[Categories: Anime Reviews]
2007 in 12 day 7: Kaiji
Gambling, mullets and manly tears…zawa zawa!
The first latecomer to this list is Kaiji, the black sheep of the autumn season. In a slew of new shows that seemed to be dominated by otaku-centric fantasy rom-coms set in schools, Kaiji bucked the trend with its ‘gar’ approach and no-nonsense storytelling. Firstly, it wasn’t a romance, a comedy or anything supernatural; as a matter of fact, at the time of writing it doesn’t feature any female characters at all. Given the unflattering character designs that make almost everyone look like rejects from the Gorillaz, maybe it’s best being all-male anyway…
The hero is introduced as a petty criminal and jobless bum who offers little cause for us to like him or even give a damn about where he ends up; he’s down on his luck but is otherwise a low-life who deserves pity perhaps but definitely not respect. When he gets the opportunity to erase his debts in a Yakuza-run casino aboard the good ship Espoir (lol@irony), Kaiji becomes a shrewd and irrepressible gambling force to be reckoned with who is determined to turn his life around. Huerrgh!
I knew this show was something out of the ordinary right from the op theme. No picturesque skylines or saccharine J-pop here: just a noisy, defiant in-your-face punk rock number that introduces a man who has been pushed to the edge and doesn’t give a crap about anything apart from moving forward and leaving his bad old days behind. Kaiji’s character actually becomes one to root for: the emotional rollercoaster ride of Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors is enough to give the most seasoned of gamblers a headache, but for Kaiji it unearths a resolve he never knew he had to get back onto his feet and keep fighting.
Every disappointment (and there are a lot of them) is brushed to one side as our hero rethinks his strategy and takes on conmen, tricksters and backstabbers to stay in the game. He shows loyalty to two accomplices who clearly don’t deserve his trust along with the shedding of many manly tears. That’s right folks, no man should be afraid to cry, especially if he has a pointy nose and a mullet!
Memorable moment
After being brutally conned by the odious Funai, Kaiji has teamed up with Andou and Furahawa (the latter character being the irresponsible workmate who caused him the financial problems in the first place) to get all three of them through to the next round. The only problem is, Funai has figured out Kaiji’s strategy and pulls the rug from under them – Kaiji runs the risk of losing the game while Funai taunts him mercilessly.
Remember people, never under-estimate the power of the mullet. Owned!
Once again, Kaiji pulls himself together for the nth time and, in a masterful act of observation and logic, figures out Funai’s own plan and exposes him as the dirty traitor that he is to the other players. Although Kaiji’s own situation is still precarious, he gets one over his nemesis without even throwing a punch. It’s a truly satisfying scene in a series that’s providing more than its fair share of ups and downs.
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Posted on December 21st, 2007 @ 10:16 am
That first screenshot is brilliant; the Espoir certainly sounds more exciting than a supercasino.
I think I’m going to refer to Kaiji as a gar-mbling show from now on. Sticks out from the crowd like a really pointy nose.
Posted on December 21st, 2007 @ 11:37 am
lol @ “gar-mbling”
This is probably the best, most concise review of Kaiji I’ve seen. You might be interested to know that there are a couple scenes with women in the Kaiji manga, but not until later. Even then, of course, they’re hardly notable and don’t get much attention. And I don’t recall there ever being any females at all in Akagi.
Also hooray for manly tears. The moral of the story is that it’s ok to cry as long as you’re also thinking of devious comeback strategies at the same time. ;P
Posted on December 22nd, 2007 @ 12:38 pm
@Iknight: “Gar-mbling” If I was wearing a hat I’d take it off to you. Good job!
@Orion: Cheers. You’ve reminded me to track down Akagi too, since I’m really beginning to dig the manga-ka’s approach to storytelling. Yeah, manly tears are okay, especially if you’re gifted with Mullet Power!
Posted on December 24th, 2007 @ 7:26 pm
[...] was (quite recently) persuaded that Kaiji was worth my while. One swift catch-up later, and it’s managed to make it into my [...]