Best Episodes of Kaiji

Months after the events at the Starside Hotel, Kaiji runs into loan shark Endoh in a chance encounter. Kaiji is forced into labor in the Teiai Group's underground mines to pay his enormous debts. Workers are paid a slave's wage in scrip called Perica, making what amounts to ¥350 a day. Those who save up enough Perica are allowed a one-day furlough above ground. Kaiji resolves to do so, but is soon tempted by the foreman Otsuki.

Kaiji Itou is a bum who's been living in Tokyo for 3 years and gambling his life away, then one day a shady man named Endou Yuuji comes to his home asking for Takeshi Furuhata. It turns out that his friend Furuhata disappeared and left Kaiji with the debt of ¥3,850,000, which will take him 11 years to pay off. But Endou has a proposition for him; he wants Kaiji to participate in the gambling event on the Harumi Wharf.

The event that will decide the fate of Kaiji and the rest of the debtors, onboard the Espoir, is a game called "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors". Following the explanation, Kaiji is then approached by Funai (the other person who borrowed 10 million) and it turns out that he's a repeater. He wants to team up with Kaiji and Kaiji accepts, not knowing what he just gotten himself into.

Trapped in the depths of despair, Kaiji teams up with Furuhata and Andou but their group is already in a shambles, when Andou decides to backstab them. Kaiji doesn't let this affect him and he comes up with a plan to win, yet they first need some stars and someone to take the bait.

Kaiji managed to win the match, 2 stars better of however the group still needs 4 more stars and only has 14 million in total and no cards. So Kaiji comes up with the plan to monopolize the bored by getting 30 Rock cards, however they are not the only ones who've thought of the strategy.

Both having thought of the buyout strategy, Kaiji challenges Kitami to a Rock Paper Scissors death match but Kitami doesn't accept. So they have a different kind of battle.

With Kitami's group now falling apart, Kaiji proceeds with his plan of buying out all their 30 Paper cards. Funai later approaches Kaiji with their proposition to trade his star for some of Kaiji cards but Kaiji refuses. Now that no one can trust each other, Funai decides to proclaim that everyone should reshuffle their cards, which is an idea that will completely ruin Kaiji's plan.

The 4 hour game of "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors" is nearing its end and Kaiji's group is forced to join Funai's idea of reshuffling all the cards amongst the remaining participants. However soon afterwards they are stuck in their tracks with no one to play against. Kaiji was finally able to stop Funai from getting any more matches, after revealing his cheating plan and also comes up with a risky plan to survive.

There are only 5 minutes left and only Funai is left, so Kaiji challenges him to a final match wagering 5 stars. Kaiji has the edge because he knows that either way he will be sent to the "other room" but Funai is reluctant to except this unfair wager. In the other room Kaiji pins all his hopes on being resurrected.

Kaiji is in the other room waiting to be resurrected by his comrades, however Andou is having second thoughts and decides to betray Kaiji by selling his stars. It doesn't take much for his last hope, Furuhata to betray him as well.

Against all the odds, Kaiji was able to survive the night on the Espoir but he left with a new debt of ¥6,295,000. It's been 4 months since then and all Kaiji has been doing is living a mundane life, working in a convenience store. It all changes when Endou appears before him, yet again, offering Kaiji a ray of salvation.

Kaiji accepts the invitation to the next party at the Starside Hotel and he recognizes a few familiar faces from the dreadful night on the Espoir. Kaiji is really determined this time not to fall for any tricks however the gambling event this time is "Human Derby" which the spectators are gambling on.

The event is Human Derby, a sick game which plays on ones mind and body and Kaiji must decide to push or be pushed. What will Kaiji choose to do? By the end of the Human Derby, only 21 people out of the total 60 contestants survived. Yet this is not the end of it, as there is a new deadly challenge that waits for them.

10 people including Kaiji have volunteered for the Human Derby on the final bridge, 22 stories high, which spells instant death if they fall. After deciding which order they will go in, the pathway to salvation opens but it may not take much for the monster they've all kept hidden away within themselves to awaken.

At the Starside Hotel 8 people now remain on the 74m bridge-crossing of death. Faced with imminent death, they all want to give up but Yukio Tonegawa ignores their pleas of mercy and in a mere 3 minutes only Kaiji, Sahara and Ishida remain.

With only 2 people remaining, Sahara is the first to survive the bridge-crossing of death however there is something sinister behind the window, before him. With all options out of the question, Kaiji is at a loss of what to do but he eventually finds a loophole that is potentially a path to salvation.

