Ultimate Survivor Kaiji
I don’t gamble. At all. Aside from an unfortunate episode working in a newsagent where I spent a significant proportion of my weekly salary on scratchcards for a couple of weeks, I don’t even play the lottery. I don’t like to step outside of my comfort zone much, really - I wait for the green man when crossing the road, I throw out food past its sell by date regardless of whether it’s cultivating new life or not, I’d rather disembowel myself than bungee jump, that sort of thing. I don’t like the idea of losing control and taking the risk a little too far, basically.
With that in mind, it’s hard for me to approach Kaiji: Gambling Apocalypse (as one of the alternative titles of this show goes) with the attitude that I suspect the original author and the team at Madhouse want its viewers to. The story follows a compulsive gambler named Kaiji who is landed in a massive amount of debt thanks to a “friend” of his, and his first stage to pay it off is playing mahjong on a boat filled with other desperate debtors - presumably the story is going to delve into a whole bunch of different games along the way, but essentially Kaiji will continue to gamble, screw up, and be plunged further into a vicious circle.
What exactly is the audience supposed to get out of a show like Kaiji? It’s obviously seen as a pretty good story by the Japanese - the original manga won a self-congratulatory Kodansha aware a few years back, and obviously the mangaka’s previous anime adaptation, Akagi, was popular enough that Madhouse and NTV thought it would be a good idea to do more of his work. Is it supposed to be cathartic to see Kaiji screw up his life - some kind of schadenfreude, perhaps? Are the salarymen readers and viewers supposed to feel better that their occasional trips to the pachinko parlour haven’t landed them in the thrall of unscrupulous big-nosed businessmen sending them off to evil CG boats? Is it supposed to be a thriller of some kind?
All I really got from Kaiji’s first episode was annoyance. The show almost rocks out of the starting gate with its cheesy OP called “The Future Is In Our Hands” and Kaiji kicking frames around left right and centre, but the show loses all its badass posturing almost immediately as Kaiji is set up to be… well, a pathetic loser with a gambling problem. He’s a punk, basically, and I don’t empathise with or idolise him - I just think he’s a jerk, and don’t really give a crap if he gambles himself into bankruptcy or fleetingly makes millions (which I presume he doesn’t given how damn long the manga’s been going).
From a production viewpoint I guess there isn’t a lot to complain about unless you abhor the blocky salaryman-manga artstyle; I like the bold strokes taken with the character designs but the animation is mediocre and the rest of the setting uninteresting, besides forgettable music and acting. The only thing of any interest is the rather odd little “signature” scene the show seems to have going where the background goes all CG and the word “zuwa~” (the onomatopaeiac word for rustling, apparently) appears. Perhaps it’s amusing or thrilling in print, but it just seems rather silly here.
If you liked Akagi, I guess you might want to tune in to Kaiji; I barely made it through one episode of Akagi without getting bored so I’m really not the best judge. I guess I’m just not wired in to these sorts of Japanese pulp stories; I’m too young, too geeky, too far removed from the salaryman culture, whatever. I’m not willing to take a gamble on Kaiji, at any rate, and I’m definitely placing my bets elsewhere for this season.
October 20th, 2007 at 8:45 pm
Not mahjong, rock paper scissors.
October 22nd, 2007 at 5:34 am
No, Kaiji himself is not a very likeable guy, but you wanna know why I’m still watching this show? The game. The weird, restricted rock, paper, scissors (janken) game they’re playing. It’s surprisingly deep and I watch it for the strategies the people use to win this game. The good guys and the bad. I also don’t care what happens to him, really. I wanna see the HOW!
October 28th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
The first few eps of this series are but a taste of things to come, so I’d suggest sticking with it a bit before you make any final judgements.
Fukumoto Nobuyuki works are pretty esoteric outside of Japan. The author himself is quite famous for his unique character designs (which himself calls ‘terrible’ :p) and intense dramatic presentations.
