1 Name: Mael !DoMiNUIT9I : 2011-10-26 11:29 ID:Ny17cmru (Image: 704x396 jpg, 70 kb) [Del]
Itou Kaiji is a bum who steals car emblems and slashes tires on what seems to be a regular basis. This routine changes one day when he is paid a visit by a man in a trench-coat. Once the two get talking, it seems that the visitor (Calling himself Endou) is a debt collector. The reason for his visit is an unpaid loan which Kaiji had previously co-signed for a work-mate (Furuhata Takeshi). The original loan was 300,000 yen and once Takeshi had disappeared, the loan then fell on Kaiji.
Kaiji is then told of a way to clear the interest compounded debt (which stood at 3,850,000 yen), which involved getting on a boat with others in his position. Once on the boat the debtors would then have to gamble with loaned money, which would end with a few winning, and others getting into deeper debt and having to work to pay of their debts. After some coercion Kaiji accepts a position on the boat, in order to clear his debt and make a bit of money as well...
Murphy's Law, whatever can go wrong WILL go wrong. This is the basic premise surrounding almost any anime related to games. As you watch a show like Kaiji, you already know that over the course of whatever game they are playing, things will go badly. The key to these shows it to surprise you anyway, to be caught off guard by the things that go wrong, and to be impressed when the good guys overcome the odds.
Kaiji (mostly) accomplishes this. The main character, Kaiji, plays several different games in which he risks his life/body parts, etc. Some of the games he plays are extraordinarily clever. The first arc especially, has one twist after another, and had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.
From there, the show is more off and on. A few of the games don't have any clever aspects and strategy like the first arc, which was disappointing, but I do give them credit for at least being pretty intense. These games just aren't at the level of the first arc though. One other game Kaiji plays comes close, but it isn't quite there. Basically, the first 10 episodes of Kaiji are absolutely amazing, and from there the show is a bit more off and on. But its still amazing overall, give it a shot, lemme know what you think.
