Kurae! Final attack, Dai-Zidane Headbutt-o!

After escaping from the Ship of Hope, Kaiji will go on to pursue a promising career as a:

A. French Soccer Player
B. Motivational Speaker
C. Hood Ornament Salesman
D. Mullet Model

You have to love how Andou and Furuhata never fully appreciate Kaiji’s strategy until after it has unfolded. They always have this, “No Kaiji-san! You shall condemn us all to the bowels of Hades!” mentality.

Personally, I’m terrible at gambling strategies, so I can sympathize. However, you’d think that at this point they would trust their leader’s instincts. I mean it’s not exactly like they were doing swimmingly before they joined forces.

Pretty bold talk coming from guys who tried to betray Kaiji and ended up throwing away the stars he earned for them. Honestly, who’s dragging who down?

Mattaku.

I mean, at this point even I would understand that you’d have to go “all in”. I mean what else can they offer up besides their own stars anyways? On top of that, time is running short.

It’s like blindly rushing someone in a FPS with your melee weapon when you run out of ammo. You’re probably toast, so you might as well go down swinging. Maybe you’ll get lucky and shank him before he can reload.

I know it feels a bit melodramatic at times, but I love the fanciful dramatizations of the gambling strategies. Watching the trio leap over the doubt of gap to “move forward” gives a very grandiose feel to the narrative.

Perhaps there’s some merit to Option B, after all. It’s like those guys who climb Mr. Everest and then travel around to different corporations giving pep talks about determination and success, only it Kaiji’s case the mountain is a metaphorical one.

So, after a little pep talk with the doubtful duo, Kaiji ropes Kitami into his fiendishly brilliant ploy. Not before Kitami attempts to weasel out of things though…what a douchebag.

Sorry 4chan, Kaiji doesn’t like you.

Fortunately Kaiji lays down the verbal smack to shame them into playing.

Pretty big talk for someone who just a week ago was slashing car tires and living the life of a bum. To be fair though, he is pretty good at talking smack. Maybe I should add “Sports Team Manager” as a fifth career option for Kaiji.

Scissors cut paper biatch!

Bam, rowned! I do enjoy how Kaiji gloats in such an explanatory fashion. It’s like a boxer explaining to his semi-conscious opponent exactly how he was able to kick his ass.

“Well see, when you missed that jab you left yourself wide open, thus allowing me to completely decimate your face and…hey wait! You can’t pass out; I haven’t gotten to the good part yet!”

Seriously though, the entire plot was pretty intuitive, first feinting desperation to raise the stakes, and then discerning Kitami’s strategy and remaining card. Pretty shrewd, really.

Which raises the point - another thing I’ve really enjoyed about Kaiji is how easy to understand the strategy is. Like a good mystery novel, all the key details are revealed in the episode, giving you the hints to need to figure out Kaiji’s plan. Then when he explains how he did it, you slap your forehead and go, “Of course! Why didn’t I see it before?”

Again, this series is spot on with character development. Kaiji is so familiarized with every possible dastardly scam or shrewd gambling exploit that he’s able to think exactly like his opponents, giving him the advantage in a crucial situation.

But the cinematography is so gripping that the strategy doesn’t feel cold and logical. It’s like watching a game of chess but then seeing the pieces tear one another asunder in a brutal life and death struggle.

So basically, Battle Chess.

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Overall, the show moves at a very compelling pace. It never feels forced or rushed and it never drags with false climatic tension. Zawa zawa~!