6 - The Picaro's Talent

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(Please feel free to edit the speaker names if incomplete or inaccurate. Names are handled on a best-effort basis depending on the info on the source file. Dialogue is left as is.)
[01:12] Nar
    When Akagi and Ichikawa first
    started their zetsu ichimon game,
[01:15] Nar
    they appeared evenly matched,
[01:17] Nar
    but now it is becoming
    clear who is superior.
[01:20] Nar
    Ichikawa now has more
    than 100,000 points.
[01:24] Nar
    On the other hand, Akagi is steadily
    losing points and now stands at 23,000.
[01:29] Nar
    Ichikawa takes that opportunity
    to change his play style.
[01:33] Nar
    He gives up on tsumo wins
[01:34] Nar
    and focuses on getting direct
    hit wins off of Akagi.
[01:37] Nar
    He's going in for the kill.
SIGN    Episode 6
SIGN    The Picaro's Talent
[01:48] Boss
    We've reached the first turning point.
[01:51] Boss
    Will Ichikawa deal a finishing blow,
    or will Akagi make a comeback?
[01:58] Boss
    They're both going for a one suit hand?
[02:00] Boss
    I see, I see.
[02:02] Boss
    It's not zetsu ichimon anymore;
    it's zetsu nimon, eliminating two suits.
[02:05] Boss
    It'll be interesting to watch them
    both go for a characters chinitsu.
[02:09] nar
    If zetsu ichimon is like boxing's in-fighting,
[02:13] nar
    then zetsu nimon is like grappling.
[02:15] nar
    It's as if they have their hands
    on each other's throats
[02:17] nar
    and are slowly tightening their grips.
[02:19] nar
    The one who can't hold out any longer
    and coughs up the ron tile first dies.
[02:25] Cop
    Akagi, isn't that a little reckless?
[02:28] Cop
    Luck isn't on your side right now.
[02:31] Cop
    Ichikawa's much more likely
    to get his winning tile
[02:34] Cop
    than you are to get yours.
[02:36] Nar
    Yasuoka's hypothesis was correct.
[02:39] Nar
    Akagi has no momentum right now.
    Everything is in Ichikawa's favor.
[02:45] Nar
    The seventh turn.
[02:49] Nar
    Ichikawa is in tenpai.
[02:50] Nar
    He's waiting for a 3, 6, or 9 of characters.
[02:52] Boss
    Looks like Ichikawa might be the winner...
[02:56] Boss
    He's in tenpai with a concealed
    dora triplet of red dragons
[02:59] Boss
    and an ideal three-way wait,
    so early in the game.
[03:02] Boss
    Akagi's miles away.
[03:04] Guy
    Kan!
[03:07] Guy
    The new dora is the 6 of characters.
[03:10] Guy
    Riichi!
[03:11] Nar
    In the same round,
[03:12] Nar
    not just the dealer, but the
    South player is also in tenpai.
[03:15] Nar
    They've caught up with no delay.
[03:17] Nar
    It looks as though the match
    may end here in the seventh turn.
[03:22] Nar
    But...
[03:23] Nar
    Just then, Akagi's hand
    is still at this stage.
[03:26] Nar
    You may say he's one tile
    away from a chiitoitsu,
[03:29] Nar
    but the 9 of characters that he must
[03:31] Nar
    discard for that happens to
    be Ichikawa's winning tile.
[03:34] Nar
    Akagi senses that this tile is dangerous.
[03:37] Nar
    And then...
[03:38] Aka
    Chi.
[03:40] Nar
    With this call, he manages to secure one
    9 of characters tile in a sequence.
[03:45] Nar
    This way, he's not likely to have to discard
    the remaining 6 or 9 of characters.
[03:48] Nar
    Akagi's sharp insight shines as this
    remarkable play gets him out of danger.
[03:53] Nar
    But Ichikawa is also privy to this strategy.
[03:56] Nar
    He can read Akagi's moves precisely.
[03:59] Ichi
    He won't discard the 3, 6, or 9 now.
[04:03] Man
    5 of characters.
[04:04] Ichi
    Chi.
[04:05] Nar
    Now Ichikawa's waiting for
    a 2, 5 or 8 of characters.
