One Lonely Little Night in the Big City

however ! it is a deep misunderstanding that what akagi gains from his games IS the money. hes only speaking the language of gambling- where people will play self-destructive games with you if money is at stake- and not after the money itself. yes, akagi does not care about the money. akagi has a lot more fun making his opponent wage their fingers, or their arm, or their hands, than their money. things he cant possibly profit from in any way. he only wants "an amount big enough to destroy my opponent if they lose", thats what money means to him.

and in the cho-han arc, hes not risking his life over the money. hes risking his life over truth. the outcome of a gamble. akagi, in speaking the language of gambling, will accept his winnings because that is the contract of the interaction and he honors it. it is not about the money, its the symbol, its the transaction, its the interpersonal meaning. for the gamble to mean anything its results must be honored. you cant simply make someone bet all that they have and not take it when they lose. the die are even, akagi won his bet, you have to honor it too. you do not get to change the outcome of a gamble. you do not get to twist the truth.

akagi more than any other fkmt character understands that money is meant to be spent. how could he spend all of his urabe winnings in such a short time? because thats what the money was there for ! famously, akagi does "do things" with his money! he uses it to gamble more (and he does lose!), he burns it in the stock market, he loses it as naturally as he wins it. he sees money as "placeholding for value" and not "value itself". money is meant to be exchanged for the things that you want, so akagi exchanges it gladly

and in analyzing how wealth weighs on characters in fkmts works and rots their lives, akagi IS a really good character to point to, but not because he himself amasses money he finds no meaning to !