Shoubushi Densetsu Tetsuya (original) (raw)

Over the years, the Japanese animation industry has accumulated many series about various games, but some of them, such as Mahjong, are still of little interest to Western viewers. The story tells of a novice player who must become a master by learning the game among ordinary people and true real crooks.

To be honest, I have played Mahjong a little, but I don't know everything about the rules. However, I found the setting of post-war Japan interesting enough to give such a niche anime a chance. And I was satisfied, because despite the specific subject matter, the story is more than understandable even without knowing... the rules of the game.

The secret is that each of the games is first a confrontation of intelligence and wit of the players, and then a series of moves, although sometimes, of course, the playing process can be tiring, especially for those who do not like board games.

In addition to the specific subject matter, there is another off-putting nuance, the fact that the anime is an adaptation of the manga, which numbers as many as 41 volumes, most of which are not even in English. At the same time, the series itself has a modest runtime of 20 episodes, covering only a small portion of the source material. I hasten to reassure you that what is shown in the anime can be called a complete story, showing the path from a youngster to a full-fledged mentor. In many ways, this was achieved by mixing up the chapters, which made the mc-kun's journey a bit longer, but reinforced the completeness of the concept by including later chapters until the completion of the training arc.

The first third of the anime has a very basic structure, familiar to many from Battle Shounens. The protagonist wants to learn how to master the game of Mahjong, so he trains hard, faces new, stronger opponents, and then, of course, succeeds. However, the protagonist's motives can hardly be called lofty, as he does not plan to become a mahjong king or a world-famous champion. All he cares about at the beginning of his journey is a decent income that will allow him to do nothing, as the opening scene shows, in which the impoverished locals can't afford decent food after the war, while the successful player Tetsuya is happily eating fresh sushi with the money from his former card game winnings.

As you can understand, in such stories there is practically nowhere without a teacher, and in our case it becomes a local Mahjong master named Boshu. After meeting him, the mc-kun realizes that this is a great opportunity to learn the wisdom of the game, and he swallows his pride and asks to become the skilled player's student. The mentor, as it should be, is not too remarkable at first glance. To tell the truth, he looks rather shabby, and it is easy to mistake him for an ordinary tired worker, but this is only to his advantage, as it is easier to rip-off the unwary simpletons.

The master's training methods are also interesting, such as sending his ward to play without money, which is tantamount to beating up if he loses. However, after several acts of violence against the mc-kun, he begins to adapt and finds a way out not only in victories, because it is almost impossible to win all the time, especially if you are only an eager beginner.

Do you often see Shounen where the mc-kun has to cheat because literally every experienced player has his own tricks, and sometimes you have to cheat just to level the playing field. In order to win, experience, intelligence, and especially the Japanese authors' beloved overpower are not enough; you need something more - strength. The strength that allows you to take control of the situation, the strength that allows you to create the right conditions and control the game. This is what Boshu teaches in the first place, and the tricks and cunning themselves are a rich thing, although without them, of course, there is no way. Such a gray morality, which is quite fair for the adult world, is perfectly complemented by the views of decadent Tokyo.

Despite the non-trivial details of the story, at first it is difficult to call the mc-kun unconventional and memorable, from design to behavior. Tetsuya is an ordinary, reasonable guy who wants to live a good life, and the closest way to get it is gambling. He floats on the stream of luck and perceives defeat very emotionally. At the beginning, the mc-kun is an avatar of the viewer, and this should not embarrass you at all, because around him there are always characters who skillfully draw attention to themselves.

It's no surprise that the gambling halls are full of colorful personalities, from experienced masters like Boshu, who can turn the most difficult game in a single move, to the drug addict Innami, who can see through the tiles to read his opponent's hand.

The story is divided into small arcs with their antagonists, each of whom has exclusive tricks that are sometimes very entertaining to understand. It is also important that these tricks are practically within the limits of human capabilities. Personally, I was most impressed by the cheeky trick of pulling a number of prepared tiles out of the wall; it would even be interesting to repeat it.

In addition to the intellectual confrontation, the stories can also boast some moral and instructive elements, such as the plot with an old acquaintance who is mired in drug addiction, or a girl who fell in love with the mc-kun while waiting for the return of her beloved. Tetsuya does not try to play the role of a savior and mostly shows a cold and even cruel distance, giving only a "gentle nudge" instead of leading by the hand and taking responsibility for his neighbor. At first glance, this behavior makes him look like a kind of "dry man", but digging deeper, one comes to understand the wisdom of such actions, because few people consciously want to drive themselves into a cycle of inadequate relationships, even if they could bring benefits, as in the case of the girl who had an excellent ability to predict the game and had some sympathy for the mc-kun. In this case, however, this doesn't save the clumsy romance line, which fortunately curdled rather quickly.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the mc-kun always does the right thing, as the ending of an arc with the twice mentioned drug addict proves. Moreover, the situations themselves can only be described as instructive for the viewer, because Tetsuya approaches them with the baggage of his own experiences and moral attitudes, which is no surprise, since he has already seen a lot of things in his life, as flashbacks show from time to time.

