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Episode 14 – The New Chapter of the Demons
It’s summer, 1965. The weather is dark and miserable, and the middle-aged man driving through the mountains in the rain at night doesn’t seem too thrilled about it. Suddenly he stops and gets out of his truck. There’s a light in the distance, partially obscured by the thick trees. Must be people dumping their garbage in the park again! He stumbles his way down the muddy, trash-strewn path, flashlight in hand. He looks up and finds the source of that light; two nearby men are digging a hole in the ground and using a lantern to provide light for their work.
“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” he yells at the trash-dumpers. The two men look up, impassive. They obviously don’t care about keeping the park pristine! “It’s against the law to dump your trash h…!” He trails off as the beam from his flashlight illuminates the work he just interrupted.
Shovels. A pair of pale forearms emerging from the freshly-turned earth.
The man backs away, moaning in horror. The diggers drop their shovels and run off. The caretaker falls to his knees and screams.
This is the beginning.
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Officials swarm the site the following morning. The dead body was that of a young man’s.
A young man with silver hair.
Cause of death: shock from blood loss. Stranger still, it appears that the blood was drawn out through his left forearm with a syringe. Is this related to the string of recent disappearances over the past few months, all of them young men?
The scene shifts to the cop Yasuoka. He’s reading the paper when a junior officer approaches him about the recent death. Yasuoka follows him to the autopsy room and the attending medical examiner pulls back the blanket from the corpse’s face. The junior officer asks for his senior’s opinion and is surprised to see that Yasuoka is visibly shaken. “It’s him…” says Yasuoka. “It’s Hirayama Yukio.”
The two officers have a chat in their squad car. Does Yasuoka have any idea who the murderer is? Yasuoka denies it. How and why would he know such a thing?
Yasuoka looks out the window. Hirayama Yukio was a rep player, and Yasuoka was his manager for a while. In other words, Hirayama Yukio was Fake Akagi. Yasuoka continues to stare out the window, unseeing. Yes, he knows what this murder was probably about.
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Some time later, Yasuoka and a yakuza from the Inada Group, Underboss Ohgi, meet up to discuss matters over a nice meal. It seems that the gang acted as middlemen and introduced young Mahjong players to some old man, especially outcasts and people who wouldn’t be missed. The younger men would then play against the old man in a Mahjong game with high wagers and special rules. However, the old man hasn’t asked for any more youngsters lately. Ohgi lights up a smoke. Perhaps the old man was tired of playing.
Yasuoka disagrees. The last of the calls for young men coincides with the beginning of the disappearances. The old man’s need to defeat younger men has intensified and has turned him into a monster; his latest victim was found in the Tama Mountains. However, Yasuoka has a plan. “Ohgi-san, I was thinking of hunting this old man… no, this monster, with a monster of our own.”
Ohgi has no idea what the cop’s talking about. “Monster?” he echoes.
“Yes,” confirms Yasuoka, “we will put him up against Akagi Shigeru, the monster…” Ohgi seems rather skeptical, but Yasuoka knows just the thing to pique his interest. He’s heard that the old man has 1 billion yen. If Akagi wins, they’ll split it between the three of them. Ohgi swallows. 1 billion yen is about 10 billion yen nowadays, which is about 100 million dollars.
Unfortunately, Ohgi has some bad news; he’s never heard of Akagi Shigeru. He’s looked around, but there are no rep players like the man Yasuoka described. However, he’s heard an interesting rumour; there’s a gambling house that plays Cho-Han (a dice game that involves betting on whether the outcome of a roll will be even or odd) run by an affiliate of the Inada Group… and there’s a young man who wins every single game. He looks like a street punk, is about twenty years old, takes crazy gambles, and seems to be an outcast with no backup. This guy might be Yasuoka’s man.
Ohgi and Yasuoka hop on a train and head to the Kurata Group in Chiba a few days later to check the man out. Yasuoka sits by the window, brooding. If it’s not Akagi, then his plans are worthless.
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In the Kurata Group’s gambling house, trouble is brewing. They’ve lost 20 million yen (about 200 million yen today, or 2 million dollars) over the past three months, and they have no intention of losing any more to some unbeatable street punk outcast. The tattooed leader of the dice game tells the punk to listen carefully; everyone in the house agrees that the dice came up 4-5, odd. The punk, Akagi, is the only one left who disagrees.
