Kaijiis often presented as abrutal death game akin to (and inspiring)Squid Game; this comparison misses the mark, as well as what makesKaijiso special.Kaijiis the story of the title character, Kaiji Ito, who istricked by his friend into signing off on a predatory loan.The funds were intended for gambling, and when the money is lost and the interest accumulates, a loan shark named Yuji Endo shows up at his door.
Endo tempts him with acruise called the Espoir — the ship of hope. There, a death game would happen: the winners would be debt-free, while the losers would be deeper in debt, handed off to an undisclosed (at the time) fate. Kaiji initially declines, but he realizes his paycheck will mostly vanish until the loan is repaid, which will take many years. Kaiji takes his first big leap of faith and boards the Espoir — commencing the tale of the ultimate gambler.
Painting The Risky Portrait Of Kaiji
Kaiji Is Both Relatable And Unrealistic
Some call Kaiji a gambling addict. However, Kaiji’s spirit is mirrored in all of us. The suspense of the series rests on how he’ssimultaneously relatable and unrealistically brave.
Kaiji reflects the monotony of daily life. One of the first things shown inKaijiis his arduous day job, horribly paid for stressful tedium.Risk of any kind has the power to disrupt monotony. That’s something any viewer can relate to. So, when Kaiji is drawn to risk’s interruption of monotony, it’s obvious why he’d be drawn in: the payoff is escape from his impoverished tedium. But inKaijiall social classes gamble, showing petrifying tedium is actually built into society’s structure.
The studio Madhouse producedKaiji: Ultimate Survivoris based on the manga by Nobuyuki Fukumoto.
This theme, much like the reality of Kaiji’s wage work, returns regularly. It doesn’t mean Kaiji isn’t responsible for his actions. He is — even the first deception by his friend is ultimately Kaiji’s fault. However, it does mean that his attachment to cyclical risk is infectious.Kaiji is definitely a frustrating hero sometimes, but never unlikable. For me, to not like Kaiji would be to not like something in myself: something that, above all, craves the interruption of routine.
The main difference between Kaiji and most viewers is thathe’s willing to play the protagonist for a different story: one full of risks, not to mention the kind of stress that would make an average person bald in a day flat. Yet it also takes him places I would never go, experiencing things I couldn’t think up and thinking in ways I couldn’t dream up. That’s what makes him fundamentally interesting.
Kaiji’s Bizarre Optimism Stands Out
In Horrible Circumstances, Kaiji Retains Hope
While most death games are dreary,Kaijipulses with optimism. A strange one flirting with taboo, but optimism nonetheless.Kaijiisone of the best gambling anime ever; gamble, he does. It feels almost wrong to root for his recklessness. Still, no matter how much his decision-making might frustrate me, I can’t help but constantly root for him.
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This optimism is reciprocal asKaiji always holds out hope, himself. To take risks of any kind, there must be central hope. Even fighting impossible odds, there isn’t a single moment where Kaiji completely gives up. A side effect is that the moments where he almost gives up are devastating. I especially remember the first season’s horrifyingly upsetting betrayal. The relationship Kaiji builds with the viewer is one of mutual hope, making mutual despair even stronger.
Kaiji’s Stakes Betray People’s Complicated Motivations
KaijiShows The Danger Of Fair-Weather Friends
Just as Kaiji acts out viewers' repressed desires, the series shows emotions that normally would transform into something else,were it not for the collapsing social norms ofKaiji’s environments.Kaijiisamong the darkest anime of all time, but what’s misunderstood is why. For all its physical and emotional brutality, the darkest part ofKaijiis the social brutality.
Not allKaiji’s characters are cruel. In fact, Kaiji makes many dear friends, and their bond holds true until something—sometimes death—tears them apart.It’s impossible to interpretKaijias saying “trust nobody but yourself”.Trust is what makes all of Kaiji’s plans work. WhatKaijidemonstrates is suspicion: not just toward the capacity for cruelty, but toward kindness’s hidden intentions.
The philosopher Nietzsche tried to poke holes in “good” actions, suggesting they have origins in motivations usually considered undesirable.Kaijimakes a compelling case for this thesis. Kaiji forges many friendships because of mutual circumstances. Most are temporary,and the fact the betrayal shares its circumstantial basis with the friendship is clearly depicted. Undermining others makes sense in its context — almost more than friendship. The dissolved norms break down any second-order justification behind characters' actions: all that remains is winner-takes-all survival, out of which the characters' sincerest actions (even building a friendship) emerge.
Kaijiitself is cruel: artificial deaths and temptations abound, and relationships aren’t built to last. One emotional moment is when, during a game, Kaiji befriends a middle-aged man who had taken on his son’s debt. Later, he meets the man’s son, a feckless and resentful twenty-something. Since true friendships are so rare inKaiji’s scenarios,I shared Kaiji’s offense at his son’s ingratitude.
The series shows something rare: the open cruelty of the game’s organizers is, somehow, a kindness compared to the son’s complicated anger toward his father.The most traditionally cruel characters inKaijiare a farce; they’re comic relief as the show exposes a darker side to any emotion the viewer may have.Kaijisuggests that self-centered deeper motivations are concealed only while it’s safe to do so. Although it’s a landmark gambling anime, human connection is the greatest gamble throughout it.
Gambling Alongside Kaiji: The Cyclical Payoff Of Frustration
KaijiUses Frustration To Its Advantage
Knowing the gamble of closeness, I found myself once frustrated withKaijifor befriending people. I expected an eventual betrayal with the new friends. It never came.It was a novel rush of hope and happinesswhen they emerged victorious together.
A friend of my own once complained while watchingKaiji, saying Kaiji is irritating and irresponsible. He had found it hard to relate to Kaiji for that reason. That’s true,but it’s also the secret point of the series, and the surprise element that makes it so good. Consider when Kaiji, forced into effective slavery to repay debt, is in a situation where any sort of luxury, like beer or cigarettes, shaves off days worth of pay.He’stantalized by the warden with a payday loan, going further into debt but affording luxuries. As he tries to stay strong but eventually relents, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.
If it were any other shōnen hero, they’d say “No!” and that would be all. But he’s no Goku. He’s, in fact, just like me.
If it were any other shōnen hero, they’d say “No!” and that would be all.But Kaiji is no Goku. He’s, in fact, just like me. Angered, I also reflected: would Ireallybe strong enough to do what I expect him to do? Hedoesend up winning out over the warden in the end. The satisfaction when that happens is unreal.
Cyclical frustration is the subtle, ingenious wayKaijiforces the viewer to relate with its protagonist.After all: like Kaiji, doesn’t the viewer invest their time and energy in the series, becoming frustrated, doubtful, regretful? If they’re watching on Crunchyroll, they’ve also made a literal monetary investment with a hope whichKaijidenies through frustration. Despite that, don’t they press on with the next episode, investing even more in search of a payoff?
InKaiji, when the payoff hits, it’s like a payout. At certain moments, it even feels like a jackpot.Kaijidraws out its victories, its tragedies, and its failures alike in ways that can be excruciating — just so they hit harder when they finally do. I relate to Kaiji the most exactly then. As each arc resolves, all the tension and frustration does too; but within me, I always feel the need for a little moreKaiji, even knowing the risks.
Kaiji
Cast
Kaiji follows the story of Kaiji Itou, an indebted gambler who becomes entangled in high-stakes underground gambling events orchestrated by a powerful organization, leading him through perilous games of wit and survival.
