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Americans are famous for creating a superhero for almost everything, but for some reason, they did not create a hero with “super gambling” powers. If you think that this does not sound too exciting, think again: The Japanese have a manga culture dedicated to gambling. In fact, there are literally dozens of manga comics in which a gambler is the main hero – some of them superpowers too. We believe that every gambler should take a look at these comics, as they offer quite realistic and fun stories. And to save you the trouble, we already picked 6 of them. Below, you can see best comics every gambler should read.
Akagi
This is probably the first manga series that is dedicated to gambling. First published in 1991, this comic tells the tale of a legendary mahjong player, named Shigeru Akagi. The series takes a closer look at the Japanese underworld and Yakuza, which is basically the mafia of Japan. The main hero meets a lot of high-level characters of Yakuza during his journey, plays mahjong against them, and beats every one of them, one by one. And of course, he has an archenemy too, named Ivao Washizu. Akagi sold more than 12 million copies, adapted to lots of live action movies and a TV show. It is still one of the most popular manga series in Japan.
Betting Man
If you are looking for a more traditional superhero story, Betting Man will be a good choice. It first released in 2016 and is still going strong. The visuals of the series resemble Marvel comics so the Western readers will feel right at home. Betting Man is the story of Jin-Goo, who has a superpower about seeing through objects. Like any good superhero, Jin-Goo first uses his superpower to see girls naked but realizes that he will also be a good gambler with that kind of skills. He starts to gamble but things do not go as planned: He gets into lots of troubles. Betting Man is a humorous story about a man who can see the cards of his rivals but still struggles to win for reasons beyond his control. However, note that this is an adult comic and contains lots of nudity too.
One Outs
For some reason, the Japaneselove baseball – maybe even more than Americans. One Outs is a story about the baseball industry in Japan and a famous pitcher named Toa Takuchi. Mr. Takuchi has a special pitching skill and gets an offer to pitch for the Lycaons team: He will win 5 million Yen for every “out” but lose 50 million Yen for every “run”. One Outs is a psychologic thriller and focuses on the minds of gamblers. It shows how people act when there are millions at stake. This is not a story about superheroes – One Outs tells the story of high-rollers, and it is very good at it. We think every gambler will find something familiar in this story, as it tells the tale of us, the players.
Gamble Fish
This series has ended, and it is quite short so you can start with it. Gamble Fish can be summarized as “Harry Potter on steroids”, but this time, Harry has gambling skills instead of magic. Oh, and he is named Tom Shirasagi too. Shirasagi is a mysterious student who comes to Shishidou Academy, a school for the elite and rich students. Nobody knows about his past, but one thing is for certain: Shirasagi knows how to gamble. In fact, he beats every rich student in the school on different types of gambling matches. The story starts cheesy but unravels the past of Shirasagi and the secrets of the school – it is quite captivating actually. And it contains lots of waifu girls, which may be a plus for some of the readers.
Kakegurui
This one is a quite dark story set in a dystopia. Kakegurui was first released in 2014 and became very popular – in fact, it has also a successful TV anime series. Once again, we start the story in a private school called Hyakkaou Academy, a school for the rich and elite. The thing is, nobody takes “lessons” in this school. Instead, every student gambles with his/her fortune against others. If you win, you graduate. If you lose, you become the slave of another student. Sounds cheerful, right? Well, a student named Yumeko Jabami changes this system after arriving at school. She is a skilled gambler and has the ability to see through scams – Jabami can change the rules of this dystopia forever. If you like reading dark stories, Kakegurui will be a very good option to start.
Kaiji
Kaiji was first released in 1996 and still continues: It is one of the longest gambling manga series in Japan. You may even have watched it because the series has two successful live-action movies, which made more than 50 million dollars in profits. It has also a TV series, which is pretty popular in Japan.
Kaiji is about the story of, well, Kaiji, a successful gambler and a conman. One day, he gets a loan from the wrong people and cannot pay it back. He is sent to a Yakuza labour camp, which is a very hard place to stay alive. However, Kaiji has the necessary skills to survive: He continues to gamble with his life and gets out of many problematic situations. Kaiji is a long story with lots of spins, but it is also very entertaining and impressive. Note that you will get 24 years’ worth of content so this one will be a long read.
There are dozens of gambling-related comics, as we mentioned at the beginning, but we believe that you should start your journey with these ones. Japanese manga has unique visuals, so starting with Betting Man series may be a good idea as its graphics style is familiar to Marvel and DC Comics.
Once you read our recommendations, you can continue with other series such as Legendary Gambler Tetsuya and Gin To Kin. You will surely find lots of useful tips and tricks in these comics so that you can test your “power” in online casino games afterwards. We also recommend you to check the available bonuses at https://casino-promo.co.uk/no-deposit-bonuses/, to master your gambling skills with the best bonus offers.
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