History Manga / Caterpillar

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Imomushi's repeated attempts to get Hanakamakiri to lose his virginity are PlayedForLaughs. He's [[GagPenis too big]] and Imomushi gets afraid of him, so she hires a prostitute but then shoos her out when the girl tries dunking a large fleshlight on the boy instead of (forcefully) having sex with him.

** Imomushi has a few scenes where she ends up fighting or casually walking around while nude without any shame. There's even a scene where she sits down naked and complaining about life to her enemy Sasori and even gets some advice from the confused nurse before they fight again.

* ThouShaltNotKill: Kabutomushi refuses to kill needlessly after her master, a mad man who believed himself entitled to kill anyone he wished because of his strength, killed her only friend. As such, she has a blank ranking within the Organization despite bragging about being their strongest hitwoman. This was not mentioned even once in ''Arachnid'', and in fact contradicts the things she goes on to do in that story with no justification: she attacks enemies with clear killing intent, tries to convince Alice to kill Dinoponera (contrasting how she spares Himekuwagata in this prequel) and ends up killing [[spoiler:the Boss]] without batting an eye to save Alice. ''Blattodea'' then tries to patch this half-assedly by showing [[NotQuiteDead everyone else she smashed actually survived]] and insisting Alice killed [[spoiler:the Boss]] when she clearly didn't.

** Imomushi has a few scenes where she ends up fighting or casually walking around while nude.

** Osamu Tezuka is also portrayed as a master assassin, with multiple references to series like ''Manga/AstroBoy'', ''Manga/BlackJack'' and ''Manga/{{Pheonix}}'' in his backstory and abilities.

** Osamu Tezuka is also portrayed as a master assassin, with multiple references to series like ''Astro Boy'', ''Black Jack'' and ''Pheonix'' in his backstory and abilities.

* MakeMeWannaShout: Paraponera suddenly screams at Kumo with great force to distract and (try to) shoot him dead. He's essentially "stridulating" like ants do, which is treated as unique to him and Dinoponera even though many other bugs can do that.

* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted; Hanakamakiri refers to the rampaging army ants as "sex-zombies" in his farewell letter to Imomushi. By ''Manga/{{Blattodea}}'', however, he starts just calling them "ants" instead as a form of dehumanization.
* NuclearWeaponsTaboo: Averted. The ''Ageha'' cruise ship is nuked to cinders when the nuclear reactor within Osamu Tezuka's body is destroyed.

An official English translation of the series was made available on [[https://global.manga-up.com/manga/80 Square-Enix's Manga UP! app]] in July 2022.

* GratuitousRape: Most of the characters in the ''Arachnid'' series are [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil sexual predators]], victims of rape or [[RapeLeadsToInsanity both]]. In ''Caterpillar'', Imomushi, Hanakamakiri and few more female characters all have RapeAsBackstory and the matter is shown more graphically since it was a ''seinen'' publication. The story even ends with Imomushi expressing a desire to rape Hanakamakiri in a comical way, in the middle of a ''[[spoiler:rape zombie apocalypse]]''.

* {{Prequel}}: The first 93 chapters take place a year before ''Arachnid''. From 94 on, there's a time skip into the Arachnid Hunt and the story becomes a POVSequel just before it ends.

* BladeOnAStick: Kabutomushi wields the "Kabuto Horn", a halberd with enough strength to shove people far away and make craters on the ground. She never slashes or stabs anyone with it, though.

** Gokiburi nearly starved to death as a baby after being abandoned by her prents and was trained by [[SadistTeacher Kabutomushi]], which turned her into a controlling PsychoLesbian who wants to enslave people.

** Togehamushi has the power to grow long spikes all over her body and wears nothing but a robe, goading men to get close to her. She goes on to glomp Riock's head to impale him repeatedly, which he actually survives.

** Osamu Tezuka is also portrayed as a master assassin, wsith multiple references to series like ''Astro Boy'', ''Black Jack'' and ''Pheonix'' in his backstory and abilities.

** Chapter 45 of ''Caterpillar'' has Inaho Enoki [[TheCameo from fellow bug manga]] ''Vector Case File'' discussing bark mantises. Chapter 46 has the [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed in-universe equivalent]] of ''Kamen Rider'' creator Creator/ShotaroIshinomori talking about crickets. Those interview scenes [[https://twitter.com/jojojon/status/1634044726939897856 are based on]] the ones from ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'', as are the ones featured in ''Manga/KillingBites'' and other FightingSeries by Murata.
** If Shotaro Ishinomori is an assassin in this setting, couldn't that mean his real life teacher Osamu Tezuka, the God of Manga, was one too? Yes, it does, and (a bug themed) Astro Boy is referenced in his backstory.

