This page is for characters from the anime and manga series Akagi.
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Akagi
Shigeru Akagi
"I'm tired of fake anger, fake words, fake fights."
Voiced by: Masato Hagiwara
An enigmatic young man who interrupts the yakuza during a game of mahjong one rainy night and quickly gains a reputation in the underground world for his borderline supernatural skill and luck. Originally a major character in Ten - The Blessed Way of the Nice Guy, he got his own prequel manga covering his early life.
For tropes displayed by Akagi in Ten, see his character sheet on that page.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Akagi's main strength is his ability to observe his opponents and gain deep insight into their psychology. From there he's able to predict and control their actions. In addition, he figured out Mahjong strategy from just a few hands of play and knowledge of the basic rules, without a firm grasp on the scoring - he still could tell a good discard from bad by watching everyone else's trash.
- Confusion Fu: What Akagi does to Urabe. Urabe's playstyle is very defensive while Urabe himself has a wait-and-see approach to Mahjong. Akagi purposefully led Urabe by using the discards to make Urabe think he had one type of hand when Akagi was really aiming for another. Akagi also incorporated chance into his playstyle because in Akagi's own words "You can't make a defense against coincidence".
- Crazy Enough to Work: A big Establishing Character Moment within his first mahjong game — He realizes the police are on their way to the yakuza's mahjong parlor, so he uses the moment of confusion to sneakily swap discarded honor tiles into his hand and claim a big win. Even if the yakuza were to catch on and accuse him of cheating, the police presence would make them hesitate to hurt a young boy like him. Such a stunt gets Nangou to realize that Akagi isn't any ordinary middle schooler.
- Even Evil Has Standards: While Akagi believes that any method to win is acceptable, even cheating, he dislikes people who take advantage of others while risking very little.
- The Gambler: Well it is a gambling manga and Akagi is the protagonist. Also, although he specializes in Mahjong, Akagi is good at pretty much all forms of gambling.
- Guile Hero: Well, insofar as Akagi is the hero of the story. Crisscrosses with his
Magnificent Bastard moments. He is this when other people try to screw him over instead of him trying to screw them over. When he retaliates on the other hand... - Living Is More than Surviving: His life philosophy. He lampshades it almost immediately after being introduced, noting that Nangou's strategy of 'surviving' instead of going all out in the pursuit of 'winning' means he was already dead.
- Magnificent Bastard: Akagi pushes this trope up to eleven. Seriously, that's his MO for every type of gamble he's faced with. Analyze the opponent, manipulate the opponent, break the opponent.
- Moral Sociopathy: Akagi has a kind of moral code that mostly makes sense to himself: He seems to approve of letting go of your inhibitions, putting everything on the line, and not letting fear hold you back and dislikes people who hesitate or refuse to risk anything.
- Nerves of Steel: He doesn't know how to flinch, whether it's throwing away a winning hand to dodge a trap, or lying to the police. Yasuoka even states that his strongest trait is the ability to trust in his own judgment.
- Nominal Hero: While the people Akagi defeats or even destroys are bad guys, Akagi himself couldn't care less about the wrongs they've done or the people they've hurt. He threw Osamu in the game against Urabe just for recon.
- No Social Skills: Osamu of all people eventually points this out to him.
- Not Afraid to Die: One of Akagi's defining character traits. He doesn't actively seek death though some have accused him of being suicidal. Rather he places a much greater emphasis on living than simply being alive. To him, a short meaningful, well-lived life is far better than a long, hollow, life consisting of mere survival.
- Sociopathic Hero: He's not overtly malicious, but at the same time has no qualms about ruining, hurting, or even killing people. The only reason he's not a bad guy is that he never goes after regular people and primarily targets people worse than him.
- The Unfettered: GOD YES! Akagi has few to no personal limitations and there's very little he wouldn't do. That isn't limited to what he does to others but also what he does to himself. Great examples of this being:
- When he drove off a cliff at full speed to beat someone in a chicken race knowing that he had a good chance of surviving if the car flew off the cliff far enough that he could safely swim to shore.
