Nana-Chan Scrambles! + Death Pie Volume Release

All right, this is it, we're absolutely 100% done with Death Pie now. There were a few parts of the translation that I got mixed up, so I had Kazuhiko go back and do them over again. I'll detail those changes in a bit, but first, we have for you a fun little Oneshot by Shimamoto that was included in the same volume as Death Pie! I really thought it was quite funny, though like Death Pie it left a lot of questions unanswered. A nice little short to whet your whistle while you're waiting for more Tetsuya or Akagi or whatever it is you want.

So yeah, as I said, I thought this was a funny little short, and you can find it on the mediafire separated out from the other chapters of Death Pie. It does involve some of the same elements, like a Yakuza group that has mahjong rep players, but it's clearly not a manga to be taken very seriously. Nana-Chan is looking for her father, who was taken away by some Yakuza, so she goes to a mahjong parlor to gather clues using the last piece of evidence she has, a black mahjong tile. The Yakuza there refuse to tell her up front, so she challenges them to a Mahjong match.

There were many moments in the short that made me crack up, such as how Nana gasped when the Yakuza guy riichi'd, only to show a moment later that it was because she'd won. Also, the yakuza smiling and having a good time simply because Nana had been having so much luck by doing it was really hilarious. Also, if you're going to go for one yaku and one yaku only in mahjong, it seems that Niko-Niko (Chii Toitsu) is the way to go, as it's good at both offense and defense, though still quite lacking in the defense department.

So, there were a lot of questions that were asked and never answered, like why Nana's dad was taken away, who the detective was, stuff like that. My theory is that Shimamoto left it open like that in case people wanted more, but unfortunately it didn't get popular enough to warrant any more chapters. A shame. I would've liked to see more of Nana-Chan the genki girl owning souls with her Niko-Niko.

Below the cut are the changes made in the volume release of Death Pie.

Death Pie: The Finale

Here we are, at last... the last chapter of Death Pie, and boy, is it a doozy. Explosions, Fist fighting, Sacrifice, and of course a little bit of Mahjong. This chapter is why this manga is the most action-packed, hardcore mahjong manga; what other series could blend Mahjong and Action Sequences together so seamlessly. It's been fantastic working on this, and I'm glad to have helped another mahjong manga see the light of day.

Oh, and we're not done, yet! There's still the bonus one-shot chapter (Nana-Chan the Scramble Girl) that was shoehorned into the volume, and we intend to re-release the entire volume with it, enhancing Death Pie with better translations! Thanks to our friends at HappyScans! for a great addition to the Mahjong and Shimamoto libraries!

Well, this chapter certainly did its job. Most of the plot threads got wrapped up, Tobioka accomplished his mission, and it even managed to pack a punch to the entire procedure. God Facer was in charge of the Dog Facer Foundation, which sought to sell illegal, harmful drugs to all corners of the world for massive profit. That's what Tobioka was doing with Heroin in the first chapter; it was his reward for winning the life-or-death Mahjong game, and he could have probably sold it for massive profit, as well. But Tobioka is a good guy; even though he's just a former cop, he put his life on the line to stop the Dog Facer Foundation. It was also explained that Takikawa died trying to do exactly what Tobioka succeeded in doing, but not before leaving bomb after bomb after bomb on the premises to aid the next attempt. Finally, it was explained that the mahjong tournament on the island was in fact for ownership of those acres and acres of poppy flowers, which is why so many people fought and died to get a chance at becoming as wealthy as God Facer. But the big man knew that no one could ever defeat him as long as he had them hypnotized... except Tobioka, who would have won on the very next discard if not for Matsudai and Kathy blowing the island to kingdom come. Matsudai assumes Tobioka died in the avalanche of debris, but the bloody riichi stick on Takikawa's grave might suggest otherwise...!

So while this chapter did explain a ton, there's still a lot of plot threads left hanging. How do Matsudai and Kathy know each other? Why was Kathy on the island to begin with? Who were those people in chapter 6 that explained what was going on on the island, and who was the guy who shot them up? I'm sure if this manga was a volume, or maybe even a chapter longer, we'd get all of these plot points explained. But alas, my one qualm with the series is that it simply isn't long enough. Oh well.

Death Pie Chapter 7

All right, we're finally at the final confrontation, and there's two whole chapters dedicated to it! You know what that means? Lots and lots of Mahjong Action! Yessir, we had to put in 3 whole pages of mahjong notes for all the stuff that goes on in this chapter. It's pretty epic, I must say.

As always, thanks to our friends at HappyScans! for another great chapter. Only one more chapter left!

Yeah, um, where to begin. This is what we've all been waiting for, Mahjong Action, espionage, cheating, it has it all. I loved Juuyou's cheating technique that was so specifically designed to thwart Tobioka, and how much it got to him. I loved how Ron's name was used for a double meaning. I loved how God Facer just sat back and let everyone look into his eyes and do his work for him. And I loved how Matsudai just came in and snapped Tobioka out of it by shooting him in the fucking side. And that Tobioka just kept on playing. How can it possibly get any better than this, I ask you.