[04:10] Nar
    He changes his wait to the 8 of characters
[04:12] Nar
    that Akagi is most likely to discard next.
[04:14] Nar
    He chases him down.
[04:15] Nar
    As his target moves, so does he.
[04:19] Nar
    Like a homing missile.
[04:23] Man
    7 of characters!
[04:23] Aka
    Chi.
[04:25] Nar
    With that move, he's used up
    his 8 of characters,
[04:27] Nar
    and he discards the 9 of characters.
[04:30] Nar
    He's sidestepped Ichikawa's
    waits once again.
[04:33] Nar
    The ninth turn.
[04:35] Nar
    The South player deals the 2 of characters.
[04:37] Nar
    This is one of Ichikawa's winning tiles.
[04:39] Nar
    Yet he doesn't move.
[04:41] Nar
    He will hold out for a
    direct hit off of Akagi.
[04:45] Aka
    Pon.
[04:47] Nar
    With this call, Akagi has
    now caught up to Ichikawa.
[04:49] Nar
    He managed to worm out of Ichikawa's
    waits and get into tenpai himself.
[04:53] Nar
    He's waiting on the
    1 and 4 of characters.
[04:56] Nar
    Now Ichikawa faces another decision.
[05:00] Ichi
    Akagi took care of his
    3, 6, and 9 of characters,
[05:02] Ichi
    as well as his 2, 5, and 8 of characters.
[05:05] Ichi
    Therefore, all that's left in his hand
    now are 1, 4 and 7 of characters.
[05:10] Ichi
    Our waits are the same.
[05:12] Nar
    Ichikawa's waiting on the
    1, 4 and 7 of characters.
[05:15] Nar
    He chases Akagi for the third time.
[05:17] Nar
    Akagi waits for the 1 and 4 of characters.
[05:19] Nar
    The waits are similar,
[05:21] Nar
    but Ichikawa has a slight
    advantage since his wait
[05:22] Nar
    also includes the 7 of characters.
[05:29] Nar
    Akagi's drawn the worst tile,
    the 7 of characters dora.
[05:37] Ichi
    Looks like you got it.
[05:39] Aka
    4 of characters.
[05:41] Ichi
    Ron!
[05:42] Ichi
    Dealer haneman. 18,000.
[05:46] Ichi
    I finally got you, Akagi.
[05:58] Nan
    We're dead.
[05:59] Cop
    I guess Ichikawa's too much for him...
[06:02] Boss
    I wouldn't say that.
[06:04] Boss
    Indeed, Ichikawa's persistence
    as he hunted down
[06:07] Boss
    Akagi's tiles made for an excellent game.
[06:09] Boss
    His tenacity and intuition are superhuman.
[06:12] Boss
    However, Akagi's game was
    not worse, by any means.
[06:15] Boss
    In fact, in terms of impressiveness,
    his game may have surpassed Ichikawa's.
[06:20] cop
    What exactly do you mean?
[06:25] Boss
    This last hand, Akagi consistently
    dodged Ichikawa's waits,
[06:29] Boss
    and finally managed to get himself
    into a 1 or 4 of characters wait tenpai.
[06:32] Boss
    If you had drawn the 7 of characters
    then, what would you have done?
[06:36] Cop
    Huh? Well...
[06:38] Boss
    Figuring that the 1 and 4 of
    characters are his winning tiles,
[06:40] Boss
    wouldn't you have discarded the 7?
[06:43] Boss
    Most people would try to
    preserve their tenpai,
[06:46] Boss
    hoping for that tiny chance of it passing.
[06:50] Boss
    But Akagi didn't try to pursue
    that small chance.
[06:56] Boss
    If he'd discarded the 7 of characters dora,
[06:58] Boss
    Ichikawa would've had a baiman
    and Akagi would've gone bust.
[07:03] Boss
    His tenacity is truly astonishing.
[07:05] Boss
    Would a normal person
    even consider all that?
[07:09] Boss
    And even if they considered it,
[07:10] Boss
    would they be able to resist the
    temptation to maintain their tenpai?
[07:13] Boss
    Akagi did just that!
[07:16] Boss
    Chasing after something as ephemeral
    as "if" will never bring you victory.
[07:21] Boss
    I can hear Akagi's will, clear as any voice,
    from the 7 of characters he kept.
