Restricted Rocks, Papers, Scissors was a pretty exciting game and I really enjoyed it as a first arc. I have to say, though, that Brave Men's Road was my favorite, especially the second beam crossing. After the first arc in which every contestant was suspicious of each other, it was nice seeing a change. Ishida's death was probably the best part of that arc. The E-Card arc came next and while I didn't like it that much in the beginning, it grew on me as we discovered that Tonegawa was (unsurprisingly) cheating. Tissue-box raffle was the most boring arc in the show. Maybe it was because there had been the epic beam arc and the E-Card arc that had gotten me excited and I had high expectations for the last arc and when it didn't deliver as well, it lost points. I don't know. In any case, that last arc and its least exciting aspects lowered the potential score of a 9 to an 8.

"The air around shrinks them."

"The space begins to suffocate them."

Isn't this a classic 'show us, don't tell us' situation? =/

Baccano stickers

But you shouldn't make the same mistake I did. I discovered at Anime Expo that Artists' Alley is a great place to buy fanart and, here's the best part, commission artists. I had this One Piece pen drawing done: 

I asked for Nami wearing Luffy's hat and this is what the artist came up with. I like it so much I framed it.

But what is Artists' Alley?

Artists' Alley is an area at a convention where artists sell their own work. At Anime Expo I mostly saw fanart (Bleach, Naruto and Gurren Lagann seemed popular but there were plenty of other shows to choose from) in the form of posters, prints and sketches. People were also selling pins, magnets, bookmarks, stickers, stuffed animals, jewelry, t-shirts, cosplay accessories and more. Of course artists also sell original art not based on any show but it's the fanart I'm mainly interested in.

Commissions

A lot of artists not only sell pre-made work but also draw requests. The neat thing about commissions is that you can find an artist you like and ask them to draw you something specific that'll be one-of-a-kind. I had two things commissioned: the first is that Nami drawing, the second is a sketch of Kaiji from Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji. The artist is the same guy who was selling the Baccano stickers.

From the worried look on his face I can only assume that he has just decided to participate in a life or death game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.

How much does it cost?

I can only talk about my one experience at Anime Expo but from what I observed prints and posters ranged from about $5 to $20 depending on the size. I bought the One Piece poster below for $15 and I also got two Gurren Lagann prints (one medium sized and one small) for a total of $14. Smaller items like stickers and pins are about a couple bucks.

As for commissions, that really depends on what you're getting and what the artist thinks it's worth. I only paid $10 for Nami and $8 for Kaiji but I saw one guy charge about $50 for a colored picture of Bleach's Rukia and Ichigo which he drew on the spot.

If the artist doesn't have a sign giving you the prices, ask beforehand. Finding out that you don't have enough cash on hand after they've already done something for you would be troublesome. I'm not sure about whether or not haggling is appropriate, maybe it depends on the artist, but if you're going to try obviously you should do that beforehand.

This is by the the same artist who drew Nami for me. I love his stuff.

Although putting this art up on my wall has exponentially increased my nerd level I can't help feeling that I've stumbled across something I should've known about all along. I'm going to Comic Con this week and if I can somehow make it there without becoming a brainless zombie first (no small feat) I'll definitely be checking out Artists' Alley. I highly recommend that anyone else going do the same.

今天介绍大家一本好漫画，赌博默示录，赌博破戒录，赌博坠天录 作者 福本伸行，动画版本叫 逆境无赖Kaiji

记得1年多以前 当时在漫画店漫游，而且大部分有好感的的漫画都看过了 所以当时还在思索着要看那部漫画... 第一眼看上去 真的不怎么样 赌博默示录 ... 之前就有留意到 刚好当时好像看了某部赌博相关的电影 就想说 好吧租你来看看 毕竟一般上我不会太在意 画工画风 看上去一本漫画就知道那个作者的诚意到那里... 租！