As far as Akagi goes, that series involved a lot of mahjong (which is a game understood by few outside asian countries) so many people couldn’t keep up with it. Akagi is about much more than mahjong though. I never really had any interest in mahjong before Akagi, and if it had been entirely about the mahjong then I would have probably quickly lost interest in it. As it is, I am willing to learn about mahjong while watching a good show. Akagi just happens to have a lot of mahjong mixed in with the drama. I saw an epic psychological suspense series showcasing the perspective of a dark genius utilizing a meticulous form of rational insanity with balls of steel. There was some mahjong in there also.
Kaiji is not like Akagi. He’s not a dark genius, and he shows more emotion in the first episode than Akagi does in the entire series. Kaiji is meant to be a character that most people won’t like, and I think the mangaka succeeded exceptionally well in that respect.
As the third installment of this anime has shown, Kaiji is not a total idiot. He has been following others’ advice all his life and appears to have some latent abilities of his own when he applies himself in such hopelessly desperate situations, which he is just beginning to discover. This is where the series starts to get interesting.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:56 am
I watch anime because I will one day be a badass sci-fi fantasy action hero. It’s easy to relate to characters of that genre since they mirror my life. Like those characters, I am beautiful and lack most flaws. The only two I have are a dark and intriguing past and bouts of well articulated anger which dramatically increase my problem solving abilities.
I can’t stand these repetitive, formulaic stories like Kaiji where the main character never saves the planet or reaches a fulfilling happy ending. He doesn’t even carry a weapon or has powers for christ’s sakes. It paints an absurd world where people put their own needs above their friends’, rather than forming unbreakable bonds at the deepest levels of the soul. In fact, where are the boobs? Gross stereotypes like this show are what give anime a bad rap.
November 21st, 2007 at 10:05 am
Mmm, sarcasm.
I watch anime for escapism and visual interest. I don’t like watching overly melodramatic, poorly animated blowhards make a mess of their life; I don’t tolerate idiots, and Kaiji IS an idiot. It’s not about superpowers or ridiculous personalities with huge tits (how much of this blog have you read?); it’s about enjoyable stories and characters, neither of which I found in Kaiji.
November 21st, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I loved both Akagi and Kaiji, gambling is the backdrop, not the main course. These series are about character. The mangaka places these characters in a do-or-die situation and bare their souls for us viewers to watch. That’s what makes these series so interesting.
While most people will never face situations as extreme as presented in these series, most people will have to make important decisions with serious consequences in their lives. The world is not deterministic, often times you have to make decisions under uncertainty. It’s these situations that bring up doubt, fear, and hope. It’s also these situations that shows your true character. Will you betray your friends to save yourself? Will you cooperate with someone you hate? Will you give up and accept fate?
What Kaiji and Akagi has taught me is that life is a gamble. The single most important lesson to be learned here is to never let your guard down. There is always risk, the most dangerous thing to do is to think that there is no risk.
Let me give an example. A while back some investment bankers cooked up a “safe” investment scheme. It’s safe in the sense that you can’t lose your principal. You are guarenteed to get all your money back. At the same time, it offered attractive rates of return, which lured many people into buying it. However, the investment was structured from complex interest rate derivatives. When the interest rates changed, the return on these investments went to 0%. So although you don’t lose your principal, your money is locked up for 10 years with 0% returns unless interest rates are within a narrow window. If the currency collapses you’ll still be paid back your money, they just won’t have any purchasing power left by the time you get them.
November 22nd, 2007 at 3:18 am
I’m not too sure on the not liking him part. I personally felt captured by his personality, and I felt as if the mangaka did not overextend his personality to the point where its cliche, which is what the majority of animes do. Neither is he completely spineless enough to hate. I’d say he would represent someone who would exist in real life, and I think thats why some people don’t like him, because people watch anime to escape the realities in their lives.
As for BluWacky’s commment about Kaiji being an idiot. I don’t know how far you’ve watched, but I don’t see your logic in calling him that. he’s very intelligent to be able to think of unconventional solutions one after another to save him and his team. Don’t get me wrong, I respect your opinion, but the next time you call someone an idiot, especially Kaiji, justify it.
Craig: “Gross stereotypes like this show are what give anime a bad rap.” how is it stereotypical? First of all there isn’t even a single female in the series so far, let alone having a pair of Double-D breasts.
