It’s that sort of manga, and more!

Zannen Onna-Kanbu Black General-san (残念女幹部ブラックジェネラルさん, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General) is a gag manga by jin (yep, just jin) with a very simple premise: in a world with heroes and villains, one villain is obsessively in love with one notable hero. Hijinks and large breasts ensue. Beyond that, it’s a series about a bumbling villainous organization, and it’s just all around really fun and rather funny.

jin might be best known in the west, at least, for a series of comics titled A Friendly Orc’s Daily Life. This series and that series, at least at their premises/core concepts, are almost exactly the same. Take one busty, spiky-haired girl with striking eyes and (you honestly wouldn’t guess it by looking) an insatiable lust, and pair her with a nice burly guy who most women wouldn’t care about. Yet, the guy finds the girl’s antics really, really annoying and reacts to her persistence with deadpan. A slight difference is that the lady in this series is not as perverted (she’s still quite close, but the Orc series tends to be more explicit in its suggestions). A major differences is that the Orc webcomic was simple and straightforward, focusing on only two characters. It’s a good series that’s totally free so you can go read it if you like. I do not like it as much as I like Black General, however (though mainly because I don’t really like the last parts of A Friendly Orc, gets a little cliche).



SO! The titular Black General is not actually the leader of a villainous organization, but instead a subordinate of the villainous man in charge of the RX Group (a group bent on world domination, allegedly), uh…Boss. Most of the names we see in this series are codenames or nicknames. She introduces herself to the hero Braveman in chapter 1, revealing some crucial information.

Braveman at this point (and any time he’s not fed up), takes this as a serious threat regardless because this is a villainous organization’s debut. He attacks, and we get a To-Love-Ru-esque fall, after which we get a good look at jin’s signature “nipples somehow lifting up through clothes, thick or thin”.

This is a constant. Most of the time there’s a woman’s chest, there’s noticeable nipples, even through all layers of clothing. If that’s your fetish, enjoy. I won’t say whether or not that is my fetish. Ahem.

Anyway, most of the time rather than Bravement pratfalling into or over General to put her into provocative poses and situations, instead General has an idea that’s not very smart, or she has a misunderstanding and reacts awfully, and she barges into Braveman’s life while he’s on patrol.

General is a riot of a character and she’s great whenever she shows up (which is often), but thankfully there’s a decent-sized cast to keep her from ever becoming old hat.

Other characters in the RX Group include the surprisingly polite and surprisingly flippant Boss who oversees his group with kindness (and is overall a very relatable guy), the very serious and no-nonsense Secretary who many consider the best girl in the series, the three minions that follow Black General around (who, while similar in appearance, are each unique), and a few other characters who are later additions (an amoral and careless scientist, a “monster girl”, a shitty cat, and a lion-man; more may be to come).

They’re a lot like a dumb little family more than a group of friends, which gives their organization an amateurish and almost childish vibe. Ragtag. They operate out of a secret base that at a glance looks like a clubhouse in a junkyard, they respect each other and are supportive (except the cat, who’s just an asshole), and most importantly they do have strong bonds. One also nice thing is noticing their “evil” traits, which do exist. Like, you’d figure Black General was just misguided since she’s a hero fan yet became a villain, then you see how warped her logic is and how dastardly she can be. That all aside, over time we realize that the series also sports a number of building side romances, surprisingly enough including the “generic” minions. It’s pretty great too.

Most of my enjoyment of this series is derived from the side characters, and I don’t think I’m alone in that feeling.

Anyway, my favorite character is definitely the Boss. This man is a treasure.

When he first showed up I thought he’d just be a straight man, but he’s really anything but.

Anyway, I believe that should give you a decent understanding of the series all in all. I don’t really have any complaints, though I have a few concerns. One is that indeed, it’s possible that the raw premise of Black General could wear on you, side characters or no. Another is that I wish this had more fanservice, because I wouldn’t mind and feel like jin is holding back a bit. He’s a really good artist — unique art style that seems to have flourishes of Dowman Sayman, and he clearly loves a large chest. I just want to see more of what he’s capable of, more of the sort of stuff I might see on his pixiv account (you know, barring the porn), that’s all. See? A few.

Zannen Onna-Kanbu Black General-san is a good treat. You should probably read it, ’cause you’ll probably like it. It’s certainly one of my new favorites, and for good reason. Highly recommended. Totally check it out. You can buy it from CDJapan, bookwalker (guide), honto (guide), or ebookjapan. You can find the author jin on twitter @mugenjin. By the way, this series has a short-form (a few minutes = 1 episode) anime. It’s made vertically, like for watching on your phone. It’s also basically just colored “animated” panels 1:1 from the manga + voices… It’s okay, honestly. I wish it was a full-fledged anime, though.



End of article. Hopefully the next time I write something, it’ll be soon. Thank you for reading!!!

