From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Akagi (アカギ
?) is a mahjong centric Japanese manga, written by Nobuyuki Fukumoto and first published
in 1992. It's featured in the weekly magazine Modern
Mahjong, and is a sequel to the author's previous work
Ten, in which Akagi's titular character also appears. Due
to its popularity, the manga has been adopted into two live action
movies, and a 26 episode anime
series which aired in Japan in the fall of 2005.
Story
The story revolves around the Mahjong gambling exploits of
Shigeru Akagi. After a death-defying game of chicken, Akagi nonchalantly
enters a Yakuza Mahjong parlor
to shake the cops' trail. Even unfamiliar with the rules of
Mahjong, his gambling intuition is enough to save a small time
gambler, Nangou, and grant him a seat at the gambling table. As the
night progresses, the stakes are raised both within the game and
for Akagi, who is under the suspicion of local police. However,
Akagi overcomes the situation with his tactics, defiant of both
life and chance. When he leaves the gambling house, no one present
is in doubt of his genius.
During the story arc, Akagi faces and defeats several opponents
in Mahjong, each with their own, distinct style of play. Akagi's
genius allows him victory, ultimately defeating the "behind the
stage king" of Japan and becoming a legend.
Characters
- Shigeru Akagi (赤木しげる , Akagi
Shigeru
?)
- Voiced by: Masato
Hagiwara
- Akagi is introduced as a deceptively adult looking young boy,
whose spark of genius transcends age and resides in gambling,
especially in the game mahjong. Throughout the story, Akagi utilizes
techniques other gamblers don't dare to, in order to sway his
opponents: brazen cheating, extremely risky maneuvers, far fetched
bluffs, a blatant disregard for his own life. These actions make
him a heretic among "ordinary" men, yet allow him to unflinchingly
defeat his opponents with a level of play that is marked as godly.
After gaining mythical status at 13, he disappears for 5 years and
resurfaces to become a legendary figure in the whole of Japan.
- Yasuoka (安岡,
Yasuoka
?)
- 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,
Yagi
?)
- 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,
Ichikawa
?)
- 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 (平山幸雄, Hirayama
Yukio
?)
- 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,
Urabe
?)
- 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. After building up massive funds
from shady dealings in Japan's post-war era, he uses this money to
tempt people -especially young people- to bet their lives for the
chance to win a large amount of money. He enjoys doing this, so a
match between Akagi and Washizu was arranged. Washizu and Akagi
played mahjong in an unusual way, of which Washizu calls 'Washizu
Mahjong' in which glass tiles replace most of the tiles that make
the game different in many ways.
References
External
links
| Works of Madhouse |
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