Gamble Fish

Gamble Fish (ギャンブルフィッシュ) is a Japanese manga written by Aoyama Hiromi and illustrated by Yamane Kazutoshi. Gamble Fish is serialized in Weekly Shōnen Champion. As of January 2010 fifteen tankōbon collecting the chapters were released, the first one on June 8, 2007, and the last one on January 8, 2010.

Plot
The story follows 14-year-old Shirasagi Tomu, son of the infamous swindler Yumeichirou Shirasagi. He goes to Shishidou academy, a school attended mainly by the rich and influential, from a public High School, instead of a private one, for which he is snubbed, but not for long. He quickly reveals that he is not there to study, but to earn 10 billion yen within a single month and shows himself an expert con artist in an encounter with Shishidou Mika, the great-granddaughter of the dean. He earns two allies in his roommate and class representative Mizuhara and another ally in Kimura Natsumi, a first-year student and self-proclaimed mascot and idol of Shishidou Academy. As the series progressed, a darker side of the academy comes to light, as it is revealed Shirasagi's father disappeared investigating the academy and that students who focus on things other than studying disappear and are jailed by Abidani without anyone investigating.

Main

 * Tomu Shirasagi
 * The main protagonist of Gamble Fish. It is learned that he has already crushed two schools and, apparently, plans to add Shishidou Academy to that list. In order to do so he quickly makes a name for himself by humiliating the dean's daughter, calling her his "bait" as a wall to capture the "fish" who he gambles. This act helps set Tomu's plans in motion as he is quickly challenged by Aota whose loss consequently sets off a chain of subsequent challenges. So far Tomu has defeated all his opponents through a variety of tricks and tactics. To the point that he was able to win against Rio, billiards world junior champion, in a game of billiards despite having played the game for only 10 days. Tomu is primarily opposed by the dorm dean Abidani and the dean's granddaughter Mika. His abilities are his keen eyes for detail, strategic mind, but most of all his unbendable determination and confidence that gives him the luck he needs at the most dire of time.


 * Kazuki Mizuhara
 * Tomu's first ally and close friend who proves invaluable through several schemes. He is the class representative and first met Tomu when he was assigned to conduct Tomu's orientation. He is short, wears glasses and has a haircut which earns him the nickname "mushroom head". Although he has shown disapproval for some of Tomu's tricks and tactics, such as cutting one of his fingers off in order to seal Yuka's "magic", he has remained a steadfast reliable friend to the point that he has directly helped Tomu execute one of his tricks. He admires one of Tomu's trait of courage.


 * Natsumi Kimura
 * A first-year who develops a crush on Tomu. She wanted to become Tomu's manager but was initially manipulated by Yuka to surprise and beat Tomu in an unofficial match. However, she apologized to Tomu and quickly became a valued partner in Tomu's winning streak. Her uncle is Tatsuhiko, a former billiards pro. She often acts as the announcer for the Gamble Matches.

Antagonist

 * Abidani
 * The sadistic dorm dean who seeks Tomu's expulsion (or death). Abidani is drawn as a devilish character, and hence acts as such, to the point that at one point he swooped down in on one of Tomu's matches in a devilish manner. Furthermore, Abidani has been shown whipping students and enjoying gory acts, such as sawing off Tomu's finger when he bets it in order to continue playing. Abidani employees a number of people to take Tomu up on his claim that he will beat them at whatever game they choose, if they bet double what his last opponent bet. So far he has only sent Tsukiyono Yuka the magician against Tomu. Because of this, Tomu openly questioned if Abidani is a coward for not facing him himself. It is later shown he runs a specific class called the Abidani Seminar, in which the "bad" students are jailed for as long as he wishes and regularly tortures. Most of the students believed this to only be a horrible rumor till Tomu's Gamble Battle against three of its members. Though he openly despises Tomu, believing him to be unworthy to attend Shishidou Academy, he appears to respect him, for his skill in cunning and trickery, along with his willingness to do whatever it takes to win. He has knowledge of Tomu's father's wereabouts, leaving Tomu to believe he has him imprisoned in the Abidani Seminar. It is later shown he even teaches some of his students better ways of being a criminal, so it is currently unknown why he is allowed to be at this school. Despite all of this, he is very dedicated to the rules set before each match, and will enforce the rules, even on the person he hired, if they fail or attempt to cheat. However he will turn a blind eye if the cheating cannot be proven as well as allow if the contestants figure a way around or bend the rules.