一本过一本 刚租回来的两本看完了=_= 不到一个小时 第二天 第一时间 又去租了四本... 认定了 好漫画 又是2个小时内看完 之后一口气租完看完 继续租第二套 到第十二本 就没了 后来在网上找了个日文版的看(当时动画也还没出 认识这个漫画的人实在太少 所以估计翻译的也没有） 一直到动画出了 突然带红了起来 各大漫画网站也陆续上传上来了，直到最近才逐渐有人传第三部上来... 太好了... 现在正在看第三部第三本^_^

对这部漫画的感想实在太多，画得很丑 真的很丑 可是 非常有诚意，他画的虽然很丑可是画工很强 他要表现的人物心情意境，紧张气氛都非常到位，看着看着都会冒冷汗 独特的表情表达方式配合他的画风 出乎意料的达到效果，喜欢！

外面有很多人写关于他的漫画的内容，故事的激动,感想 我文笔不好 就不多写了，只是呢 这正的是很好看的漫画！漫不可貌相，大家用心去衡量^_^

胜者为王，败则为寇！赌博极致！

评分：9.5 out of 10分

p.s Ori看漫画是看作者的诚意^_^ 诚意满分！极度推荐！

以下是其他网站其他人blog留下的一些对这套漫画的简评！

"这部超级冷门的漫画可以blog的地方还有很多很多…… " 犬者

“……总之，是个完全不能以画风取胜的典型。...这些完全不是值得在意的理由，精彩得难以形容的剧情掩盖了一切的不足，甚至你会觉得，这种有如扑克的嘴脸与一部以赌为题的漫画很是搭调。” acgtalk/两色风景

From slpless in myanimelist.net

There is a sense of irony when Kaiji, minus 4 fingers, an ear, and even more in debt, was talking about how he’s stronger now and will defeat the chairman next time. There is no evidence showing that he stronger as a person, only as a gambler. Even during the interlude between the first and second arc he is shown unable to live in normal society. Now I feel he is even more unable to adapt and live under normal circumstances.

And my what I say is:

You're completely MISSING THE POINT HERE. You're WAY too literal.

True, he does not have the money, nor the power to defeat the chairman at this point. What's pointed out here is an implication, and the whole point of Kaiji, if not for the gambling and taking risks.

If you haven't figured it out yet, go rewatch it. Can't get it yet? REWATCH it again.

Just think, what was the main lesson in the Kaiji anime?

Ack, whatever. Here's what I think about the series, the lesson part.

Kaiji, is about a perspective of life and sorts. We're all people. Human. Equal. Some of us go up, and some of us go down. People die, people live. One thing to note though is that no matter what happens, we all try our best to live. We all have a will to move on.

That is the flaw of the characters in Kaiji. They all try to live, they find ways to live and then they find a one-shot attempt to get the higher standard of life through gambling. Eventually, as they get closer to their goal, so do they get closer to getting killed and losing their will to live, thus backing out.

The lesson? This one is seen through Kaiji. As you can see through the others in the story, they often choose the path of "trying to live". We see them back out. We see them fail miserably. We see them die. Kaiji was different. True, he used common methods on how to live through the situations he had to face, but he realized this that it were all too futile. He used his mind, he thought on how, he tried, he failed. He succeeded a couple of times but in the end he failed anyway.

The ending part proved important as well since it was a realization that he had the chance if he thought further. What if he thought what his opponent was thinking? He could've won and all. The important part in that moment was that there was a way, albeit hidden but he didn't use it. He didn't try doing it. He gave up.

The key word here is obviously try.

Try, try again until you succeed.

We experience failures as we go on through life, but the lesson in Kaiji is that no matter what happens, just keep on trying. Never give up, and try to reach the top. There are ups and downs for each and every one of us, but I say, screw that. You can do it.

Obviously, the writer's intent here isn't for the sake of continuity. The irony, nor the logic of not having money and losing fingers didn't matter. It was the intention of the writer that meant the most.

