8 - The Sign of Rebirth

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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.)
[01:11] nar
    1958.
[01:13] nar
    Akagi Shigeru, the genius who
    suddenly descended into the darkness.
[01:16] nar
    He was just 13 when he emerged victorious
[01:18] nar
    from the death match against the
    Kawada group's rep player, Ichikawa.
[01:21] nar
    After that, he vanished without a trace.
[01:24] nar
    Six years have passed since then.
[01:31] nar
    1964.
[01:33] nar
    All of Japan was excited
    about the Tokyo Olympics.
[01:46] kaw
    Are you certain, Yasuoka-san?
[01:49] yas
    Lying wouldn't get me anywhere.
[01:53] yas
    People who know him would
    know it when they see him.
[01:56] kaw
    Then it's really
SIGN    Kawada Group Boss
    Kawada
[01:57] kaw
    the one from that legendary night?
[02:00] yas
    Yes, these last six years,
    nobody knew where he was.
[02:09] yas
    It is the Akagi Shigeru.
[02:13] yas
    You will be able to witness another
    legendary tale of the undefeatable man...
[02:18] yas
    Delivered by Akagi Shigeru.
[02:20] kaw
    Ishikawa.
SIGN    Kawada Group Underboss
    Ishikawa
[02:21] ish
    Yes.
[02:23] kaw
    You're the only one in our group
    who has seen Akagi play in person.
[02:28] kaw
    I'll leave this to you.
[02:30] ish
    Yes.
[02:33] guy
    I've brought him.
[02:34] kaw
    Come in.
[02:42] yas
    This is Akagi Shigeru.
SIGN    Episode 8
SIGN    The Sign of Rebirth
[02:52] ish
    Let's see how you play.
[02:55] ish
    We've supplied additional players.
[02:57] ish
    That's all right, isn't it, Yasuoka-san?
[03:00] yas
    That's fine.
[03:07] ish
    That godly play I saw six years ago
    isn't something that anyone can do.
[03:13] ish
    If that sort of play is recreated right here,
[03:16] ish
    I'll have no choice but to believe
[03:19] ish
    that the Akagi Shigeru here is the real deal.
[03:28] ish
    The perfect tile to draw.
[03:30] ish
    He can now go from a double
    pon wait to a two-sided wait.
[03:35] ish
    Huh?!
[03:38] ish
    He kept the double pon wait?
[03:40] ish
    Why did he stick with that if
    it won't give him a pinfu?
[03:50] fak
    Tsumo!
[03:57] ish
    What's with his luck?
SIGN    Daisangen
[04:04] nar
    It was a ridiculous draw.
[04:07] nar
    But after this, Akagi kept making
    impossible draws and wins.
[04:18] nar
    And in the last hand...
[04:23] ish
    He's got a junchan hand.
[04:26] ish
    He has to discard the 6 of circles.
[04:29] aka
    Riichi.
[04:32] ish
    Again!
[04:33] ish
    He did something inexplicable again.
[04:42] aka
    Ippatsu tsumo.
[04:43] aka
    Riichi, pinfu, sanshoku.
[04:45] aka
    Haneman.
[04:53] yas
    Looks like Akagi dominated
    these two East-South matches.
[04:57] ish
    I don't get how he can continue
    to get all these crazy draws.
[05:02] yas
    It's simple.
[05:07] ish
    Simple?
[05:08] yas
    Akagi, do it.
[05:24] nar
    Akagi gathers 17 tiles, looks at them
    for an instant, and puts them down.
[05:29] nar
    He repeats this 8 times.
[05:38] nar
    In other words, 17 x 8 tiles,
    136 tiles, are now facedown.
[05:46] yas
    Ishikawa-san, it doesn't matter
    which, just name any hand.
[05:50] yas
    Akagi will put together that hand
    while the tiles are facedown.
[05:53] ish
    He'll pick the tiles facedown?
[05:55] yas
    Yes, he's memorized all of the 136 tiles here.
[06:01] ish
    That's ridiculous! Memorized?
[06:03] ish
    He didn't have time for that.
    He only glanced at them.
[06:07] yas
    That's all he needs.
    Please, name a hand.
[06:11] ish
    Then, a sanshoku.
[06:34] ish
    Okay, next, a kokushi musou.
[06:47] ish
    Daisangen tsuuiisou!
SIGN    Tsuuiisou - A hand composed exclusively of wind and dragon tiles.
[06:50] ish
    After a kokushi musou,
    this should be difficult.
[06:52] ish
    He won't be able to make it unless he
    knows the position of every honor tile.
