PART 22 of 52 ONESHOTS in 52 WEEKS
すぎむらしんいちの『EASY WAY TO STOP SNIPING』 “Easy Way to Stop Sniping” by SUGIMURA Shinichi
One of the best ways to discover new mangaka is through themed anthologies, which often feature contributions from many different authors. Examples include collections based on existing series (Evangelion Comic Tribute, 8 Tales of the ZQN), others based on a specific theme or motif (China Girls, Cigarette Anthology), compilations of stories within a particular genre (Yama Kaidan, Horror Anthology Comic Shikaku), and even ones assembled together through their shared publisher (AX Collection of Alternative Manga) or format (It’s Too Precious and Hard to Read!! 4P Short Stories).
Today I’m looking at a oneshot by Shinichi Sugimura, whose work I was introduced to through the aforementioned Cigarette Anthology — a two-part omnibus released by publisher Square Enix in 2014, featuring short work by over 10 different authors. This collection, as the name suggests, brings together oneshot manga with a focus on smoking. Some simply include characters who smoke, whereas others use it more staunchly as a plot device or catalyst for the drama. Sugimura’s oneshot, titled Easy Way to Stop Sniping, belongs to the latter, following a hitman whose smoking compulsion leads to a botched ambush.
The Scorpios, rival drug cartel to the Tejas, have captured some of their enemies’ men and plan to execute them out in the wilderness. The Tejas get some intel and plot an ambush, hiring an elite sniper to take out the Scorpio boss. Arriving at the site dressed in a ghillie suit, with a cool demeanour and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the sniper looks the part, and promptly displays his expertise to his Tejas contact by shooting a rabbit far in the distance. The Scorpios soon pull up and the sniper takes position, lighting another cigarette. Worrying about the smoke blowing their cover, the contact quickly stubs it out and throws it down the hillside, only for the sniper to exclaim that he can’t hit a shot unless he’s smoking, and that was the last in his pack.
The 40-page oneshot is riotous fun, exhibiting author Sugimoto’s gripping combination of absurd action and comedy. The author lays the groundwork with entertaining exposition, through lively dialogue and characters, before unleashing an explosive scenario that is superb in its hilarity and execution. It is one of the more ‘Western’ based oneshots within the anthology, with Mexican cartel members replacing Sugimoto’s career-long fascination with the yakuza and delinquents.
Sugimura has reinvented and rearranged his art style throughout his long career. His analogue style in Samuraider, his first serial manga in 1988, is characterised by dramatic inking and defined lines, with character designs not so dissimilar to those by Katsuhiro Otomo. In Kobayashi-kun, a 1998 oneshot within the anthology All Nude, he adopts a crude style for the more comedy-oriented setting, illustrating with rugged lines and drawing characters with funny accentuated features. In Easy Way to Stop Sniping, now working digitally, the artist incorporates more screentone and illustrates with free flowing lines, crafting a unique look that is raw and energetic. His character designs are a touch cartoonish and help drive home the amusing tone of the work from the very first page.
Easy Way to Stop Sniping is a very entertaining piece and quite possibly the funniest within Cigarette Anthology. The author displays well his aptitude for comedy, building up a simple premise to end with an excitable set piece that is wholly gratifying in its enactment. His ever-shifting artwork continues to impress, particularly in its fluidity, where the gun shots and blood splatters take on an especially artistic flourish.
For more absurd hilarity, Sugimoto’s award-winning collection All Nude is a must — it contains some outrageously bizarre short works with a lot of crude humour, alongside several well-plotted oneshots of a similar tone to Easy Way to Stop Sniping, one of which is titled Snow Blind. Although much of his work remains unknown within English-speaking regions, there is an episode of Naoki Urasawa’s Manben featuring Shinichi Sugimura (Season 5, Episode 3), which is available with English subtitles. The documentary explores Sugimura’s career, influences and work processes, and examines the author’s methods as he works on his most recent manga series, The Last Pleasure Boat.
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Morning, Roo 