Mayo is the five dollar assassin who asks only five dollars for a killing. He is asked to kill the mother of a 12 year old prostitute, Shion, but leaves her alive out of pity. This event starts a chain of events which will shake the Asian economies to the core. (Source: ANN)

Strain was published in English by VIZ Media, first in the monthly manga anothology Pulp: Manga for Grownups, from December 1997 (premiere issue) to March 2001 (issue vol. 5, no. #3), for a total of 40 issues, later as standard volumes from January 5, 1999 to January 9, 2003. It has also been published in German by Schreiber & Leser, and in French by Seebd.