What do you get if you cross Deadpool with Jessie and James from Team Rocket?No, that's not a joke. The answer is, Baito-saki wa Aku no Soshiki.This manga is short and simple. High-school student Aokura Arihisa is desperate for money, not just to support himself, but also to take care of his five adopted siblings, who live in the same orphanage where he once lived.One day, he comes across an online ad for a part-time job that promises high pay with no previous experience needed. Knowing he probably won't get the job, but deciding to give it a try regardless, he sends in an application, and immediately receives an interview. To his complete shock, he's hired on the spot.But after only a few minutes at his new job, he finds out that there's more to it than he first thought.He's been hired by a secret underground organization known as Antares, to act as a low-level grunt and carry out acts of mischief throughout the city. However, things get more complicated when he meets a group of heroes whose job it is to keep the peace and prevent Antares from being successful in their missions.---Despite Aokura wearing generic full-body armor for a majority of the series, he manages to be just as expressive as he would be in normal clothing. He's charismatic and kind of a dork, somehow managing to bumble his way through his missions without causing too much damage, either to himself or to those around him.There's no true deeper plot going on, with almost every scene being focused on comedy. There are a lot of plot twists that can be seen a mile away, but the way the story is written, it's clear that these "twists" aren't supposed to be shocking in nature. More entertaining than that are how these twists end up playing out after they've been revealed.The art isn't extravagantly detailed, and sometimes characters end up looking a little weird, but this is easy to overlook.All in all, it's a fun story that knows it's ridiculous, and never takes itself seriously, which is part of what makes the premise work so well.If you have some time to kill and want to read something light and fun, give this manga a try.---SPOILERS AHEAD: END OF THE SERIES DISCUSSED---However, there are some problems with this manga, which keeps me from enjoying it as much as I otherwise would have. Namely, that it ends with a lot of unanswered questions.This manga is adapted from a light novel consisting of two volumes (thirteen chapters in total). I'm not entirely sure if the light novel was cancelled, or if it's just on indefinite hiatus, but it seems that the manga decided to end by tying up one large plot thread rather than continuing on with its own original content.Because of that, there are a number of characters who never get developed or...really even addressed properly.- Who are the other Final Fire members?- How did they get involved with being an ally of justice?- Who is the ghost girl in Aokura's apartment building?- How did she die?- Why is she attached to the building?- Why is she so intent on trying to scare Aokura?- Why can Ladywulf see her?- How come Aokura can see her, but he never acknowledges that she's a real ghost?You can still enjoy the manga without knowing the answers to these questions, but it would have felt a lot more fulfilling if these details had been fleshed out.