 * Mika Shishodou
 * Great-granddaughter of the dean of Shishidou Academy and a true beauty as well. Shirasagi contunally outsmarts her and uses her arrogance and rage at him to trick her into assisting his victory. Mika seeks revenge against Tomu, in order to regain her pride, and is the second force that opposes him outright. She asks her best friend Asahina Rio to challenge him which she accepts, though due to their pride and desire to beat Tomu once again proves to be her downfall, causing them to lose the match. Tomu doesn't consider much of a threat, as he can often manipulate her due to her anger towards him.

Abidani Seminar
They are the "bad" students that attend Shishidou Academy. So to not affect the schools reputation of producing the best and brightest students they are given to Abidani to send to the secret Abidani Seminar which is located in a cave somewhere on school campus. They are then locked in jails and forced to study nonstop to the point they all look like ghouls. While in this Seminar, Abidani has complete control over the area, and can keep them in the Seminar for years on end, still unknown how he is able to do so without the parents' knowledge. However, despite all of this Abidani enjoys his "bad students" and their personalities, shown to be proud of their bad behavior and even have them fight for a chance to gain their diplomas. After their defeat, they seem to be somewhat more of a stable ground with Tomu and his friends, especially Hanasaki who warned Tomu about the new girl.


 * Hiruko Nana
 * Described as the "Lolita Computer". She looks just like Megumi Akino and because of this, was used as a spy by Abidani to spy on Tomu's team, and sabotage it from the inside by poisoning Yuko. She specializes in disguises and mental arithmetic, along with Abidani describing her as "a little demon who uses her lovely form and her clear mind as weapons to bewilder men", which she used for her business in cosplay dating, learning everything from personality to small quirks for her clients. No one even knew she attending the school since she focused completely on her business then attend classes. After she wins she hopes to take Natsumi with her after graduating and use her as a bargaining token to increase her prostitution business focused towards Lolicons. She likes to dress in a Loli-Gothic fashion. However it is revealed she has no confidence in her ability when the numbers exceed five digits, which is why she relied on taunting and poising Yuka. Despite her cruel personality, she has shown to be terrified at the thought of returning to the Abidani Seminar.


 * Yoizame Yoshio
 * Known as "Hell's Elite". He is described of having being a sadist since he was born. He was born in America and looking to create a criminal enterprise back home went to Shishidou academy for the sole reason to attend the Abidani Seminar. Because of this he is the only student at Shishidou that actually respects Abidani, seeing him as his true teacher. He is very skilled at Dice Stacking, able to stack 5 dice where they all matched along the sides as well as flip a sixth die to land on top of the tower. He has a noticeable habit of licking the blade of his Balisong.


 * Hanasaki Mayo
 * The third, final and leader of Team Abidani Seminar. She has somewhat of a vampire-like appearance of light blue hair and skin. She is a gardener and joined the garden club, however she grew plants that were both illegal and poisonous. She wears long gloves to hide her burned hands, which she got when she was abused by her drunk father who died of a heart attack when she was twelve, though Tomu suspects she slipped some poison into his beer to cause that. After losing against Tomu, she tries to kill herself by drinking a vial a poison she kept between her breasts. However, Tomu kissed her to remove the poison from her mouth and later fell for him.

Other

 * Aoto
 * Shirasagi's first opponent and a 3rd year. He is in charge of the 3rd. year's Public Moral's committee. He is also one of Mika's "Bodyguards". Tomu challenges him to a game, which he then cheats at, and is still defeated. As punishment, Abidani whips him along with Kaizuka. Later, both are seen jailed by Abidani in the secret prison known as Abidani's Seminar.


