Here’s what it’s like to recreate a late-night konbini food binge from a manga in real life

We’re probably the only ones who are crazy enough to try this Kaiji spinoff meal at home–though we don’t recommend it for anyone else.

Ichinichi Gaishutsuroku Hancho (“One-Day Outing Foreman”), nicknamed Hancho, is a manga written by Tensei Hagiwara and Nobuyuki Fukumoto and illustrated by Motomu Uehara and Kazuya Arai. As a spinoff of Fukumoto’s Kaiji manga, it’s been serialized in Weekly Young Magazine since 2016, and just happens to be one of our Japanese-language reporter Ahiruneko’s favorites.

In particular, one storyline that has always intrigued him is Chapter 44: “Insurrectionists” (featured in Volume 6) in which the main character Taro Otsuki impulsively buys a great quantity of food at a konbini (convenience store) at 2 a.m. and then gorges on it. It’s unsettling, disgusting, and yet somehow touching all at once knowing that Otsuki has only a limited time to enjoy this simple hedonistic pleasure before he goes back underground. Ahiruneko felt like he got heartburn just by reading it the first time, but was still strangely captivated by the premise.

And so, in true SoraNews24 intrepid reporter fashion, he decided to recreate the binge-eating scene to the best of his ability in real life to see how it would make him feel. In the middle of the night, he hopped on his bike and pedaled to his local 7-Eleven. The konbini depicted in the manga was fictitious, but based on its outer appearance, it was likely based on 7-Eleven.

▼ Please share your thoughts and prayers for Ahiruneko’s stomach as he embarks on this path of madness.

Now, in the manga, when Otsuki enters the store, he goes into a “reverse Marie Kondo” state, putting anything that sparks joy into his basket. Ahiruneko held the manga volume in one hand for reference and tried to fill his basket with similar things…and just like Otsuki, soon he couldn’t stop adding more and more.

As his basket became heavier and heavier, he also became increasingly anxious. What was the state of Otsuki’s stomach after eating all of this at once? Forget the manga character; what would his actual, living stomach organ be like after this experiment?!?

The only [happy] miscalculation of his late-night shopping run was that the hot food bar was closed at the time for cleaning. This was probably the only time in his life that he would say the following with glee: he wouldn’t have to add any fried chicken to the mix!

▼ What the konbini hot food case normally looks like

At least the damage to his wallet wasn’t bad. All of the food cost 2,180 yen (US$13.56) in total, which, while it may break his stomach, wouldn’t break his bank account.

Back home, Ahiruneko took stock of this simultaneously exciting yet terrifying assortment of ordinarily delicious things. He did his best to faithfully recreate the spread shown in the manga’s illustrations through his shopping spree, and for the items he couldn’t find exact matches for, he was able to find appropriate substitutions.

He’ll now detail the haul individually by item.

First, unfortunately the store didn’t have the extra-large serving of U.F.O.-brand yakisoba noodles that was depicted in the manga, so he instead opted for an extra-large serving of Ippeichan Yakisoba instead. This one came with a little squirt bottle of mustard mayonnaise as well, meaning that his stomach was sure to be even more cursed delighted.

These four items are very faithful to the manga (clockwise, from upper-left): spicy cod roe potato salad, seasoned boiled egg, fruit sandwich, and an egg salad sandwich.

Sadly, the store was sold out of tonkatsu burgers and eclairs, so he improvised by selecting a tonkatsu sandwich and a fresh chocolate sandwich (more like a round chocolate mini-cake) instead.

He also couldn’t find anything like the bomb-shaped onigiri from the manga, so he sprung for a pickled plum and kelp onigiri that he felt was fairly similar.

Finally, there was no bottled tomato juice, so he settled for a small tomato juice carton instead.

Ahiruneko had done the absolute best that he could, so it was time to commence the eating. Late-night food binge, here he comes!

He began by preparing the yakisoba…

…only to dump the spicy cod roe potato salad directly on top of it–just like Otsuki does in the manga!

Then it was the boiled egg’s turn.

Of course, the only perfectly [in]sane thing left to do was then mix it all together. It was a veritable calorie monster.

He began eating it, but quickly realized that something was missing.

It was the onigiri, of course.

He decided to eat that one on the side, alternating bites of each.

GULP, GULP. He also tried to copy Otsuki’s manner of gulping his food down without extensive chewing.

After all of this, Ahiruneko thought that he might already be at his limit.

Why again was he downing such a large amount of food by himself in the middle of the night…? Was there any point to it?? He had to push these intrusive thoughts aside, however, because there was still more work to be done.

▼ Settling his stomach and his resolve with some tomato juice

He decided to get back into his rhythm with the egg salad sandwich…

…and tonkatsu sandwich.

At least there was plenty of protein in these bites.

That’s also when he thought it would be a good idea to wash down the oiliness of the tonkatsu with the fresh chocolate sandwich.

▼ Is this the face of gastronomic bliss, or agony…?

For the heck of it, let’s add one more layer of sweets to the mix with the fruit sandwich.

After two bites of that, however, Ahiruneko passed out.

Well, to be precise, he was on the verge of losing consciousness, but didn’t quite get there. Metaphorically speaking, it was lights out for him, though.

He supposed this end result was fitting, since in the manga Otsuki falls asleep due to the sudden, sharp spike in his blood sugar. He then sleeps peacefully with a faint smile on his face.

However, there’s one more thing that Ahiruneko has to share. Anyone who’s read the manga may recall a small detail that Otsuki also purchases some purin (Japanese-style pudding), but isn’t depicted eating it before he falls asleep.

Ahiruneko thought that this was somehow a shame and was resolved to do what the manga character could not: finish the pudding.

▼ “Otsuki, man, I’ve got your back.”

…Aaaaand, then he was down for the count again.

The bottom line of Ahiruneko’s experience is that he strongly recommends you don’t try this kind of late-night food-binging for yourself. You won’t gain anything from it except for a very upset stomach. The manga illustration of Otsuki with a happy smile after falling into a food-induced coma can’t be anything but a fictional wish. Instead, Ahiruneko urges readers to satisfy any late-night cravings they have by reading either the Hancho manga or even more articles by our delusional intrepid reporters.

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