In today's article, I will talk about one of the best anime I had the pleasure of watching, the unpopular Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji. Why unpopular? What is this anime about? Is it worth watching Kaiji? In this article, I will talk about everything related to this great work, without revealing spoilers.
Why is Kaiji unpopular? Because most do not accept the traits and drawings that are very different from traditional anime, it is based on an old manga and has very thick traits. I myself was reluctant for years to watch this anime because of the traits, but finally when I had the courage, after 2 episodes I already got used to these traits and finished it in 2 days.
For this reason, if you are a guy who hasn't watched this anime because of its features, you are missing out on a great work that is even compared to Death Note, Steins;Gate and several other Psychological Thriller anime.
Table of Content
What is the Kaiji anime about?
Kaiji is an anime quite similar to Liar Game where the main character has to participate in gambling games that heavily utilize strategies, cheating, and that can even be deadly. The synopsis of the anime and manga Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji tells the story of Kaiji, a bum who inherits a debt of millions of yen from a friend, whom he agreed to be a guarantor for. He is invited to board a ship where he will bet on trivial games against other players to pay off his debts. It seems simple, but the anime goes far beyond that.
Different from Liar Game, the main character Kaiji is not super smart, in fact, he is dumb, always gets screwed over, but ends up turning the tables, and then gets screwed over again. The anime works a lot with our psyche, and grips us from beginning to end. Despite the childish look of the characters, the anime has very heavy scenes that mess with our emotions and psyche. Sometimes Kaiji becomes more agonizing and scary than horror movies and anime, even though it's not an anime focused on fights and action.
Kaiji's Artwork Details
The work of Kaiji has 2 seasons adapted with 26 episodes and 2 Live Action movies. The Manga was created by Nobuyuki Fukumoto and deals very well with the art of gambling. It is divided into arcs. I'll leave a list with all the works of Kaiji:
- Anime 1 - Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
- Anime 2 - Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji: Hakairoku-hen
- sleeve 1 - Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji
- sleeve 2 - Tobaku Hakairoku Kaiji
- sleeve 3 - Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji
- sleeve 4 - Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji: Kazuya-hen
- sleeve 5 - Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji: One Poker-hen
- movie 1 - Kaiji: Life-Changing Game
- movie 2 - Kaiji 2: The Ultimate Gambler
We recommend that you watch the 2 seasons of the anime and then you can follow the manga in the Dantenroku arc. The anime is full of twists, suspense, trickery, techniques, horror, and fear. Despite the art style, it is a great work on the level of Death Note and Steins;Gate, but like all works, there are points that failed in their adaptation to anime. To conclude the article, I will leave the opening of the Anime for you to get to know the music and the anime's proposal: