Akagi
At first I thought the art was ugly but by now I’ve actually grown very fond of it. It suits the story and the crazy expressions are great! Love the Washizu Arc, it’s very long but 100% worth it. Washizu is a great character, he matches well against Akagi. The manga can be read without knowing any mahjong (I had no idea what mahjong was when I first got into Akagi) — I still enjoyed that first read, it’s not a problem as long as you don’t mind not understanding everything. Years later, this is my second read and I watched a few videos on Japanese/Riichi Mahjong basics beforehand (just some short ones), and I kept a Terminology list open in case I didn’t understand the terms (I used the Reach Mahjong of New York one, and it had most of the words). This time I took time to understand the game itself and it’s been really interesting and the character reactions are even better (yeah, Akagi really does some pretty weird moves — everyone else is playing mahjong and he is playing mind games!) Really, don’t let the strange artstyle stop you from giving it a try.
The Boxer
One of the best stories I’ve read. 100% worth it to read again.
Damons