- During an incident at a gambling house where he refused to let the Yakuza intimidate him into calling the wrong result in a dice game because he had won so much from them and the Yakuza were essentially trying to rob him at that point.
- HUGE one when he had a dangerous amount of his own blood drawn a month before put back into his body as insurance for a Mahjong game where the players had to bet their own blood.
- Too Dumb to Live: Admitted by Akagi himself by the end of the manga. He's indeed looking for a meaningful death, but he's also constantly putting himself in situations where he could easily die like a dog, and only his luck gets him out, usually in the form of someone else's intervention. Even in his very first match, he attempts to bring the wager to ungodly sums, at which points (as Yasuoka points out) the Yakuza would have probably just killed him and Nangou instead. Or later, if it hadn't been for Ougi's timely arrival, he would have had his head chopped off at the dice house. By his own admission, Akagi is "simply an idiot who doesn't know when to stop".
- We All Die Someday: Akagi goes into a long inner monologue about the inevitability of death and how Washizu has been avoiding this inevitability. Akagi in contrast inherently understands this fact and it's implied that this is the reason he values living well over living long.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Downplayed. He's had white hair his whole life, and while he isn't outright evil, he doesn't much care who gets hurt when he plays. He does mellow out a bit when he gets older, though.
Supporting characters
Nangou
Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama
An unlucky guy who's gambling with yakuza in the very beginning of the series.
- The Everyman: A completely normal and unremarkable guy. His only vice was taking up a debt with the Yakuza.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: He leaves the plot after the second arc, knowing he isn't the type to get too deeply involved. The narration notes he never gambles again.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Akagi becomes his. Nangou's small kindness to Akagi sees his debt repaid with interest, and frees him from the Yakuza.
Yasuoka
Voiced by: Tesshō Genda
A sleazy detective who keeps showing up in Akagi's life.
- Dirty Cop: Lampshaded by Akagi at one point.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He's initially trying to get Akagi arrested but drops it when he realizes he can use him as a cash cow. At one point between the Nakai (or Urabe in the anime) and Washizu arcs, he saves Akagi from an early death at the hands of the Yakuza, and during the Washizu arc, they form a friendship of sorts by playing on the same side: despite having put Akagi's life in danger by setting up his match with Washizu, Yasuoka shows concern for Akagi, apologizes for not being a very good player at one point, is horrified when Akagi appears to die and overjoyed when he wakes up, and turns down Washizu's offer to switch sides.
- The Lancer: Becomes this to Akagi during the Washizu arc.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Perma-Stubble
- Smoking Is Cool
Osamu
Voiced by: Yuudai Sato
Works part-time at a factory with Akagi. They become friends after the latter helps him deal with three colleagues who try to cheat him out of his salary.
- Expy: Of Hiroyuki from Ten, to an extent.
- Morality Pet: Akagi shows a slightly softer side around Osamu, though on the other hand he also gets him involved with the Yakuza.
Ishikawa
Voiced by: Nobuaki Fukuda
A yakuza who witnessed Akagi's match with Ichikawa and who, years later, searches the entire city for him after being only one to recognize Fake Akagi as an impostor.
Ohgi
Voiced by: Issei Futamata
Opponents
Ryuuzaki
Voiced by: Kouji Nakata
Nangou's debtor and the first opponent of the rise of Akagi.
Keiji Yagi
Voiced by: Wataru Takagi
A Rep Player who is more skilled at Mahjong than Ryuuzaki.
- Fingore: His implied fate after losing to Akagi when he tried to apply the same to him.
Ichikawa
Voiced by: Hideyuki Tanaka
A blind professional mahjong player who prefers to play by the book.
- Ambiguously Jewish: Almost certainly unintentional given the post-WWII Japan setting, but that hat sure looks like a kippah.
- Cool Old Guy: He cheats only when Akagi first cheats and out of all opponents Akagi faces, Ichikawa got off well in defeat. He actually outlives Akagi when seen in HERO which takes place after the events of Ten - The Blessed Way of the Nice Guy.
- Cool Shades
- Handicapped Badass
- Perma-Stubble
- Russian Roulette: Plays a game of this with Akagi to test him.
