In the midst of a movement for the independence of Okinawa Island, a yakuza named Shinkai Juzo rounds up the local gangsters for a plan to infiltrate China and take over their criminal underworld. He strikes an alliance with Kouzu Kai, the leader of the public security group "BEGIN" who desires to climb the political ladder and free Japan from the control of both the American and Chinese goverments.
In 2020, Ikegami wrote a short story called Samayoeru Onna (さまよえる女; Wandering Woman) that is set three months after the events of this one.
This manga features the following tropes:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: After Monma learns Shinkai helped him join the Kunimura Clan for Sumika because he failed to save his own pregnant girlfriend from being unjustly executed, he quietly pulls him by the top of his head for a hug.
- Almighty Janitor: Stanton Lee was left as a casino janitor after losing everything to Hong Chengyun. Shinkai draws him out to make a deal against Hong even though he knows the old tiger will want to betray him at the first opportunity.
- Apologetic Attacker: Monma is forced to assassinate the 6th Chairman of the Sannou under Tojo's orders, but once it is done he takes his shades off and bows in gratitude as the elevator doors close between them.
- Badass in Distress: After several scenes showing his ruthlessness, Akai is captured by Hong's subordinates to lure Shinkai. The other yakuza come to his rescue with help from a group of protesters who distract the kidnappers by recording the incident.Hong: "His comrades will come to save him, even if they know it's just a trap... That's just how the Japanese are... A Chinese person would have let him die without remorse."
- Beauty Equals Goodness: The good-looking characters have at the very least a strong moral code, while the ugly ones are irredeemably evil. Hong in particular is a fat old manlet, but at least he looks appropriately imposing. The members of the Socialist Communist Party, on the other hand, are portrayed with no dignity whatsoever until they start agreeing with Kouzu's views.
- Big Bad: Hong Chengyun, who is part of a clan who shaped China's modern history, controls the Chinese mafia and is behind the success of his country's president. The man is as cartoonishly villainous as it gets, and lives in a supervillain lair with a large shark tank to feed victims into and a massive framed painting of the Tiananmen Square massacre he can admire on his spare time.
- Connected All Along:
- Shinkai briefly met Kouzu during the massacre at Tiananmen and saved his life. The two realize they can count on each other despite their differences, as neither could give up on Okinawa after surviving Tiananmen. Shinkai reflects on this after he learns Hong was the one who called the army to put down the students on that day.
- Shu, or rather Akai Chu, has Ushiku at gunpoint when he realizes the man is his childhood friend, which causes Akai's Heel–Face Turn to Shinkai's side.
- Dramatic Irony: Monma seeks to take control of all the yakuza clans and grant them to Shinkai. This requires Tojo's protection for some time, and Monma attempts to assassinate Kouzu under his orders without realizing that's who Shinkai has been cooperating with.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- While helping a couple of Chinese kids look for their parents, Shinkai remembers Tiananmen Square and remarks that unlike that massacre his scheme against China is not a war that will destroy people indiscriminately.
- Shu Keichu is a Bad Boss but he refuses to kill Shirasu and advises her to not be sacrificed by the conspirators because she reminds him of his dead sister. It is said he is merciful to girls in general because of that, though anyone who points it out is executed on the spot.
- The Faceless: The 6th Chairman of the Kobe Sannou, Kiyomiya Tetsuharu, has his face cast in shadow when he first appears. He's only properly introduced when the connection between him and Shinkai, as well as the reason Shinkai had to kill his own boss, are explained.
- Gentle Giant: Maa, one of the Chinese men captured by Ushiku's group, is inexplicably gigantic and turns out to be very friendly once he pledges his loyalty to him.
- It Gets Easier: Shinkai asks Matoba Fusaichi who many he has killed, to which Matoba, thinking back to a gruesome scene he saw as a child during WWII, replies he lost count. Shinkai later notes the nearby bartender sniper, Nomaguchi, must have lost count too.
- A Glass in the Hand: When Shinkai and Kouzu are discussing their plans with Matoba, Kouzu states that to drive America away he must first transfer all the US army bases from the main island to Okinawa. He crushes a glass of sake under his hand for dramatic effect and afterwards is briefly seen wiping the blood off like it didn't hurt at all.
- Kick the Dog:
- Hong Chengyun is a nasty Bad Boss who disposes of one underling who found him being defied by Stanton Lee funny by having other guards drop him into a shark tank. One of them literally drops a puppy inside the tank before the terrified goon just for good measure. As the carnage unfolds before him, Hong gestures a bite and remarks the bloody pool is just like Beijing's crimson red flag.
