Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Mahjong Legend Akagi

Japanese: アカギ～闇に降り立った天才～

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 36

Chapters: 306

Status: Finished

Published: Jun 1991 to Feb 1, 2018

Genres: Action, Drama

Themes: Adult Cast, Organized Crime, Psychological, Strategy Game

Serialization: Kindai Mahjong

Authors: Fukumoto, Nobuyuki (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.17¹ (scored by 4,100 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #472²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1591

Members: 13,237

Favorites: 443

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Wikipedia

8.17

Ranked #472Popularity #1591Members 13,237

MangaKindai MahjongFukumoto, Nobuyuki (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /36

Chapters: /306

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Synopsis

While mahjong is a game that is often played with family and friends, it is also a game that is played in the darkest corners of society. Nangou is a compulsive gambler who has accumulated a debt of over three million yen. In a last-ditch attempt to clear his record, he decides to wager his life on a game of mahjong with the mafia. Unfortunately, as the game progresses, Nangou only moves further from the prize and closer to death.

When all hope seems lost, the game parlor is suddenly intruded upon by Shigeru Akagi, a young boy on the run from the police. Desperate to turn the game around, Nangou hands the game over to Akagi after teaching him a few of the rules. The mafia can only smirk as Akagi sits down to play. However, they soon come to learn that Akagi is a natural-born gambler. An imposing figure who does not fear death. One who is destined to become a legend.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai was adapted into two V-Cinema films that were released in 1995 and 1997. It was also adapted into a Japanese live-action TV series with two sequel seasons. Multiple games based on the manga have also been released.

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Characters

Akagi, Shigeru

Main

Washizu, Iwao

Main

Hirayama, Yukio

Supporting

Ichikawa

Supporting

Ryuuzaki

Supporting

Nangou

Supporting

Nozaki, Osamu

Supporting

Urabe

Supporting

Kuraishi

Supporting

Miyauchi

Supporting

Reviews

Jan 14, 2021

Royal_Conquest

Recommended

AKAGI, THE GENIUS WHO DESCENDED INTO DARKNESS is a lot of fun. I used this manga while I was learning to play Riichi Mahjong. It is not at all helpful for any kind of actual play but it is extremely nice for familiarizing yourself with specific tiles and different Yaku. In turn, it was kind of cool to slowly be able to understand what the hell anyone was talking about at any given time. Learning what Yaku you can get becomes very important once you get passed the first steps of learning to play if you don't want to just blindly play into whatever works ...

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Nov 28, 2024

Joshhhp

Recommended

Well-written

"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!"

Now I will explain the full picture of the manga in a few words before jumping to what I think it is really essential to do a little review about it. The story is about a young genius named Akagi, a strange individual with a clear obsession of gambling and the game he'll spend doing gamble for most of the manga is Mahjong. His incredible and non-human ... skills will lead him to gamble against the villain of the story, Washizu. This experience has been one of the most unique I've come across to read in a really long time. Going off with the anime I felt weirded out that there would never be a sequel and that they had cut the anime off during the last battle, a judgment I think most would have agreed with. But the feeling of curiosity that Akagi left me led me to read the manga, I was at all costs ready to know what would happen after the legendary battle between Akagi and Washizu. To my astonishment nothing happened after the final arc, and even more unbelievable to find out was that the fight in the anime was not even halfway to the end… not even close! The mastermind mangaka Fukumoto continued the arc for 225 chapters to be exact, spending over 20 years from start to finish, possibly making the battle the longest-running of all battles that occurred in manga history.

