Ushijima the Loan Shark

is a Japanese manga series by Shohei Manabe. The series was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits magazine from May 2004 to May 2019. It was adapted into a live action television drama series in 2010 and into a live action film in 2012. A second live action film, Ushijima the Loan Shark 2, was released on May 16, 2014. Two other live action films, Ushijima the Loan Shark 3, and Ushijima the Loan Shark The Final have also been released. In 2011, the series won the 56th Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga. Plot The story depicts the daily lives of Kaoru Ushijima, the manager of the ultra-violent, 10-day, 50% interest black-market finance company "Cow Cow Finance," and his employees, as well as the various human situations of the customers who visit Cow Finance and their relations, and the dark side of society. The story is told from the viewpoint of the main characters in each episode, and Ushijima is a kind of a rhapsodist who comes into contact with these characters. Therefore, there are many episodes in which Ushijima does not appear at all [Note 2]. The title "XX-kun" was inspired by the naming of automatic contracting machines for salaries, such as "Mujinkun" (Acom) and "O-auto-san" (Aiful), which were popular at the time. Characters Takayuki Yamada (TV drama and film) as Kaoru Ushijima Nana Katase (TV drama and film) as Chiaki Okubo Kyosuke Yabe (TV drama and film) as Ezaki Hiromi Sakimoto (TV drama and film) as Takada Jessica Kizaki (TV drama and film) as Moko