The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Trillion Game

What's It About? 

Haru and Gaku, two up-and-coming young Japanese businessmen, are determined to do whatever it takes to earn a trillion dollars. This is their unhinged rags-to-incredible-riches story.

Trillion Game is written by Riichirō Inagaki and drawn by Ryōichi Ikegami. English translation by Stephen Paul and lettering by Joanna Estep. This volume was designed by Jimmy Presler and edited by Julia Walchuk. Published by Viz Media (September 17, 2024).

Is It Worth Reading?

Trillion Game is one of those deliciously bonkers manga where the entire premise is complete nonsense. The characters are thin archetypes who act entirely according to the needs of the plot which is driven by insane dream logic. Although these aspects all sound negative, it's best to view them as features, rather than bugs. This demented shaggy dog tale is an uproariously good time, and it surprises me not in the least that it's recently been adapted into anime format.

The mash-up of writer and artist certainly promises something unusual – Inagaki is best known for his big, cartoonish, science-based hit Dr. Stone, whereas the now 80-year-old Ikegami brought his gritty, hard, realistic art style to tent-pole seinen dramas like Wounded Man, Crying Freeman, and Sanctuary. While Ikegami's previous work always featured an absurdist edge amongst all the nudity and murder, Inagaki's Dr. Stone always teetered on the precipice of ridiculousness. With Trillion Game, I get the impression they both feed off the other's insane impulses to produce what is a fast-paced, funny, and ridiculous drama that focuses on naked avarice, unlikely backroom business dealings, and convoluted double-crossing of hapless mega-rich investors.

Protagonists Haru and Gaku, chalk-and-cheese friends since middle school, embark on a series of hare-brained schemes to establish their business and become Japan's first trillionaires. Haru – self-proclaimed “world's greediest man” provides the people skills and hustling ability needed to fleece money and resources from willing marks and the quieter Gaku's genius hacker-level IT skills form the foundation of their shared business. What exactly is that business? It's not entirely clear! Whatever it takes for them to make mountains of cash!

Haru and Gaku's meteoric rise to obscene wealth certainly won't be for everyone – the story's twists and turns are impossible to take seriously, and supporting characters make completely absurd decisions for the plot to progress. Ikegami's art, as realistic and accomplished as always, is a bizarre choice for this very tall tale. I love it and will certainly check out the anime adaptation, which should have begun when you're reading this.

Sometimes it doesn't matter how great the journey is if the destination is bullshit. Such is the case in Trillion Game, an otherwise fast-paced and humorous story of two dudes who want to become trillionaires for no good reason. At a time when the income inequality in my country is expanding at an alarming rate, this manga feels out of touch at best and morally bankrupt at worst. Combining its guileless billionaire worship with an old-fashioned art style, this feels like a relic of an earlier time.

Gaku is your textbook otaku, a bespectacled computer geek with l33t hacking skillz. Haru is a handsome playboy whose only talent is talking his way in—or out—of any situation. They look like an odd pair, but actually make a fantastic business team since each man's weakness is the other's strength. The humor comes from Gaku (and the reader) expecting that Haru, the self-professed “greediest man alive” is making choices out of selfishness; in fact his every move is shrewd and surprisingly thoughtful. Haru realizes that although the world puts a premium on his good looks and silver tongue, it's actually Gaku's efforts that will make them rich. Of course, it takes a bit of imagination to see Haru as the looker he's made out to be: with his bulbous chin, pillowy lips, and hairstyle at least three decades out of date, I don't see what the ladies are seeing in him. It's always jarring when the manga mentions Google or a character pulls out a smartphone because the designs look so outdated that I thought it must be a re-release of an older story (in reality, Trillion Game debuted in Japan in 2020). The old school look is thanks to creator Ryōichi Ikegami, best known for Crying Freeman back in 1986. He never altered his style because why should he? But it's still a strange surprise to readers coming in blind.

This volume covers the first few episodes of the anime, which is airing on Crunchyroll at the same time that this manga is being made available. It covers Haru and Gaku's introduction to one another, the founding of their company—and they still don't know what it does, just that they want it to make them rich!—meeting their match in the beautiful #girlboss Kirihime, and entering a major hackathon to drum up interest in their company which, once again I must repeat, DOES NOT DO ANYTHING. The story is fast paced and interesting, presenting our protagonists with problems that only they can solve with creative teamwork solutions. Every time it seems that Haru is about to leave Gaku in the lurch, he triumphantly comes to his rescue. Their dynamic is great, but their goal? Not so much. Instead of reading about rich people treating the business of making money for making money's sake like a game, I'd rather eat them.