Gamble Fish

Shishidou Academy is a boarding school reserved for the children of the financial and intellectual elite of Japan, where the future leaders and CEOs of the country are prepared for their future. As a result, the school is full of arrogant, aggressive, class-conscious people.

Enter Tomu Shirasagi, a mysterious fourteen-year-old boy with poor parents who transfers in. Soon after his introduction, he makes clear that his only reason for attending Shishidou is competing with other students in "fights of intellect" for money, starting with low bets and going progressively higher.

Can be found here.

Not to be confused with Rumble Fish.

Tropes used in Gamble Fish include:

• Americans Are Cowboys: Emily Dawn.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Abidani teaches Yoshio, whose dream is to be an Evil Overlord, about gun disassembly, hand-to-hand combat, and... proper intimidating horse riding posture.
• Back From the Dead: Abidani likes to think that this is what happened to him when he turned to what he is now. As he states himself, "God ordered me to die, but the devil ordered me to come back from the dead!" and more recently "The truly strong shall rise forth from the dead! No matter how many times!"
  • Tomu now also pulled this on purpose to break Abidani's edge in mental strength. Bonus points for him actually using poison to stop his heart, having death confirmed by electric chair, then still coming back.
• Batman Gambit: Tomu is a master of this. He manipulates opponents who think themselves at an advantage against him into accepting an ever so slight modification of the rules, then proceeds to wipe the floor with them. Abidani has also proven that he is a real master at this.
• Beyond the Impossible: Closely related to Back From the Dead. How do you otherwise call surviving a Russian Roulette with a fully loaded 10-shot gun? The trick though is still awesome.
• Big Damn Heroes: Mika, for Tomu. With a Panty Shot!
• Bland-Name Product: A background panel advertises an "Xfox 360".
• Chainsaw Good: For severing a finger.
• Chick Magnet: After building an Unwanted Harem / loyal group of friends composed of Natsumi Kimura, Yuka Tsukiyono, Rio Asahina, Mika Shishido, Mayo Hanasaki, Emily Dawn, with acts that could cross the border into Chivalrous Pervert territory (though to be fair he only steals kisses; does that disqualify him as a Chaste Hero?), except that Tomu is not at all perverted as opposed to his sidekick, Mizuhara. He also fits half the bill for the Casanova, except that he does care about his loyal harem and friends and will go to incredible lengths to defend them.
• The Clan: The Shirasagi clan and Shishido family, a long time ago in Japan's history.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Tomu's Unwanted Harem seems to be made of these
  • Also Mika seems to be becoming one.
• Clothing Damage: When attacked by the Tengu, Leica is slashed down the front, cutting through her assault rifle, her tank top AND her dog tags.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Most of the girls in Tomu's Unwanted Harem / group of friends group were previously his opponents.
• Determinator: What else do you call someone who's willing to get his own finger cut off with a chainsaw in order to win at cards by marking them with his own blood?
• Didn't See That Coming: What Tomu inflicts upon his opponents countless times through luck, sheer Heroic Resolve, Loophole Abuse and cheating.
• Disappeared Dad: Tomu's dad, Yumeichiro Shirasagi.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Say what you will about Abidani, but you can't deny that he's a fair referee.
• Evil Eye: The Rainbow Dawn.
• Eye Scream: Self-inflicted by Tomu to protect himself from Emily's Rainbow Dawn.
  • later revealed he faked this, instead destroying his ear drums
• Fan Service: Can WILL occasionally be seen, for example here. It's everywhere, and so blatant, a blind man couldn't miss it.
• Fat Bastard: Kaoru Gokijima
• Gilligan Cut: While trapped in a cave during the Victory Flag arc, Tomu asks Mika if he could sit on her shoulders so he can get a better look at the cracks of the cave's ceiling. She refused, citing that it is usually the woman that sits on top but he debates that her being a tennis pro her legs are stronger to support them. She ultimately suggests they Rock-Paper-Scissors for it. The next scene she is seen carrying him on her shoulders, cursing that she should have never gambled with a cheating gambler.
• Give Me a Sign: Abidani pretty much goes insane trying to get a sign from God if he should publish his mathematical formula which he believes has the possibility to destroy the world.
• Gory Discretion Shot: The traffic accident of Tsukiyono's brother.
• Guile Hero: Tomu, and he comes from a long line of them.
• Jerkass: The students of the academy. In the first chapter they were planning to drive the new transfer student away simply because he wasn't from a wealthy family like they were.
  • They do the same to Asahina, just because she is a scholarship student.
• Kubrick Stare: Everyone uses these in conjunction with a Slasher Smile to show a Let's Get Dangerous moment.
• Large Ham: Abidani and Tomu. The chainsaw scene was a fight to out-chew one another. The literally larger than life Headmaster, Isamu Shishido also qualifies as a Large Ham of epic proportions. They even speak using epic expressions and speech patterns which this troper had only witnessed in Fist of the North Star, all of which would of course normally be unfit for normal Japanese conversation in modern day.
• Les Yay: Mika and Asahina, so so much.
• Magnetic Hero: Mostly through Defeat Means Friendship and sheer charisma, Tomu manages to gather a core group of allies who would be willing to go to Hell and back for him, as well as a few who have their own agendas and one in particular who is explicitly Only in It For the Money.
• Meaningful Name: Abidani. The kanji in his name and shout of "Avi" are pretty ominous, referring to "Abi-kyoukan": agonizing cries, Pandemonium, or more precisely the Avici Hell, the Eighth Hell in Buddhism and the most painful of them. You could therefore interpret his name as "Valley of agonizing cries," raising a bit of "why the hell didn't his family change names?" Also, "kyoukan" from "Abi-kyoukan" can be read both as "screams," and as "instructor," which is appropriate since he technically is a teacher. Shirasagi also could qualify for this, since his name means literally "white heron" (and he does have white hair), but "sagi" can be read as "fraud, swindle" too, though in his case his clan has history in such matters in feudal Japan.