[07:28] Cop
    Akagi...
[07:30] Nar
    Winning is something that happens in reality.
[07:34] Nar
    Without pursuing reality,
    there is no way to win.
[07:38] Nar
    Akagi dealt into someone's
    hand, but left his will behind.
[07:41] Nar
    The will to win in reality.
[07:46] Nar
    The game is not favoring Akagi right now.
[07:48] Nar
    He may have limited the loss to a haneman,
[07:50] Nar
    but drawing the winning
    tile itself was bad luck.
[07:53] Nar
    It's obvious that the game
    is favoring Ichikawa.
[07:56] Nar
    Akagi has 5,000 points,
    and that's all he has.
[08:00] Nar
    It may just end here.
[08:02] Nan
    I'm sorry, Akagi.
[08:04] Nan
    I understand that this player
    is out of your league.
[08:08] Nan
    But you've always overturned
    accepted notions like those.
[08:12] Nan
    You're a genius, no questioning that.
[08:14] Nan
    Please...
[08:15] Nan
    show me one last time...
[08:17] Nan
    an escape from this dilemma.
[08:19] Nan
    We need some miracle tiles!
[08:22] Nan
    Akagi!
[08:25] Nan
    What a crap hand!
[08:28] Nan
    He might as well keep the terminal and
    honor tiles and go for a kokushi musou.
SIGN    Kokushi musou: Yakuman hand with one of each terminal and honor tile, plus one tile that matches any of the other 13.
[08:32] Nan
    The luck just isn't on his side right now.
[08:35] Nan
    The luck...
[08:38] Boss
    I knew it.
[08:40] Boss
    There's no way we can expect Akagi
[08:41] Boss
    to get a decent hand
    under these circumstances.
[08:50] Boss
    That's an amazing hand.
[08:52] Boss
    Two dora to boot.
[08:54] Boss
    With a tsumo win, he could
    get up to a haneman.
[08:56] Boss
    And he's only two tiles
    away from tenpai already.
[08:59] Boss
    It's the complete opposite
    of Akagi's starting tiles.
[09:02] Boss
    Who could've predicted
    such a huge difference?
[09:05] Boss
    If Ichikawa wins with a haneman,
[09:06] Boss
    he'll get 6,000 from each
    player as the dealer.
[09:09] Boss
    Akagi will have to give up his
    last 5,000 points and die.
[09:13] Boss
    And that will be the end.
[09:16] Nan
    Damn it!
[09:18] Nan
    Even his draws are complete shit.
[09:20] Nan
    It's the sixth turn and he's still got nothing!
[09:23] Nan
    I guess there's nothing he can do...
[09:25] Cop
    No.
[09:26] Cop
    He's on it already.
[09:27] Nan
    Huh?
[09:32] Nan
    Looking at Akagi's discard pile...
[09:34] Nan
    That's it!
[09:36] Nan
    I see what he's getting at...
[09:38] Nan
    He's hinting at a kokushi musou
    or a chinitsu to tie their hands.
[09:42] Man
    Riichi!
[09:45] Nan
    It's hopeless.
[09:46] Nan
    No one sees him as a threat right now.
[09:49] Nan
    His attempt was totally ineffective.
[09:51] Nan
    His final effort failed. Is this the end?
[09:58] bos
    5 of characters?
[09:59] yas
    That's right by the dora!
[10:01] nan
    Have you gone insane?!
[10:04] Nar
    Dealing into another player's
    hand right now is fatal,
[10:06] Nar
    yet Akagi makes a bold move.
[10:08] Nar
    And again on the next turn...
[10:11] Nar
    He discards a 4 of characters dora,
    making two consecutive reckless moves.
[10:15] Nan
    This is crazy.
[10:18] Boss
    I get it.
[10:19] Boss
    Akagi's betting his life on this bluff.
[10:23] Nar
    These character tiles are exactly
    what the player in riichi wants.
[10:26] Nar
    Akagi was ready to face death when
    he discarded those two tiles.
[10:30] Nar
    His hand is in shambles.
[10:33] Nar
    At first, it seems foolish to bet
    his life on a trash hand like this.
[10:37] Nar
    However, that's precisely what is
    needed in order to deceive others.