We cut to a shot of the dice in question. It’s 3-5, even.
A yakuza is standing beside the kneeling Akagi, naked sword in hand. All Akagi has to do, says the leader, is not pull any “funny business”, and everything will end peacefully. The yakuza lifts the blade up just below a rather aggravated Akagi’s chin. Saying the wrong thing will insult the Kurata group. The leader suggests that he think carefully before answering. “Is the outcome even or odd?” he asks grimly.
The leader knows that Akagi understands what he is truly asking. He’s not asking if the outcome is even or odd; he’s asking if Akagi wants to live or die.
They stare at each other. Akagi speaks.
“Even if there was a monster that ruled this country… no, this world, he couldn’t manage to twist the truth. He couldn’t twist around my death and the outcome of a gamble.” Akagi pauses. “It’s even!” he insists.
The Kurata Group looks on in displeasure. The other customers are terrified.
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The sword-wielding yakuza near Akagi has had enough of Akagi’s attitude and swings the blade down. Akagi’s blood splatters the dice, floor, and mats as the length of steel bites deep into his right shoulder. Blood runs down his arm in a steady stream, soaking his thigh. More blood drips from the edge of the blade. Akagi grits his teeth against the pain.
The dice game leader breaks the silence. “I’ll ask you one more time. This is your last chance. Choose the wrong words and say goodbye to your head.” He glares at Akagi. “Is this even or odd?!”
Even splattered with blood, the dice are still clearly 3-5, even.
Akagi watches as his blood continues to run down the sword and drip onto the floor. A single bead of sweat trickles down his face as he forces himself to speak one last time.
“Even!” he gasps.
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That is Akagi’s answer.
So be it. The Kurata Group will give him theirs.
“Then die!”
The sword-wielder unsticks his blade from the meat in Akagi’s shoulder, raises the sword high in the air, and-
“Wait!” interrupts the boss of the gambling house. They’ve got a customer.
The sword-wielding yakuza thrusts the blade into the floor for later. The yakuza put a temporary halt on the proceedings while they deal with their unexpected guests, leaving Akagi still kneeling on the floor.
Ohgi and Yasuoka walk into the gambling house, saying that they want to play. That’s too bad; they’ve closed early. The yakuza who had the sword apologises to the pair and asks them to leave for today. He walks away, ignoring their protests.
What are they going to do now? Should they just leave?
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Yasuoka stares at the departing yakuza’s lower leg. Blood.
Ohgi doesn’t notice the red stain. “What’s wrong?” Yasuoka starts to follow the bloodstained yakuza. “Yasuoka!”
Yasuoka ignores him and violently shoves the remaining yakuza away. He breaks into a run, forcing past anyone in his way as he sprints down the hall. “AKAGI!” he yells.
He screeches to a halt outside the dice game room, taking in the scene before him: Akagi kneeling on the floor, covered in his own blood, surrounded by the blades of the yakuza. “Akagi!”
The yakuza do not appreciate Yasuoka’s interference. It looks like they’re about to attack him, but the boss notices the man behind Yasuoka. He recognises the man as Ohgi Takeshi, underboss of the Inada Group. They’re both subsidiaries of the Santou Group. Yasuoka looks rather shocked. Ohgi brushes past him to take control of the situation. He apologises for Yasuoka’s behaviour, but demands to know what’s going on.
The gambling house boss chuckles. They just came at a bad time. The Kurata Group rarely has to resort to force, but the gambler at their feet is insisting that the dice came up odd, even though the outcome was clearly even. They can see it for themselves. Why, if Ohgi and Yasuoka asked Akagi now, says the boss, that kid would probably change his mind and say he’d bet on even!
Yasuoka knows that the boss is feeding them a load of bull. Akagi spits on the rules of society, but he wouldn’t change his mind like that no matter what. Akagi bet on even, and the Kurata Group was using brute force to get a better outcome. The gambling house can’t back down now, but it’s obvious that Akagi won’t compromise. He’ll go all the way.
