth being brushed. Kind of reminds me of the unease or revulsion one would get with the uncanny valley effect. Same goes with something like this. A manga about body hair with close-ups of razors. Why the hell would I ever want to read and enjoy that? Yet here we are. Ota gets mocked because of his smooth, baby-like skin, and it just so happens that he's in the school's swimming club. Goto is a normal girl with a promising career in swimming, but is hindered by self-doubt thanks to body image issues. One fateful day, our main character stumbles on the other, trying to shave, clumsily barging in and setting the two characters off into quite the odd story. The two kids are inadvertently envious of the other's particular issue. One wishes to be manlier with hair, the other without it, to comfort to society in what is perceived as normal. Yet the story is anything but. Perversion is a theme that runs throughout Oshimi's works, and nowhere is it clearer than in this short story. Sweet poolside captures a moment in two characters' lives that are unmistakable in any real-life person. Huberti. Goto asks Ota to help her with the shaving, and an awkward, bumbling romance begins to unwind, from Ota's perspective. He's a young man put into an unusual task with a young girl he's attracted to, and is easily persuaded into thinking he's got a chance to be more than just shaving buddies. After all, he's already up and close on a physical level and most other people. Goto is in love with someone else, but still shares feelings for Ota. It isn't until the story's final act where this teenage angst explodes and Ota has a realization. And I guess the moral of the story. That you shouldn't change who you are for other people, and should be comfortable in your skin, and embrace it. Similar to Avant-Garde, the art on Sweet Poolside is pretty rough, slightly improved, I would say, but still not as good as it could be. Hell, the manga has a special chapter that was released to accompany the live-action adaptation of it, and you can clearly see how much Oshimi evolved as an artist when you look back and forth between the extra chapter and the original story. Overall, Sweet Poolside is just that. A sweet, simple story with a great message. It just so happens to be hindered by a very awkward, perverted premise. Shino can't say her name. Released from 2011 to 2012 is another one-volume story told through 11 chapters. Fortunately, this one has no extreme close-ups. Phew! In this story, we follow a high school girl, Shino Oshima, who has a bad stuttering problem. So bad, in fact, that she can't even say her name during her homeroom introduction. Ostracized and afraid, she struggles to find herself, but thankfully, she is able to find her voice in an unexpected encounter with a potential friend. Contrary to the previous two stories, she knows a lot more wholesome and heartwarming. School can be an intimidating place growing up. Even more so if you have any condition that might quote-unquote label you as an outsider or different. Our main character in the story is a normal girl that has a speech impediment, which makes her a recluse, unwilling to open up to others out of fear of mockery and humiliation. Instead, wanting to spend lunch hours outside by her lonesome, until she meets a fellow high schooler with a penchant for music. Kayo Okazaki just so happens to be quite tone-deaf and a little rough around the edges when it comes to friendship. Kayo awkwardly befriends our main protagonist, giving her a way to communicate through her stutter by using a notepad to write down her words and feelings. Eventually, the two bond over music with Shino, discovering a clarity in her voice when singing. However, this is not without its setbacks. Shino laughs at Kayo's singing by mistake, which causes a rift between the two that slowly takes time to mend. Further discrepancies occur between the two when Kayo suggests forming a music duo to perform at the school festival. Kayo may be willing to move forward, but sometimes for those that aren't as confident, progress can seem stagnant. Here the author reminds us of how valuable friendships can be, and how it can help us accomplish what may seem impossible. I left some of the details out so as to not spoil the whole story, but setback after setback, Shino is a wholesome individual that wants to improve and get better. It may take her some time, but step by step, she'll get there. The art on this story is much improved compared to the previous entries, a lot more refined and reminiscent of the style that so many have come to know from Oshimi. Shino can't say her name came out after drifting net cafe and the Flowers of Evil, so you really see how much the art and character designs have progressed, all for the better. If there are any negatives to Shino can't say her name, it may be the pacing. Once the story's climax starts, the resolution isn't as clear as it could have been. Progress seems like it was setback in favor of extra drama, and we don't really get that tropey ending we were expecting. Instead, the promise of it, and a better tomorrow. Waltz Written in 2017, this one chapter story follows a young girl named Onaga, as she discovers her neighbor, Kashiwabara, in their balcony dressed in women's clothing. Though brief, this story offers some great discussion on gender and sexual identity, without having to fetishize anyone. The interactions are brief, but impactful. Onaga is a sad girl living a rather dull life, until she notices Kashiwabara, and their struggle in school, constantly bullied by another boy. The one shot briefly jumps backwards and forwards in time to establish the relation between the two main characters. Onaga lives vicariously