And that, is how a story should be like. Meaning.

but noooooo. You're pointing the irony here, not the meaning. It just didn't pierce through your brain now, did it?

Oh and by the way, In case you'd (the one who i'm quoting to) ever stumble on this post and try to make a shitpost reply, see your Azumanga Daioh review as well. It's too biased and as Anonymous would say... RAAAAGE.

Sayonara Fukumoto Sensei

Parody of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Opening 3 with Nobuyuki Fukumoto's works, Akagi and Kaiji. Music : Goin ni Mai Yeah ~ (強引niマイYeah～) (eps 10-11). One of the best SZS parody with Sayonara Code Geass.(parody of SZS OP 2)

Lol @ Captain Kaiji. :D

Kaiji is an excellent, excellent show. There I said it. Review over.

Wait, that's not going to convince anyone. Fine, I'll keep going if you insist. Kaiji is the spiritual successor to Akagi, a show I have admittedly never seen. Both shows are based on manga by Nobuyuki Fukumoto who's works have two notable aspects. 1) They have a really unique look that doesn't look like anything you'd expect to come out of Japan. 2) They are mostly about the act of gambling. Akagi was about a genius gambler who is capable of outwitting anyone, and his wins over increasingly formidable Yakuza foes.

Kaiji is pretty much the reverse of Akagi. He's not really all that good at gambling, but he is good at surviving. Infact, one of the show's many subtitles is 'Ultimate Survivor' which is quite apt. But I also like 'Gambling Apocalypse' and 'The Suffering Pariah'. Anyway, Kaiji is a total bum. He lives in squalor, and gambles for a living, while occasionally vandalising cars out of boredom. One day a sinister man knocks on his door (who's car he vandalised earlier), and tells him he owes the yakuza 3 million yen. A co-worker had asked him to put countersign a loan application, which his co-worker had later defaulted on, so the loan must be paid by Kaiji. Obviously, he's not in a good position to pay it off being the bum that he is.

Kaiji, looking horrified at the gambling.

The yakuza guy offers Kaiji a night on a GAMBLING BOAT in order to pay off his debts. If he should win, he'll get enough to pay off all his debts, and more! Although if he should loose he'll be forced to work slave labour in order to pay them off, which he probably will not survive. So naturally Kaiji agrees to go along with all this. Cut to the boat. He finds himself with about a hundred other losers, and given a hand of cards and millions of yen for bets. The cards have have rock, paper or scissors on them, and he must rock-paper-scissors his way to victory! Of course the game is a lot more complicated than that, and it branches out into strategic alliances, card buying, and betrayal.

The main focus of the show is around these complicated and tense gambling situations in which Kaiji finds himself while struggling to stay out of debt. The rock-paper-scissors arc is just the first of 4 different gambles that Kaiji must survive. In the first arc they are given four hours to complete their gambling, and it plays out in almost real time. I'd describe the pacing as 24-esque, the first arc even has frequent cuts to a large digital clock. Sometimes the twenty-two minute shows seem to only last ten minutes, such is the tension. This is really the main hook of the show. Each episode will have you demanding the next one immedieatly, in order to find out what happens.

The show has a crazy ultra-serious narrator who often stops to explain the situation in detail if it's getting too complicated, with visual aids! That probably sounds totally ridiculous, but it works really well. The show also often visualises characters torment, like showing them drowning in the sea (of gambling), or leaping over a chasm (of gambling). It also gets quite brutal in places, the most singularly horrible of which is a sequence in which a character is forced to kneel down and prostrate himself on a red hot metal plate. Needless to say the plot gets sort of crazy at times, but this is some sort of gambling obsessed yakuza we are dealing with here so it's allowed. The Chairman of the Yakuza is probably one of the most insane characters I've ever seen. I mean, look at him!

The Chairman is exactly as insane than he looks.