** Chapter 45 of ''Caterpillar'' has Inaho Enoki [[TheCameo from fellow bug manga]] ''Vector Case File'' discussing bark mantises. Chapter 46 has the [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed in-universe equivalent]] of ''Kamen Rider'' creator Creator/ShotaroIshinomori talking about crickets. Those interview scenes are based on the ones from ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'', as are the ones featured in ''Manga/KillingBites'' and other FightingSeries by Murata.

* AnArmAndALeg: Paraponera gets an arm blasted by an explosive, Unka loses both legs to a landmine and Hiratakuwagata gets her right leg chopped by Kabutomushi. Worryingly, the subtext is that all three characters have a common link to Dinoponera, insinuating she might suffer such a loss eventually: Paraponera is her father, Unka mirrors her failure to keep up with Paraponera and half the point of Hiratakuwagata existing in the story is implying Kabutomushi could've beaten Dinoponera with the Heracles blade.

** Chapter 45 of ''Caterpillar'' has Inaho Enoki [[TheCameo from fellow bug manga]] ''Vector Case File'' discussing bark mantises. Chapter 46 has the [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed in-universe equivalent]] of ''Kamen Rider'' creator Creator/ShotaroIshinomori talking about crickets. Those interview scenes are based on the ones from ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'', as are the ones featured in ''Manga/KillingBites'' and other stories by Murata.

** Chapter 45 of ''Caterpillar'' has Inaho Enoki [[TheCameo from fellow bug manga]] ''Vector Case File'' discussing bark mantises. Chapter 46 has the [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed in-universe equivalent]] of ''Kamen Rider'' creator Creator/ShotaroIshinomori talking about crickets.

* ILoveTheDead: When the Weaver Ant triplets ask Jigabachi to let them "play doctor" with a paralyzed Imomushi before he does anything to her, he comments them preferring a living woman instead of a corpse is "an unusual fetish". They reply that no, [[EvenEvilHasStandards it's not that unusual]]...

* BringMyBrownPants: Multiple female characters in the story wet themselves when they're scared for their lives. The author really indulged in this trope [[https://desuarchive.org/a/thread/248552445/#q248610959 many times]] over the years ''for some reason'', and has freely admitted this [[https://twitter.com/jojojon/status/1635505753988681728 on his Twitter profile]] (NSFW link).

** There are multiple scenes of girls being raped by men on-panel, which was something the author was held back from portraying in the previous ''Arachnid'' series due to ''shonen'' censorship standards at the time.

* {{Gorn}}: The story features a few gory scenes, including a closeup of a person's crushed head in one of the last chapters. ''Arachnid'', in contrast, had to censor a scene of Sasori dissecting her own parents on the transition between the Gangan Joker magazine and volume publications.

** ''Arachnid'' and ''Caterpillar'' were officially translated to English in 2022, several years after the end of their respective runs. The ''Caterpillar'' translation reached chapter 64 while ''Arachnid'' was still on chapter 31, indeed spoiling TheReveal for any new readers. It then went on hiatus on chapter 93 while ''Arachnid'' was on 44, presumably because they ''finally'' realized translating ''Caterpillar'' to the end first would completely spoil ''Arachnid''.

* ActionGirl: Imomushi, Kabutomushi and virtually any other female assassin.

* {{Fanservice}}: In this series, female characters are shown in various states of undress constantly from ''Arachnid'' onwards. ''Caterpillar'' takes it one step further by actually including uncensored nudity. The fanservice borders on Squick very frequently, however, as it tends to be accompanied by (either attempted or successful) rape or sexualized violence and humiliation.

** Bokugehamushi has the power to grow long spikes all over her body and wears nothing but a robe, goading men to get close to her. She goes on to glomp Riock's head to impale him repeatedly, which he actually survives.

* ZombieApocalypse: An outbreak of rape-zombies devastates Japan at the end of the story.

** Inaho Enoki from ''Vector Case File'' appears twice to give fun facts about certain bugs, but she's merely a cameo with no effect on the actual plot.

* CasualDangerDialog: When Kabutomushi is about to fight Hiratakuwagata, she asks Gokiburi to bring Heracles to her and promises she'll be free from Pomario afterwards. Goki pulls up her cellphone and says she wants to record Kabuto repeating it just to make sure she won't go back on her word, but is driven away by Hirata's rampage.

