Summary of the First Series of Kaiji

A lot has been said about Kaiji in the past, but there has never been  a comprehensive guide of kaiji's misadventures. The article below looks to provide a short description of the major plot occurrences in kaiji as well as the profiles
of the main characters in the series:

Anime Cover

Kaiji is a Japanese manga series about the art of gambling, written by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. It is published by Kodansha in Young Magazine. The first part of the manga (13 volumes), was adapted as a 26-episode anime television series called Kaiji, which began airing October 2007.

Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji is considered Fukumoto's most famous work, and is well known in both Japan and Korea. In 1998, it was the winner of the Kodansha Manga Award in the General category.

 Story

After graduating from high school in 1996 in Japan, Kaiji moves to Tokyo to get a job, but he fails to find steady employment because of his eccentric disposition and because the country is mired in its first recession since World War II. Depressed, he festers in his apartment, biding the time with cheap pranks, gambles, liquor and smokes. Kaiji is always thinking about money and his perpetual poverty frequently brings him to tears.

Kaiji's unrelenting misery continues for two years until he is paid an unexpected visit from a man named Endo, who wants to collect an outstanding debt owed to him in Kaiji's name. Endō gives Kaiji two options - either spend ten years to repay this outstanding debt, or board the gambling ship Espoir ("hope" in French) for one night to clear the debt. Using a con, Endo pressures Kaiji into accepting the deal, believing he will never come back from the voyage.


Characters

Kaiji Ito


    The main character of the story. Kaiji is in poverty - he lives by himself in a slum and is constantly in debt. He bides his time by playing cheap gambling games with neighbours, though he always loses. In spite of this, when his life is in danger, he displays a remarkable hidden capacity for gambling, which allows him to endure the hardships he faces in the manga. He is shouldered with a 3,850,000 yen debt at the beginning of the story by a coworker who convinced him into consigning a loan, leaving Kaiji with the full weight of the debt compounded over a year.

    Masato Hagiwara, the voice of Akagi Shigeru reprises his role as lead in the second anime adaption of a Nobuyuki Fukumoto work, opposite Masane Tsukayama who again plays an elderly, refined villain.

Hyodo Kazutaka

   
    Wealthy socialite and president of the powerful financial consulting firm "Love Emperor" (TEIAI), not to mention owner and sponsor of underground gambling tournaments like those onboard Espoir. He is believed to be seventy years old and worth several hundred billion yen. Driven mad by wealth, conventional hobbies fail to entertain him, so he funds gambling tournaments to watch the destitute of society struggle against overwhelming terror and despair.

    He meets Kaiji in the final segment of the first series of the manga adaptation, where Kaiji is selected by lottery to compete in the "Castle of Despair". Hyodo's talents for winning in anything have earned him the title of "king" by some, though others merely call him "very lucky". His first full manga appearance was in volume 8 - prior to that, all readers saw of Hyodo was his finger tapping.

    In many ways, Hyodo is quite similar to Washizu Iwao, who was also voiced by Masane Tsukayama.

Endo Yuuji


    A dirty loan shark with ties to the yakuza. He lends out large sums of money to the desperate, but charges an absurd (and illegal) interest rate. He tracks down Kaiji after a client of his, Furuhata, disappeared without repaying a loan, which Kaiji cosigned in an act of weakness. Recognising Kaiji could never repay the loan, Endo offers him the opportunity to board the gambling ship Espoir, where he would be able repay his debt and make some money as well.

Part 1 - The Ship of Hope, Espoir

Funai

   
    One of the veterans of previous voyages on Espoir, Funai is an excellent conman and uses the fears and worries of the other competitors to his advantage. He "befriends" Kaiji during his first night and explains the unofficial rules to him, and the two agree to form an alliance - both will exhaust their number of gesture cards without having to lose any star pendants. However, at the last minute, Funai backstabs Kaiji and scams him out of two star pendants, leaving him with a single card and a hopeless situation. He is defeated by Kaiji and loses five star pendants to him in a sudden death gamble near the end of the voyage. In many ways, he is similar to Urabe from Akagi.

Takeshi Furuhata


    Debtor and one-time coworker of Kaiji. One year before the first tournament on Espoir, he lured Kaiji into cosigning a loan for him, making Kaiji liable in case Furuhata did not repay the loan. Although believed to have disappeared, Kaiji discovers him on Espoir and makes an alliance with him after Funai's betrayal. Furuhata is the sharper of Kaiji's allies, and is able to follow and quickly adapt to Kaiji's strategies. He is also more honest and loyal than any would have believed. However, Furuhata also betrays Kaiji and attempts to use his funds to escape the ship.

