Muteki no Hito

A manga about an undefeated online mahjong player known as ‘M’ who reveals his identity playing in live broadcasted games to prove he isn’t cheating to win.

I’m pretty surprised this series was ever started in Weekly Shonen Magazine. Trying to do a mahjong manga in a shonen magazine is already a challenge and Shinobu Kaitani made this manga super technical and wordy. It honestly reads like a seinen series, which isn’t surprising since Kaitani’s most famous works like Liar Game are targeted at adults. I haven’t seen a mahjong manga succeed in a shonen magazine since Legendary Gambler Tetsuya. It’s no surprise that this book ended in 4 volumes.

I will say that I like this series and I think Kaitani did a good job making an engaging story once we got past the complex introduction. When you make ‘M’ a victim of a traffic accident that gives him perfect memory while removing his emotions, you can tell his character arc will be winning matches that will end with him gaining back his humanity. The story is further complicated by a poor teenager who discovers ‘M’, tries to take advantage of him for profit, and eventually becomes his friend and ally in proving he isn’t a cheater to the public and the online mahjong company.

I personally liked this series but I can see why it didn’t resonate with most of the shonen audience.

~dakazu