through Kashiwabara, helping them with clothing and makeup. Kashiwabara, however, has a secret. They want to confess to the same boy that mistreated them at school, knowing the end result might not be a good one. Onaga, as a result, violently lashes out and condemns Kashiwabara, shocking them. She has an affection towards them, but it has been clouded as a result of her dullness and dissatisfaction in life, letting anger and frustration dictate her reasoning. When Kashiwabara reaches out to Onaga once more after asking the boy, we realize how that dullness affects Onaga's view, still caring and wanting to be a part of that odd relationship she's formed. Unfortunately, this story is only 40 pages long, not leaving any room for growth aside from the initial setup. Walt's merely hints at what could be. Although it does have a beginning, middle, and end, the story serves as more of an introduction to a concept than anything else. I personally would not mind a series set in this world with those two characters. The art on this is easily one of Oshimi's finest efforts, in my honest opinion. Having that experience from working on Flowers of Evil and Inside Mari really benefited the character designs for Walt's. It presents us a far too real life scenario of what people go through in the modern 21st century. This one shot is worth reading, but sadly you will be left wanting more. Ms. Kusakabe. On the contrary, this next story written in 2020 might make you not want to know more. Ms. Kusakabe is another one chapter of 40 page story. In this one we follow a broken man who finds a mysterious young woman on his doorstep. Ms. Kusakabe, an enigma and wild spirit. She's lived a not so ordinary wholesome life. The story initially subtly hints at her carousing lifestyle. The young man is down on his luck and quite miserable, but still finds a spark of love and life at Kusakabe and the two seemingly connect. She cheats and disappears frequently, but he is still emotionally addicted to Ms. Kusakabe and their toxic relationship. Look, these are not modeled characters, yet the author finds a way for us to try and empathize with their sadness and maybe understand how they confide in each other when the rest of society has seemingly abandoned them. Visually, maybe not as engaging as other Oshimi books, this one shot still has some fine character work. Artistically you understand how down on their luck and miserable these characters are, but at just 40 pages this may not be a story that deserves multiple chapters. At such a bare minimum, Ms. Kusakabe doesn't have a lot of room for these characters to develop and grow, and we're left to speculate how messed up their lives are and how they're going to move forward. And finally, Lily. Written in 2021, this is thematically the shortest one shot on the list. At just 40 pages we see a moment in time for a boy with a traumatic past, as he comes across a pornographic video of a girl called Lily that strikes him deeply. To his surprise, he realizes that Lily works at a convenience store near his own. This one is one of the shorter ones, like I just mentioned. Like I just mentioned, this is one of the shorter ones. Our main character at first seems like your average male. His fascination for this worn porn video leads to an escape from reality, something that we have all experienced in the past. Not necessarily but the subject matter at hand though. Any sort of media that we've been obsessed with or any one person can lift us up from crappy situations in life. So much to the guy's surprise, the star of the video, Lily, works nearby. He tried multiple times to approach her about the subject, but is scared for her reaction, eventually working up the nerve to confront her about it when he sees her walking down the street at night. Lily herself is drawn really well. You get why the main character finds her so alluring and enchanting even if the source was an adult film. She doesn't really have any characterization. After all, the story is not really about her, but it kinda is. This is more about the guy and that brief moment of happiness that transports him from an otherwise crappy life and how he moves forward mentally by working up that courage to talk to her. Going back to the art, this is probably the best drawn title in this whole list that I covered today. Being a modern work, you truly see an evolved artist creating a versatile expression filled story with just two characters exchanging brief dialogue back and forth. Which is all the more impressive when you go back and see these works in order of release. And the end of it all however, Lily is the shortest of the bunch, but strangely it did pack a wholesome punch. Yes, the premise is silly, but who hasn't obsessed over something that provides an escape from reality? What would you say to the people responsible for that brief burst of happiness in your life? Would you chase after them? If you did, metaphorically I hope. What would you do? Like our main character in this short story, our favorite things help us get along just fine. So there you have it folks. In conclusion, a lot of Shusa Oshimi stories deal with subjects like gender, sex, human curiosity, perversions of youth, change, social stigmas, the list goes on. Yet they all share a thread of self-identity and realizations of finding oneself and moving forward. It was quite the journey to see how rough and rugged the art started, but as with life, it evolves and progresses, showing us many eccentric individuals and their particular tales. Our lives are all different and the author has stated that he doesn't have all the answers, but I think through these short stories, maybe, just maybe, it's up to us to find some meaning in them.