Akagi

Akagi

Mahjong Legend

The Genius who Descended into the Darkness

Always enduring it out of pride

Original subs by The Triad

Yasegaman bakaride

And half the year has already passed

mou hantoshi sugitaga

Timed to Yousei-raws encode

What has changed?

naniga kawattaka?

Retimed and restyled by eternalmetal

Who did you love?

Darewo aishitaka?

The dreams in my head are starting to crumble away

Atama no naka de ima yume ga kuzuredashita

But it'll all be fine

Nantokanare

Thirteen years had passed since the end of the Pacific War.

Japan had overcome the postwar disarray and was preparing for rapid growth.

But in the shadows of this hopeful era, a legend was about to be born.

Episode 1

The Genius Who Descended into the Darkness

In later years, the legend will call him...

The man who exists in the realm of the Gods and reigns over the dark side of Japan.

Mahjong Parlor Midori

What I wanted...

Was "change."

The kind of change that would turn everything around.

Enough for me to be reborn.

Nangou-san, that's what I needed. Ron.

Note: Ron - Finishing a hand by taking someone else's tile.

Nangou

Man Gan.

My debts from playing the stocks, my losses from gambling...

Note: Man Gan - A hand worth 8000 to 12000 points.

I lose out on everything I do.

And tonight...

I'm playing this game of Mahjong trying to cancel my debts, but I'm losing.

If I lose, I'll have to pay a huge sum for the money I owe them.

I bought life insurance a month ago...

And the beneficiary for the plan is this man's, Ryuuzaki's, mistress.

Ryuuzaki

Next Turn

They've got me cornered.

I can't afford to give them another one they need.

This one should work.

Ron.

Calm down.

I have to do something. Anything.

South Third Round

This hand is so shitty, it makes me want to cry.

If anybody else wins this round, it'll all be over.

Please!

I'm not getting jack here!

I feel like I'm suffocating... Someone please do something!

Anyone!

Even if it's the devil!

Who is it?

Who the fuck are you?

Go somewhere else to get out of the rain!

This isn't a place for kids!

Get the hell out!

Wait!

I called that kid here.

I told him to check on me if he didn't hear from me by midnight.

Of course we never made that promise.

I don't know who this kid is.

I only wanted a break.

A chance to turn the tide.

Look at them.

They look like someone rained on their parade.

The heat of the gamble is wearing off.

The tide just might turn.

I have to survive this round and turn it around in the next Han Chan.

Note: Han Chan - A session where each player gets to be the "head" twice. The final game will be on the South Fourth Round.

Wait it out. Don't give up yet.

South Fourth Round

And on the eighth turn of the South Fourth Round, opportunity knocks.

It's here!

I can deal the 5 Pin and wait for a 1 or 4 Pin.

If I get the 1 Pin, I can get 3 color Chun Chan with the Dora and get it up to Hane Man.

Note: 3 Color Chun Chan - Having the same straight tiles for the 3 different number suits. In this case, 1-2-3.

Note: Hane Man - A hand worth about 12000 to 18000 points.

It's possible for me to cause an upset.

The only problem is the Riichi across from me.

Note: Riichi - Where a player sacrifices 1000 points to declare that he only needs one more tile to win.

I want to deal the 5 Pin, but it looks dangerous.

I can't push my luck here.

It'll be a cheap hand with only the Chun three of a kind, but the 2 Pin should be a safe tile.

If I deal in what he wants, I'm dead.

You'll only survive if you die.

You know how to play Mahjong?

No, not at all.

But I can't sense any life in you.

You don't have the will to win.

You're only trying to survive.

It's the last thought process of those at the end of their lines in gambling.

You're just scared.

Damn it all.

The kid's right.

Why the hell I was going to deal the 2 Pin with this hand?

I was crazy.

I'm gambling right now.

How will I ever win if I don't take chances?

If I'm going to die...

I may as well die... Confident!

It went through!

At that time, no one gave any thought to the Shimo Cha, but he was in Ten Pai.

Note: Shimo Cha - The player that draws right after you. Ten Pai - Needing only one more tile to win.

He was waiting for Hatsu and 2 Pin.

If Nangou had dealt the 2 Pin, he would have dealt into the Shimo Cha's hand.

A quirk of fate.

Shimo Cha drew a 1 Pin right after that.

He could have kept it and dealt the 2 Pin, a safe tile...

But going for a San An Kou, he discarded it.

Note: San An Kou - Getting three separate threes of a kinds without calling on another player's tiles.

Ron!

At that moment, the pendulum of the match slowly swung into Nangou's favor.

I got out of the last place.

I survived.

Kid, how old are you?

Thirteen.

You don't look it.

And your name?

Akagi.

Akagi Shigeru.

What were you doing?

Walking around in the middle of the night, wandering into a Mahjong parlor.

It's obvious you're not an ordinary student.

And all that sand you got on your shirt...

Going swimming at the beach at this time of night?

I know.

You probably don't want to talk.

I know you came close to death before you came here.

I can tell because I'm doing the same.

I can sense the same thing from you.

They'll kill me if I don't win tonight.

Please. Can you play the next Han Chan for me?

I can feel it in you.

The power, luck and will needed to win.

You'd be able to make it through.

This is the beginning of the legendary Akagi Shigeru who will shock the underworld.

His first match.

At this time, he was only told the most basic rules of Mahjong five minutes before the match.

He knew nothing of specific hands.

He couldn't even be considered a beginner.

Akagi will understand Mahjong little by little through playing.

That Mahjong requires four hands of three tiles and one pair.

Jun Zi (Straight)

Kou Zi (Three of a Kind)

That players compete by points attributed to specific hands, and race to complete them.

1 Han (Pin Fu)

2 Han ( San Shoku Dou Jun Three Color Straight )

3 Han (Hon Ii Sou)

That it is best to avoid completing a hand of three from other players' tiles.

Men Zen

Pon Chi

That Haku, Hatsu and Chun are convenient tiles...

Riichi Deposit

1,000 points

Because they are worth 1 Han each by gathering them.

Tsumo.

Note: Tsumo - Means either "to draw a tile" or to win by drawing from the deck.

He also learned that a hand can be composed of seven pairs, one of the few exceptions.

By the end of the East round, Akagi had lost 7200 points.

He hadn't thrown in winning tiles, but he hadn't won any himself either.

An ordinary game.

Though called a prodigy of the game later on, he still had yet to show a glimpse of his genius.

South Second Round

It happened in the South Second Round.

He got it!

All three pairs leading to the Dai San Gen.

Note: Dai San Gen - Having three or more of a kind of Dragon tiles. One of the most valuable hands.

He could go for the Dai San Gen.

If only he can capitalize on it!

The first Chun.

But Akagi lets it pass.

Akagi lets the subsequent Haku and Hatsu pass as well.

He doesn't move.

He is motionless.

And then the second...

Why?

Now this hand can be a Chi Toi Zu at best.