Fake Akagi
Voiced by: Ginpei Sato
His real name is Yukio Hirayama.
- Fatal Flaw: Fake Akagi is good at making fast hands yet he is a horrible gambler who can be easily pushed. This flaw is exploited by Akagi, Urabe, and Washizu the last leading to his death.
- Killed Off for Real: Discovering his body after losing to Washizu began the last arc.
Urabe
Voiced by: Morio Kazama
The Fujisawa Rep Player who in his match with Fake Akagi keeps doubling his bet.
- Came Back Strong: Or more lucky and skilled, in his case. He too makes an re-appearance in HERO, as the legendary gambler Da Wan.
- Fatal Flaw: Urabe is a player who usually keeps matches going (or standing still as Akagi calls it) as long as possible to read his opponents so if he is unable to read them he's a sitting duck. This is both his greatest strength as he defeats Fake Akagi and Osamu, and his biggest weakness when the real Akagi enters the match.
- Fingore: His fate after losing to Akagi. He ends up having a 32 million yen debt and his hands broken and mutilated.
- Smug Snake
Nakai
Only appears in the manga.
Washizu Iwao
Voiced by: Masane Tsukayama
An old man who has gained a lot of wealth and power in post-war Japan through shady dealings. He tempts people—preferably young people—to bet their lives for a chance to win large amounts of money in "Washizu Mahjong", a variation of mahjong where some tiles are transparent and the walls are replaced by a hole in the middle of the table.
- Art Shift: When he's introduced in the manga he looks fairly normal but he gradually becomes more deranged and goofy-looking as the story progresses. This detail is kept in the anime.
- Ax-Crazy
- Bad Boss: Tends to scold his servants and hit them with his walking stick, particularly Yoshioka.
- Character Development: Over the course of his duel with Akagi, he mentally degrades to the point where his original, composed demeanor is utterly shattered and he becomes a raving, sweating lunatic. He also begins to see Akagi as a genuine opponent, and stops banking on his insane luck to instead become a Determinator who works extremely hard for his win.
- Demonic Possession
- Evil Old Folks
- Evil Sounds Deep
- Foe Romance Subtext: At the very end of their match Washizu has gained so much respect for Akagi that he gets second thoughts about killing him. If he loses he'd die, but if he wins he would effectively die inside without Akagi. This hesitation along with blood loss eventually makes him black out at a winning call and the match comes to an end. Washizu spends the rest of his days looking for Akagi, not caring about any money or power anymore, just to find a single man who is effectively a part of him.
- Foregone Conclusion: We know that he will eventually be defeated and die since his match against Akagi goes on until one of them dies of blood loss, and Akagi is alive in Ten, set much later. The anime also ends with a shot of an older Akagi, confirming he won.
- Laughing Mad: Several times, but especially after he draws the 1-Pin that he needed, after which "chemicals float about in Washizu's brain."
- Mood-Swinger: Jumps between fury, desperation, and gleeful laughter too many times to count.
- Near-Villain Victory: Several times, but especially in volume 24 when Akagi appears to die for the second time.
- Perma-Stubble
- Sadist: Enjoys watching his opponents get desperate and struggle in their final moments.
- Sanity Slippage: Lost it decades ago, and continues to lose it during his game with Akagi.
- Slasher Smile: His default expression, and it seems to grow bigger with each episodeg
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Washizu gains this mentality after barely surviving their fateful mahjong battle and is later seen actively searching for Akagi to face him again. He's furious when he learns that some Yakuza thugs tried to kill Akagi and Washizu outright states that if they had succeeded he would have used his influence to destroy their group all the while claiming that only he could defeat Akagi.
- Villainous Breakdown: One can argue that the Washizu Mahjong arc is one very, very long breakdown for Washizu.
- We Can Rule Together: Kind of, later in the manga: he tries to tempt Yasuoka into defecting to his side for a big chunk of the winning money. It doesn't work.
- White Hair, Black Heart
- Worthy Opponent: He is the enemy that Akagi has spent his life searching for, and vice versa.
