Unlucky Morpheus – Top of the “M”: An M-League Perspective

Recently, Unlucky Morpheus released the official music video for their song “Top of the ‘M'”. The song makes multiple references to mahjong and M-League. Though I’m personally not a fan of heavy metal, I decided go through the song and analyze all the mahjong and M-League references in it.

Riichi Mahjong and M-League Rundown

Riichi mahjong is a game played with 4 players and 136 tiles. Each player has a hand with 13 tiles and tries to complete a hand with four groups of three tiles and a pair. These groups can consist of three tiles in a row (For example, 123 or 678) or three of a kind (111 or 777 or EEE). On each turn, a player draws a tile and discard a tile. Everyone takes turns doing this until someone completes their hand (either by drawing their last tile or someone discarding the tile they need). Points are awarded and exchanged based on the hand composition and the player who has the most points by the end of the game wins. Riichi mahjong is a lot more complex than that, but, so if you want to learn more about how to play riichi mahjong, check out Mahjong Guide’s beginner guide or Light Grunty’s video series.

M-League is the highest league of professional mahjong in Japan. Established in 2018, the best players from the five big professional mahjong organizations compete on 8 teams to win 50 million yen and the M-League Championship Plate. The regular season consists of 180 games, with the top 6 teams going to the semifinals. After the semifinals, the top 4 teams play in an 12-game final to see who wins the championship.

If you want to learn more about M-League, check out our FAQ.

Analysis

Note: I understand very little Japanese and may make some mistakes in translations and interpretations. If you have anything else to add, make sure to post it in the comments.
Mouse over each line of the Japanese to get the romaji.

These four lines are primarily based on four phrases in Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The phrase is a battle standard, put on banners as they go to war. Shortened to 4 characters (風林火山), the phrase is pronounced “Furinkazan”.

In the M-League context, this refers to the EX Furinkazan (EX風林火山), one of the 8 teams in the league. The name is very appropriate, as the games in mahjong are called “battles” or “wars” (戦)

After each player enters the studio and takes their seats, the camera pans to a view of all four players and displays at the top-left “GAME START”

The M-League is the highest league in the Japanese mahjong world. Players must be a part of one of five professional mahjong organizations (JPML, NPM, Saikouisen, Mu and RMU) to be considered, and then a team must draft you. At the time of writing, the league only has 30 players, making it a very elite group.

The term “Agari” (アガリ) means to win. When a player completes their hand (usually with four groups and a pair, as well as having a yaku), then they win that hand.

While players are playing, they must keep their senses sharp. Every discard indicates something about a player’s hand and they must analyze every discard to figure out how best to proceed. Professionals can notice some of these things in seconds, while some players don’t notice them at all.

In mahjong, there can be many possible discards to choose from. Depending on the situation, whether board or point situation, another solution may provide more points or better defensive strategy, even if efficiency or modern theory says to normally do something else.

In an M-League context, this phrase (正解よりも別解) is used by the Akasaka Drivens and is a key concept by their sponsor, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners Inc.

The line may be referring to how players in M-League seem to magically bring their hand together. Many times, players draw unexpected tiles that increase their score or improve their hand greatly.

It may also refer to a specific player, Sonoda Ken (園田賢), who is nicknamed “The Magician” (魔法使い). Sonoda Ken was part of the 2018 championship winning team, the Akasaka Drivens.

The four directions are very important in mahjong, as they are all tiles and the seating of the players. Each player is assigned the seat, with each player being either east, south west or north. When a player who is not east wins a hand, the wind assignment rotates. So, east becomes north, south becomes east, west becomes south and north becomes west.

Haitei Raoyue is a yaku in the game. Known in English as the “Last Tile Draw”, the yaku is awarded by winning with the last tile in the wall. It’s a rare yaku, with less than 0.5% of hands winning with it.

Using a play on words, this line, based on the vocals, states that the swan (“Hokuchou”) is going to flap its wings. However, it also refers to Shiratori Sho (白鳥翔), a player who plays for the Shibuya Abemas. In 2019, Shiratori had the 4th highest cumulative score in the regular season.

In M-League, there are individual awards and team awards. There are individual medals for the player who get the highest cumulative score by the end of the season, the best score in a single game and the player who has the best 4th place avoidance rate.

The team award is the championship plate, which is given to the team who makes it all the way to the finals and has the most points after the 8-game finals.