Kaiji is really the only main character in the show. Other minor characters come and go, but it's mostly just Kaiji, his thoughts, and the aforementioned hilariously serious narrator who I'm not sure is on Kaiji's side a lot of the time. The villains, from the lowly bums who betray Kaiji to the yazkua chiefs responsible for everything, are all horrible people who you wish to see badly hurt.

I’ll just mention the unusual art style of which looks sort of western to me, you can probably make your own decision from the images. The characters are all really angular in design. Also, everyone constantly has the most horrified expressions glued to their faces which works well with the style. There is quite a bit of 3d usage as most locations in the show are fully 3d so that the camera can do crazy pans all around the rooms in which gambling takes place in all David Fincher style, this stuff works better than you’d probably expect.

Even the background charcters are looking horrified at things, possibly gambling related.

At times the show’s pacing is perhaps a bit slow, as whole episodes pass without significant advancement in plot. The effect is a bit like Gantz, except not nearly as extreme, but even the slow episodes are tense as hell. The second arc of the show is by far the weakest, mainly due to it not being about a gambling game, but rather a much more physical type of gamble. This section doesn’t work nearly as well, but it is a bit shorter than the other arcs, so it’s not too much of a problem and does provide some good setup for the excellent conclusion.

All in all, I highly recommend watching this fine gambling apocalypse. The manga is still being written, and by all accounts the show has followed it quite well, so you should not expect a full conclusion to the story here. There is quite a high possibility of another Kaiji season happening at some point though which is awesome.

Arbitrary Rating: 9 - Paper Towels!

Lucky Star, in my Kaiji? SAGE THIS SHIT

Guess who lost 4 of his left fingers? ;_;

Yes, the Chairman actually drew the winning lot on the second draw. BAWWWWW-ing ensues ;_;

¯\(¯3¯)/¯ what?

Right from the start, The Chairman, who later revealed his name as Hyoudou, drew the winning lot, and made everyone in the room shit enough bricks to build a bungalow. Scared shitless, Kaiji never thought it was possible, and was about to beg for mercy, before making up his mind that he will face it like a man, and gets his left fingers cut of by a Black Suit (it gets censored, ofcourse. Screen fades to black the moment the Black Suit cut his off his fingers).

Oh you, Hyoudou. Why are you such a handsome old bastard?

I really like the twist. Hyoudou knew that Kaiji rigged the tissue box right from the start, and planned his own counter attack, which involved going against what they both agreed on in the start (winning lot should not be crumpled/have any folds on it), and bet on that everyone would be too shocked to notice the obvious fold right in the middle. Even if his plan fails, and Kaiji felt the paper towel scrap with a fold and drew the winning lot, he could simply call him out and claim that Kaiji cheated. Not to mention that if Kaiji noticed the fold as Hyoudou is showing it, and accuse him of cheating, Hyoudou could've easily reversed the situation by pointing out Kaiji's planted lot. Kaiji was doomed from the start ;_;

True face of moe

Poor Kaiji. He won 20million yen for a moment, and ended up losing it, along with his left ear and his fingers. Manga spoilers reveals that he'll eventually get his fingers reattached, and I'm interested to see how he received the monies to do the surgery (I dunno, given how he's FUCKING BROKE now, like how he was back in ep.1?).

All in all, it's been wonderful, following Kaiji throughout the whole 26 episodes. Inspiring moments were had, manly tears were shed (ISHIDAAAAAAAAAA!! ;_;), moments of joy were shared as Kaiji gets out of a pinch. Now please tell me they're working on a season 2 for Kaiji. They simply MUST. Also, I wonder how's the Kaiji Trading Figure set's going on. I'd buy it in a heartbeat if the final product looks great.

Chairman and Kaiji, lovingly placing the winning lot into the empty tissue box... wait, is this some homosexual innuendo I'm seeing here?

Stupid naive Kaiji, you should've seen this coming. Did you really expected the Chairman to play it fair? Come on.

