One of the most exciting things about conventions like Anime NYC are the new manga licensing announcements, where we get a preview of the great things to come.

Today was no exception–Mahjong Pros held a joint presentation with Manga Mavericks Books to announce two upcoming publications. Here are the slides from their presentation, along with details and excerpts.

Riichi Mahjong 101 teaches the practical decision-making that turns knowing the rules into knowing how to play. Rather than presenting isolated puzzles, G Uzaku takes you through complete hands from the opening deal to the final winning title, asking you to make the decisions a real player faces along the way.

Learn how to plan a hand from your starting titles, adapt as new tiles arrive, build efficient shapes, decide when to keep a safe tile, recognize when a hand is worth pursuing, and choose whether or not to declare Riichi. Each hand introduces fundamental concepts naturally through play, with additional practice problems and concise strategy lessons to reinforce what you’ve learned.

Images from Riichi Mahjong 101

Divorced, unemployed, and pushing thirty after spending four years as a shut-in, Rinji has little to show for his life except his reputation as one of Japan’s strongest online mahjong players. But when his ex-wife falls ill and their young daughter is left in his care, being good at a game isn’t enough anymore. He needs to put food on the table.

So Rinji decides to do the one thing he knows how to do: play mahjong for money. But dominating online is one thing. Making a living in Tokyo’s real-world mahjong parlors means facing hustlers, veterans, eccentrics, and killers at the table who have spent their lives playing for cash. Armed with his talent at online mahjong, Rinji sets out to prove that the one thing that made him a failure might also be the thing that finally makes him a father.

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Images for this post were provided by Media Lab Public Relations.