Ten The Nice Guy on the Path of Tenhou end
Finished reading it at last!
I was having fever when i'm reading it, and all i could think during my sleep was mahjong and what tiles Ten use to finish the east and west games. It was intense, but a bit taxing on your brain. Not to mention you'll see a lot of the same scenery.
The end of east vs west game end with east winning, but at the same time, Hiro realize that he never gonna be able to reach Akagi or Ten level of play. For 9 years after that, he become a white collar worker, living a proper life until one day he receive news that a funeral for Akagi will be held. He go to the funeral and to his surprise, he was invited for all night vigil, invited by Akagi himself who supposed to be dead. The funeral was real deal, since Akagi planned to kill himself using a self euthanize machine before his alzheimer kill him. His alzheimer already worsen at that point, he lost half his sight and he can no longer do simple arithmetic. He invited those who close to him to spend one last day with him, including his nemesis Soga and West team leader Harada.
This arc focus on other characters trying to convince Akagi not to die, and Akagi easily shut down their every argument and giving them a sermon about how he live. For Akagi, his body is merely a vessel for him to exist. His life full of recklessness is what made him Akagi, and he intend to be him till his last breath. Here we see Akagi at it weakest. During his final fight with Soga, Akagi didn't even realize the game already tie due to him incapable of doing simple math. Younger Akagi can make the game tie in several way, while this Akagi can only depend on his insane luck to make the game a tie. Akagi can't no longer play mahjong, the one thing that truly matter to him.
The final moment with Akagi was an important moment for him and his friends. Hiro finally stop becoming a white collar worker and become a mahjong instructur and occasional player for a mahjong player. He follow Akagi words to paddle away from a proper life and live the way he truly want. 2 and a half years after Akagi death, his grave already in shamble, thanks to the peoples chipping away his grave for luck or out of respect. Though as Hiro said, that mean Akagi is spreading and that he live on in their heart.
It was quite a fitting end, thought admittedly, the main character, Ten, didn't really get much times to shine. The spotlight was focused on other character like Hiro or Akagi. Not to mention Ten become way too different without proper explanation. He's no longer a joke type character, but rather a super gambler with great intuition. Hiro probably got the most character development out of all characters. He started out as a young naive college students and turn into a badass gambler by the end.
This series is a good way to get used to Fukumoto storytelling, His art is rough but charming in its own way (you'll get used to the pointy nose and chin and the facts that he often copy paste every mook in suit). You'll see pages and pages of lengthy explanation of mahjong, a lot of close up of people sweating, and empty panel only consist of words.