Guess all of us knew what happened to the winning lot, with that scene followed by these two:

(why is his thumb concealed from view? I wonder...)

Just like most of the previous episodes, barely anything happened in this episode, but hell, I enjoyed every moment of it, as usual. Guess I'm in love with the narrator's voice and the presentation style of this series.

Tissue box raffle! EPIC BATTLE THAT TRANSCENDED TO THE OUTER SPACE!

Anyway, here's what happened in the episode:

Chairman praises Kaiji for agreeing to his terms to bet on his 4 fingers and the whole 20million yen, in return for Chairman's 100million yen bet. He then continues to explain how much "pleasure" he gets out of gambling huge amounts of money (I swear, he sounded more and more sadist-sexual with every passing episode). The two of them placed the winning lot together, black suit guy placed the rest inside and shuffled, Chairman took his lot, pulled a bluff on Kaiji, almost made Kaiji peed his pants. Kaiji then took his turn, but his cheat didn't work, as he can't find the hidden winning lot that he sneaked on the inside edge of the box.

Kaiji then BAWWWWWs as he drew a blank lot too ;_;

It's now back to Chairman's turn to draw, episode ends. I do like that the big ending isn't one guy cheating or out-strategizing the other guy, but finally, FINALLY, pure gambler's luck. Ah well, one more episode to go.

Wait ! Could it be possible that we like an anime that's free of any pandering whatsoever and gets by purely on plot ?!

Rets@Mistakes of Youth About Kaiji

Overman GARiji - Nietzsche's Kaiji

A text by Anonymous of Los Angeles :

What are you prepared to do for victory, Anonymous?

Alright /a/, I've made an observation. Enjoy your despair.

Good old Anonymous is just like Kaiji here when it comes to finances. When I was looking at the growing lower class in America and the merging middle class and the common financial strains that we all share in. This maybe me break down a couple ideas that I had floating around in my head.

I can imagine that for someone like a young male Anonymous, you typically don't have a lot of money to your name. You might have a part-time job that pays an average of $8.00 or $9.00 an hour, just like Kaiji does. Any of us are on the verge of becoming in debt, whether it's going to school, having a car accident, or wasting our money on videogames or anime. Credit cards have an 18% interest rate. Crime is also relatively common, so even becoming involved in underground dealings is likely if any of us come in contact with black market scenarios. The worst part is, this is the kind of life you're subjected to if you fail education for some reason, which is common among NEETs on the internet.

Add in the variables like the lack of health care in America, so if any Anonymous doesn't have health insurance and becomes injured by falling off the beam at Starlight Road, he might be dragged down in legal fees and treatment. I knew someone who had their car stolen.

You pretty much need to do what Tonegawa says and go through school so you can get a stable job, since business are sending jobs overseas to cut costs. I know that Kaiji cannot be the only one of us going through something as serious as debt or financial hardship.

What are you prepared to do for victory, Anonymous?

Zawa Zawa

Anonymous of Los Angeles@4chan

It all leads up to this.

Note: I don't think I have to remind everyone that there are MASSIVE GIANTASSFUCK SPOILERS ahead, do I?

Episode grade: 9.3 tissue boxes out of 10.
Overall series grade: 8.7 out of 10.

The epic conclusion of Tissue Box Raffle has arrived. Kaiji and Mr. Chairman have both drawn blank lots. It is now the Chairman's turn. As always, he is very deliberate with how he draws.

Then the unthinkable happens for Kaiji: the Chairman draws the winning lot.

Kaiji: YOU LOSE

Kaiji cries out the most manliest tears to date as he realizes his left hand will soon comprise of only one finger. The Chairman (possibly as a form of mock sympathy...watching this show RAW with little knowledge of Japanese is a challenge) places the winning lot in Kaiji's coat pocket. He also reveals his name finally: Shodo Hyodo Kazutaka (it sounded like Shodo at first...whatevers).

