[ANIME-REVIEW] Kaiji

Hi, Doomy here.​

Pre-read​

I rate my animes S-A-B tier. Anything below B tier will most likely not be recommended
as i have high standards for the anime i watch, and most certain the anime i recommend.
Anything below B means that i most likely stopped watching it/watched it and didn't
find it particularly appealing for myself or other viewers..​

The Strain​

Firstly it wouldn't make much sense for me to go over the plot, and assessing the anime as
a whole. This thread is only there for the people interested in this anime. So to do you all a favor
we will strain out the people who are not interested by giving some rough drafts about this visual piece.
This way if you're not interested you can merely close the tab and not waste your time:

• Gambling: The entire anime is about gambling, so are you really much into Runescape staking for the thrill
  of the gamble this may be right up your ally. The protagonist being a lower-class individual whose poor and
  hates his job at the mall is looking for ways to become rich. The entire anime starts when he joins a tournament
  gambling to win money, but staking his life.
• No action: This anime like the ever-so-popular Death Note has no action in it, but more so is a game of intellect.
  There are deaths as the anime revolves around staking ones life through various of interesting games in order to survive,
  and possibly win the money.
• Like mentioned before the gambling is what carries the anime, and people whom are interested in statistics,
  and more so ways to exploit and game different systems will find lots of pleasure in this anime.

Still here?​

Well if you liked everything mentioned in The Strain chances are you most likely stuck around...
This anime has the rating: B
One reason being due to the length of the anime, it is very much prolonged, and the anime
is really obnoxious at how it uses suspense to end off the episodes. Thankfully the anime
is completed, and you can watch it in lengthy sessions and finish it. The plot does get dull
at times, and you really have to be interested in intellectual ways of cheating/gaming
systems of which games are based upon, and much of the beauty of the anime does
stem from this fact alone. The anime is by no means bad, it is loyal to its niche themes,
and fulfills it's job at making it enjoyable for the viewers who enjoys the themes and
that is why it has the rating i have given. Definitely worth taking a look at.​

Plot​

If you are still here, that means you may be having a grave interest in exploring what this
anime is all about, whether you like reading plots or not, i will give you a small teaser
here, that will set off the over all plot of the anime, without giving too much away.
Whether you choose to read the next part is up to you, but know that i will delete
any spoilers, so you wont have your experience ruined.

Spoiler: PLOT SUMMERY

"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 30000 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 coercing kaiji accepts a position on the boat, in order to clear himself and attempt at making a bit of money as well..."

Lastly there is another season of this anime, continuing where the prior season ends off. If you have any question, feel free to ask, leave a comment, i will gladly give links to anyone who wants to see it through pm.
/Doomy​

 

I'll definitely be watching this. I'm a big fan of psychological anime, one of my favorites being The Irregular at Magic High School. It's a shame it doesn't have any action, but it's easy to get past that once you're sucked into it.

If anyone is wondering both seasons are on youtube. Thanks for the review.

 

[syclone1]

Thanks for the review man. Will check it out since the genre type does seem interesting.

 

I'm nearly done watching the first season. The only off putting quality to me is the design of the characters. Maybe it was intentional, but i'm not digging it. Other than that, it's really interesting to watch how they use probability to overcome dire situations in methodical ways. Most definitely a must watch from me.

 

Yea it is interesting, i do remember that the characters did get annoying.
But i do agree that it may be intentional. People do get obnoxious, and selfish when being stolen from so frequently.

 

[Silver]

I'm nearly done watching the first season. The only off putting quality to me is the design of the characters. Maybe it was intentional, but i'm not digging it. Other than that, it's really interesting to watch how they use probability to overcome dire situations in methodical ways. Most definitely a must watch from me.

I agree with Ghast on this.
The animation design on this is very unusual to me. I may check it out and put it on my queue though. Thanks for the share doomy.

 

I finally finished watching the anime and I wanted to punch someone during the last 10 episodes. The story dragged on for so long unnecessarily near the end. I felt during the last 10 episodes, the anime could have ended in any one of them. The cliff hangers are so annoying, and too many unnecessary twists that just end up pissing you off really. The anime is good otherwise..

 

Exactly like i pointed out in the review, glad you took at look and bothered watching it, it is well within its right as a decent B tier anime. But the cliffhangers are indeed abused. Nonetheless im sure people who finds interest in the niche genre will take a liking to this anime.