Hokuto no Ken Ultimate Sadistic Action : Yakusoku no Basho

Ultimate Sadistic Action : Yakusoku no Basho (北斗の拳 イチゴ味 アイン外道伝 USA 〜約束の場所〜) is a one-shot published on February 25, 2017 in Monthly Comic Zenon. Written by Kawata Yushi and drawn by Yukito, this parodic story dedicated to Ein is part of the series of end-of-volume gaiden from Ichigo Aji. It is collected in the seventh volume of Ichigo Aji, which it shares with GOLDEN GUY, dedicated to Falco.

Synopsis

Ein is the star of his American high school, king of skateboarding in the hallways and football champion under the crowd's cheers. On the evening of his triumph, alongside his girlfriend Linda, an explosion devastates the neighborhood…

The American Dream

The one-shot reimagines Ein as a high school student in a fantasized America. He cruises through the hallways on a skateboard to the jeers of a teacher ("Hey Ein, this high school, no skateboard!!") and offers a "Sorry teacher!!" without slowing down, before shining on the football field by catching the "Big Almond!!!" to the roar of the stadium. The entire story plays out in phonetic English transcribed in katakana, with margin inserts, "Ein's American language class," translating for the reader as the pages go by.

When evening comes, Ein savors his championship title alongside his girlfriend Linda, who congratulates him while he proclaims that the world belongs to him ("World is mine!!"). It is at that moment that an explosion devastates the neighborhood, and when the dust settles, Linda has vanished beneath the rubble. Ein digs through it with his bare hands, screaming her name.

The story then shifts. Ein regains his canonical appearance as a fighter of the post-apocalyptic world and slaughters those responsible. The last of them, crawling, begs three times ("Give me a chance…"), and Ein finishes him off with a "Something else!!" delivered with thumbs up. A bonus page closes it all out by establishing, with feigned seriousness, the three sacred treasures of cool America: Cadillac, Hot Dog, English.

A parody within the parody

Ultimate Sadistic Action occupies a unique position in the series. While most gaiden reserve the end-of-volume bonus story for the drama that the main chapters parody, this one tips the entire experience into burlesque. The seventh volume exceptionally features two short stories instead of one, with this gaiden paired alongside GOLDEN GUY.

The title itself is a multi-layered gag. The acronym USA unfolds into Ultimate Sadistic Action, and the subtitle Yakusoku no Basho, the promised place, refers to this dreamed-of America of freedom, as confirmed by the "Perfect Freedom" calligraphed on the title page.

The volume's introductory page also recounts the birth of this one-shot, the most stressful in the series in terms of both deadlines and nerves for its author. The editor-in-chief reportedly approved it with a "I don't understand any of this at all, but if it works for you, go ahead," and the story was completed in a single sitting.