 * Kaizuka
 * The dorm leader, who is also the captain of the ping-pong team due to his visual acuity or the ability to see things in a slowed down sense of time. He thinks this ability will give him an unbeatable advantage in a coin toss, but Tomu outsmarts him through mental tricks, drawing Abidani's attention. He is whipped by Abidani alongside Aoto and subsequently jailed.


 * Rio
 * Mika's best friend (Or perhaps more than a friend, as they are usually portrayed hanging out in an overally affectionate manner), billiards junior world champion and the daughter of a former luxury hotel owner who was bankrupted by a con she believes orchestrated by Shirasagi's father. This rage prompts her to challenge Tomu to billiards, a game of skill, thinking she can't lose. With Gokijima's help, Tomu wins, although he does run into a few problems along the way. After her defeat, Abidani has her sports scholarship revoked and she moves to Taiwan to study billiards. Tomu appears to feel some remorse, as he sends her a note vowing to avenge her family --- whilst swearing his father is innocent --- and sending up a bunch of balloons shaped like billiards balls, thus leading to believe she now has feelings for him too.

Tomu Supporters

 * Yuka Tsukiyono
 * A magician from a family of magicians, she is contracted by Abidani to defeat Tomu, for her unparalleled sleight of hand tricks, which makes her think that she can't be beaten at any card game. She is Tomu's third challenger and bets against Tomu on a game of Black Jack. It is revealed that she wants to defeat Tomu because gamblers use similar tricks to magicians and that, due to her older brother's death, she feels magic is the only way to be close to him and is almost sacred. However, her ego gets the best of her in the belief her skill surpassed his, and despite Abidani's warnings, practically flaunted her cheating ways and gave Tomu too many chances. Tomu sacrifices a finger so that she can't shuffle the cards because the blood stain would not match up. At the end of the match Tomu's act of stopping Yuka from sacrificing her finger, as they are a magician's life, reminds her of her late brother and as such seems to have developed feelings for Tomu, and doesn't hesitate to flirt with him at any possible chance. She later becomes a member of Tomu's three man team against the Abidani Seminar Students for the Dice Game, revealing she also knows many cheating ways with dice. She also practices knitting as a way to strengthen her fingers.


 * Tatsuhiko
 * Natsumi's uncle and a former billiards champion. He refuses to teach Tomu, because he feels gambling is wrong. He is soon bested by Gokijima, a hustler, who has no qualms teaching Tomu, for the right price. After some persuasion from Natsumi, he helps in on of Tomu's tricks by chasing Gokijima away from Tomu and Rio's match which plays a large part in Tomu's victory.


 * Kaoru Gokijima
 * A rather obese and disgusting hustler who is manipulated by Tomu into helping Tomu win and receiving nothing. He is lecherous, greedy and shameless, but he is good at what he does, and he does appear again after Tomu's defeat of Rio. However, after his utter humiliation, he has been losing horribly.


 * Megumi Akino
 * First appeared in Chapter 32, she becomes the third member of Tomu's three man team for the Abidani Seminar Dice Challenge. She is known for being skilled at knitting, winning many Craft Contests. She shows up to join near the end of the month, wanting to do so earlier but was only recently able to gather the courage to do so. It is later revealed that she is also a mathematician, able to do 5 digit calculations in her head instantly, which Tomu sees as a great asset as they won't know the rules to the game till the start of the match. Her reason for joining is because she wishes to use the money won in the match (3,000,000 yen) to be able to study abroad as a knitting designer, as her parents wouldn't pay for it as they wish for her to attend medical school to continue the family practice. Natsumi gets easily jealous of her because she believes she has feelings for Tomu as well. It is later revealed she is currently being held in Abidani's reflection room and was replaced by the look alike Hiruko Nana from the Abidani Seminar, so it is currently unknown how much or if any of this profile is true.

Others

 * Yumeichirou Shirasagi
 * Tomu's father, an unparalleled con artist and notorious swindler who taught Tomu all he knew. However, Tomu claims that his father isn't the type to swindle the innocent. It is later revealed that Yumeichirou has somehow been captured by Abidani and is being held at the academy. It is implied Yumeichirou was investigating something suspicious about the academy.