* {{Retcon}}: When Imomushi is getting [[TheWorfEffect worfed]] by Dinoponera at the Arachnid Hunt, she thinks to herself that Dinopo seems even stronger than her father Paraponera. By the time that scene is replayed in ''Caterpillar'', though, readers have seen Dinoponera get humiliated by Alice and Sasori, how frail she is deep down and how Paraponera fought to his last breath against Imomushi and nearly killed her. The scene is extended so Imomushi takes back her statement and doubts Dinoponera will stand a chance against Alice.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Imomushi survives the Death Caterpillar hunt but is unable to save her sister. One year later, she fails to kill Suzumebachi as revenge for him lying about her sister's death, but Hanakamakiri brings her back home. Hanakamakiri actually had a deal with Suzumebachi for Imomushi to be spared in exchange for him helping Alice become the new Boss, and feels so ashamed over it that he leaves to parts unknown. A very annoyed Imomushi then sets out to find both Hanakamakiri and Alice.]]

** ''Arachnid'' and ''Caterpillar'' were officially translated to English in 2022, several years after the end of their respective runs. The ''Caterpillar'' translation reached chapter 64 while ''Arachnid'' was still on chapter 31, indeed spoiling the heck out of it for any new readers.

* ChekhovsGun: ''Arachnid'' had a curious habit of bringing up [[ChekhovsGun people]] and plot hooks that don't amount to much of anything in itself but paid off in ''Caterpillar''. Both during the time the spinoff is a prequel and afterwards.
** Kabutomushi mentions a "Hercules" weapon at one point in ''Arachnid''. The prequel reveals it is a foldable double sword that belonged to the previous Kabutomushi.
** Amenbo is a mere VillainOfTheWeek in ''Arachnid'', but it is established she's good friends with Imomushi. Way after a small appearance in ''Caterpillar'', she's the one who gets Imomushi and every other surviving assassin out of the ''Ageha'' ship.

* TheDragon: Paraponera and Osamushi to Ageha, but [[spoiler:Paraponera kills "Ageha" to provoke Imomushi when he realizes they're actually sisters]].

* AssassinOutclassin: Imomushi is hardly worried about being on a ship full of people trying to kill her. The ''Ageha'' [[spoiler:nukes itself at the end of the story]], but not only does Imomushi survive but she also takes a good dozen people away with her.

* DramaticIrony:
** The encounter between Imomushi and Dinoponera at the Arachnid Hunt seen in ''Arachnid'' is reprised in its entirety, if only to point that she actually wasn't as tough as her father and to keep readers wondering just what became of her after she [[spoiler:got raped offscreen by the ant-zombies]].
** A retroactive example is the identity of the GreaterScopeVillain. Suzumebachi states it must be somebody "beyond their imagination", but later in ''Manga/{{Blattodea}}'' it turns out to be Serena Cervantes, a character [[ReusedCharacterDesign practically copy-pasted]] from ''Manga/{{Himenospia}}'' and whose version from that series was introduced in June 2018, just three months after the aforementioned quote from Suzumebachi. So while most of the cast continues to be unaware of her during ''Blattodea'', readers who have read ''Himenospia'' to the end do have an idea of who she is and what she's capable of.

** Kabutomushi is a ruthless SadistTeacher, but she's also surprisingly nice and reliable.

* PostClimaxConfrontation: After the Death Caterpillar game is done with, the story skips to a year later in the Arachnid Hunt where the reader then knows just why Imomushi is enraged with Suzumebachi. He sics Dinoponera on her, and the battle between Imomushi and Dinopo is reprised panel-by-panel as it was in the original. After Suzumebachi knocks Imomushi out and Dinoponera leaves, it is revealed Hanakamakiri came to retrieve her partner, and that she and Suzumebachi made an agreement of eventually forcing Alice to take over the Organization.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: A lot of the bug assassins cement themselves as evil by attempting to rape someone or get them raped by someone else. They are also the ones most likely to fall victim to some CruelAndUnusualDeath later.

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The ''Ageha'' was supposed to be sunk with everyone inside despite over 30 of the most formidable hitmen of the Organization being involved in the conflict. Of them, only Kabutomushi could be seen as expendable due to being a TokenGoodTeammate who wants to mantain her rule over Pomario. In the end, Imomushi saves 19 fellow assassins on her way out and also gains a grudge against the syndicate for how they ruined her sister's life, making Hanakamakiri worry that the Organization could get rid of them at any moment. This leads him to make a deal with their enemy Suzumebachi to ensure Imomushi's safety.