Death Pie Chapter 6

Not too terribly long between chapters this time. Thanks as always go to our friends at HappyScans! for helping translate another great chapter. In this chapter, Tobioka works his way up the tournament ladder to face the menacing God Facer at the summit!

So it would appear that there is an organized Yakuza tournament taking place on this island, much like the life-and-death gambles that have been taking place throughout the whole series. 4 people go into the match, one comes out alive. Did I ever mention that this series needs more attention? Because it does. I just wish it was longer. But yeah, God Facer discusses how believing unwaveringly that you will win makes winning happen naturally, because it's really that easy. But in the Death Pie universe, apparently it is. A new character is introduced, Jakku Juuyou, who will apparently be facing God Facer with Tobioka in the final round. Well, probably not WITH him, but against him. Juuyou and Tobioka take out their guide, and then go off to find out if the rumors are true that Opium is being produced on the island. The rumors are in fact true, so perhaps this is what Tobioka infiltrated the Yakuza meeting groups in order to stop? I imagine there's more to it, but he did seem to have prior knowledge about it.

I think one of the most awesome things in this chapter is how Juuyou stopped his opponent's Tsubame Gaeshi; it's usually an all-or-nothing technique that can only be stopped by someone grabbing your hand or the tiles in the middle of the trick to prove that you were cheating. Once the trick has been carried out, the match is usually over then and there. But that's too cheap for Juuyou, so he does something of a reverse Tsubame Gaeshi, changing out his 13 tiles with the tiles on the bottom row of his opponent's wall, making his Tsubame useless. Which is absolutely badass. So yeah, looking forward to the God Facer battle, it's looking to be a showdown of epic proportions.

Death Pie Chapter 5

After quite a long break, we're back with more Death Pie. And in this chapter, we learn the meaning behind the name "Death Pie", and the story enters the final confrontation! Thanks to our friends at HappyScans! for another great chapter.

Oh, Kagemaru, we barely knew ye. Well, a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, but the gist of it is that, apparently, Kagemaru was a government agent in the Narcotics Division who was trying to get Tobioka into the Yakuza meeting places. Why, we don't know, but it would seem it has to do with Takikawa, Tobioka's old friend. The reason this chapter took so long was because of that long description of Death Pie over Kagemaru's death scene; I had to do a lot of research and the like to get through it, particularly the whole "Death Pipe" thing.

The mahjong battle on the ship kind of seemed like a way of making sure there was Mahjong in every single chapter; it didn't really do much for the story. But we know that the Brother isn't actually Takikawa unless he was using an alias; his real name is Matsudai Yousaku. The whole God Facer scene got me interested to see if all the pieces will eventually fall together neatly; the ship in Chapter 2 was from the Dog Facer Foundation, just like the island where the final confrontation will take place, but the man we see at the end is actually called *God* Facer. I wonder if there's a connection between the two words being reverses of each other.

Death Pie Chapter 4

The title of the chapter is "Climax". And it's very fitting, because after this chapter, nothing will ever be the same. Thanks to our friends at HappyScans! for helping us release this chapter.

So, everything happened in this chapter. Tobioka beat the Ganpai girl, who turned out to be Ruriko, Takikawa's sister, and right after he did, helicopters came to either kill Ruriko for losing or to capture Tobioka for being a "Government Dog". Tobioka saves Ruriko, so obviously she was in danger, but we don't exactly see what happens to Tobioka or how he makes it out. But regardless, this was a pretty epic chapter, and it feels like we'll be learning a lot about Tobioka and Ruriko's Brother over the next few chapters, as well as what Maibara has caught onto about Tobioka.

Death Pie Chapter 3

Hey, it's Sonickrazy here. Figured it'd be better to move the Death Pie posts over to this side so as not to clutter up the FKMTkrazy blog. But yeah, Death Pie 3 is now up, and in it, we get a shockingly large amount of backstory...!

Thanks as always to our friends at HappyScans for teaming up with us to do this! http://happyscans.blogspot.com/2012/07/death-pie-chapter-3.html

Kazu and I were both surprised to see so much of Tobioka's backstory explained at the start of this chapter; based on the first 2 chapters, it seemed like pure Mahjong and nothing else. But there's all sorts of other stuff that goes on, making this a very worthy pick-up and a shockingly good manga all-in-all. If you're only here because of Tetsuya, I suggest you read Death Pie, posthaste.

Also, it seems Tobioka and his female opponent in this chapter have quite a bit of history... I'd hazard a guess that the woman is Ruriko (Takikawa's little sister in the flashback), and part of the reason Tobioka is here is to get revenge on her for killing Takikawa. But it also seems like she challenged him somewhat, as per the Yakuza Boss's request. Her use of her nail paint to mark the tiles ("Ganpai" for those familiar with Ten and the like) is also a very nice touch; she's pretty much the only female Mahjong player in manga outside of Saki, and she puts her feminine traits to very good use. God, it's only been 3 chapters, and already I feel totally hooked on this manga and finding out what Tobioka's past was like... not to mention that there's a story arc already. Amazing.