Now that the ticket he had from the bridge-crossing is void, Kaiji cannot leave empty handed, so the mastermind of this offers him a chance to gain up to ¥100million. The game is "E-Card" and there are 3 types of cards (Citizen, Emperor & Slave). The rules may be simple but there's a lot more to this psychological battle, especially since Kaiji will be facing Yukio Tonegawa.

The game of E-Card has just begun and Kaiji is feeling pretty confident after winning his first 2 matches. However the true psychological battle has just begun, where Kaiji struggles to figure out his opponent's mindset.

The game of E-Card that Kaiji put his hearing on the line continues into the 2nd Round and even though Kaiji has come up with a plan, it still doesn't stop him from losing the next match. Confident now that he has found a way to win, Kaiji bets 10mm for the next match but it may end up causing an upset for the rest of the game.

Onto the 9th match, this is the most crucial point for Kaiji who only has 4 more matches and 4mm till destruction. His mind is full of so many conflicting thoughts and even without the confidence in his choice he somehow managed to win to ensure his safety. Yet something feels off about the whole turn of events and through his deductive skills Kaiji realizes that they are cheating.

Kaiji has figured out Tonegawa's method of cheating and decides to use this to his advantage by recklessly wagering the maximum remaining length available (18mm). But this isn't completely reckless, since he's thought of an idea to win the 2 remaining Slave rounds.

Onto the final match of E-Card and Kaiji decides to go for another life or death gamble, as he has come up with a way to take advantage of this disadvantaged situation.

The final judgement has been met by Tonegawa, as he believes he has discerned Kaiji's plan of purposely splattering the cards with his blood but he was only being lead by Kaiji's true plan. Now all that's left is for certain formalities to be taken care of; for Kaiji to receive is money and for Tonegawa to sincerely apologize.

Even after his unbelievable feat of beating Tonegawa, Kaiji does feel satisfied unless he beats the chairman. In the restroom Kaiji thinks of some kind of rigged lottery, "Tissue Box Raffle" to beat the one in charge of all this. With all preparations met he heads out to challenge the chairman to one more gamble.

Through Kaiji's persistence, the chairman finally accepts his challenge but Kaiji must find a way to get the chairman to accept the idea of a "Tissue Box Raffle". Kaiji's plan seems to be going smoothly but then the chairman decides to lay out three conditions that must be followed.

The night of lunacy continues; with Kaiji putting his ¥20million and 4 fingers on the line, for a ¥100million gamble. The game is Tissue Box Raffle and something unexpected occurs, which completely throws away Kaiji's sure-fire way to win.

Kaiji agrees to play Chinchirorin with the other workers and foreman Otsuki. Kaiji spends several rounds making small wagers to get a feel for the game. Dissatisfied with the small payout, Kaiji bets big- 3,000 Perica against the timid man Miyoshi.

Kaiji loses his first bet of 3,000 Perica, but strengthens his resolve to fight. He continues to make bets of 3,000 Perica. After 40 minutes of gambling, he ups the ante and bets 5,000 Perica against foreman Otsuki and his lackey. They respond with enormous bets- each betting the house limit of 20,000 Perica.

Weeks have passed since Kaiji's crushing loss on gambling night, and he finds himself in a cycle of debt with a group of five others, including Miyoshi. The group is referred to by the other workers as the "45s". With the help of Miyoshi, Kaiji discovers that the foreman's group is cheating. Kaiji rallies the 45s together to come up with a plan.

While Kaiji is on medical duty, he meets the son of Ishida, Hiromitsu, who is also working underground for his debt, but blames his father for not bailing him out. Angrily Kaiji berates him for not accepting his own weaknesses. Later, Kaiji insults Ōtsuki who then makes life a misery for Kaiji and the Forty-fivers, but after three months they all return to full pay. Meanwhile, Kurosaki Yoshihiro, Tonegawa's replacement, observes Kaiji through CCTV. When the gambling night begins, Kaiji proposes no betting limit before he will join in and Ōtsuki accepts.

Kaiji and Ōtsuki prepare to face each other over cee-lo, each thinking they have an edge. For the first few matches, Kaiji does not bet over the old limit of 20,000 perica and everyone gets bored with Kaiji betting so little. On a challenge from Ōtsuki who must deal twice, Kaiji bets his entire 52,000 perica and signals the Forty-fivers who each bet 92,000 perica, for a total of 507,000 perica.

