Surprisingly, I like Ootsuki's outings more than Tonegawa's office tales. Quite a controversial opinion to have, no? A common criticism I remember reading a lot when watching the Tonegawa anime is that Ootsuki's spin-off.. kinda sucks. And I'd argue that's not the case -- Ootsuki's spin-off suffers from being adapted WITHIN Tonegawa's anime. Ootsuki himself isn't a exactly popular character in the western FKMT fandom, while he does come from the first half of what people consider to be Kaiji's magnum opus, he's overshadowed by the bishonen that is Ichijo Seiya, AND by other antagonists later on in the series. Hyodo, Tonegawa, the guy frompart three.. They all have something going on, something that makes them a giant threat to Kaiji himself. Ootsuki is as much of a regular guy as Kaiji is -- making for a interesting character that's somewhat underrated.

And that is what I feel like works best with One Day Outing Foreman. Ootsuki himself has a very easy formula to work with, namely the "passes" that Kaiji seeks for through his arc. The money? From the pericas. The outings? Very fun!

Now -- I do not believe that you read this manga for a gourmet manga. Of course, a lot of the chapters are dedicated to Ootsuki trying to make himself a king by eating some exotic food, or the globalized Ootsuki's discussing if he should eat Italian or Chinese, but that's not really the case in long-term. This is a manga about the things Ootsuki tries to do to live a somewhat regular life with his friends. Ootsuki is NOT a comically evil guy, he's just a tiny person exploiting the system, basically a regular office worker. When compared to Ichijou and Tonegawa, this makes completely perfect sense. You can put Ootsuki in scenarios like buying Chiikawa merchandise, playing Slay the Spire, going to Okinawa and getting tanned, or just.. anything! And it works! Because of Ootsuki's natural human vibes, this spin-off is perfectly suited for him. One could say this manga does wonders to Ootsuki's reputation, as it has outlasted both Tonegawa AND the Ichijou spin-off. Did I mention that this series also has a Slay the Spire cameo FOR the absolute sake of it?

Ootsuki himself is a fun character here, and the way he interacts with Isawa and Numakawa feels absurdly natural. They're the closest thing I can compare to when it comes to "me and the boys" as a manga. They're an absolute vibe. They really are a vibe. Miyamoto's a fun character to have around with, creating this absurdly cozy and fun vibe between them that certainly got me grinning a lot. It's just a really comfortable slice of lfie series with a dark undertone behind everything. You're here because you want more Kaiji, and you know what Ootsuki goes through after his defeat. You know Ootsuki's eventually gonna have his downfall, but this manga makes you feel bad for the guy and his friends! They're just.. regular people, like you and I!

Out of all the Fukumoto gag spin-offs, this is easily the best one. Sure, some jokes don't land and the gourmet stuff is not really all that interesting later on, but I feel like it makes up by making Ootsuki's group just this.. really chill group. They're all just friends, and I find that fun to read. Some might lean more into Tonegawa's traditional gag parody or Ichijou's comically absurd queerplatonic relationships, but I like manga where there's a big group of friends, and they fuck around while living life, and this has satisfied that itch almost perfectly.

Did I also mention there's a cameo of Slay the Spire and they're using that as promotion for Slay the Spire II in Japan?