Mamoru Ando


    A bespectacled, fat man who forms and alliance with Kaiji and Furuhata after losing all of his gesture cards. Unlike Furuhata, Ando is more opportunistic and tried to backstab the group within minutes of it forming. He usually has to have Kaiji's strategies explained to him by Furuhata. After the gamble of Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors ends, he betrays Kaiji, and has no regrets about it.

Kitami


    A clear-headed man who came up with a strategy of buying up all the rock cards and holding them constant; as the other cards deplete, he and his men then prey on those who have scissors. However, he was surprised to learn that Kaiji discovered the same strategy and purchased all the rocks, so in turn he purchased all the paper cards, effectively making Kaiji's strategy useless. After defeating Ando and Furuhata, Kitami approaches Kaiji and admits he was impressed another contestant figured how to manipulate the game, offering him the honour of being his final opponent. He is outsmarted by Kaiji, then blackmailed into selling all of his paper cards to him.

Part 2 - The Skyscraper of Darkness, Starside Hotel

Mitsuzi Ishida

   
    A debt ridden man who opted to participate on Espoir in an effort to clear his debts, but failed. He was saved from death on a whim by Kaiji, but to spare his wife and son from debt he agreed to participate in another gambling tournament, the Human Derby. In the first leg of the race, Ishida accomplished second place, earning a certificate redeemable for 10,000,000¥. During the second part of the race, while overcome by immense fear, Ishida recognised that he was not a man born to be a success in this world, and entrusted his certificate to Kaiji, who he felt had the skill, power and confidence to survive. He urges Kaiji to go forward and not look back, and while Kaiji is concentrating on maintaining his balance, Ishida falls from the steel bridge, covering his mouth so Kaiji would not hear his screams.

Sahara


    Kaiji's younger co-worker at a convenience store he found employment at following his survival of Espoir. Sahara dreams of finding his big break in life, and like Kaiji feels he is getting nowhere with his dead-end job. He begs Endo to permit him to participate in the Human Derby, despite warnings from Kaiji. Sahara's youthful strength and impulsiveness benefit him greatly in the gamble, and he gets a strong lead on the other racers, earning first place in Kaiji's block and receiving a certificate redeemable for 20,000,000¥. In the second leg of the race, Sahara is the first to reach the other side of the second bridge - however, before he can cash his earnings from the Starside Hotel, he falls into a trap set up by Kazutaka Hyodo and is killed.

Yukio Tonegawa


    A powerful business magnate and the third highest ranking executive in the financial firm Love Emperor. He serves as the host and overseer for both the Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissor and Human Derby games while acting as the opponent for the E-Card gamble. A stout man of middle-age, Tonegawa is a staunch realist, believing those who risk their lives in Love Emperor's tournaments to be street rubbish at the mercy of society and those with superior abilities and initiative. By reputation Tonegawa is a master of human psychology and the art of observation, displaying acts of insight so profound his abilities appear supernatural. He is defeated by Kaiji in E-Card and thrown out of power by Hyodo; with his downfall a power vacuum appears in Love Emperor's inner circle, leading to chaos among the management. Many of those who are loyal to Tonegawa's faction within the company, notably Kaiji's debtor Endo, disappear without a trace. Tonegawa himself is lead away after his defeat and is never seen again.

Gambles

Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors 
 
    The game featured in the gambling tournament the first night Kaiji spends on Espoir, with an average survival rate of 50%. The rules were outlined after the issuing of war funds, which were done a minimum of 1,000,000¥ and 10,000,000¥. The money was in effect a loan, equaling the debt of the contestant and compounded at 1.5% every ten minutes for the four hour voyage; contestants who hold onto their funds for the length of the trip would have to pay 140% of what they invested, thus putting an incentive to finish games early. Money that exceeded the amount needed to repay the loan to the Espoir hosts would be pocketed by the contestant.

    This gamble is similar to the original game but with a twist - the hand gestures are represented by cards, and contestants are given four cards each with the same gesture for a total of twelve. Contestants are also given three plastic stars as collateral to bet on each round of play - whenever one loses a round, the winner gets a star from the loser. To survive the night, contestants must maintain their three star pendants and lose all of their gesture cards, while earning enough money to repay the interest owed to the Espoir hosts. Cards cannot be destroyed or thrown away, to do so is subject to instant disqualification. Unofficially, however, the star pendants can be traded using the war funds for around five or six million yen each, and they are typically how contestants manage to meet the interest demands of the Espoir hosts. Officially, stars can be exchanged for cash from the hosts for one or two million yen each - this forces those who stay late to sell stars to needy players.

