First off, this is my first review on this site EVER. So, please bare with my mistakes as I'm currently writing this from a phone and I tend to express my love for a series in a very energetic way. Enjoy what I thought of this manga, minna-san!
Usogui, a gambling manga created by the mangaka Sako Toshio revolving around the main character
Baku Madarame. A fun-loving, purely led by instincts gambler who loves gambling so much to the point that he would give up his own life for it. Now, Baku by the off chance meets Kaji Takaomi, a guy who's riddled by debt and other financial worries and our mc Baku decides to help Kaji because he seemed interesting. Then, he goes into a casino and pretends to be a smelly, drunk, alcoholic so that he can trick the dealer into putting the ball into a specific number so that he can then put all his funds into that specific number and gain profit. We then learn of his nickname, Usogui, which means "the lie eater" and his name strikes fear into the people as he's known as a gambler who can literally EAT the LIES of others. Usogui delves into the psychological state of humans, mind games, relationships, gambling, human nature, the purpose of humans, fighting, spectacular twists and turns as it keeps you invested in its story and you can't stop yourself from reading more. Side note: (this manga REALLY REMINDS ME OF TOMODACHI GAME)
I'm skipping a little part of the story here cuz if I don't and do start telling everything, this review would be longer than the Eiffel Tower. I'm gonna be honest, this manga is a behemoth of a manga with 539 chapters. Now I know that sounds like a big commitment and journey that sounds boring and uninteresting and tiring but let me assure you, its WELL WORTH IT. The beginning 30-40 chapters are mediocre/average at best and aren't very good. But the chapters and arcs after that get significantly better and more enjoyable. After the hangman arc, Usogui gets good and then never looks back. An important part of the plot that we learn about the story is that after Baku hears the word Kakerou, he suddenly gets all fired up and we then learn the reason why. Kakerou is an organization originating hundreds of years ago that manages gambles on a neutral note and ensures that all the rules are met and when the gamble is over that the conditions of the loser and the winner are carried out properly. This organization also consists of a leader that you can challenge through a gamble called "Surpassing The Leader" through alot of trial and errors and if you win, you gain everything Kakerou has to offer and everything it consists of, but if you lose, you lose EVERYTHING, your life, money, and everything else. And our mc Baku once lost all of his life savings and funds to this organization in the past after he challenged the leader to the Surpassing The Leader gamble that was done on the conditions that IF a helicopter or any aerial vehicle goes past this building in the next 30 minutes, I win and if it doesn't, I lose. No aerial vehicle or helicopter went past the building therefore Baku lost. Kaji is stumped as to how he is still alive, but you should go find that out yourself.
And then we learn Baku's grand overarching goal that he plans to accomplish by the end of the series, "become the leader of Kakerou", and the story basically revolves around how Baku will achieve this said goal and how many hardships/trials he will go through in order to achieve his goal. The author, Sako Toshio entertwines the plot points and Baku's goal in such a way that will keep you on your toes, itching to read the next chapter. After this, Kaji decides to become a ally and friend of Baku and support him as Baku supported Kaji. Baku also obtains another ally, Marco, an absolute fighting powerhouse and machine with an alter ego that does all the fighting called "Rodemu" and is only activated when he is put through an agonizing amount of physical and mental anguish. He also cannot control himself when his alter ego is activated which makes him an unpredictable and useful card in Baku's assortment of tricks and ploys. This story keeps us invested into Baku's plans and mind games as he tricks his opponents, eats their lies and says his iconic catchphrase,
This is a very fundamental and key principle as to why Usogui is so captivating, it's because the characters are good man! They make me want to root for them, cry for them, be happy for them, be worried for them, be glued to them and want to learn what made them who they are. This applies to not just Usogui, but any manga out there, if the characters aren't good enough to keep you invested in them then you probably won't like that manga. We've let Baku shine enough and I want to make this section about Kaji, so let's do just that, shall we? Kaji is first seen as a very miserable, useless and idiotic man who can't even manage his own money properly. And there is a reason for this which lies in his backstory but I obviously won't tell you that since it would spoil you alot. Through his own hardships and miseries and experiences he grows to become a better person, become better at gambling, support his friends and loved ones and most importantly, stand as Baku san's equal. This leaves us in desperation to find out, "how did he even do all of that?!?!", and keeps us entertained in his character, personality, and his life as a whole. Now, Kaji isn't the only good character in Usogui, there are tons of them, it would just take an extremely long time to mention them all as they all are as good and are equal to or even BETTER than Kaji's character.
