Akagi (manga)

For other possible meanings, see Akagi.

Akagi (manga)
File:Akagi.jpg Akagi Anime
Genre	Drama, Sports, Gambling
Manga
Written by	Nobuyuki Fukumoto
Published by	Take Shobo
Anime
Directed by	Yuzo Sato
Studio	Madhouse

Akagi (アカギ) is a Japanese manga that started in 1992 written by Nobuyuki Fukumoto about the game Mahjong. It is featured in the weekly magazine "Modern Mahjong", and has even been adapted into a movie because of its popularity. It is a prequel to the author's previous work Ten, which covers Akagi's titular character's later life. In the fall of 2005, it began its run as an anime series on Japanese television for 26 weeks.

Story

The title "Akagi" comes from the name of the main character, Shigeru Akagi. Akagi is a young boy who is a very talented gambler and makes remarkable wins in the story. In the first story he starts to play mahjong against Japanese mafia (Yakuza) for the first time in his life, but learns the game quickly and wins. Mahjong is a game that involves huge amounts of money and the Yakuza gangs use it to earn money, so when Akagi first won, it was his first step into the underground business. Akagi shows incredible talent throughout the story, but he also is a heretic that makes him different from others - his playing style is characterized by extremely risky and far-reaching bluffing techniques, which excite and terrify experienced players, as does his cheating ability, which he uses rarely, but to great effect. In the end he becomes a legend in the underground world.

Characters

Shigeru Akagi (赤木しげる, Akagi Shigeru)

• Voiced by: Masato Hagiwara

The main protagonist of the story. Having very narrowly survived a game of chicken, Akagi enters a mahjong parlor in hopes of getting a chance to dry off and rest. He stumbles in on Nangou, who is playing (and losing) a game where his life is on the line. Though he knows nothing about mahjong, Akagi gives some risky, but effective advice, allowing Nangou to win a round and narrowly avoid death. Nangou, sensing a power from the boy, describes the basic rules of the game and entrusts his game to Akagi.

Being completely fearless, very manipulative and calculating, Akagi takes risks other high-ranked players are not capable of, and in short order not only wins his first match, but also moves up to even higher stakes games. With this talent for gambling, Akagi's rise as a mahjong legend is inevitable.

Yasuoka (安岡)

• Voiced by: Tesshô Genda

A dirty detective who has connections to the underground business. He is one of the first people to realize Akagi's talents in mahjong, and takes advantage of this to great personal gain. In the manga he also plays the role of narrator.

Yagi (矢木)

• Voiced by: Wataru Takagi

The first professional mahjong player that Akagi plays and defeats. He uses techniques to cheat during the game but loses in front of Akagi's ability.

Ichikawa (市川)

• Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka

A blind professional mahjong player. Ichikawa was a player that would play by the book, while Akagi played in various ways. He seems to be similar to Akagi, but Akagi denies this and proves it by defeating him.

Yukio Hirayama (ニセアカギ, Hirayama Yukio)

• Voiced by: Ginpei Sato

The representative mahjong player for the Kawada Yakuza group, after he was first discovered by Yasuoka. Despite his physical resemblance to Akagi, his playing style is based solely on mathematical calculations and probability, in contrast to Akagi's natural gambling insight and psychological manipulation abilities. He lacks the courage required to be a true gambler, making him unable to be beat Urabe by falling for his strong bluffs. He is eventually killed by Washizu for failing to beat him in Washizu mahjong.

Urabe (浦部)

• Voiced by: Morio Kazama

The representative mahjong player for the Fujisawa Yakuza group. He and Akagi fought over thirty-two million yen. Urabe was the person responsible for raising the stakes, so when he was defeated, he was brutally mutilated by the Yakuza.

Iwao Washizu (鷲巣巌, Washizu Iwao)

• Voiced by: Masane Tsukayama

An old man who had made a lot of money, and one of the most powerful people in the underground. The fact is that despite his power, he is human and so someday must die, and it angers him, making him kill people below his age. Washizu and Akagi played mahjong in an unusual way - they played with glass mahjong tiles that made the game different in many ways.

External links

• Nippon Television Network's Akagi website (Japanese)
• True Pariah (An English Akagi fansite)