The essential episodes of Akagi
Watch these 15 in order and you've got Akagi — each pick states its reason.
- 01
The Genius Who Descended Into the Darkness
In the Midori Mahjong parlor, Nangou is trying to cancel his major debts by playing some Mahjong but this may be his unlucky day as he is losing badly. Just when the situation gets dire an unknown boy walks in on their game and with a simple word of advice and Nangou is able to survive. This may be the beginning of the legendary Shigeru Akagi who will shake the underworld.
- 02
On a stormy night, after winning his first hand of Mahjong, Akagi continues playing against Ryuzaki and his gang members, as he slowly awakens to his latent talents. Akagi quickly turns the tide in his favor and takes the lead, so Ryuzaki calls in his last resort, Rep player Yagi.
- 03
The silent battle between Akagi and Yagi ensues and nothing else matters except whose judgement in their own actions wavers first. Yagi knows that he cannot beat Akagi fair so he uses a form of cheating called the "caterpillar" in order to utilize the genius Akagi's weakness. As soon as Akagi learns this fatal mistake he decides to counter by taking them for all they've got.
- 04
The Betrayal of a Genuine Thing
It hasn't been long since Akagi's legendary victory in his first game of Mahjong and Yasuoka has already set up a match for him, in 3 days from now but Akagi wants more from him. He is called in by the gang he's supposed to play against and they want to make a deal but whilst there Akagi meets a mysterious blind man who will later be his opponent.
- 05
It is the date for the rematch between Akagi and the Kawada group and now with the stakes so high, they decide to go with the blind Mahjong master Ichikawa as Akagi's opponent. The only problem is that Akagi hasn't arrived, so Nangou is forced to take his place. Akagi makes it just in time but he has a lot of points to cover if he's going to win this. Let the Tse Ii Men begin!
- 06
The match has turned into a one-on-one "Tse Ii Men" between Akagi and Ichikawa and due to Ichikawa's effective strategy; Akagi is beginning to feel the pressure. However just when Akagi is at near with only 5,000 points, he's surprisingly able to make a comeback. Nonetheless with Ichikawa playing defensively there seems to be no end to this game, so Akagi decides to win even through more dirty methods.
- 07
Following the dirty stunt Akagi pulled, the game of Mahjong has turned into a sudden death with players left with only 10% of the points. With Ichikawa now using any means to achieve victory, Akagi must now turn the match in his favour but whose side will luck be on tonight?
- 08
6 years has past since Akagi's legendary Mahjong match against the Kawada group and Yasuoka has brought Akagi before them to demonstrate his skills. However there is something different about this Akagi from the one 6 years ago and it could be because he's a fake. So Ishikawa from the Kawada group enlist the help of Nangou to find the real Akagi.
- 09
At the Kawada group's headquarters, the fake Akagi (Yukio Hirayama) and the genuine Akagi face off to demonstrate their skills. Akagi insults the impersonator, because of his reliance on his mathematical skills and excellent memory, and shows him just how frightful his talents are. Following this he then returns to his workplace to find his senpais swindling Osamu in a game of Mahjong.
- 10
After winning the life savings of Kawashima and co. Akagi is in a spot of trouble as they want revenge. Soon after that Akagi is called in to have a match with his impersonator but right after witnessing the match with the Fujisawa group Rep player Urabe. However there may not be a follow-up match.
- 11
The Mahjong match between Urabe and the fake Akagi has been dragged on for long and the wager is now at 32 million. The boss of the Kawada group now realizes that the fake Akagi is missing something fundamental for a gambler and wants the real Akagi to play for him. However Akagi will only play under one condition and that is if Osamu plays first.
- 12
The Mahjong match between Urabe and Akagi continues and Akagi is planning to finish this with a big hand. Luck also seems be on Akagi's side, as coincidence after coincidence keeps on occurring.
- 13
Akagi leaves the table on a single wait, after anticipating his win and everyone, especially Urabe, is astonished by his bold statement. To everyone's surprise Urabe did deal into Akagi's hand and he won by "Hai Tei (Dora 4)", but the Kawada boss calls him back later to find out how Akagi knew he would win.
- 14
The Summer of 1965 is the date that marks the beginning. A young man's buried corpse was discovered in the Tama Mountains, with his death caused by shocked induced blood loss. The body is later identified by Yasuoka as Yukio Hirayama (Fake Akagi) and Yasuoka already has a thought lingering in his mind and decides to search for Akagi with his acquaintance Ohgi. At the same time, Akagi is at the Kurata group gambling house and he seems to have gotten himself in trouble.
- 15
Akagi's game of Washizu Mahong continues and having read the very thought process of Iwao Washizu, Akagi is able to capitalize on that by winning the next two sessions. Having lost a total of 1,400cc but gained a total of 313.5 million of Iwao's fortune, Akagi makes a compromise to continue this legendary match where the two wager their death and ruin.