When the foreman sees that the Forty-fivers have bet all their money, he suspects that Kaiji has discovered how he is cheating. A backstory is then shown of when Ōtsuki and his men started cheating after purchasing special dice without the 1, 2 or 3 dots. Back at the game, Ōtsuki is forced to play with normal dice, taking his chances, but then suspects that Kaiji does not know how he cheats, so on the final throw he uses his special dice. Suddenly, Kaiji grabs the dice before they stop rolling.

Kaiji shows everyone that Ōtsuki is cheating by using his special dice. He then tricks the foreman into betting again while Kaiji and his group use their own "special dice", with a 1 on each side, and thus Ōtsuki is forced to pay 5 times the amount they bet, losing 2,535,000 perica in total. Just when Ōtsuki was about to give up for the night, Kaiji reminds him that he still has to deal one more time according to the rules. The Forty-fivers then bet all 3,042,000 perica against the dealer.

Kurosaki intervenes and tells Ōtsuki that he has no choice but to play, and in the end, he loses 18,252,000 perica which Kaiji splits equally between the Forty-fivers. Kaiji then asks Kurosaki to approve their requests for the one-day outside pass and he agrees. The Forty-fivers insist that Kaiji should keep the money and twenty one-day outside passes, leaving him with ¥800,000 (around US$7,800) to gamble for the team and pay off their debts. Now back in society above ground, Kaiji meets Sakazaki Kōtarō who is looking for a partner to win big in the illegal casinos. Kaiji accepts his offer, and is taken to an illegal casino where he sees a huge Pachinko machine called "The Bog". Each ball is worth 1,000 times more than normal and the jackpot is worth ¥550 million, more than enough to free Kaiji from debt.

When Kaiji is told there have only been two winners of the Bog, Hyōdō and Tonegawa, he realizes that the game must be rigged. He then agrees to work with Sakazaki for 10% of the possible ¥600 million payout from the Bog, however Sakazaki is secretive about the details of his plan which includes the machine's maintenance schedule. A day before their attempt to beat the Bog, Sakazaki appears with ¥50 million he 'borrowed' from the company president's safe where he works as a security guard. At the appointed day, Sakazaki commences to play the Bog.

Sakazaki starts to play the Bog, using an initial ¥10 million, dropping balls onto the final holed plate, but they do not have enough momentum. During the game Kaiji successfully passes Sakazaki his pre-prepared magnetized beer can and he prepares to use it to increase the centrifugal force of a ball to make it drop through the winning hole. However the effect is insignificant, but Sakazaki continues, wagering another ¥10 million. Kaiji overhears the security men talk of a device to prevent anyone winning and Kaiji warns Sakazaki's to stop, but he is in a gambling frenzy and continues to play using the money he 'borrowed' from the company safe.

Sakazaki ignores Kaiji's warning and continues sinking money into the Bog, while the casino manager gives instructions to initiate the 'block' which controls the flippers, stopping the balls descending into the winning zone. Although Sakazaki is close to winning he collapses and the casino manager, Ichijō Seiya, introduces himself and reveals that they are using brass balls today which are not affected by magnetism. They leave with a little more than ¥6 million after losing over ¥43 million in two hours. The next day, Kaiji spends hours back at the casino, staring at the machine, then goes to the staff room to cash in one ball he found, insulting Ichijō but also gathering information about the casino's operations.

Kaiji returns to the Sakazaki apartment, only to find it trashed and empty. Sakazaki has taken the last of his money to the race track. Kaiji's plan for revenge involves Sakazaki, so with a plan to beat the Bog, he tracks Sakazaki down at a Sapporo racetrack. Kaiji approaches Endō who is now broke but agrees to fund him, however it will cost ¥113 million including interest plus 50% of the winnings. Sakazaki violently objects but they end up agreeing to split the winnings three ways after costs.

From his descent into the underground hell to his first encounter with the Bog and Ichijou, relive Kaiji's journey and see just how far he has left to go.

Sakazaki enters the casino to challenge the Bog again, dressed as a Komusō monk. He plays the machine, quickly losing his stake of ¥6 million, then attacks and damages it. Ichijō is suspicious of his behavior and realizes that it is a distraction and rushes to his office to find Kaiji there. Ichijō has Sakazaki beaten up and Kaiji tortured, then they are thrown out into the street. Days later, the Bog is repaired and operational again. It is Kaiji's final day on the surface and he arrives at the casino to challenge the unbeatable Pachinko machine.