    Due to the simple nature of the game, single matches can be completed within ten seconds, and players can lose in a matter of minutes. Winners are allowed to go upstairs, where any extra star pendants are exchanged for cash and they lounge in a small cafe. In the event of a loss, individuals are taken to a secluded, black room where they are stripped and are forced to wait until the gamble has finished, where they remain on the ship after it has returned to shore and are never seen again. This particular room has a tinted glass pane between it and the main gambling room, allowing for strategic individuals to "tunnel" (cooperative cheating) to scam other players. Cheating itself is not forbidden by the rules, nor is it punished after it has occurred - in order for contestants to be punished for cheating, they must be caught in the act.

Human Derby 
 
    The gamble seen during Kaiji's competition at the Starside Hotel, consisting of two parts. In contrast to Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors, contestants are not briefed on the rules of the Human Derby, and are unaware of the nature of the gamble until they accept participating in it. Contestants are loaded into numbered "coffins" and are elevated several floors up the Starside Hotel to a platform overlooking a concrete courtyard. Contestants are expected to walk across four long, steel beams - the first to arrive on the other side of the beam nets 20,000,000¥, the second place finisher 10,000,000¥. The steel beams become more narrow as the contestants begin to cross them, though touching the beam with hands at any time disqualifies the contestant. The pushing of contestants to get out of the way is not condoned but is in fact encouraged, since the contestants are being bet on by spectators below, who enjoy the struggle from them. Contestants who fall from the beams suffer severe injury - depending on how and where they land, their injuries can range from serious to fatal.

    Once the winners of the first leg of the race have been identified, they are given coupons redeemable for their prize with a set time limit. To cash the coupons, the contestants must cross a similar but more dangerous bridge twenty two stories above the ground. Falling from this bridge is instant death. To correct individuals touching the bridge to keep their balance, a mild electric current is run through the steel beams - while not powerful enough to cause serious injury or be fatal, the current is enough to stun contestants, causing them to lose balance and fall from the bridge. At the behest of contestants, the electricity may be disabled, but to do so forced the contestants to forfeit all rights to any prize money. Psychologically, this bridge is much more challenging because of the greater peril involved.

E-Card 
 
    As the name suggests, it is a card game. Like Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors it also has psychological strategy to it and it also uses three card types. There are three cards Emperor (koutei), Citizen (shimin), and Slave (dorei). The game is meant to be a simplification of society that Hyodo refers to right before the game begins. The Emperor has ultimate power to give money (ie. most powerful card). Citizens cannot disobey him because they want money (ie. Citizen loses to Emperor). The Slave has nothing to lose and has no use of money, therefore the slave can defeat the Emperor (ie. The Slave loses to the Citizen card but wins over the Emperor card). The game is played with one side having four Citizen cards and an Emperor card (Emperor side). The other side having four Citizen cards and a Slave card (Slave side). Since it is much harder for the slave side to win (as Slave cards can only defeat Emperor cards) the players of the Slave side get five times more winnings. Each game is played with 12 matches each match having each player set down one card. In the case of Kaiji, since he had no money. He was given the choice of: A device that would extend a spike to his ear based on the wager of the game if he lost (which would destroy one of his ears), or a device that extended a spike to his eye based on the wager if he lost (destroying one of his eyes). Both devices could also be used to monitor the blood pressure, body heat, heart beat and breathing rhythm of anything in contact with the device, allowing Tonegawa to monitor Kaiji and therefore find out when he was about to play his match ending card.

    The minimum wager was 1 millimetre (mm) and the maximum 10 mm; the chosen organ will be destroyed after the spike extends 3 centimetres (cm). Kaiji chooses the left ear and initially set the maximum wager per match, eventually opting for smaller wagers of 1 and 2 mm as he begins to lose. Later on it is revealed that the maximum length the spike could extend was 45 mm, and that the player could choose to bet any amount of mm as long as it didn't exceed that length. Generally, no one would choose to extend the spike past 3 cm, since damage past the eardrum could turn out to be fatal.

Tissue Box Raffle 
 
    Unlike the other gambles, this gamble is made by Kaiji himself. After completing E-Card he prepares to leave the hotel but then steps on a tissue box and notices that its sides are open, which he finds fascinating. Upon further investigation of the box Kaiji decides to challenge the Chairman to a raffle gamble and rigs the tissue box to contain the winning lot on the side of the box (ie. the winning entry of the raffle is pre-placed allowing Kaiji to take it).