Animation / Art / General Visuals - 8/10
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There is no point to beat around the bush. Akagi has opted into a unique art style regarding character faces. And it's probably off-putting to most people. And I'll be the first in line to say that I dislike such silly deviations from the norm.
That said, the weird art only really applies to faces, everything else is standard style and high quality.
Animation is excellent. Madhouse does not disappoint. If you can look past the faces, you'll be able to have a good time.
Sound / Music / Voice Acting - 10/10
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The music of Akagi is very nice. Good OP's and ED's, along with retro tinge tracks, that align nicely with the era the anime is taking place in.
The real treat however, is the voice acting. Namely the villains. The grand villain most of all. I hardly recall any piece of media where an actor went in so hard, so raw, that the voice seems to straight up jump at you. It's great.
Story - 8/10
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When it comes down to it, Akagi doesn't have a whole lot of story in the grand sense. It's a story of a legendary gambler. He gambled. The end.
But the way the story is set up, over several years, gives us effective story arcs. Of different challenges our hero goes through.
Each challenge begins with minimal set-up, and the meat of each arc comes down to some crazy Mahjong games. Even without understanding a single thing about Mahjong beyond what I picked up while watching, the games were still interesting, exciting, even breathtaking. Being more of a Poker fan myself, the show's gaming sequences absolutely oozed authenticity of what high stakes games are all about. It illustrated so well that you don't play the hands you're dealt, you play the players. The story of each challenge delves deep into human psychology, more than it does into the actual gameplay strategies. Which makes the show a lot more fun, than if it had simply tried to romanticize the gameplay itself. Gambling is all about the psyche after all.
Characters - 8/10
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I can't lie, I really like the protagonist, Akagi. He's confident beyond reason, capable beyond human limits. And he has principles for which he is willing to die for. Gambling isn't a past-time for him. It's not about winning or losing specifically. It's not about the money. It's the means through which he aims to reach his ultimate goals in life.
Aside from the MC himself, we have a small number of supporting cast whose job is to stumble upon opportunities to then present to Akagi, and then join as spectators or secondary players in those high stakes games, essentially being stand-ins for us the viewers. Characters who can't really keep up with the MC, and are the first to display the necessary emotions as they react to the games.
The villains are arguably the best characters in the show. They are all unique, with their own personalities and game styles, which Akagi challenges. For anyone that's familiar with skill based gambling games, you'll recognize many of their sub-types. ABC players, Rocks, ROI chasers, and so on.
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Total - 8/10
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At first glance, I didn't expect Akagi to be particularly exciting. A gambling anime about a game I know nothing about? With a weird art style? I expected to drop the show quickly. But before I knew it, I was hooked by this monumentally complex game that our protagonist navigated in a legendary fashion.
It's well worth a watch, especially if you happen to be a fan of the game, or are simply looking for an introduction, or maybe just looking to watch a competent main character showcase their capabilities.