[07:10] ish
    That is indeed amazing.
[07:12] ish
    His memorization skill could be called godly.
[07:16] ish
    But something's off.
[07:18] ish
    I can't shake that feeling.
[07:21] ish
    What was amazing about Akagi
    Shigeru was not something like that.
[07:28] ish
    What I saw six years ago was something
    totally different, something mysterious.
[07:35] ish
    It was something far beyond
    the scope of normal people like us.
[07:49] kaw
    So?
[07:50] ish
    Akagi has become weaker.
[07:52] ish
    It seems that his peak was six years ago,
[07:54] ish
    and in a sense, he's not the same person.
[07:57] ish
    Nevertheless, he has abilities that
    far surpass those of normal people.
[08:04] kaw
    Then I don't care.
[08:06] kaw
    No matter how much he has weakened,
[08:08] kaw
    it's irrelevant as long as there
    is nobody who can beat him.
[08:17] ish
    I hate this.
[08:19] ish
    I didn't want to see a second-rate Akagi.
[08:21] guy
    You bastard!
[08:24] guy
    Think we're playing around?!
[08:25] guy
    Don't screw with us!
[08:27] ---
    Come on, bitch!
[08:28] guy
    Are you shitting yourself?
[08:29] ---
    The fuck are you looking at?
[08:31] ish
    Four on one, huh?
[08:34] guy
    Asshole!
[08:51] guy
    H-Hey!
[08:56] guy
    Damn you!
[08:57] guy
    I won't forget this!
[09:03] isH
    Akagi Shigeru?
[09:06] isH
    No, he has a completely different
    aura than the guy from before.
[09:10] isH
    It's like he's a different person.
[09:12] isH
    Are there two Akagi Shigerus?
[09:24] isH
    Are you Akagi?
[09:26] isH
    Are you Akagi Shigeru?
[09:29] isH
    Are you the Akagi Shigeru who had a
    death match against the blind master,
[09:33] isH
    Ichikawa, six years ago?
[09:35] isH
    I don't expect you to remember who I am.
[09:39] isH
    After that match, you suddenly disappeared.
[09:43] isH
    We looked all over for you.
[09:48] isH
    H-Hey.
[09:50] isH
    Please wait!
[10:00] nan
    Akagi?
[10:02] ish
    Yes.
[10:03] nan
    It's been six years, so I realize
    he might be difficult to recognize.
[10:10] nan
    But Akagi is different.
[10:13] nan
    He was so unique and intense.
[10:15] nan
    So if Yasuoka-san is saying
    that that man is Akagi...
[10:20] ish
    No, that man is someone else.
[10:22] nan
    Huh?
[10:23] ish
    It was just one night, but I have
    seen Akagi with my own eyes.
[10:27] ish
    That man is a fake.
[10:29] ish
    Yasuoka-san is just using Akagi's name.
[10:33] ish
    I'm sure about that.
[10:36] ish
    I came here today to ask for
    your help with the other Akagi.
[10:42] nan
    The other Akagi?
[10:43] ish
    Yes.
[10:48] ish
    The man I met after seeing the fake Akagi
[10:51] ish
    is the one who matched
    the Akagi of my memory.
[10:57] ish
    I asked my underlings and,
    apparently, he's quite notorious
[11:01] ish
    among the local punks
    for picking random fights.
[11:04] nan
    Random fights?
[11:05] ish
    Amateurs, yakuza members...
    he'll pick a fight with anyone.
[11:08] ish
    It's like he knows no fear.
[11:11] ish
    It goes without saying that he's skilled.
[11:13] ish
    If you're with less than five people,
[11:15] ish
    it's safest to avoid eye contact with him.
[11:18] nan
    You're saying that man is Akagi?
[11:23] ish
    That's what I'd like you to confirm.
[11:26] ish
    We've already figured out where he is.
[11:30] nan
    A toy factory?
[11:32] ish
    Akagi is a worker at this factory.
[11:37] ish
    Could you take a look through that gap?
[11:40] ish
    He should be working right now.
[11:55] ish
    Well?
[11:56] nan
    That looks like him.
[11:57] nan
    So much, I could almost swear it's him.
[12:01] ish
    Right?
[12:03] nan
    But I can't believe that
    Akagi is doing honest work...
[12:22] bos
    I'll hand out this month's pay now.
[12:24] bos
    Ishida-kun.
[12:25] ishi
    Yes.
[12:26] bos
    Nagasawa-kun.
[12:27] nag
    Yes.
[12:28] bos
    Kawashima-kun.
