Mahjong (genre)

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Mah-jongg ( Japanese 麻雀 , mājan ) is a genre of manga and anime that deals with the game of mah-jongg .

The game is particularly popular as a game of chance in Japan, although it is illegal. From this popularity, in addition to mangas about other games of chance, the genre of mah-jongg manga arose, to which separate magazines have also been dedicated since the 1970s. In the 1980s, up to seven magazines appeared with a monthly circulation of around 150,000 copies each. These include short stories, sequel stories, and Mahjong-themed articles.

The first mahjongg manga was Mājan Hōrōki by Tetsuya Asada and Eimei Kitano from 1975. Other sports and games had already been the subject of mangas in earlier decades, but mahjongg was long considered too static to be implemented in comic form could be. Since the 1980s, the mangaka Nobuyuki Fukumoto published a number of manga series, such as Akagi , Ten and Gin to Kin , which are well-known representatives of the genre in Japan. In his manga Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji he also dedicates himself to this genre in the section Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji .

The stories mostly deal with the development of a mahjong player from a beginner to a master of the game. Different aspects of Mah-Jongg can be added, so there are love stories, hentais , dramas or family-friendly versions. The game is often presented in an unrealistic way, with Mahjong stones flying through the air or responding to the players' words. The target group are mainly working men who often do not have time to play mah-jongg themselves.

List of mahjong manga and anime

  • Mājan Hōrōki (1975)
  • Gyuambura no Uta
  • Pai Maijutsu
  • Mājan Fūunroku (1981)
  • Akagi (1992)
  • Shōbushi Densetsu Tetsuya (2000)
  • The Legend of Koizumi (2006)
  • Saki (2006)

Magazines

literature

  • Frederik L. Schodt : Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics . Kodansha America, 1983. pp. 117-119. (English)