Ill divide the review in 2 parts first without spoilers then with some spoilers. Akagi talks about a genius kid disillusioned with life which stumbles in the underground Mahjong scene. High profile Yakuza matches are the only things that can bring him to feel alive going so close to death. 300https://i.ur.com/2GHi8D5.png Akagi is a genius but hes as much brilliant as he is completely insane: this is clear to the viewer within a minute of this characters first appearance. Thats not someone you can easily relate to not on that level at least but he is interesting at least for how unusual he is. I dont think this anime is for everyone Im going to say it now. That isnt because it is dedicated to Mahjong but because most people probably cannot stand Akagi as a person and thats okay. The good thing is youll probably decide if you like him or not in the first two episodes at most. also lets address this elephant in the room. The art style. 400https://i.ur.com/lqPN3qh.png If you dont get killed by their nose youll get used to it. Its not pretty but I think thats fine it gives personality to the characters its bold and hard like the world and the events it portraits and thats all there really is to say on that. I wouldnt say this anime is about mahjong as much as it is about the twisted gambling of Akagi but yes they play a lot of mahjong so knowing a bit of the rules does help follow. This doesnt mean you need to know mahjong to follow the anime. If something cool happens dont worry they will let you know. Same goes for things that are improbable or crazy this anime makes it a point to let you know that whatever theyre throwing on the table is the stuff. Now Id like to talk a bit more freely Im not going to spoil major stuff and Im not going to make names but you know if you want to watch this anime knowing nothing more than the synopsis thats cool Ill tell you in a moment where to stop. Do I suggest this anime to you? For sure just watch a few episodes see if youre hooked and then come back here and let me know what you think. If you want to read a bit ahead I honestly think that what Im going to say isnt going to influence much your enjoyment of this show in any case warning for spoilers in 321 300https://i.ur.com/dxTTElK.png First of all I must admit it is a weakness of mine I actually like overpowered characters. If in a story I see someone that is so far ahead of everyone else that it isnt even funny Ill probably like them wanted to get this out of the way so you know Im a bit biased. This anime honestly can and will lose the thrill for some people when you realize that Akagi doesnt lose. Thats part of the fun of it and is basically the premise of the show but still some parts would hit a bit harder. If you played Mahjong any amount of time you would know that winning as much as Akagi is so improbable that its laughable. Also there is no way that you become as good as he does in the first night of playing ever. But if you can stomach the premise that Akagi is that strong you might just enjoy that and this anime might have something to teach you. Akagi isnt just strong because he wins. Akagi is strong because he has an extreme personality and what I like about this anime is that his opponents are very strong personalities too. Akagi uses his knowledge intuition and acuity to completely break people. The Mahjong is really the background the mental battle is whats really up in this show. And thats why Akagi cannot lose. He is the personification of the gambler. This series will often ridicule players that play by logic and probability because it wants to be really clear that the reality of the Akagi universe isnt about that. Its about the essence of the gamble. The essence of a gamble is to die a meaningless death 300https://i.ur.com/E61LU0L.png Throwing away everything is the only way to be free of its weight. Sometimes this anime is right in both good and bad interpretations of this way of thinking. You shouldnt gamble because it can lead to your demise and it makes on a risk reward level no sense. But if you do play some gambling high stakes game like Mahjong youre going to lose if you make the consequences weigh on you. Playing recklessly isnt right but this is not what Akagi does. What Akagi does do is pick difficult choices as if they were the most natural thing to do. Because they are you just cant see that if you put the wrong weight on whats in front of you. With this attitude Akagi will go on and become an underground Mahjong legend and well yes actually the anime just ends like that in the middle of an high stakes match. Thats kind of underwhelming but still I dont think its too bad. Without really talking about the fact they really couldnt wait the 12 years that the manga took to end the high stakes match I was talking about. This anime already told you what it is about and I think it culminates and at that point its better it just cut off without dragging along too much. If youre interested in a show that talks about Mahjong you really dont have much choice there is this one and then theres Saki which really isnt comparable. Even so I think Akagi would stand on its feet anyway given the masterful building of tension and the unique personality of Akagi. This show made a lot of people start playing Mahjong which tells us two things: The first is that a lot of people watched and enjoyed this show without knowing how to play and the second is that it made Mahjong feel actually epic without using special effects or moves just expert staging of the games and a lot of character. Im sure not everyone will enjoy this anime that being for the art for the characters for the mahjong. But I do think almost anyone could enjoy there isnt a demographic that Id just exclude so I suggest giving it a try