[10:42] Nar
    People are always disoriented by
    actions that seem counterproductive.
[10:45] Nar
    How can you ever fool anyone
    without risking anything yourself?
[10:49] Nar
    Akagi's boldness plants
    doubt in his opponents.
[10:53] Nar
    Doubt gives way to delusions,
    and delusions give birth to fear.
[10:57] Nar
    To them, his trash hand no
    longer looks like a trash hand.
[11:05] Nar
    With this one discard,
[11:06] Nar
    Akagi's bluff now controls the entire table.
[11:09] Nar
    The next player gives up on winning.
[11:11] Nar
    The player before him looks troubled, as well.
[11:14] Nar
    And once you've gained
    control, lies becomes truths.
[11:18] Nar
    Akagi arrives at his own truth by
    deliberately weakening himself.
[11:24] Nar
    Ichikawa is in tenpai.
[11:25] Boss
    This is perfect.
[11:27] Boss
    If he discards the 5 of characters,
[11:28] Boss
    he's looking at a haneman tsumo.
[11:30] Boss
    He can end the match—
[11:32] Boss
    What?!
[11:35] Man
    R-Ron!
[11:36] Boss
    What?! Why?!
[11:39] Boss
    It can't be!
[11:40] Boss
    I see.
[11:42] Boss
    A judgment typical of a man
    as pragmatic as Ichikawa.
[11:45] Boss
    Right now, the only thing Ichikawa
    wants to prevent is Akagi winning.
[11:49] Boss
    He probably knew the kokushi musou
    had a 90% chance of being a bluff,
[11:54] Boss
    but he figured,
[11:55] Boss
    on the off-chance that Akagi
    escapes out of reach again,
[11:57] Boss
    he'd be better off throwing away this hand.
[12:05] Boss
    For Ichikawa, dealing into that
    hand was the logical conclusion.
[12:08] Boss
    But this sort of underhanded play
    might change the flow of the game.
[12:14] Boss
    Thinking about it,
    this was a godly play by Akagi.
[12:18] Boss
    He used his terrible
    starting hand and his draws
[12:21] Boss
    to force Ichikawa out of the dealer seat.
[12:24] Boss
    With this trash hand...
[12:28] Nar
    To rewrite lies into truths,
    he bled himself without hesitation.
[12:33] Nar
    Each of Akagi's tiles seems to
    glisten with his own blood,
[12:36] Nar
    placing unsurmountable
    pressure on Ichikawa.
[12:39] Boss
    This is Akagi's Mahjong...
[12:45] Nar
    Akagi's just come back
    from the depths of Hell,
[12:48] Nar
    and his starting hand looks like
    he's just made a pact with the devil.
[12:54] Nar
    It's an extraordinary starting hand.
[12:56] Nar
    Could this be the luck
    Akagi was born with?
[12:58] Nan
    Whenever he survives
    a near-death encounter,
[13:00] Nan
    Akagi returns with a monster hand.
[13:03] Nar
    Then, five turns later...
[13:05] Aka
    Tsumo.
[13:06] Nar
    He wins this unbelievable
    hand with a tsumo.
[13:08] Nar
    Honitsu, tsumo, chanta, san ankou,
    red dragons, green dragons, 1 dora.
[13:13] Nar
    A sanbaiman.
SIGN    Sanbaiman - Triple mangan.
[13:16] Nar
    The sand at the depths
    of Hell is magical sand.
[13:20] Nar
    Touching it will reverse the poles
    of great fortune and great loss,
[13:24] Nar
    much like a coin turning
    from one side to another.
[13:27] Nar
    Now Akagi is the dealer.
[13:29] Nar
    He takes another 5,800
    from the player after him.
[13:33] Nar
    Then he gets another dealer
    mangan with a tsumo win.
[13:37] Nar
    He gives himself up to his flow
    and goes on a winning streak.
[13:39] Nar
    He now has 47,000 points.
[13:43] Nar
    He's made it back to just under 50,000.
[13:48] Nar
    But the problem is still ahead.
[13:51] Nar
    Ichikawa is a wall he cannot penetrate.
[13:55] Nar
    He was unable to get a direct win
    off the real target, Ichikawa.
[13:58] Nar
    In this game,
[13:59] Nar
    he must decrease Ichikawa's points
    if he wants to approach victory.