To say I was dumbfounded would be an understatement, I didn't know what to think about it and had already wondered if I would ever be able to finish the whole story considering I've never been much of a Mahjong expert so I feared I'd get so bored to the point of not being able to finish. The results well... they were the opposite of what I imagined. I read the entire manga twice, in the same year, never disappointed by what was about to happen. And it's mainly thanks to this battle that I've gotten to love the series even more. I must specify that before reading Akagi I was never a fan of battles that needlessly dragged on for a large number of episodes/chapters for the purpose of filling space or entertaining the audience. A clear example are some certain Battle Shounen series like Dragon Ball... fights that went on for so many episodes without having much action to show on the screen, because we know that in anime, at least during the 90's and 2000's, they had to broadcast episodes in step with the chapters of the manga that were coming out, and therefore events that were supposed to last for a few episodes expand double or triple in length therefore making the pace irritably slow and having characters doing nothing to the point it's killing off your interest. This is the essential key to any story that tries to entertain: pacing. Does the Akagi series keep up its pacing well enough? Yes, but in a method that not many would understand. That's not to say that games come and go quickly from each other. The all arc consists of six sessions and in its 20 years spam the final session is the one that lasted the longest, i.e. THIRTEEN years which is more than half the battle. And let's not forget that an entire volume was spent of how the players create their hands, ONLY their hands! So it's safe to say that the matches drag on for a very long time but what makes them interesting is how they are presented. The war between the two protagonists is full of moments of tension, anxiety, anguish, trauma and strategies. Fukumoto is a master in creating horrific panels where Washizu, despite simply playing a board game, remains under pressure, and out of control at certain moments considering that in a sense he keeps on being on the edge of death. The way the mangaka can immerses you in his works is captivating, never gets a moment to retain situations calm but instead it's all filled with distressing scenes until one of the two opponents will eventually collapse. A fundamental change that is easily noticable if you read most of the volumes is how Washizu goes from villain to a sort of "protagonist" of this arc considering that most of the attention is directed towards him and his strategies to have any sort of hope against the demon sitting before him, Akagi. And with this Akagi himself changes as well, this time from protagonist to antagonist... not being afraid to descend into hell, he always remains passive and gives himself a great presence of danger for the opponent. Oh and another little fundamental change is the art design, I mean… with two decades gone by while making the match obviously Fukumoto's style would have gone through some changes. Washizu in particular looks like he melted by the end with his eyes now covering almost half of his face! Although it's surely nothing to be bother with.

There is no real explanation as to why it took 20 years to reach conclusion. I would assume that Fukumoto had an unimaginable motive that led him to make the battle unforgettable for the readers. Whatever his motivations are I appreciate it because while some may struggle and lack the patience to read the full match, it has given me so much inspiration and hope that many mangaka will have the opportunity to finish their projects, knowing that it isn't always the case nowadays. Should I recommend the manga to you? Well yeah you might have very good time with it, but mostly if you know the rules of Mahjong and have enough endurance to overtake what I would call the legendary battle between Akagi and Washizu. Final score is a perfect 10. I don't care if it stretches for too long, I would have continued even if it was thousands and thousands of chapters long. Best piece of entertainment ever, will revisit it again.

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Sep 19, 2021

Gatsu-chan

Recommended

Akagi, a truly in depth world of mahjong. Akagi is a great read and well worth it for fans of gambling stories and very detailed psychological conflicts. Akagi is a great way to get into Mahjong or just enjoy a story centering on Mahjong's mechanics and techniques. Going into Akagi I had little exposure to mahjong. The little exposure I have includes Mahjong Solitaire online games I played when i was younger and scenes of it in different manga. Now, you do not really need exposure to enjoy this story, it explains some details and its relatively safe to figure it out as you read ...

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Manga 'Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai' Receives Surprise Sequel Chapter

On May 1, fifteen months after Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai finished serialization, Nobuyuki Fukumoto published a sequel chapter to the long-running manga in the J...read more

May 2, 2019 12:03 PM by ImperfectBlue | Discuss (0 comments)

Manga 'Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai' Ends 27 Years of Serialization in February 2018 Issue

It has been announced that Nobuyuki Fukumoto's mahjong manga Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai will end its 27 years of serialization in the February 2018 Issue. P...read more

Feb 12, 2017 6:58 AM by removed-user | Discuss (15 comments)

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Poll: Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai Chapter 306 Discussion removed-user - Feb 17, 2018	5 replies	by Zetsumu »» May 29, 2022 1:41 AM
Poll: Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai Chapter 296 Discussion uzee - Apr 30, 2017	6 replies	by Leigh39 »» Nov 28, 2020 4:20 AM
Poll: Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai Chapter 276 Discussion Leigh39 - Nov 28, 2020	0 replies	by Leigh39 »» Nov 28, 2020 3:09 AM
Poll: Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai Chapter 252 Discussion Leigh39 - Nov 27, 2020	0 replies	by Leigh39 »» Nov 27, 2020 3:45 AM
Poll: Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai Chapter 247 Discussion mikzflava - Feb 21, 2018	1 replies	by Leigh39 »» Nov 26, 2020 1:12 PM

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