Ichigeki Sacchu!! Hoihoi-san



Ichigeki Sacchu!! Hoihoi-san (一撃殺虫!!ホイホイさん One-Shot Bug Killer!! Hoihoi-san), is a manga by Kunihiko Tanaka (character designer of Xenogears/Xenosaga Episode I) that spawned a PlayStation 2 game and a 10 minute OVA.

Sometime in the 21st century, insects have become immune to all pesticides. To combat the rising plague of cockroaches and other household pests, the tiny, doll-like extermination androids known as "Hoihoi-san" were created by Mars Pharmaceuticals. People can also (and at the same time) treat them as dolls, by dressing them up in costumes and buying accessories for them. The manga focuses on the lives of people involved in the Hoihoi-san franchise, including Mars Pharmaceuticals executives, sellers, customers and rival companies developing similar androids to Hoihoi-san.

This manga straddles the line between satire and Affectionate Parody of the action figure business in Japan on one axis, while contrasting Moe and insectile horror on the other axis.

Good gravy.


 * All There in the Manual: Unless you read the manga, you'll never know why Combat-san fared so poorly in the OVA. To be fair, the OVA did ship with the manga, but that doesn't help you if you watch it online.
 * Auction: Mu-chan loots poor Aburatsubo in an online auction.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Compared to Hoihoi-san, they're friggin' enormous.
 * Body Horror: The face of Life Size Hoihoi-san opens up to reveal the horrid inner workings when she goes into Berserk Mode.
 * Boom! Headshot!: Combat-san does not play well with Hoihoi-san at first.
 * Brick Joke: Page 19 in the manga, Aburatsubo complains about never finding a free Hoihoi-san figurine in the package giveaways of his sausages. 79 pages later, Mu-chan mentions in her web diary that she's bought every single one in the city.
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Mu-chan's brain doesn't seem to work like those of normal folk.
 * Companion Cube: Hoihoi-san, to otaku hero Aburatsubo.
 * Computer Virus: Aburatsubo unwittingly uploads a virus to Hoihoi-san which causes her to do a cute pose and then destroys her hard drive.
 * Emotionless Girl: Unusually for the trope, Hoihoi-san really is an emotionless killing robot, albeit only of unfriendly insects. Which makes it especially creepy with the cheerfully laughing voice add-on or the smiling face attachments.
 * Flight: Hoihoi-san has a flight pack for dealing with flying vermin. It's recommended that you not leave her running during meals and while having guests over.
 * Four-Fingered Hands: The dolls in both manga & OVA.
 * Averted in model kits in Real Life & video game.
 * "Happy Holidays" Dress: One of Hoihoi-san's costumes is a cute Santa outfit. If you value your sanity, do NOT look in Santa's sack.
 * Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition
 * The manga is filled with varieties of Hoihoi-san.
 * The Pest-X-san limited edition came with a Cool Bike.
 * Living Toys: The dolls walk the line between this and Companion Cube. They're nearly self-aware and nearly inanimate.
 * Meido: Hoihoi-san's standard outfit.
 * Moe: Deliberately invoked by the adorable figurines with their cute outfits. Then deliberately subverted by having the figurines fighting horrid insect vermin, the outfits stained with ichor.
 * Mood Dissonance: Used heavily throughout the manga for humorous effect.
 * Off With Her Head: Changing Hoihoi-san's outfits requires gently pulling off her head at the neck. Aburatsubo finds this disturbing.
 * Otaku: Several different flavors come out.
 * Cosplay
 * Mu-chan dresses up for the Doll-ke convention.
 * The department chief for the manufacturer of Hoihoi-san dresses up for Doll-ke, invoking Creepy Crossdresser.
 * Dolls - Aburatsubo and Mu-chan both have way too many vermin-killing figurines.
 * Military - The dolls have a lot of weapons.
 * Chainsaw Good: One of Combat-san's main weapons.
 * Drop the Hammer: Hoihoi-san
 * Epic Flail: Hoihoi-san has a mace-and-chain.
 * Frickin' Laser Beams: Both Hoihoi-san and Combat-san have laser rifles you can purchase. Combat-san's appears in the anime.
 * Grenade Launcher: An add-on mentioned for Hoihoi-san but never shown.
 * Katanas Are Just Better: Hoihoi-san in the PlayStation 2 game.
 * Knife Nut: Combat-san's second attack on Hoihoi-san uses a military knife.
 * Powered Armor: Originally a proposed design for dealing with Combat-san, becomes a reality thanks to American manufacturers.
 * Sake Bottle: Aburatsubo regretted teaming this weapon with the Pouty Face accessory. Hoihoi-san looked like a depressed and abusive alcoholic.
 * Transforming Mecha: The Oboro model of Pest-X-san can transform into Super Exterminator mode.
 * Technology - Check out the specifications for each doll at the end of the manga.
 * OVA: The manga shipped with a 10 minute OVA anime.
 * Rage Quit: Aburatsubo doesn't handle it well when Combat-san blows up his Hoihoi-san.
 * Restraining Bolt: The Sundome-kun put on Combat-san is a literal restraint to prevent her from attacking Hoihoi-san.
 * Robot Girl
 * Slasher Smile: Using the smiling face kit along with the insect killing Talking Hoihoi-san is only advised for those over 15 years old.
 * Twenty Minutes Into the Future: It's the year 20XX. Just advanced enough for some vicious natural selection in insects and improved figurine automation.
 * Toys
 * Vomit Discretion Shot: Showing horrid insects is one thing, vomit is apparently quite another.