The problem is that all this creates the illusion of a "virtual path". In the beginning, the mc-kun is presented as a courageous but inexperienced, shallow guy. Then we are shown some lessons and a series of games that took seven episodes, followed by a one-year time skip, and then we see a much more reasonable man, capable of making informed decisions and even teaching others, not some game tricks, but life wisdom.

Wondering how this came about, and whether the author was slacking off, I revisited the concept of "Strength" on which the mc-kun training is based, and everything became absolutely clear. "The Strength" is not just a cheat or some tricks, not at all. "The Strength" is a real philosophy that forces a person to take responsibility for his life, to realize his maximum potential and to turn himself upside down even when the situation seems to be deadlocked. It seems to be a simple truth, however, how often people like to blame circumstances or people around them for not being able to do something.

After absorbing this wisdom and then consolidating the experience with many hanchans, the mc-kun could not only grow, but also contribute to the growth of his surroundings. In the end, every problem Tetsuya faced could be solved by the people themselves, without any "knights on a white horse".
Moreover, attempts to interfere with someone's fate rarely bode well.

The story of Tetsuya's student, a "dandy" named Danchi, also deserves special attention. At first glance, the character seems like a purely humorous application to dilute the measured narrative, which he certainly manages to do. However, his arc gives a glimpse of the character's versatility, but is it really necessary when it all happens near the end of a season that has no sequel? In fact, the beauty of his arc lies not only in the revelation of the character, but also in the development of the philosophy of the work, because the example of his confrontation clearly demonstrates, perhaps, the basic principle of "Strength", namely - self-control, because it is absolutely impossible to control the situation if you are not able to control yourself. By the way, the creators of the anime introduced this arc a little earlier than in the source material, for which I, as a viewer, am grateful to them, because it perfectly complements the general concept, and without it the series would have lost its integrity.

Do not expect impressive staging from the anime, the events are not particularly dynamic, but the abuse of artificial prolongation is not observed. In addition, a large part of the narrative is presented through the thoughts of the characters, while the screen only shows the placement of tiles or emotional reactions to moves.

It is important to understand that the story is tied to the board game, is hardly obliged to surprise any beauty, because most of the action takes place in a closed room, where not the most sympathetic members of society live. However, the streets of Tokyo look no less gray, which is in keeping with the spirit of the post-war period.

Fortunately, it is the design of the characters that saves the situation from being gray, because the author managed to create a lot of unpleasant and convincing images, from a nasty couple of swindlers to a somewhat ridiculous, but nevertheless intimidating military that learned the art of the game in China. At the same time, some sloppiness in the execution only complements the images, immersing them in a borderline atmosphere where there is a fascinating game and off-putting people who play it.

At the same time, the music and sounds emphasize the situations well, giving the events the necessary emotional coloration without overwhelming the attention. While writing this text, I decided to refresh my memories about the soundtrack and found a video with compositions for the game of the same name, released in 2001 on Playstation 2, which listening to led to an understanding of the cyclical nature of the audio component during the matches in the anime itself. It's hard to call it a flaw, but this approach can get boring at times, especially since most of the matches are built on a similar scheme. On the other hand, the opening and the ending fit in well with the series, but are unlikely to find a place in the viewer's playlist.

Interesting fact: The opening feature a female character who never appeared in the anime. It is hard to imagine the reason for such a move, but maybe it was to continue the story, especially since Toei Animation is known for its long-running projects.

Bottom line.
Despite being a shounen anime, it is hard to call it a teenager anime. It seems that all the curious details are on the surface, but for a full understanding of the situations you need to use your loaf, and the morality of some events is contradictory and can be destructive for unprepared minds. In addition, the title does not have a shiny wrappers, fast dynamics and a high level of expressiveness of the characters, which may simply seem boring to a weighty layer of viewers. Even the humorous elements are minimal, and they are needed not only to lighten the atmosphere, but also to reveal the character. Add to this a very niche theme (at least in the west) and you get the same niche and unpopular anime, and it's a pity, because its "backbone" is quite good and if it were in a slightly different setting, it could surely captivate the viewer. However, even I, a profane person, got pleasant emotions while watching, although, frankly speaking, some parts of the game were tiring. Nevertheless, I even wanted to play mahjong, it's a pity that it's very difficult to find three more players as well as interlocutors to discuss this anime. I hope that this material will help at least a little bit.