Akagi - Recommendations

• Vol: 13; Ch: 131
• 2004 - 2008

The overwhelming victory against the 'Bog' has been like a dream. Itou Kaiji, now free of debt but without a penny is leeching himself in Mr.Sakazaki's new house, despite all the flirtings (extreme torment for Kaiji) from Sakazaki's daughter, Mikoko. Sakazaki attempts to kick Kaiji out, even by offering a farewell 'we never knew each other' money of 3 000 000 yen. While Kaiji ponders himself on the decision, he is visited by Miyoshi and Maeda, two of his 'allies' he had saved from the last part of the series.

• Vol: 13; Ch: 158
• 1996 - 1999

Itou Kaiji is as pathetic a person as they come; a man who gambles his days away, only winning enough to lose significantly more. He hates himself, is riddled with envy for others, but is ultimately too weak to think of a way out of his massive debts. Then one day he is approached by a strange man who offers him what seems the solution of a lifetime – to take a short journey on a ship called Espoir, during which time he will be given the chance to win more cash than he can dream of in a card game like no other. Ever the desperate, Kaiji takes the gamble of his life; however, the game turns out to be far darker than he expected and the hard lessons pile on thick and fast. Now stuck in a closed world of unsavory characters willing to do anything to destroy him, can Kaiji gather enough courage to outwit them all?

• Vol: 13; Ch: 134
• 2000 - 2004

After Kaiji's showdown with Chairman Hyoudo at Starside Hotel Kaiji is forced into labor at an underground mine. With meager wages each day, he will work for decades unless he doesn't do something. Now Kaiji must wager his earnings in underground Chinchirorin gambles for a ticket to the rest of the world. But even if he surfaces, he only has one chance to pay back his enormous debt, and that is by challenging the "unbeatable" Pachinko machine, The Bog.

• Vol: 19; Ch: 201
• 2005 - 2015

"Congratulations! You are 1 of 100,000 people who have been entered in the amazing Liar Game tournament!" For Nao Kanzaki, an overly-naïve student, receiving this message in the mail was only the beginning of an unending financial and psychological nightmare. Winning the game means riches beyond one’s wildest dreams, while failure means crushing debt. And with no choice but to play the game, Nao quickly turns to Shinichi, a well-known swindler, for help. However, little do the two know just how far the Liar Game goes. Who will win, and who will lose it all?

• Vol: 9
• 1995 - 2013

• Vol: 2; Ch: 18
• 1994

• Vol: 59+; Ch: 493+
• 2000 - ?

The 1980's was an unusual decade. The price of land skyrocketed, and the value of money went well above the norm. The numbers that defined the world all spun out of control, launching one of the largest bubble economies Japan had ever seen. For Mahjong, as well, it was an age that saw high stakes games on a scale unlike any age before it. And in this age, a man some call "Kai" lives as a "Mukoubuchi", what true, lone-wolf gamblers are called.

• Vol: 41; Ch: 339
• 1997 - 2005

In the year 1947, the people of Shinjuku are down on their luck. With little money to buy food or necessities, some resort to gambling in order to survive. Traveling Tetsuya chooses to spend his time at Mahjong parlors where he is wiping the floor clean with his adversaries. However, Tetsuya meets the intensely-skilled Boushu-san, this is when he realizes that his skills are still lacking.

• Vol: 2; Ch: 21
• 1986 - 1995

Watanabe Yuuichi, also known as Pen-chan, loves mahjong. It's just too bad that he's not very good at it. Follow Pen-chan's wins and losses (mostly losses) in a series of short tales about his friends, family, co-workers, and local yakuza until the final conclusion where Pen-chan makes the biggest gamble of his life...

• Vol: 1; Ch: 8
• 1989 - 1990

Gambling. Mahjong. Death. These are the themes of this fast-paced, undercover-agent-style manga where outrageous life-or-death gambles are made daily occurences and insurmountable odds are overcome. The most hardcore, action-packed mahjong manga you will ever see.