* AnArmAndALeg: Paraponera gets an arm blasted by an explosive, Unka loses both legs to a landmine and Hiratakuwagata gets her right leg chopped by Kabutomushi. Worryingly, the subtext is that all three characters have a common link to Dinoponera, insinuating she might suffer such a loss eventually: Paraponera is her father, Unka mirrors her failure to keep up with Paraponera and half the point of Hiratakuwagata existing in the story is implying Kabutomushi could've beaten Dinoponera with the Heracles Horn.

** Most of Oki's screen time is spent on the background looking stupid. The only notable thing she does is deliver the Heracles Horn to Kabutomushi after blackmailing the Green Tree Ants to make them help her, and even then she's briefly [[ShamefulStrip sexually humiliated]] before doing the same to them.

** Kabutomushi fights a shape-shifting girl who in her teen form looks suspiciously like Dinoponera and only defeats her by using the Heracles Horn that, in ''Arachnid'', she regrets not being able to use against Dinopo. Kabuto incapacitates her foe by chopping off her leg, similar to how Alice defeats Dinopo by forcing her to stab her own leg. The difference is that Kabutomushi refuses to kill her student but later insists Alice has to kill Dinoponera.

** Kabutomushi mentions a "Hercules Horn" weapon at one point in ''Arachnid''. The prequel reveals it is a foldable double sword that belonged to the previous Kabutomushi.

* DoubleWeapon: Kabutomushi's Heracles Horn is revealed to be a giant double sword that can fold to slice people.

** A retroactive example is the identity of the GreaterScopeVillain. Suzumebachi states it must be somebody "beyond their imagination", but later in ''Manga/{{Blattodea}}'' it turns out to be Serena Cervantes, a character [[ReusedCharacterDesign practically copy-pasted]] from ''Manga/{{Himenospia}}'' and whose version from that series was introduced in June 2018, just two months after the aforementioned quote from Suzumebachi. So while most of the cast continues to be unaware of her during ''Blattodea'', readers who have read ''Himenospia'' to the end do have an idea of who she is and what she's capable of.

* FinalBossPreview: Kinohadakamakiri and Kumo come across Paraponera before Imomushi does and [[TheWorfEffect both men job to him one after the other]] just before she arrives.

** Kabutomushi was raised in Pomario, an orphanage that is a front for the Organization to train child soldiers and in which her once-beloved master killed her best friend for kicks. Once the beetle girl takes his mantle as Kabutomushi, she ends up treating her own pupils only slighty better as Himekuwagata accuses her of letting [[OffscreenVillainy most of them die during training]].

* ToplessnessFromTheBack: When the Weaver Ant triplets ask Gokiburi to undress in exchange for them carrying the heavy Heracles Horn for her, she's seen from behind removing her bunnygirl costume while pouting and staring off at the ceiling.

* WorfHadTheFlu: Kabutomushi gets the snot beaten out of her by Hiratakuwagata until Gokiburi and the Tsumugiari triplets arrive with the Heracles Horn, a giant [[DoubleWeapon double-sword]] which can fold to crush people like the jaws of an alligator. From then on, Kabutomushi easily turns the fight around and defeats Hiratakuwagata by chopping one of her legs off. The entire fight is a CallForward to Kabutomushi getting owned by Dinoponera in the Arachnid Hunt and regretting not bringing Heracles for the event, implying she could have killed the ant-girl with it.

* ShaggyDogStory: Mika was blackmailed into becoming a sex slave for Ageha in exchange for Imomushi not being sent to a reformatory for her delinquent habits, and after a lot of rape and torture she was finally killed. Imomushi gruesomely avenged Mika, but ended up caught by the Organization and turned into an assassin. [[spoiler:The NotQuiteDead Mika is revealed to have hated Imomushi the whole time as she suffered alone, even more so when it amounted to nothing. She tries killing Imomushi in revenge but can't bring herself to do it and ends up killed herself by Paraponera, meaning the whole mission was AllForNothing for Imomushi too. Then Imomushi fails to avenge Mika by killing the liar Suzumebachi, who is later killed in unrelated circumstances. Furthermore, the zombie apocalypse means everything would've gone wrong for Imomushi anyway even if she didn't become a hitwoman.]]