The manga this week
Usogui (Lie eater)
By Toshio Sako (Shueisha)
Two long-running manga series ended in the last six months, both of them worthy of being recorded in the history of gambling manga. One is "Akagi" by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, and the other is "Usogui," the manga this week. They're similar in certain aspects, but had contrasting drawing styles and stories.
What "Usogui" had and "Akagi" didn't was a ridiculously large-scale storyline. It went like this: In the Sengoku warring states period, ninja formed an organization called Kakero. This became a secret society that continues to this day and controls all kinds of illegal gambling. Once Kakero is involved in a gambling match, it never fails to collect all the bets from the loser on behalf of the winner, and the life of the loser is often at stake. Kakero also has close ties with the powers of the state.
The protagonist Baku Madarame, nicknamed Usogui (Lie eater), is initially a member of Kakero, but loses a gambling match with the head of the organization, Soichi Kiruma, also called Oyakata-sama (My lord). Baku gambles away everything he has and becomes an independent gambler. Having gone through hell, Baku and his buddies manage to win a number of matches that have strange twists and eventually gather enough wealth to be able to challenge Soichi again.
I find it so amusing and very much like the "Usogui" style that the gamble chosen for the finale is "drop the handkerchief," a kind of child's game. One of the players sits with their back to the other player, and the other player drops a handkerchief any time they choose. If the first player looks behind them and finds the handkerchief on the floor, they win, but they lose if the handkerchief is still being held by the other player.
It's excellent how the idea of such a simple game turns into grotesque psychological warfare, with the lives of the players at stake. I was also stunned by Baku's ace in the hole, through which he comes back from the brink of defeat and wins. I believe it's one of the best games played in any gambling manga.
"Usogui" is an ambitious manga featuring not just a battle of wits but that also presents the reader with action-packed, herculean physical battles.
The title "Usogui" refers to Baku's devilish predator-like cunning that defeats his opponents' bluffs and uses them to his advantage while confusing and consuming them. However, as the story progresses toward the end, quite honestly it is hard for me to tell what's real, and I feel like it's the reader whom this manga tries to confuse and play a trick on.
Shigeru Akagi, a main character of "Akagi," and Baku are both self-destructive compulsive gamblers, so it was quite surprising to me that both manga series ended with a good feeling.
By the way, I wonder why politicians in Japan are so eager to pass the casino bill when most of the general public are not so interested in this matter. Could it be that an organization like Kakero exists for real in current-day Japan? Someone please tell me that's a big fat uso (lie).
Ishida is a Yomiuri Shimbun senior writer whose areas of expertise include manga and anime.
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