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Episode 1 – The Genius Who Descended into the Darkness

Thirteen years after the end of the Pacific War, a legend emerges from the shadows. A genius within the realm of the gods, master of Japan’s dark side… This is the beginning of his story. What is the terrible origin of this legend, of this incredible Master of Darkness?

…We open in the Mahjong Parlour Midori. The beefy guy, Nangou, is having severe money troubles, as in, if he doesn’t pay up or win the Mahjong game, cancelling his 3 million yen debt, he’s going to die. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the money and he doesn’t have the skill. His main opponent, Ryuuzaki, is kicking his ass and everybody knows it. Poor Nangou is dripping sweat on the table, and in his own mind, he begs for someone, anyone to help him… even if it’s the devil..!

Enter some kid who suddenly comes in from the rain. The other guys in the room try to kick him out, but Nangou vouches for him, saying that he called him over. They don’t know each other, of course, but Nangou wanted a break from his losing streak. And possibly a chance to mop up some of that sweat.

After he gets the kid settled, Nangou continues playing and gets a decent hand. However, he’s afraid to deal the necessary tile to make it good because Ryuuzaki might win from it. He’s scared to death of losing, and with good reason. The boy senses this, and tells Nangou that he can only survive if he dies. Translation: he can’t win unless he takes risks. The boy doesn’t know a thing about Mahjong, but Nangou takes his words to heart, anyway. He deals the risky tile and, lucky him, gets out of last place.

During a break, Nangou gets the boy, thirteen-year-old Akagi Shigeru, to play in his stead. He can sense in Akagi the power to win.

Akagi starts playing after five minutes’ worth of instruction from Nangou. He doesn’t do anything spectacular and, in fact, starts ignoring tiles that would make a super hand. Nangou thinks he’s made a really stupid move, getting that kid to play. The power he sensed from Akagi must’ve been a fluke or something. The kid was letting all the good tiles pass him by!

Then the cops knock on the door, hot on the trail of a chicken survivor. Akagi asks Nangou for an alibi, and shows him the monster hand he built from stealing tiles while everybody else was distracted. However, no alibi, no win…

The cops bust in and Yasuoka starts asking questions, but Akagi isn’t flustered. Nangou vouches for him again, and Akagi calmly and politely answers Yasuoka’s questions. Why, according to Nangou, the boy is his older brother’s kid, and he’d been in the Mahjong parlour since six last night.

Akagi convinces the yakuza to continue playing and wins with his stolen hand. Of course, the yakuza can’t touch him because the cops are watching, thanks to Akagi’s planning. Yasuoka decides to hang around and watch. He knows that the chicken survivor is Akagi, no matter what alibi he gives.

OPINION

And so begins the legend of Akagi Shigeru. He shows up in the Mahjong parlour as if summoned by Nangou’s desperation, a demon summoned up from hell… Great timing, on his part. Thirteen years old my ass. It’s probably just the character design, though. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d actually been spat out of hell fully formed.

Akagi is a master at deadpan cheating, a skill he demonstrates here (to the yakuza’s dismay). About which, I’m surprised nobody catches him at it straight away, cops or no. How can you lean over a table and grab three tiles without anyone noticing? He must’ve had lots of practice, in some form or another. Scary kid.

Talking about scary… His expression doesn’t even flicker when that guy yanks him out of the chair. That’s a thing you notice about Akagi: his expressionlessness, especially when compared to Nangou. Nangou’s dripping sweat all over the place and practically making a puddle under his chair. In contrast, Akagi occasionally blinks, smiles slightly, and narrows his eyes. And stares. Akagi has that unnerving blank stare down solid. One’s left wondering what the hell could’ve happened to a thirteen-year-old boy to make him look like that, and I’m not talking about the nose.

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Comments

Eris_sama
21 Oct 2006, 13:30

Site looks great 🙂
(am jealous! my site is very plain)
There’s a problem with ep 1 page where the text is behind the pics.

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