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Yasuoka is at a loss. What can he do about this mess? Akagi is moments away from the essence of gambling, the meaningless death he wants so much… Yasuoka can’t let that happen. He won’t let that happen.
The boss politely asks the pair to leave for today. Yasuoka takes the opportunity to lunge forward and, with a mighty yell, rips the floor covering away, knocking over the swords and, more importantly, the dice.
“The dice are gone!” pants Yasuoka. “I threw them out! You can’t argue if they’re even or odd. What you were all putting your pride on the line for is gone!”
The house boss is incredibly pissed. Ohgi forces himself in front of Yasuoka and asks the angry man to stop. The boss wants Ohgi to stay out of it, but Ohgi can’t do that. According to him, he and Yasuoka are like brothers. Turning against Yasuoka and Akagi will be like turning against him… and the Inada Group. Is he willing to go up against the Inada Group? Can’t they just act like the gamble never happened?
Before the boss can reply, they hear a quiet thump. Akagi has collapsed face-first onto the floor. Yasuoka rushes to his side, trying to shake a response out of him. He gets no answer.
Akagi is rushed to a hospital. Yasuoka is waiting on a bench outside the room, worrying, when Ohgi walks up to him and lights up. It looks like Akagi will be fine. That kind of wound isn’t fatal if the bleeding is stopped. However, it was close; if Ohgi and Yasuoka hadn’t shown up, Akagi would’ve died. Ohgi is pleased. Akagi is truly fearless, and an irreplaceable talent. He looks at Yasuoka. A lot of money will be riding on Akagi… and they’ll have him face Death on the table over that money.
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The next day, Akagi experimentally flexes his right hand while sitting up in his hospital bed. Everything appears to be in working order and none of his nerves were cut. Yasuoka hopes that this is the last time Akagi tries to throw his life away like that. Why did Akagi do something so pointless, anyway?
Akagi smiles. He just wanted to, no reason. He’d rather have died than give in. However, now that Yasuoka’s saved his life, what should he do with it? “You should just die when your time comes,” says Akagi. Ohgi and Yasuoka look at him sadly. “It doesn’t matter if your opponent is a lunatic, as long as your time comes… Just die.”
Ohgi disagrees. Akagi’s way of thinking is holding him back. Why doesn’t he use his talent to actually do something? Hell, he could rule the world!
Akagi chuckles. He’s not interested.
The underboss laughs. Akagi should give it some more thought. He glows with an inner light that normal people can never achieve. That’s why normal people could never beat him. However, the only reason Akagi defeated all those people was because they were too easy for him. Akagi’s not suicidal; he’s just bored.
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Akagi continues to listen.
According to Ohgi, what Akagi really wants isn’t a cold death, but a “life” like boiling water that normal people can’t even touch. The kind of burning “life” that will scorch the soul.
Ohgi knows what he needs. Akagi needs a worthy opponent, and Ohgi knows a man who’ll fit the bill quite nicely…
Akagi laughs at him. Yeah, he saw that coming. Ohgi wants him to play high-stakes Mahjong against some guy, and all that philosophical junk was just an introduction.
Ohgi laughs too, and tells Yasuoka to give him that “thing”. Yasuoka tosses a newspaper onto Akagi’s lap. It’s about the freak murders, explains Yasuoka. The culprit will be Akagi’s opponent.
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Yasuoka’s not done yet. “The corpse found in Tama is someone you know, too. It’s this man.” He reaches into his inner suit pocket and takes out a photograph. He gives it to Akagi.
It’s a photo of Fake Akagi.
Akagi gasps in surprise. “He’s…”
“Yes, the fake that borrowed your name,” confirms a grim Yasuoka. “My former partner, Hirayama Yukio.” As everyone knows, Hirayama wasn’t the type who would bet his own life, so the monster probably forced him into doing it and then killed him.
This time, it isn’t just about money. Akagi is to hunt a man-eating tiger. “Hunt this monster, Akagi!” demands Yasuoka. “You’re the only one who can stop him!”
…And so begins the next chapter.
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OPINION
BRUSH-HEAD! NOOO!!! ARGH, Fukumoto offed my second-favourite character!