- While worrying about Shinkai's actions, Hong realizes the largest shark in the tank has been injured by a smaller one. The idea of the weak overcoming the strong disgusts him so much that he has the small shark dragged out and fed to blackbirds outside.
- Hong is responsible for the Tiananmen Square massacre and has a huge framed painting of it hanging on a wall of his mansion, in case you still didn't get he's that much of a scumbag.
- The Lost Lenore: Shinkai became a doctor to help people after surviving the Tiananmen massacre and had a girlfriend co-worker while operating at Tibet, but she was captured and executed by the Chinese army for being a witness of their crimes. This incident drove him to become a yakuza to attain the power to actually protect what he cares for, and he helped Monma leave the Sannou to hook up with Sumika of the Kunimura Clan so Monma wouldn't suffer like he did.
- Neck Snap: One of Shinkai's first actions in the story is twisting backwards the head of a shady Chinese man connected to the movement for Okinawa's independence.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Stanton sends Shinkai to meet Shin expecting him to just be arrested or killed and tries to work with Hong again, but Hong argues that him enabling two unpredictable enemies to meet at all was a mistake. After some initial difficulty, Shin goes on to become Shinkai's ally to the end of the story.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Zhao Zhiping is the stand-in for Chinese president Xi Jinping in the story.
- "Not So Different" Remark: While overseeing the interrogation of a group of captured Chinese gangsters, Shinkai notes they were all born in rural areas and were denied full citizenmanship from their country. Upon hearing this, Ushiku acknowledges them as fellow social rejects and shares a smoke with Maa, the large tied man he was trying to intimidate.
- Patriotic Fervor:
- Shinkai and Kouzu are boastful of their patriotism and do whatever it takes to stand against China and remove the American army bases from Japan.
- Robert Crane's introduction is him in full football attire monologuing that America's influence over Japan is what saved the island of Okinawa from poverty and disease."You ungrateful fucks! This is America!"
- Playing Both Sides: Tojo Kiichi of the Liberal Democratic Party admits to Robert Crane that he's been supporting both China and the United States simultaneously for his own gain, but this is in order to mantain the status quo in Japan so it suits Robert just fine.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Shinkai is a self-proclaimed patriotic Yakuza who resents the Chinese and their goverment while also showing compassion for any of them that are kind and honourable. Kouzu is likewise a nationalistic far-right politician who'd create turmoil in Okinawa to let Japan become a nuclear power independent from the US and China.
- Rape and Revenge: Sakurada had a sister named Hayuko who commited suicide after being raped by an American soldier. Said soldier wouldn't be handed over to Japan's authorities, so Kouzu used his influence to drag him out and let Sakurada execute him.
- Rape by Proxy: On Shinkai's orders, Monma has Doi kidnapped and gangraped to prevent him from blackmailing Kouzu.
- Recurring Element: This manga, Sanctuary and Heat are not on the same continuity but the yakuza organization set in Kobe in all three is named Sannou and has the same triangle-shaped emblem.
- Recycled In Space: The premise of a yakuza and a politician joining forces to change Japan is very similar to the author's previous work Sanctuary, but with the event that ties them being the Tiananmen Square massacre instead of the Cambodian genocide.
- Shout-Out: Hong is first seen while he's happily watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon on his car. This is used to express that the idea of a weak and small creature overcoming a strong one is nothing but fiction to him.
- Sigil Spam:
- Tiger Versus Dragon: Hong Chengyun is compared to an almighty black dragon and his business rival Stanton Lee is compared to a tiger. Shin Koyo is another tiger, a white one, who controls Macau's police and desires to take over Beijing with his own power.
- Use Your Head: Ushiku always strikes enemies with a flying headbutt, which he developed in his youth to fight off bullies.
- You Have Failed Me:
- After one sniper is killed while trying to assassinate Shirasu Reo, Shu executes two of the sniper's allies just for loafing around.
- After the failed attack on Shinkai's cruise ship, Hong is enraged that the insurance bill came to him and realizes Shinkai had shouted something in Japanese during their last encounter, meaning he already intended to evacuate the ship. The man in charge of the operation reacts in shock as he recalls this, and so Hong stabs him in the head twice as hard for this failure.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
- Shinkai has a group of rich men who work for Hong captured and, after some time unable to get information out of them or convince them to leave to Japan, just lets them go. The most loyal one runs away and is instantly accosted by assassins. After Maa and Ushiku save him, the rich men waste no more time and take Shinkai's offer to escape the country.
- Hong immediately tries to hit Shin's car with a rocket after the policeman starts acting against the underworld. Hong claims he could've done this at any time, but needed Shin to mantain a sense of cleaness and peace at Macau to keep the flow of people and money going.