What are the basis of your argument?
December 10th, 2007 at 8:24 am
Haven’t you ever seen a show where the protagonist starts out with flaws and eventually works to better himself throughout the series? It’s called character growth, it’s a pretty common literary device. If you have a cheesy shounen show where it’s all about power levels and fighting, then the character starts out physically weak and gets stronger throughout the show in that sense. If it’s a psychological drama, he starts out morally bankrupt, psychologically weak, and gets stronger throughout the show in that sense, instead. He is a total bum in the beginning, but since then he’s made a lot of realizations about life. It’s about as far from “him messing up his life worse and worse” as it could be. Lately he’s even been sacrificing of himself to save others.
I can imagine not liking the show because of the art style; it is very “ugly”, although I still feel it has a style of its own and I like it. I’ve heard many others say they came to love Akagi or Kaiji despite the horrid art. But if you were able to enjoy Gankutsuou, you may be able to enjoy this.
If you watch the show a little while longer, you’ll find that Kaiji actually hates gambling and fully realizes that he and everyone else are falling into a spiral of self-destruction, and is making every attempt to start his life over again and become a half-decent person.
January 13th, 2008 at 12:45 am
You sir, are an ass. Watch the first 9 episodes and then post your thoughts. Kaiji, is easily the best anime show currently airing, even though I hated the art style I at least gave the show a chance. I was rewarded with the most intense gripping portrayal of the human condition that I have seen in some time.
PS is zawa not zuwa, you could at least get that part right.
January 30th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Haha, well im replying to a pretty old blog entry but I wont call you names or anything.
The real thesis in Kaiji is about winning in reality, against other people, against the system, against yourself. The world is not made for you to win automatically, if you do not see it that waj you are either not ambitious, already rich, already talented, already found yourself in society, etc etc…..
Kaiji is just a manifestation of a modern man in a system who does not see his bearings and does not choose to act out of fear, lack of belonging, naiveness….
IN this series Kaiji will fail. This show, like reality of those who act, will show Kaiji realize learn, improve, and STILL fail miserably.
The world of being ‘depressed’ and then having a montage of training and BARELY winning against all odds is hollywood fantasy. Kaiji lives in the cruel world we do but finds ways to win in this system.
I find that to be very fascinating if only because if you follow true growth of Kaiji you can truly succeed, or truly fail, but still have the balls to crawl forward onwards to strive no matter what happens to him.
But unlike Akagi he isnt ‘broken’ but he’s very human, and very emotional. Seeing him in extreme circumstances and conquering them offers me a feeling no other series can: authenticity of the extreme.
NO Shonen can even come close to match that kind of mad awesomeness.
February 14th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
You gave up on Kaiji after just one episode? True Kaiji isn’t for everyone, only mature viewers with a sense of taste will get into it I guess.. Really in world of anime where there are oh so many brain dead “lets fap off to 2D big breasted cartoon chicks” harem comedies, or “muhahaha my zegatron X6543 just got a 9000 percent power boost” mecha animes, I’m glad that Kaiji is around to kick some ass…
March 16th, 2009 at 4:16 am
I just started watching kaiji around a week ago and I asked myself the question asked in the third paragraph of the blog post pretty quickly. I think it’s a natural reaction to see the dangerous situations the gamblers find themselves in and to say, ‘Well, that won’t happen to me. I’ll never get that far in gambling debt.” You watch Kaiji and feel that the better way to go is a steady job, live within your means, all the stuff that makes up the salaryman lifestyle. But this lifestyle is exactly what Endo (and later Hyodo) mocks as an incredibly unfulfilling way to live, and Kaiji and the others are willing to risk their lives to avoid that kind of existence.
So what’s the message here? What kind of life is the viewer supposed to want? The boring, humdrum life that pretty much every character in the series either avoids or wants to avoid, or the gambling life that either lands people in these dangerous situations or exposes them as sociopaths?
And I kind of like the ‘Zawa-zawa-zawa’ sound that keeps popping up. It’s like in South Park, when the angry mobs always yell ‘Rabble rabble rabble.’