• Naughty Tentacles: Used symbolically with rose vines during the game against Tsukiyono.
• Noblewoman's Laugh: Mika Shishidou.
• Number of the Beast: The dice gamble match had it to where an automatic win comes if one roles three sixes with three dice.
• Obviously Evil: ABIDANI. Just look at him.
• Oh Crap: You would to if this happened to you.
• The Ojou: Mika Shishido. Curly? Check. Family treasures? Check. Lineage? Check. Ojou speech style? Check. Also has loads of Tsundere vibes. Emily Dawn. Filthy Rich? Check. Heir to the largest weapon manufacturer in the world? Check. Spoiled brat? Check. Also has Yandere tendencies. And also, when those two have fights, it gets into Large Ham proportions too.
• Only in It For the Money: The only reason Gokijima agrees to help Tomu out.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Mizuhara. Tomu's the only one who doesn't call him "Mushroom-head".
• Only Six Faces: Totally averted. Characters do have their own specific faces, and are not all flawless Bishonen. Check Abidani (even though he used to be quite a bishie in his younger days.), Kaoru Gokijima, and Yoizame.
• Pet the Dog: Yoshio, nasty as he is, has a protective instinct when it comes to women.
• Refuge in Audacity: Tomu's favorite tactic in battle : when faced with the worst possible situation for him, he'll attempt something so daring that at first glance looks totally crazy, with one of the two following goals in mind : it will give him an absolute edge due to Loophole Abuse, or it will just Mind Screw his opponent out of his brains. To the point this gets lampshaded to him in later arcs. And most of the time he pulls it off and this results in a well deserved Crowning Moment of Awesome.
• Rule of Cool: It feels like this whole manga breathes this trope. Most of the stuff Tomu pulls could be done without resorting to it, but it just adds to his psychic warfare arsenal that he pulls all his antics with STYLE. Other gamblers also use and abuse this, and the whole manga itself too, screwing laws of physics and biology because a gambler's soul transcends the body's endurance, sometimes Beyond the Impossible.
• Sadist Teacher: Abidani. Just Abidani. For hell's sake, he even has his own secret seminary, which is really where the most dangerous elements of Shishido Academy are locked up, or where its 'bad pupils' get sent for 'correction' by him and said dangerous elements. Needless to say a lot of corporal punishment is involved. And, it seems the Shishido Academy Headmaster can top him at this sort of game, though he does not "teach" per se.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: Tomu.
• Serious Business: Gambling, in this manga, takes so much importance, even the president of the USA, King Omaha, participates in the Shishidou Alumni Meeting's gambling tournament. Hell, if gambling wasn't Serious Business, and if the Headmaster didn't have his own business to settle, Tomu would be expelled out of school for his antics.
• Slasher Smile: Every gambler in the manga gets to show this when they get fired up. Abidani has one stuck to his face permanently.
• Snow Means Death: Used for the traffic accident in which Tsukiyono's brother died.
• Strip Poker: First round of the Dice battle involves calculating prime numbers—with the loser being forced to remove clothing. Later, Tomu uses his three female sidekicks as his stake in poker, in which they each have to strip in front of the casino crowd. In typical Tomu fashion, he freely loses until he is able to figure out his opponent's weakness; his patience naturally concerning the ladies who are becoming more and more exposed!
• Take Off Your Clothes: Tomu gets Tsukiyono, Natsumi and Mizuhara to take off their uniforms so he can wrap himself against a burning hot cauldron. The clothes catch fire, leaving the three of them in their underwear in front of a whole crowd. They (the crowd and the trio) aren't too phased considering how the gamble was Serious Business.
  • Subverted when Tsukiyono spontaneously takes everything off to prove to Abidani that she isn't hiding any tricks.
  • Tomu instructs Mika to take all the ski clothing off. Mika misunderstands the instruction and ends up stripping naked.
• Tank Goodness: Emily performs a Dynamic Entry with one by driving it through a wall.
• Tournament Arc: Occurs late in the manga.
• Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty: Even though even Tomu has limits about what he will do and not do in a fight, he still outright cheats several times to win. His defense when called upon it by his opponents? "You didn't catch me, you can't prove it, so you suck as a gambler (or whatever game is going on). Also, if I win, I shall have you take back these words." Most of the time though, it's just Loophole Abuse with the rules, or really sly motions to lure his opponents in thinking he played one move instead of another. It also helps referees in such matches do abide to Literal Genie interpretations and agree to Loophole Abuse just for the lulz.
  • Not to mention he is able to cheat in a way where if his opponent calls him out on it, they would have to admit they cheated themselves.
  • However, he understands this rule both ways. As if someone does this to him, he accepts his set back or defeat as his fault for not catching it.
  • Also Abidani applies this into his referring, if he catches them cheating, he will not call out either player on it unless the players themselves catch it. Even if one of the players is someone he hired.
• What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Everyone likes, now and then, to use religious symbolism, or references to God, the Devil, and whatnot, along with nearly impossible antics to amplify their charisma, and impress their opponents so strongly it borders on Mind Rape. Over the top mannerisms all over the place which are only rivaled by The Legend of Koizumi.
• What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: This image.
• Worf Had the Flu
  • Throughout the first two rounds of the dice games Tsukiyono was incapacitated by a powerful laxative administered by The Mole, leaving Tomu without the aid of what seemed to be his two strongest allies.
• Xanatos Gambit: The Pool Hustler had one during the Pool Arc. If Tomu wins, he gets 4 million yen, and if he loses, he still has the 2 million he got up front. However, Tomu is later able to get back said 2 million.