Viz Media spun up its Viz Originals One-Shots program last summer: a showcase for up-and-coming manga artists working in the English language, featuring one-and-done stories available for free on Viz.com and the Viz app. That won’t answer every question you might have about DeadAss, a one-shot story about James, a man who has haunting-induced chronic hemorrhoids, but it should provide at least a little context.
DeadAss runs 50-odd pages, a breezy read from hakei, the artist behind Your Wings and Mine on Webtoon and Achilles and the Boy Next Door on Tapas. Published last month, it only recently came to this writer’s attention, and I would say that the concept speaks for itself — if not for how much more hakei does with DeadAss than butthole goofs.
I don’t want to give away anything more about the plot of DeadAss, but, simply put, it is a delightful and expertly constructed short story you can read in about 10 minutes for free. The story only begins with James’ doctor informing him that his butthole is literally haunted, and then moves across a gamut of emotion.
“Few mangakas possess hakei’s rare ability to craft characters that are both funny and moving simultaneously—the very essence of manga,” reads the editor’s note from former Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Hisashi Sasaki, and that’s a good summation. DeadAss is absurd, gross, and dramatic — and silly, obviously, it’s extremely silly, but just as extremely sincere.
Hakei also showcases a real talent for the short story, telegraphing later reveals without giving too much away, and giving emotional moments room to breathe even in a limited page count. Ultimately, DeadAss is both a story about guilt, and also a comedy about a ghost making a man shoot blood out of his butt with hose-like pressure.
And if that doesn’t make you curious, I don’t know what will. DeadAss is available free on Viz.com right here or through the Viz app.