Fake Akagi gets the meaningless death that he’d have done anything to avoid and that Akagi wanted so very badly. Oh the irony. Hirayama Yukio: he got in over his head and died. Do not pass Go, do not collect 20,000 yen, do not get a rematch with the real Akagi. Get your naked corpse buried in a park in some half-assed sort of way, arms sticking out. Poor luckless bastard.
At least Yasuoka’s photo of him looked rather nice. He can rest easy knowing that he’s photogenic and that Yasuoka didn’t take a nose shot of him or, even worse, a side one.
The new ending is really something. It’s like an ultra-bold version of the regular anime art, and Akagi gets to walk around funky (an uncomfortable mix of strutting and squirming. The Wedgie Walk?) with his shirt open. Fanservice ahoy! Now if only the animators made him dress like that in the actual anime… For those of you who don’t like the new ending, think of it this way: it could’ve been Kawada. No need to thank me for the mental image.
The Kurata Group is full of clones. There must be a factory somewhere in Chiba that pumps out yakuza in bulk. Ah well, I guess it doesn’t matter if the background yakuza all look the same; it’s not like they’re important or anything. Another thing that bugged me: the way they cut the episode for the commercial break. I guess it was less awkward when there was an actual commercial in there, but repeating the exact same high-tension moment with a completely different soundtrack was a bit weird.
Of course, all of those minor aggravations can be easily ignored because Akagi is SUFFERING HORRIBLY and SPRAYING BLOOD EVERYWHERE! WOOHOO! Really, what’s not to like? Come on, admit it; it’s good to see Akagi get beat up every now and then.
Yasuoka feels quite passionate about stopping Hirayama’s killer, doesn’t he? Former partners, eh? I guess they had a falling out over Akagi… or maybe they had a big fight over how completely useless Yasuoka was as a manager.
Strange that Yasuoka’s sending Akagi after the mysterious old man instead of, say, letting the authorities know. Then again, maybe Yasuoka’s out for blood. Maybe he wants that murderer crushed and broken instead of sent to jail. If you want justice, call the cops. If you want to reduce someone to a shattered, crying mess, send in Akagi. Of course, you’d better make yourself comfortable first, because Akagi will take his sweet time about it.
Comments
Mcsweeney
06 Apr 2007, 10:26
Obviously Yasuoka, being a dirty cop, wanted tens of millions of dollars instead of simply sending the old man to jail.
The first time I watched this, for one brief moment, I actually thought that the shots of the dead body was the real Akagi. That wouldn’t make sense since there was still half the show to go, but I thought they might have done a Citizen Kane type of thing where they show him dead, then the rest of the episodes are how he died.
ddraggy
06 Apr 2007, 23:37
Hmm, I dunno, Yasuoka didn’t seem to care much about the money this time. I see it more as revenge plus a cash bonus. Then again, I tend to read too much into things.
The back of dead Fake Akagi’s head looks *exactly* like Akagi’s. Did they wash the gel out before burying him or something? It would’ve been rather interesting if that had actually been Akagi. Not many series kill off the protagonist halfway through.
Erik
30 Apr 2007, 19:59
Citizen Akagi! Thank you, Mcsweeney, for this wonderful suggestion. I’ve spend many a moment just going over this scenario and I really can’t help but laugh and admire.
Just one question though. Barring a snow-globe, what will an elderly Akagi drop? (The White Dragon tile he used to defeat Ichikawa with is my guess.)
On a more serious note, I think Yasuoka is a decent man when push comes to shove. He readily commits himself to taking bribes and such, but if someone might get hurt/killed in the progress, or got hurt/killed, he would intervene.
grim
20 Oct 2007, 13:03
i really wonder why they took off fake akagi’s clothes before burying him
ddraggy
24 Oct 2007, 23:36
Maybe they were trying to make it harder to identify him? Bury the body in the park, burn the clothes somewhere else, and destroy any other evidence left over. Of course, if that’s the case, Washizu’s crew really messed up 😛
Or maybe Washizu just likes to keep his victims’ clothes as trophies. He’d show off a particular suit to his lackey and go “kekeke, that one crawled around on the floor and *begged*, kekeke!”
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