Say goodbye to your fingers

Kaiji is now 20 million+ yen, one ear, and four fingers short by sunrise. He and his buddies realize something: the winning lot drawn by the Chairman was folded when it previously wasn't! Oh snape, he cheated! He also found the lot he planted inside the box except it was all crumpled up. The Chairman knew?

Kaiji remains beside himself as he is driven to a hospital to have his severed parts reattached. He replays the game in his mind, thinking about what everything could have been if he won.

More screenshots

Final thoughts: I suspected the Chairman was going to use some foul play and I was right. Then again, Kaiji shouldn't feel too bad since he tried to cheat as well (I guess things evened out). Then again, I was surprised he didn't say anything when the winning lot was drawn. I knew right away that the thing was folded when it shouldn't have been but I guess Kaiji didn't think of that at the time.

This was an entertaining ride (JUST LIKE YOUR—don't go there) and I'm glad to have watched this. The first few episodes did move pretty slowly, and the voice acting at times came off as dull, but the suspense factor was consistent and things picked up towards the end. Production was very good as well, with good art and character designs that made what was an oddly-drawn manga into something visually pleasing. The art from the manga can look ugly but credit should be given to character designer Takada Haruhito and the rest of the artists at Madhouse for making it look a lot better. The storyline was good, as well, as this series explored the aspects of not just gambling, but also how humans act and behave. This series went deeper than Akagi; Akagi was mainly just mahjong but Kaiji was about games, human nature, and perseverance when everything seems to fall apart. Kaiji had a lot of balls with his gambles (especially during Restricted Rock, Paper Scissors and during E-Card).

As for the ending, I was expecting more. I was hoping Kaiji was going to win and be able to unleash whoop-ass on the Chairman but that doesn't look like it will happen.

Some good news: there WILL be a second season of Kaiji, based off of the second Kaiji manga. There is still no date for the second season but expect to see it in at least one year.

Other notes: I didn't realize there was a Tissue Box Raffle reference during the end of the ED, where you see Kaiji smoking his cigarette amidst a background of Furuhata, ANDOUUUUUU, Sahara, Endou, others...notice the piece of paper with the circle on it?

Also, don't fucking plagiarize; if you're going to post my reviews from here word-for-word on places like youtube (you know who you are), fucking ask me first.

But whatever, hope you enjoyed.

SUTARSAIDO HOTERU

The chairman is tired, he said that it's getting far too late for him and he needs his rest. Kaiji immediately grabs his arm and insists to play one more game with him. His henchman grab in, trying to talk Kaiji out of it. But Kaiji won't listen to them and doesn't give 'a shit.' He will not leave nor will he release the chairman's arm until he has accepted his challenge. The chairman gets annoyed and slashes his walking stick on Kaiji's arm. He won't flinch.

The power of friendship. :D

The chairman accepted his challenge and suggests another game. But Kaiji won't accept that, he will not be fooled again by one of their own games. Kaiji suggests a game of his own, but he needs time to think. Now, he needs to carefully plan every moment out, he can't hesitate now, otherwise they will think he planned the game before hand. After a while, he asks for a ruler and paper blankets. He divides them up in little square pieces. There is one problem left though, he still hasn't told about the box. If they will bring the smaller box, Kaiji will set the wager lower. And if Kaiji would have already told the chairman what kind of game they were doing, they would have prepared notebooks or any other kind of material to keep track, meaning the trick of the extra winning ticket fails.

Carefully measuring how to rip off a piece of paper, what perfectionist.

Now that Kaiji has prepared enough lots, he draws circles on several lots, but it seems that he doesn't like the outcome. He throws them on the floor. After several more are thrown on the floor, he says that preparations are done. He did this because after he draws the winning lot, he will pick up the box and shake every lot out of it, thus they cannot see if he was cheating. Kaiji asks for something to put the lots in, they bring out a bag and a leather suitcase, but Kaiji wants something that is still sealed and not something of their own. They suggest a tissue box, all there is left is to have hope. Nervously, they wait for the man in Black Suit to return with the right box!