Mahjong is a game of chance. No matter how well you set up your hand, sometimes you won’t get it. Even with the best pros, sometimes the tile just doesn’t come.

Ishibashi Nobuhiro (石橋伸洋) is a player on the U-Next Pirates. During the 2020 semifinals, he was the MVP, having the highest score and highest win rate of the semis.

Sasaki Hisato (佐々木寿人), whose nickname is “The Demon King” or “Maou” (魔王), is notoriously good. So far in the 2020 season, he is at the top of the individual rankings with an unrivaled game record, winning more than half of his games. For reference, a player should only be winning around 25% of their games.

Setokuma Naoki (瀬戸熊直樹), whose nickname is the “Tyrant of the Table” (卓上の暴君), is a player for Team Raiden. At the time of writing, he has the best record in the 2020 season for Team Raiden.

When playing, there’s a balancing act to choosing how to play. Being too aggressive leads to a reckless loss of points, while being to passive means other players can rise above you.

This line also has the character “剛”, which may refer to Kobayashi Go (小林剛), player for the U-Next Pirates. As of this writing, Kobayashi is the only player who hasn’t gotten a 4th place in any of his games.

The raging waves seem to be a reference again to pirates. It appears that the U-Next Pirates is Shiren‘s (the one who wrote this) favourite team.

One of the main elements of riichi mahjong is the concept of riichi. When you call riichi, you are basically telling players that you are about to win, so they should be defensive and not deal into a player. If a player has a low-value hand, they may choose to call riichi to stop other players from progressing their hand, thereby defending themselves from a deal-in.

Using offence as defence can also be seen in winning a hand. Though winning a hand can be for your own point benefit, it can also stop another player from winning a big hand.

The U-Next Pirates are one of the eight teams in M-League. In the 2019 season, they were the “Top of the ‘M'” by winning the championship.

“Kami” (カミ) is short for Kamicha, the player to your left. The term Kui is in reference to calling a hand. The player on the left is important since they are the only player that one can complete a sequence off of (For example, if the player to your left discards a 4, you can reveal a 3 and 5 to take the 4 and complete a 345 sequence).

Maehara Yudai (前原雄大) is a player on the team Konami Mahjong Fight Club. He is one of the most decorated players in the mahjong world. In the 2019 season, Maehara had the 5th highest score in a single game.

From the start of the hand, players will already have an idea of what hand they will go for. With each tiles, strategy of what to discard and when comes into play. One mistake can prove fatal, making it very intense. In the 2019 finals, a misstep from Uotani Yuumi of the Sega Sammy Phoenix proved to be the difference between winning the championship and placing 2nd.

Mahjong can be an emotional game. Playing for a team, rallying your fans and adding general excitement to the game are all part of the energy. One of the most notable for bringing in the fans is Hagiwara Masato (萩原聖人), voice actor for Akagi and Kaiji. Above you can see Hagiwara’s standard entrance pose.

M-League is considered revolutionary in the mahjong world. M-League attempts to dispel the common understanding that mahjong is a gambling game (both past and present, Japan has many mahjong parlours throughout the country). With trying to legitimize the game as a mind sport, they are also trying to bring the sport to the Olympics.

This set of lines refers to Asakura Koushin (朝倉康心), using a play on words with 朝 (Asa) and 行進 (Koushin).

Ooi Takaharu (多井隆晴), whose nickname is “The fastest, the strongest” (最速最強) plays for the Shibuya Abemas. He is one of the few players who has consistent scores, getting very good results in both the 2018 and 2019 season. Recently, Ooi won the Mahjong Saikyousen, with the tournament literally meaning the “Mahjong Strongest Battle”.

Since M-League is a professional league, no cheating is done, making it a battle done fair and square. There’s only sneaky tricks by Ishibashi to worry about.

In the 2nd verse of the M-League opening, there is a line that says “The chosen one, rise”. These players were literally chosen (the draft) ones to represent these teams to find who is the best.

