Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai
Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai 「アカギ 〜闇に降り立った天才〜」 is a 36-volume manga series written and illustrated by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. It started on June 1, 1991 and finished publishing on February 1, 2018. Studio Madhouse produced a 26-episode animated series from October 5, 2005 – March 29, 2006.
Plot
Yagi Arc
The manga starts with Nangou, a gambler who has bet his life insurance in a mahjong match against the yakuza. He has been losing for a while, and is one 4th place away from losing the session (and his life)... until he reaches tenpai with a big hand. There's one problem - he would need to discard a dangerous tile. At just the right moment, Shigeru Akagi wanders in. Akagi does not know the rules of mahjong, but realizes Nangou is afraid, and states "you'll only survive if you die". Nangou, encouraged, discards the dangerous tile, wins the hand, and survives. Had he discarded the "safe" tile, he would have dealt into another player.
Before the next hanchan, Nangou decides to let Akagi play for him, despite the latter not knowing how to play. Akagi accepts, on the condition that Nangou provide an alibi. It turns out that Akagi survived a game of "chicken" - where two cars were racing towards a cliff - and the police were after him. For a while, Akagi does not win any hand, but does not deal in either.
Eventually, Akagi receives a monster hand: a hand with three dragon pairs, but he does not pon any of the dragons. Nangou is frustrated - "even if he doesn't know about daisangen, he would know that having three yakuhai triplets would be a big hand!" Suddenly, the police, looking for Akagi, start knocking. With the yakuza distracted by the police, Akagi makes his move: he takes the necessary dragons from the other's discard pile, then forces the distracted yakuza to continue playing. As the police enter, he wins with a giant suuankou daisangen hand. Despite Akagi's blatant cheating, the yakuza are unable to do anything. Because the police are now present, the yakuza are unable to do any violent punishments to Akagi; thus, he is protected.
Nangou and the yakuza provide an alibi for Akagi (Nangou convinced by Akagi's actions; the yakuza not wanting any further trouble), but Yasuoka, the detective, stays to watch. He knows that Akagi participated in the game of chicken, but cannot prove it. The game continues, and from this point forward, Akagi starts dominating. The results eventually force the yakuza to call in Yagi, their rep player. Yagi was able to give Akagi some trouble, through sleight of hand techniques, but ultimately falls due to Akagi's trick of his own.
Akagi had won back Nangou's life insurance money, and asks to double the stakes. Nangou initially rejected it, but felt compelled to accept (Akagi saved him). Yagi was mentally defeated, but due to the yakuza's pride, felt no choice but to accept. Akagi wins, and demands another double - until Yasuoka says otherwise. The detective mentions that, if the payment was too high, the yazuka would refuse to pay up. Yasuoka suggests to organize another match, with the same group but with higher stakes, at a later date.
Media
Akagi is a prequel to Ten: Tenhou-douri no Kaidanji (1989 - 2002). Akagi himself first appears as an opponent to Ten, but later becomes an ally in the main tournament arc. Following the success of the two manga, various works set in the same universe were made:
- Washizu - Enma no Touhai and Washizu - Tenka Sousei Touhairoku (2008 - 2012) are prequels to Akagi, featuring Akagi's ultimate antagonist.
- HERO: Akagi no Ishi o Tsugu Otoko (2009 - 2021) is a sequel to Ten. Some characters in Akagi are referenced/appear.
- Yami-ma no Mamiya (2019 - ) is set further in the future than Hero.
Animation
- A 26-episode animated series of the same name was produced from 2005 - 2006. It covers Chapters 1 - 109 (beginning of manga to Washizu Mahjong, end of 4th hanchan) of the manga mostly faithfully, skipping over a minor arc.
Television
- An 18-episode live action series was released from 2015 - 2018.
- Season 1 ("Akagi") covers Chapters 57 - 211 (Washizu arc beginning to Washizu, 6th hanchan)
- Season 2 ("Akagi: Ryuzaki, Yagi-hen / Ichikawa-hen") covers Chapters 1 - 26 (beginning of manga to end of Ichikawa arc).
- Season 3 ("Akagi: Washizu Mahjong Kanketsu-hen") covers Chapters 211 - 296 (Season 1 end - end of Washizu)