Jiraishin is an ultra dark detective manga by Tsutomu Takahashi. The title literally means "Landmine Quake". The manga ran on Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon manga anthology from 1992 to 1999. A sequel series by the same author, Jiraishin Diablo, begun serialization in 2008 and ended in 2011 with 3 volumes. There was also a short-lived English adaptation that was published during the late 90's by Mixx Zine (the predecessor of Tokyopop) under the title of Ice Blade. 19 Volumes were published in Japan with 10 Bunko/Aizobans published subsequently. It has been published in French, German, Italian, Korean and Mandarin Chinese. Jiraishin won the General Category Award under the 23rd Kodansha Manga Awards in 1999
Jiraishin follows a case-of-the-week format (it has no ongoing storyline and only a few recurring characters), where the culprits are usually extraordinarily horrible criminal. Kyoya Ida is a detective and a really, really sinister guy. The world is not a happy place, but he deals with it...and, by "deals with it", he ensures that justice is served no matter how morally wrong he appears to be.
In Jiraishin Diablo, Ida has left the force while suffering from Keratoconus before he met with a police detective and a grown up Aya Koike in investigating what really happening in Amakura Island after most of its inhabitants were killed by an unknown disease. As the three work to investigate the mysterious deaths, they learn that that the Japanese government has covered up the deaths due to the possible use of a WMD against the island's inhabitants.
Jiraishin! contains the following tropes::
- All Love Is Unrequited: Atsuko happens to have feelings for Kyoya but the latter has to turn down her feelings as to spare her from the pain of losing someone.
- Anyone Can Die: By the time Tsuyoshi, Kyoya's partner, hit the bucket, no one is safe. The last volume hits hard particularly with Eriko's husband, Chief Narita and his daugther, Atsuko.
- Art Evolution: The series' art started off relatively competent but generic, but towards the middle Takahashi begins developing his signature sketchy/constrast heavy inking and drawing style. He would continue to refine it and improve in future series. The difference between Jiraishin and its sequel Jiraishin Diablo is pretty striking.
- Badass Bystander: A very good one. A woman and her baby are kidnapped by a depressed homicidal nurse. After failing to talk the kidnapper out of her actions, said woman hits the nurse, jumps out of the moving car WITH the baby in her arms, rolls across the ground and survives (with the baby 100% ok). Take that, kidnappers.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: Kyoya maybe stoic, but if you hurt any innocent civilians or his friends, then say your prayers because you're going to get a bullet in your brain.
- Birth-Death Juxtaposition: Lampshaded by one of the detectives when Tsuyoshi died on the same day his son was born.
- Blood-Splattered Wedding Dress: Eriko's wedding dress is stained by her newly husband's blood after he was shot by her stalker during their wedding day.
- Cop Killer: A lot of cops are killed by determined criminals and assassins. The following are examples of police officers being targeted directly as the main plot in various story arcs.
- Kyoya Iida's first partner, Tsuyoshi Yamaki, is shot to death by an illegal immigrant from China as he tried to stop an assassination attempt at a local bar.
- Lin Fei, the wife on Taiwanese criminal Fan Tiamin, recruits a Taiwanese hitman to assassinate police officers throughout the Greater Tokyo Area until the Tokyo Metropolitan Police agrees to send the corpse of her sister back to Taipei instead of having it buried in Tokyo since it's against their Taoist beliefs.
- Narita was gunned down by a hired assassin named Kei Amami near the end of the manga after she received a heart transplant from his deceased daughter. This began to conflict with her mental health that Kei decided to kill those who were close to her to end the "mental torment".
- Cowboy Cop: Kyoya. He won't hesitate in pulling out his gun and pointing it at you if you do something bad. A lot of his superiors don't like him but since, he's the best detective around due to getting the results, they're tolerant to his actions.
- Dead Guy Junior: After Kyoya returns from Shanghai to avenge Tsuyoshi's death, he and Yukari decided to name her son from his later father in his memory.
- Doom Magnet: This is something that Kyoya tries to avoid. When he went to Germany to find the victim's twin sister, he got two of his allies killed and was told by Pit not to come back. This is also the reason why he never gets into a serious relationship after what had happened to Yamaki. He even turned down Atsuko's feelings for him in order to spare her from the pain of losing someone.
- Feel No Pain: Whenever Kyoya gets shot, he doesn't flinch much.
- It's Not You, It's Me: Kyoya rejects Atsuko's feelings because of his line of work as a detective.
- Mysterious Past: Very little is know about Kyoya: his mother died at childbirth, his father (a cop) committed suicide after accidentally killing a bystander, and somehow he's wealthy enough to afford Ferrari.
- The Not-Love Interest: Kyoya and Eriko's relationship is strictly platonic and work-related and Eriko is engaged.
- Only a Flesh Wound: Kyouya still goes into combat with a broken arm twice in the series.
- Only Six Faces: Many men with short black hair, many women with long black hair.
- The Quiet One: Kyoya doesn't talk much, except to a few people he knows.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Chief Narita is willing to let Kyoya go under red tape if necessary. This is due to him being friends with Kyoya's late father before.
- Sociopathic Hero: While Kyoya does his best to avoid collateral damage, he has no problem breaking every law in the book to bring his targets down.
- Tranquil Fury: When Kyoya is angry, he doesn't show it by screaming to the villains, he just keep his calm face and shoots them to death.
- Widowed at the Wedding: Poor Eriko lost her husband at the day of her wedding.
- Yandere: Eriko's stalker after he killed several people including her supposed husband. Kyoya hates the man's guts for what he did.
Jiraishin Diablo! contains the following tropes:
- Abandoned Area: Specifically the Amakura Island in Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture. It's said that a disease is responsible for killing all of the inhabitants, except for a few who abandoned it.
- Straw Traitor: Park falling under this after a North Korean diplomat in Japan accuses him of being involved in a revolt when he shot a Japanese official in the left temple.