[12:29] kaw
    Yes.
[12:30] bos
    Furuya-kun.
[12:31] fur
    Yes.
[12:31] bos
    Tawara-kun.
[12:32] taw
    Yes.
[12:32] bos
    Nakatani-kun.
[12:33] ---
    Yes.
[12:33] nar
    Twelve thousand yen.
[12:35] nar
    In 1964, college graduates made
    about 20,000 yen at their first job.
[12:42] kaw
    Hey, newcomer.
[12:44] kaw
    It's our tradition to play
    Mahjong on our pay day here.
[12:48] kaw
    You know how to play, right?
[12:50] aka
    Sorry, but I don't feel like it today.
[12:54] kaw
    Come on, don't be like that.
[12:58] kaw
    It's also your welcoming party.
[13:00] kaw
    We can't do that without you, can we?
[13:02] kaw
    Don't worry, we won't take all of your pay.
[13:06] kaw
    We'll leave you enough to eat.
[13:09] kaw
    It's completely normal to pay
    a tuition in the beginning.
[13:12] kaw
    It comes with being a member of society.
[13:17] aka
    So you'll basically be taking my money.
[13:19] kaw
    Not necessarily.
[13:21] kaw
    You could win, too.
[13:24] aka
    I suppose.
[13:26] aka
    You're right.
[13:27] bos
    Akagi-kun, you have a visitor.
[13:33] nan
    Akagi.
[13:35] aka
    Well, well...
[13:36] nan
    There's no doubt,
[13:40] nan
    you're the real Akagi.
[13:42] aka
    What's up, Nangou-san?
[13:44] nan
    Do you have a minute?
[13:46] aka
    Sure.
[13:48] aka
    Well, Senpai, you heard him.
[13:50] nan
    Is that okay?
[13:51] aka
    It's not like I had plans.
[13:55] kaw
    Osamu!
[13:57] kaw
    It'll have to be you again this month.
[14:00] osa
    But I did it last month,
    and the month before that...
[14:03] kaw
    Akagi says he won't do it,
    so you don't have a choice!
[14:05] kaw
    If you want to blame someone, blame him.
[14:09] osa
    Akagi-san, please play instead of me.
[14:14] aka
    I'm going out now.
[14:16] aka
    If you don't want to play, just don't.
[14:18] osa
    It doesn't work that way...
[14:20] kaw
    We don't have enough players!
[14:22] osa
    See?
[14:24] aka
    Why don't you go to a Mahjong parlor?
[14:27] aka
    There will be plenty of players there,
[14:30] aka
    and you'll be able to
    gamble all you want there.
[14:34] aka
    It's not like you really have to
    squeeze us for our cheap salary.
[14:38] kaw
    You're gonna talk back to your senpai?!
[14:41] nan
    Violence is not the solution!
[14:46] kaw
    I'll remember this.
[14:51] aka
    For some reason, there are
    always two or three of those
[14:54] aka
    ganging up at every workplace.
[14:57] aka
    I wonder why.
[14:59] nan
    Huh?
[15:00] aka
    Why don't they live more rewarding lives?
[15:07] aka
    I see what's up.
[15:09] nan
    I'm sorry, he said he just wanted to talk.
[15:12] ish
    Akagi, why are you
    wasting your time here?
[15:17] ish
    You can't play around forever.
[15:19] ish
    You can't buy a life with the pocket change
    you get from working a normal job.
[15:27] ish
    Last week, the night I ran into you,
[15:31] ish
    Yasuoka brought a fake Akagi over.
[15:35] aka
    He's just as crooked as always, that cop.
[15:39] aka
    So does this fake look like me?
[15:42] ish
    Of course he looks like you,
    but he actually plays well, too.
[15:46] ish
    He is assuming your identity.
    He couldn't do that if he was a loser.
[15:52] ish
    There were two matches this week
    where he played as our rep player.
[15:57] ish
    He made it through both without a hitch.
[15:59] (Flashback) fak
    Tsumo.
[16:01] ish
    He didn't win an astonishing amount,
[16:03] ish
    but his play style was stable
    from beginning to end.
[16:08] ish
    Our boss seems to like his clever
    play style and trusts him quite a lot.
[16:14] ish
    But I'm worried.
[16:16] nan
    Worried?
[16:20] ish
    It's true that he has skill,
    but it's still within the human realm.
[16:24] ish
    If we tried hard enough,
    we could probably match him.
[16:29] ish
    As a gambler, he's second-rate.
[16:32] nan
    Second-rate...
[16:33] ish
    He's the type that will never be
    able to play on a godly level.
