Scumbag Loser

Story: Scumbag Loser is morbid and cynical little horror story where a high schooler, Masahiko Murai struggles to avoid becoming his class’ biggest loser. In doing so, he lies that he is dating a girl that has been missing for years and is confronted by his classmates to confirm the rumors. Before he can be exposed, the girl arrives as a transfer and proclaims that the rumors are true, leaving Masahiko confused and moreover afraid of what this could mean. From there a mystery unravels as Haruka Mizusawa, Masahiko’s new girlfriend, begins to reveal her intentions and her true identity.

Characters: As far as protagonists go, Masahiko is definitely not one you’re likely to find yourself rooting for. Despite coming to learn the motivations to his actions, he still very much encompasses the title of a scumbag loser. Although I did find myself wanting him to prevail and rise above the title. Haruka as an antagonist is really the driving force of the story. She works as a good foil to any and all avenues of hope for our protagonist. Although there are other antagonists that appear, none really are as impactful as Haruka herself. The rest of the cast ranged from unremarkable to understandably despicable. You never really find yourself attaching to anyone for too long because you know they won’t last around long enough or are rather bland in comparison to the leads. Some of the character dialogue was a bit heavy handed. Character motivations were explained far too in depth when the material could’ve easily spoken for itself, allowing the room for people to read between the lines rather than be spoon fed all the answers. The ending and epilogue could’ve been left more ambiguous to drive the theme home but it wasn’t such a terrible ending that it ruined the experience for me.

Art: The art quality certainly varies. It may not be for everyone. Personally, the creature designs and the body horror were what kept me interested. The violence was varied, rather tame during some scenes, which left the aftermath to the imagination. Other times scenes relished in the blood and chaos of it all. The exaggerated expressions of the characters were some of my favorites. However, overall consistency in proportions in character designs was a bit distracting at times. The backgrounds and environmental panels weren’t very detailed or memorable.

Overall did I enjoy my time with this title? Yeah. Do I recommend you check it out? Why not? If you have an afternoon to kill, you could easily finish this and feel satisfied if a premise like this catches your attention. Give it a go, I had a much better time with it than I expected.