The Dark Side of Japan

The Laughing Salesman

The Laughing Salesman is a horror comic which deals a lot with greed and the dark side of human being. In Japanese it is called "Warau Seerusuman". 

The plot of the story can be described "In a society filled with people who do whatever with their lives, there are some who struggle with it or never achieved their goals. The story focuses on individuals who meet a shadowy and ominous salesman, Moguro Fukuzo, who promises them a better life if they follow his advice. However, the clients that Moguro meet often cheat, refuse to rely on his help, or worse - deny that they received assistance at all. When this invariably happens, Fukuzo punishes his clients by using their reliance on his aid against them. With their lives ruined, he is satisfied with his job and looks for more potential clients."

I personally really love this comic due to its ironic and sarcastic depiction and its sense of black humor, which are uncommon amongst many Japanese comics. It also depicts Japan's dark sides and the character being so iconic and remarkable. It is funny that this dark horror comic was written by Fujiko Fujio, who was a co-writer of a popular comic called "Doraemon"  

There are many episodes which are my favorites and it really illustrates pinnacle and ruin of a person due to his/her own greed. Although sometimes a person is saved in the episode, they mostly are in a way didactic.