I used these for fapping, I hope you don't mind guys. D:

Kaiji asks if he can check the box for anything suspicious. They object, but the chairman says it's alright. After that, Kaiji gives the box to the old man to check for himself, so there won't be any suspicion towards him. Kaiji explains what they have to do in this game, after that, the chairman asks for 3 request.

1. If the winning lot is rolled up, folded etc. the one who draws it won't win, because you can easily put a small, rolled up piece of paper under your fingernails. Also, when they draw, they need to spread out their fingers and roll up their sleeve.
2. The old man wants to draw first.
3. The wager is 100 million yen.

As for the wager... Kaiji only has 20 million yen. He comes 80 million short. Because the chairman finds the game a bit dull, he makes Kaiji gamble his fingers too, each worth 20 million yen, meaning that if he would lose, he will have 6 fingers left. Kaiji, who is now seriously starting to get in doubt, tells himself not to stop now. He must move onward, with the money he wins, he can redo his live and thus, he accepts the conditions.

Delicious fish fingers.

With only 2 episodes left, I feel that Madhouse is going to pull an Akagi on this one, too. Letting it end open, but hopefully they will continue next year or so. With this episode, they are seriously building up for a climax, I predict that the next episode is going to be tense. All in all, I'm going to miss this even more then Akagi. Akagi felt pretty empty, but that's what made it so good. Kaiji, on the other hand, feels different. It has a lot of different feelings to it. Something indescribable. Unique, to say the least. It simply fascinates me when Kaiji has a plan in his little skull and how he works it out from scratch. He truly is the ultimate survivor.

Kaiji's fate will be decided by a tiny piece of paper towel!

Note: If you're going to plagiarize from my blog, don't. LOL at someone using part of my review for this episode as a comment on Youtube (it is the sixth one from the top) and not even attributing anything. Lose.
Rating: 8.9 broken bones out of 10.

The second-to-last episode of Kaiji is here and the Tissue Box Raffle kicks things off. The Chairman seems to compliment Kaiji for awakening him (he mentioned something about beta endorphins; this reminds me of a line of narration from Akagi, where Washizu was described to have various chemicals in his brain flowing about in excitement) and seems to bring up how he has made it this far. Both sides agree to put the winning lot inside the box simultaneously to insure no one tries to cheat. But the Chairman seemed to take just a little bit more time to let go once the lot was inside the box.

Match-up of the century

The suspense was about as high as it was during E Card and some of the Human Derby episodes. The Chairman continues to snicker and glare menacingly at Kaiji while he tries to pick the winning lot. But, he fails, giving Kaiji a sense of relief.

Washi no 1 Pin!!!!!

Bishou no Kaiji (Kaiji of the Faint Smile)

Just as Kaiji goes to draw his lot, he realizes that the winning piece that was secretly planted is now gone, as if we didn't see THAT coming. He panics just enough so that only he and the peanut gallery know what is wrong. He ends up drawing a lot that turns out not to be a winner.

[Tachiki Fumihiko] ZETSUBOU!!! [/Tachiki Fumihiko]

So Kaiji tries to give himself an advantage but now he and the Chairman are on a "level" playing field. Will Kaiji be able to win first or will he have to parade around with a deformed left hand? It's a good thing that this series is an adaptation of an already-completed manga, so there will be no bullshit anime-original ending (word to Claymore) and there will be no insanely slow pacing as was seen in the end of Akagi, where the Washizu's Mansion arc took up almost the entire remaining third of the season.

There was a lot of interesting imagery in this episode that really emphasized the stakes of this match.

Also, the Chairman and Washizu seem to share way too much in common with each other, as both seem to behave identically.

Next week: finale?

More screencaps here.