[16:38] ish
    He'll lose eventually.
[16:39] ish
    When he encounters the real villains
[16:43] ish
    and the demons of this world,
    he'll be torn to shreds.
[16:47] aka
    Green.
[16:51] ish
    The only one who can fight
    those villains is you, Akagi.
[16:57] aka
    I'm just going to take a look at the fake.
[17:01] aka
    I don't want anything else to do with this.
[17:03] ish
    Yeah, that's right.
[17:08] kawa
    I see, you found the real one.
[17:11] kawa
    Good work.
[17:13] kawa
    However, I don't need him any longer.
[17:16] ish
    What?
[17:17] kaw
    Ishikawa, I have a high opinion of that man.
[17:21] kaw
    The one you call the fake.
[17:26] kaw
    He's a new kind of rep player.
[17:28] kaw
    Every single move he makes is ruled by logic.
[17:31] kaw
    He never plays by gut instinct.
[17:34] kaw
    He has the sensibility and
    readiness to prioritize actual facts
[17:38] kaw
    as well as keen eyes to spot these.
[17:40] kaw
    He doesn't win big, but he
    doesn't lose big, either.
[17:43] kaw
    His wins have a stability to them.
[17:45] kaw
    We don't need godly skill in our rep players.
[17:50] kaw
    What's important is the average.
[17:54] kaw
    Don't you agree, Ishikawa?
[17:57] ---
    Yes...
[17:58] yas
    Excuse me.
[18:02] nan
    Yasuoka-san!
[18:09] nan
    So that's the other Akagi.
[18:15] nan
    He does look like him.
[18:24] kaw
    Ishikawa, I'll show you something fun.
[18:28] kaw
    I wonder if the real one can do it, too.
[18:31] kaw
    Yasuoka-kun, please have him do that thing.
[18:34] yas
    Yes, sir.
[18:38] nar
    After being instructed by Yasuoka,
[18:41] nar
    the fake Akagi first turns
    all 136 tiles facedown.
[18:45] nar
    Then he randomly picks
    13 tiles and opens them.
[18:49] faK
    Three.
[18:52] nar
    Then he picks another
    13 tiles and opens them.
[18:58] fak
    Two.
[18:59] ish
    Boss, what is he doing?
[19:02] kaw
    It's the shanten number.
[19:03] ish
    Shanten?
[19:04] nar
    The shanten number is the number of
    tiles a hand needs to get into tenpai.
[19:08] nar
    A hand that requires three tiles to be
    in tenpai is called a three shanten hand.
[19:12] kaw
    He instantly finds the shanten
    number and says it out loud.
[19:17] ish
    That's crazy.
[19:18] ish
    He's doing it in a flash without
    even ordering the tiles.
[19:21] ish
    The first one was three,
    and the second one was two...
[19:25] ish
    Hey, order the tiles.
[19:33] ish
    The first one was a three
    shanten hand, and the next...
[19:37] nan
    Two shanten.
[19:39] nan
    No mistakes.
[19:41] nan
    How can he do it so fast?
[19:43] fak
    Five.
[19:45] nar
    What the fake Akagi is doing here
    isn't amazing in and of itself.
[19:50] nar
    With enough time, anybody can do it.
[19:53] nar
    Except he does it five to ten times
    faster than normal people.
[19:57] nar
    It's an awe-inspiring speed.
[19:59] fak
    Four.
[20:01] nan
    Ishikawa-san said he's second-rate,
[20:03] nan
    but this man's a different
    kind of genius than Akagi.
[20:07] nar
    After this, the fake Akagi
[20:09] nar
    kept repeating this superhuman
    feat without missing a beat.
[20:12] nar
    And just when he was about to
    uncover the last set of tiles
[20:16] nar
    that he picked from the last 19...
[20:20] aka
    Three.
[20:26] nan
    Three?
[20:27] nan
    He hasn't even opened the hand yet!
[20:33] ish
    How many?
[20:34] ish
    What's the shanten number?
[20:36] nan
    Uh...
[20:37] ishi
    Order them, order them!
[20:42] nan
    No sets of three...
[20:44] ish
    And four sets of two, with one pair.
[20:47] ish
    Which means...
[20:50] ish
    Three shanten!
[20:53] nan
    He got it right!
[20:58] nar
    The genius Akagi Shigeru has
    descended into the darkness again.
[21:02] nar
    This is the beginning of a new legend.
[22:16] nar
    Next time, "The Authenticity of Genius."
SIGN    Next Episode
SIGN    The Authenticity of Genius