“In a gamble there's no such thing as an Emperor or a Kid everyone is in the same rank.„ Akagi Shigeru
Akagi a gambling manga or to be more precise a mahjong gambling manga centers around a young boy named Akagi who infact does not know of mahjong and only starts playing it at 13. However cuz of his genius mind he starts to show unbelievable talent and destroys every opponent he faces. Akagi is presented as a runaway kid with no family and not ever mentioning of such. Despite the main reason of gambling for most people being the money and the goods they might achieve in the story Akagi doesn't seem to care about it at all and he always wins as much money as he needs and just gives up the rest. This attitude of him made me think that he's just edgy character who just is written this way and there's no depth to him but oh boy i couldn't be more wrong.
Whilst Akagi plays Multiple mahjong games in the first few arcs the main part of the manga is centered in the ultimate battle between him and Washizu. An Old man so good at gambling throughout his whole life that he could earn more than ¥500 milion and now just gamble for fun. He brings talented guys to his mansion and makes them gamble with their bloods just to see her death. He's that sure to himself that he just doesn't simply care about the chance of loss and just wants to see people die. This stems from him believing to be an emperor but now facing Akagi he finally faces an opponent of his own rank. An emperor at first sight but the more the game goes in depth the more akagi becomes like a demon. Just like a battle of Angels & Demons, Darkness & Light all taking place in the thin border or life and death. The author Fukumoto Nobuyuki takes these metaphorical aspects to another level with his insane talent at narrating his stories and more importantly his breathtaking art.
After watching the anime it really made me interested to go and read the manga to see the conclusion but i sure did not know it's gonna take almost all the manga for this breathtaking battle to finish. I was afraid i was gonna drop middle way but this was definitely one of the most Wild and bombastic hype manga i've read with the level of intensity never dropping. It was crazy how the pace got slower and slower the more i read yet the more i read the better it got. The 5th session was the best amongst 1-5th sessions yet 6th session just outdid even one poker in terms of battle of wits and psychology. I never had much of a pacing issue except around the Oni arc (only 1 volume). But the most outstanding thing in this arc to me wasn't the gambling,akagi's genius ideas,the art or the intensity. It was all about Washizu.
In anime we just saw him as a greedy old bastard but he went on to become way more than just that. A true emperor we could respect and most of the time cheer for him to win. It was crazy how the manga subtly makes him the protagonist of this arc and we see his approached and tricks to win the games and in the end i for one did not want to watch his ruin and thus we even sympathize him. This was indeed one of the few arcs in fiction that made the Antagonist a protag and this will makes this arc special forever. But that is the beauty and yet the ugliness of a death match. There's not a really good ending when it ends up in death or is there?
This manga truly shows that in whatever religion,rank or social state we may be at we're all equal to death
Death was the main theme of the manga and with the 2 main Protagonist and Antagonists facing it for the very first time in their long gambling games truly opened their eyes specially for Akagi. To us Akagi was just a soulless creep that will eventually just win but even he cannot stand against death. Manga unintentionally makes us think that what's the true route to Akagi's brilliance? And the more we go into this arc we see that how he just wants to live his life to the fullest and not stop anywhere or fear any minor things paves him the path to this absolute cleverness of him. Yet you can't live if you don't die can you? And thus him facing death in the arc truly makes him feel alive. And in such extents that he states "i was dead all along and i've never felt more alive than now". And near the end of the match both of em addicted this scene of Living they found an obsession for each other. An obsession for this feeling of living at the peak of their lives,the most thrilling moment of it. and thus they don't want it to finish. Yet they have to give this match a deserving ending out of respect for that same opponent.
"Akagi... it was a long hard fought battle... for me you were the most incredible, most extreme, the greatest foe I've ever fought! A unique gleaming diamond in the rough! So parting with you will be such sweet sorrow!"
Fukumoto wanted so much for his manga to represent death that at the end of each volumes he uses arts directly from divine comedy which is one of the most important works of literature written by dante alighieri. Divine comedy is about his journey through Hell, Purgatory and then Paradise which perfectly goes well with Akagi and Washizu's journey
This arc took 20 years for the mangaka to finish. You read it right 20 years! With over 27 volumes. But it all only took 10 real hodiurs in the manga. This very fact shows how intense it was for both of the characters and we can truly see how much they've changed in the end and that's what made this manga so special to me. I hadn't ever seen a manga fleshing out the theme of death this good and all that in a mahjong manga. Akagi made me want to live with less fear and perhaps with a little bit more fun and i sure recommend it to everyone. Please do not let the manga being a mahjong manga take you away from reading this masterpiece. I highly recommend to read this guide: https://mahjong.guide/a-beginners-guide-to-riichi-mahjong/
And then watch the anime and continue the manga from chapter 108. You just can't miss this hell of a ride!
Also this was my first review on this app (or any app lol) so i appreciate any feedbacks!