In the end, the key to victory is to win the hands. And with enough hands, one will capture the title of “Top of the ‘M'”

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Official Japanese Lyrics

「疾きこと風の如く、徐かなること林の如く」
プライドだけを賭け　Game Start
「侵掠すること火の如く、動かざること山の如し」
幕は開いた　The highest league

さぁアガり続けろ　研ぎ澄ませ感覚
正解よりも別解が好みさ　I’m a magician
《東南西北　海底撈月》
白鳥よ今羽ばたけ
《東南西北　海底撈月》
目指す　Top of the “M”

「人事を尽くし天命を待つ　それでも理不尽なResult」
時には石橋も叩こうか？
「立ちはだかる魔王　狂い攻める暴君」
柔よく剛を制して

さぁ仕掛け続けろ　荒波を進め
攻撃こそが最大の防御さ　I’m a pirate
《東南西北　海底撈月》
カミからも喰い尽くして
《東南西北　海底撈月》
目指す　Top of the “M”

雄大な構想と　Oh oh oh《Oh oh oh》
繊細な駆け引きと　Yeah yeah yeah《Yeah yeah yeah》
個性よ輝け　Oh oh oh《Oh oh oh》
時は来た　いざ外へ　この熱狂を

新しい時代を作れ　朝は来た
威風堂々行進せよ　道を示せ
《東南西北　海底撈月》
見せつけろ最速最強
《東南西北　海底撈月》
目指す　Top of the “M”

さぁアガり続けろ　研ぎ澄ませ感覚
正々堂々戦い抜こう　We are the one
《東南西北　海底撈月》
この手で勝利引き寄せ
《東南西北　海底撈月》
目指す　Top of the “M”

掴む　Top of the “M”

Romaji

Note: These are not official lyric transcriptions or translations

(Hayaki koto kaze no gotoku
Jokanaru koto hayashi no gotoku)

Puraido dake o kake
Game start

(Shinryaku suru koto hi no gotoku
Dou kazaru suru koto yama no gotoshi)

Maku wa hiraita
The highest league

Saa agari tsudzukero togisumase kankaku
Seikai yori mo bekkai ga konomi sa

I’m a magician

(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue)
Hakuchou yo ima habatake
(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue)
Mezasu Top of the “M”

(Jinji o dzukushi tenmei o matsu
Soredemo rifujin na result)

Toki niwa Ishibashi mo tatakou ka

(Tachihadakaru maou
Kurui semeru boukun)

Juuyoku gou o seishite

Saa shikake tsudzukero aranami o susume
Kougeki koso ga saidai no bougyo sa

I’m a pirate

(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue)
Kami kara mo kui tsukushite
(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue)
Mezasu Top of the “M”

Yuudai na kousou to
(oh oh oh, oh oh oh)
Sensai na kakehiki to
(yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah)
Kosei yo kagayake
(oh oh oh, oh oh oh)
Toki wa kita iza soto e kono nekkyou o

Atarashii jidai o tsukeru asa wa kita
Ifuudoudou koushinseyo michi o shimese

(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue)
Misetsukero saisoku saikyou
(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue
Mezasu Top of the “M”)

Saa agari tsudzukero togisumase kankaku
Seiseidoudou tatakainukou
We are the one

(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue)
Kono te de shouri hikiyose
(Ton Nan Shaa Pei, Haitei Raoyue)
Mezasu Top of the “M”

Tsukamu Top of the “M”

English Translation

Note: These are not official lyric transcriptions or translations

(As swift as wind, as gentle as a forest)
Pride is at stake, Game start
(As fierce as fire, as unshakeable as a mountain)
The curtain’s raised, the highest league

Come on, let’s keep winning
Keep these senses sharp
I prefer other solutions over the correct ones

I’m a magician

(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue)
The swan’s going to flap its wings
(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue)
Aiming for the top of the M

(Giving it my all and waiting for heaven’s decree
Still it’s an unreasonable result)
Will Ishibashi strike some time again?
(The demon king stands in the way, a tyrant who’s furiously attacking)
With a gentle but firm command

Let’s go on with the challenge
and advance on the raging waves
Offence is the greatest defence

I’m a pirate

(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue)
Eating up all the goods
(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue)
Aiming for the top of the M

A grand vision
(oh oh oh, oh oh oh)
Delicate planning
(yeah yeah yeah, yeah yeah yeah)
All shining with personality
(oh oh oh, oh oh oh)
The time has arrived to head out with burning enthusiasm

Making a new era
Morning has arrived
Marching with dignity and pride

Show me the path

(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue)
Show off the fastest and strongest
(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue
Aiming for the top of the M)

Come on, let’s keep winning
Keep these senses sharp
Dueling it out fair and square

We are the one

(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue)
With these hands I’ll draw victory
(East, South, West, North, Haitei Raoyue)
Aiming for the top of the M

To seize the top of the ‘M’

Translation by ZAZ