[14:04] Nar
    Akagi attempts unorthodox waits,
    hell waits, and all other manners of waits,
[14:08] Nar
    but Ichikawa plays too defensively
    and never deals into his hand.
[14:12] Aka
    Riichi.
[14:13] Nar
    Akagi doggedly tries to
    win off of Ichikawa.
[14:16] Nar
    He goes into a hell wait for
    the last of the four wind tiles.
[14:20] Nar
    The game, however, ends up
    being another fruitless draw.
[14:23] Nar
    Ichikawa will not deal into his hand.
[14:28] Aka
    Oh, boy.
[14:30] Aka
    Let's stop this.
[14:33] Aka
    It's never going to end, Ichikawa-san.
[14:37] Aka
    What good does it do for us to
    keep piling up these points?
[14:41] Aka
    What we really want
[14:43] Aka
    are the points that we have to
    pay with our flesh and bone.
[14:47] Ichi
    What are you trying to say?
[14:50] Aka
    Let's cut it down to one tenth.
[14:52] Aka
    Right now, I have 50,000 and
    you have 100,000 points.
[14:55] Aka
    Let's cut these down to 5,000
    and 10,000 and start over.
[15:00] Nan
    What?!
[15:02] Nan
    You just managed to get yourself up
    to 50,000 points and into the clear!
[15:06] Nan
    Why would you do something that risky?
[15:08] Cop
    No, this could actually be interesting.
[15:10] Cop
    Ichikawa has 100,000 points.
[15:12] Cop
    It would be basically
    impossible to make him bust.
[15:17] Cop
    Looking at it that way,
    it's not a bad idea to gamble.
[15:19] Cop
    The bigger problem is getting
    Ichikawa to accept this term.
[15:25] Ichi
    I refuse.
[15:27] Ichi
    I would refuse even if you
    had as many points as I do.
[15:33] Ichi
    I won't do anything that would lower my
    chances of winning by even a single percent.
[15:39] Aka
    Fine, then. You stubborn old fart.
[15:43] Aka
    Looks like I'll have to force the issue.
[15:47] Cop
    I can tell this kid's up to no good again.
[15:52] Cop
    What's he going to do now?
[15:57] Nar
    Akagi is still on his dealer streak.
[15:59] Nar
    As always, the game flows in his favor.
[16:02] Nar
    On the ninth turn, he's in tenpai.
[16:07] Cop
    He's got two choices.
[16:08] Cop
    He could go for the south wind
    hell wait, or 6 or 9 of characters.
[16:13] Cop
    But he's already confirmed that
    single hell waits aren't effective.
[16:17] Cop
    And his discards are a dead
    giveaway that he's after a honitsu.
[16:21] Cop
    A south wind wait would be meaningless.
[16:25] Cop
    It's nothing special, but right
    now, he's got no other option.
[16:29] Man
    Riichi!
[16:34] Nar
    Then, on Akagi's turn...
[16:36] Nar
    He doesn't chase it.
[16:37] Nar
    He simply discards the tile he drew.
[16:39] Nar
    In the 12th turn, the player before him
[16:42] Nar
    discards a 6 of characters.
[16:44] Nar
    This is Akagi's winning tile.
[16:46] Nar
    However, Akagi does not win.
[16:48] Aka
    Chi.
[16:49] Nar
    He makes his move.
[16:51] Nar
    He calls the 6 of characters
    and discards the 9,
[16:54] Nar
    switching his winning tile,
    but giving up a ron win.
[16:56] Nar
    Initially, this call seems meaningless,
[16:58] Nar
    but it marks the beginning of
    Akagi's hunt for Ichikawa...
[17:01] Boss
    Hold it.
[17:02] Boss
    You can't do that.
[17:03] Aka
    Huh?
[17:04] Boss
    You can't call a 6 of
    characters and discard a 9.
[17:06] Boss
    We don't accept switch-ups like those.
[17:08] Boss
    Put it back.
[17:11] Nar
    Akagi is uncharacteristically accommodating.
[17:14] Nar
    He puts the discarded 9
[17:15] Nar
    and the revealed 7 and 8
    back into his hand,
[17:18] Nar
    and returns the 6 he had
    called to the discard pile.
