is a Japanese

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series. It is credited as being created and written by , and illustrated by , and ran from 1985 to 1992. The series was discontinued after 13 volumes.

Pink Pineapple Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

produced nine ''Rapeman'' live action feature films (including six sequels and two spin-off films), released between 1993 and 1996. The first seven were directed by Takao Nagaishi and the final two were directed by Naoki Uesugi. In their ''Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films'', the Weissers write that series director, Takao Nagaishi, took "a patently offensive premise and twisted it into a wickedly funny black-comedy for adults ... His camerawork is slick, and the music is hypnotic. Plus he has co-authored clever scripts with surprisingly intricate plotlines. And, most importantly, Nagaishi has taken the time to develop a group of characters who are actually very likable." A two-episode

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

was released in 1994, chronicling his exploits in the first volume of the manga. The Rapeman's garb is different in the anime version, as he is dressed in quasi-

ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

gear.

Plot

The main character, Keisuke Iwasaki (岩崎圭介 ''Iwasaki Keisuke''), is a handsome and very muscular high school teacher by day and dispenses a surreal and perverted brand of "justice" at night as the Rapeman under the business "Rapeman Services", which is co-run with his uncle, a former surgeon. The business' motto is: "Righting wrongs through penetration." Clients call on the Rapeman to handle cases such as the revenge of a jilted lover, forming parental bonds through a traumatic crisis, making disruptive co-workers more docile and other things of that nature. When engaged in his night trade, the Rapeman wears a black leather ski mask shaped like the head of a penis, but no trousers or underwear. In the middle of a rape, if the woman/girl becomes unresponsive or expresses enjoyment, he uses special techniques such as "M69 Screwdriver" or "Infinite Loop" to apply more pain to the victim. Despite regretting some of the contracts he fulfills, he always completes the task.

Impact

The comic was mentioned by name in articles published in foreign publications in an attempt to delve into Japan's sex culture in the wake of the

Waseda University , abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902. The university has numerou ...

Super Free or its shortened form was an inter-university rave event club, mainly comprising students of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. The leader of the club along with various students from Waseda and other universities in Tokyo were arrested and co ...

"rape club" scandal. A band called

Rapeman Rapeman was a short-lived American noise rock band founded in 1987 and disbanded in 1989. It consisted of Steve Albini (formerly of Big Black) on guitar and vocals, David Wm. Sims (formerly of Scratch Acid and simultaneously of the Jesus Liza ...

credits the comic for the name the band chose. Frontman

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

and drummer

Rey Washam Rey Washam (born Reynolds Washam, March 14, 1961, in Austin, Texas) is a Grammy nominated drummer who has been performing for more than 35 years. He has collaborated with many bands, the most notable of which include: Scratch Acid, Rapeman, ...

admitted their obsession with the character and that obsession carrying over to naming the band. On 4 October 1999, almost 3 years after the final release in the franchise, a fictional 14th volume of the series was featured in episode 3 "...Or Just Look Like One" of the crime drama TV series '' Law and Order: SVU''. It is used by the prosecutor (who calls upon detective Monique Jeffries as a witness) as a piece of evidence against a young man accused of rape, whose father is also being charged as an accessory for bringing the comic into the house. The Rapeman is erroneously described as a high school student that turns into the alter-ego at night to take revenge on the girls at school that wronged him, rather than the adult "gun for hire" that Keisuke is.Law And Order: SVU – "Or Just Look Like One" episode recap
/ref> ''Rapeman''-artist Shintaro Miyawaki appears as a party guest in

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

's novel ''Anno Dracula 1999 Daikaiju'' (2019), leading to some thoughts about the manga.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rapeman, The 1985 manga 1993 films 1994 anime OVAs 1994 films 1995 films 1996 films 1990s superhero films Fictional rapists Hentai anime and manga Pink Pineapple Seinen manga Films about rape Dark comedy anime and manga Superheroes in anime and manga Japanese superhero films Superhero comedy films

Plot

Impact

See also

References

External links