Ten (manga)

Ten: Tenhō-dōri no Kaidanji (天 天和通りの快男児, lit. Ten: The Nice Guy on the Path of Tenhō) is a Japanese mahjong-themed manga series written and illustrated by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. It was serialized in Takeshobo's Kindai Mahjong Gold from 1989 to 2002, with its chapters collected in eighteen tankōbon volumes. Considered a hit in Japan, it was followed by a prequel focusing on one of the supporting characters Akagi in 1991.
A sequel series, set three years after the events of Ten, titled Hero: Akagi no Ishi o Tsugu Otoko, written and illustrated by Jirō Maeda with Fukumoto's collaboration, ran in Kindai Mahjong from October 2009 to July 2021. Another sequel, set 20 years after the events of Ten, titled Yami-ma no Mamiya, written and illustrated by Fukumoto, began in Kindai Mahjong in July 2019.
By August 2018, the manga had over 7 million copies in circulation.
The story begins when Hiroyuki Igawa, who has a deep knowledge of the "logic" of mahjong, meets Takashi Ten, who runs a mahjong contracting business. Ten is a rep player with an unrivaled competitive edge and a strong will to win, and Hiroyuki begins to admire Ten and immerse himself in the world of mahjong. Eventually, Ten and Hiroyuki meet legendary mahjong player Shigeru Akagi, known as the "Man of the Divine Realm," as well as some of the best current mahjong players in the Kansai area, Katsumi Harada and Mitsui Soga, as they take on the challenge of fighting to determine the top of the Japanese underground mahjong world.
Ten: Tenhōdōri No Kaidanji is written and illustrated by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. Fukumoto launched the manga in 1989 during Japan's economic boom, when gambling manga became popular. The manga was serialized in Takeshobo's magazine Kindai Mahjong Gold from 1989 to 2002. Takeshobo compiled its chapters into eighteen tankōbon volumes, published from August 21, 1989 to April 27, 2002. Takeshobo re-released the series into thirteen volumes published from July 31, 2015 to July 27, 2016.
A spin-off series focusing on Hiroyuki and taking place three years after the events of the main story, Hero: Akagi no Ishi o Tsugu Otoko (HERO アカギの遺志を継ぐ男, lit. "Hero: A man who succeeds dying wishes of Akagi"), written and illustrated by Jirō Maeda, was serialized for 142 chapters in Kindai Mahjong from October 1, 2009, to July 1, 2021.
A prequel manga series focusing on one of the supporting characters Akagi was serialized from 1991 to 2018. A sequel created by Fukumoto, set twenty years after the events of Ten, titled Yami-ma no Mamiya, started in Kindai Mahjong in 2019.
A spin-off manga centered around Mitsui Soga, titled Rōkyō Bakutoden Soga (老境博徒伝SOGA), began serialization in Kindai Mahjong on June 1, 2023. The series is written by Bingo Morihashi and illustrated by Tomoki Miyoshi and Yoshiaki Seto. The first volume was released on April 1, 2024.
A Japanese television drama adaptation starring Gorō Kishitani as Ten ran for 12 episodes on TV Tokyo's new drama slot "Drama Paravi," airing every Thursday (Wednesday midnight) at 1:35-2:05 from October 4 to December 20, 2018. Immediately after the first episode aired, all episodes were distributed in advance on the video distribution service Paravi, with an original episode taking place between episodes 11 and 12 releasing exclusively on the service on November 1. The show's theme song is "Tentomushi" (天道虫) by The Yellow Monkey.
A sequel adaptation of the last three volumes of the manga has been announced to premiere on TV Tokyo at the end of 2019. The mini-series, known as "Ten: Akagi Shigeru Funeral Arc" (天 赤木しげる葬式編, Ten Akagi Shigeru Sōshiki-hen), was broadcast on December 29 as a 2 hour special, while the full unedited 5-episode version was pre-distributed on Paravi on November 11. The Yellow Monkey's 1999 single "Barairo no Hibi" (バラ色の日々) was chosen to be its theme song.
A video game for PlayStation 2 by D3 Publisher was released on December 11, 2003.
By August 2018, the Ten manga series had over 7 million copies in circulation.