[17:21] Nar
    He then draws a new tile...
[17:22] Nar
    and discards that tile immediately.
[17:27] Cop
    I get it.
[17:29] Cop
    Now I see what he's getting at.
[17:31] Cop
    He only pretended to not
    know about that rule,
[17:33] Cop
    and that in itself is the trap.
[17:35] Cop
    Since he can still call on tiles,
    it means he's not in tenpai.
[17:38] Cop
    The 6 he called and the 9 he
    discarded, at least, will seem safe.
[17:44] Cop
    He wanted to emphasize
    that these tiles are safe
[17:47] Cop
    and something this elaborate would
    be enough to fool most people.
[17:52] Cop
    Probably even Ichikawa is no exception.
[17:56] Nar
    No.
[17:59] Nar
    Ichikawa saw through it.
[18:02] Ichi
    You're a sly little monkey who
    likes to use dirty tricks.
[18:07] Ichi
    But that trick's been
    around for a long time.
[18:11] Ichi
    I can't discard this 9 of characters.
[18:13] Ichi
    It's the most dangerous tile.
[18:16] Ichi
    Which means that...
[18:17] Ichi
    The safest tile is...
[18:23] Ichi
    The west wind.
[18:25] Ichi
    The fourth west wind.
[18:27] Ichi
    This is 100% safe.
[18:29] Ichi
    I have to stay on the defensive.
[18:36] Aka
    That's it, old man.
[18:41] Ichi
    I-Impossible...
[18:43] Ichi
    This was supposed to
    be the fourth west wind.
[18:45] Ichi
    That can't happen!
[18:48] Ichi
    Is it really a west wind?!
[18:50] Boss
    Y-Yes!
[18:57] Cop
    H-How did he...
[18:59] Cop
    I'm sitting right behind him
    and I still don't understand.
[19:02] Cop
    Until a second ago, he was
    waiting on a 6 and 9 of characters.
[19:07] Cop
    That's it!
[19:08] Cop
    He switched the west wind
    with the 9 of characters!
[19:11] Cop
    He filched it after that call.
[19:13] Cop
    When he was returning the tiles.
[19:19] Cop
    He's insane!
[19:21] Cop
    Is this what he meant
    by forcing the issue?!
[19:25] Cop
    I can't believe this guy...
[19:28] Ichi
    It's not possible.
[19:30] Ichi
    I dealt the fourth west wind.
[19:33] Ichi
    Unless he had a kokushi musou,
    that tile was 100% safe.
[19:36] Ichi
    Which means he pulled that tile
    from somewhere in the discard pile.
[19:42] Ichi
    He got me.
[19:44] Ichi
    We have no way to stop
    him from doing this.
[19:48] Ichi
    The longer the match goes on,
    the worse my position gets.
[19:51] Ichi
    So that's his game.
[19:53] Aka
    What do you say, Ichikawa-san?
[19:55] Aka
    Will you accept my proposal?
[20:00] Ichi
    Fine.
[20:01] Ichi
    I accept.
[20:03] Boss
    Ichikawa...
[20:05] Ichi
    I'll make you regret cheating
    against me... Akagi.
[20:12] Aka
    That's the spirit. I knew you'd
    understand, Ichikawa-san.
[20:18] Cop
    He got his way in the end.
[20:22] Cop
    He really is ruthless.
[20:24] Cop
    At this point, I can't even be appalled.
[20:26] Cop
    I can only admire his natural talent
[20:28] Cop
    that allowed him to execute
    this so masterfully.
[20:32] Nar
    The points are cut to one tenth.
[20:34] Nar
    Akagi goes from 68,000 to 6,800.
[20:38] Nar
    Ichikawa goes from 81,700 to 8,100.
[20:42] Nar
    They are now both under 10,000 points.
[20:45] Nar
    The game can now be settled in one blow.
[20:50] Nar
    It was Akagi's talent that
    created these conditions.
[20:54] Nar
    That's right.
[20:55] Nar
    Akagi's true nature,
    which is undoubtedly evil.
[21:02] Nar
    Evil of the highest and purest grade.
[21:07] Nar
    A picaro.
SIGN    Next Episode
SIGN    An Innocent Devil
[22:16] txt
    Next time: "An Innocent Devil."