Besides the gambling portion, this is the other side of the coin that keeps readers invested enough to read Usogui even if they don't like the other parts of it. In this portion I would like to focus on Marco as I adore him. I have already told you a little about him but I won't share more otherwise y'all would get spoiled. I personally don't know alot about fighting in itself but what I do know is that the fights were actually pounding dubious amounts of adrenaline into my brain. Looking at them and thinking, "how is that possible?". Now I will introduce a new factor of Kakerou, referees, who preside over the gambles that are played and ensure total neutrality towards both sides and make sure that everything is done fairly. They are divided into ranks, from 1 to 100, with 1 being the strongest and 100 being the weakest. If a lower ranked referee wants to get a higher rank as a referee he has to challenge that referee to a death match consisting of 10 seconds caps and if you win and kill the other referee, you get his rank, otherwise you die and lose. This makes for very good fights which are RAW ASF. This portion of Usogui really kept me entranced and looking forward to the next move. Now since Marco is an absolute fighting powerhouse and machine his fights really kept me on edge and concerned to if he'll win or not.
Usogui explores the themes of gambling, human nature, the mind, and how people use money to get out of undesirable situations. Baku himself is a carefree guy, who wants nothing more than to just enjoy the thrill of gambling and eating the lies of others. The story delves into Baku's past, what his ideology is, what his motives are, what his meaning in life is and much, much more. Now tbh I don't think I can explain to you fully and make you understand what Usogui's themes really are as I already said beforehand that bare with my mistakes since this is my first review. I suggest you to read Usogui yourself to find out what I'm TRULY talking about.
This, now THIS is the good stuff, this is what's so amazingly crafted about Usogui. It's art. In the beginning chapters I know you'll say to me, "wtf bro?! This art is trash!! Just look at it!!" But bro I beg of you to trust in me as it gets a quadrillion times better. Just take a look at these yt shorts and you'll know what I'm talking about. But please don't watch any other edits of Usogui or you'll get spoiled, PLEASE. Anyways, here:
The art is so beautiful it astonishes me every time I see it, and it's been almost two months since I finished Usogui myself. This is a testament to Sako-sensei's brilliance in art. The expressions, gah DAYUM I'm gonna bust (pause) like whatttt??!!!!? How is it even possible to show such detailed expressions and human emotions?!!? And this factor is also what makes the fights absolute eye-candy. I just wanted to show this, a panel from the manga and my attempt at recreating it:
I added this section because I love Sako Toshio so much man, he is an absolute G, and let me tell you why. Usogui started serialization in 2006 and ended serialization in 2017, spanning 11 long years. All in which Sako Toshio wrote and drew the entirety of Usogui while being a barber and a boxer while publishing his manga weekly. He also kept himself super fit and he partook in a boxing tournament while making Usogui and actually WON the tournament while making Usogui. Isn't that crazy to think about?!??!!? The dedication and sheer fucking will this man has is immeasurable and is the reason as to why I love him so, so much and the whole community of Usogui. Doing that gig for 11 straight years is actually insane dawg. Kudos to ram for recommending me this and to Sako Toshio sensei for actually creating Usogui. A 10/10 from me, anyways, I'm out!
All in all, Usogui is an extremely good psychological manga about gambling that will keep you on your toes throughout it's entirety and is extremely underrated and should be read more.
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