Super Cruel and Terrible Tales of Mangaka
	 Act 1 - Ambition
	  Chapter 4
	   I Am Mangaka

 - Page 23 -

"Igomachi, what are you going to be when you grow up?"

("Go Town")  (Go: the board game)

"I'm gonna be a mangaka."

Chapter 4: I Am Mangaka

Igomachi: ...hey Suzuki, did you see that Shonen Spirits special issue?
	Kenji Igomachi.
	That's right, that was my debut work.
	I'm a mangaka from now on.  You have to call me "Sensei."

 - Page 24 -

Igomachi: 100 copies of the Shonen Spirits Extra.

Sign: -hara Books

Clerk: 100 copies!!
	And what name shall I put on the form?

Igomachi: Ah, Kenji Igomachi, the mangaka.

Reporter: What do you think of the Koizumi Administration, sir?

Igomachi: Speaking as a professional mangaka, they've got some work ahead of them.

Reporter: Tell us about the state of school education these days.

Igomachi: Speaking as a professional mangaka, it's in a sorry state indeed.

Man: Here are your business cards.

Card: Mangaka
	Kenji Igomachi

Man: Hey, there's a 4-panel comic on the back.

Igomachi: (ha ha ha)
	I AM a mangaka, after all.
	"The new artist Kenji Igomachi in the latest Shonen Spirits extra shows incredible promise!!"
	"Any future works by this up and coming artist must be read to be believed!"  And, submit.

 - Page 25 -

Landlord: I'm afraid you still haven't paid the rent, Mr. Igomachi.

Igomachi: I'm sorry.  I'll get the manuscript fee this month.

Landlord: Manuscript?

Igomachi: I AM a mangaka, after all.  (ha ha ha)

Doctor: Your arm hurts?  Could be an RSI.

Igomachi: (ha ha ha)
	Perils of the territory.  I AM a mangaka.
	Have 100 yen.  I AM a mangaka.

Dog: (woof woof)

Youth is a beautiful, benign part of human life when every action carries brilliant, heartfelt 
meaning.  Having now become the mangaka he dreamt of being since a small child, he found himself 
intoxicated on the idea that his auspicious life choice was being showered with felicity and joy 
from the entire world.  But reality has a way of bringing the oblivious back to the earth with 
painful results.

Policeman: Kenji Igomachi?  Never heard of him.
	Never even heard the name.

 - Page 26 -

Policeman: And what do you draw in?  Shonen Spirits?
	Never heard of it.  Never seen it, never ever.  Sorry.

Igomachi: Grrrr.
	Grr.
	Fuck the police!  Die pigs die!!
	Ngraah!

Magazine: RIIIP
	Manga Ranking Charts

Igomachi: NGRAAAHH!!
	Why isn't there a single word written about my grand debut?!
	It's my goddamn lifetime masterpiece!!

Clerk: Stop that, sir!

Igomachi: Let go of me!  I'm a mangaka!!
	Oh!  Mom.
	When'd you move out of the country?

Mother: Kenji!

("Dog-Boy")

Mother: Where have you been, so late at night?!

 - Page 27 -

Mother: Why can't you find some direction in your life?  Get a real job.  Find a wife.  Give me grandchildren.  Set your mother at ease.

Igomachi: What?
	I already became a mangaka!!

Mother: A mangaka, indeed!  And could you boast to GOD about your work?

Igomachi: Urgg!

Aunt: You musn't be so hardheaded with Ken, dear sister.  The poor boy.

Igomachi: A,
	Auntie!

Aunt: Tell you what.  I can have a look at your skills and tell you how good of a mangaka you can be.
	Is that all right?
	First, you will draw a Pikachu.  Draw Pikachu.

Igomachi: Ugh.

Aunt: And now, Arale.

Mother: You CAN draw Arale, of course?  You're a mangaka.

Aunt: And next, draw me Dango Kushizuke.

Mother: (no)
	Doron-chibimaru, I want Doron-chibimaru.

Igomachi: ...stop humiliating meeee!!

 - Page 28 -

Igomachi: God this sucks!  This really sucks!!

Woman: Oh, aren't you that mangaka, honey?

Igomachi: ...you know who I am?

Woman: Of course I do, you're famous.
	You're Tachinosuke Chikubi-sensei.  I saw a picture in one of his books.

Igomachi: You heinous bitch!!

Woman: Yeeeek!!

Kenji Igomachi was jailed.

Sign: Soramame Prison

Yet ironically, it would be this enclosed confinement that would return equilibrium to his
tortured soul.

Inmates: No wonder you were a mangaka.  You're great!
	Good job, Mangaka.
	Mangaka.

Igomachi: Heh heh heh.

 - Chapter 4 End -