ZAA PAY-PAAAH!*

In gambling, even the best laid plans can go awry.

Fortunately it seems as though Kaiji is pretty good at thinking on his feet.

* Kudos if you get that reference.

What I enjoy about this series is that even though there are multiple twists and turns you never really feel gypped. When a counter-strategy arises it actually has a logical progression - the Rock vs. Paper buyout for example.

Thankfully Fukomoto is categorically not M. Night Shyamalan and doesn’t resort to pulling crazy twists out of his ass in order to move the plot along.

But if he did the story would go something like this:

“And then Kaiji realizes the strategy was only in his mind and wakes up in the bathroom of despair with only five minutes left on the clock!”

Kaiji really worked over Kitami hardcore, not only getting all of his cards, but also 2 million in cold, hard cash! Not a bad deal at all. After the way Kitami and his group accosted Kaiji earlier, it was extremely rewarding to see him get his comeuppance.

Ahh yes, the infamous “naked mirror room”. Remember this location; it’ll become important later in the story.

For those who missed the earlier explanation, this is where people who have lost all their stars are sent to await judgment. There is still a possibility they can be saved, however, if someone with three stars to spare comes to “redeem” them at the end.

In this case, Ishida-san has been convinced to willingly “lose” and go into the mirror room. He then observes through the one way glass what cards other players have, and sends signals to his teammate by tapping to help them win, with the idea being that at the end they’ll come back and rescue him.

Meanwhile, while things seem to be looking up for Kaiji’s group, there’s still an awful lot of paper cards to get rid of and none of the remaining players seem too thrilled about pissing away their last stars. And to make matters worse what miserable douche bag should return to the scene but Funai!

Honestly though, Funai actually made a pretty good, logically sound offer. Kaiji should have accepted it. Up to this point he had been pretty good about thinking logically and not letting his emotions get the best of him, but I guess being approached by the guy who scammed him was just too much.

Hey, I can totally sympathize with Kaiji’s decision to tell Funai to screw off. I mean here’s another offer from someone who openly scammed you and then flaunted his deception in your face. You wouldn’t exactly be chomping at the bit for another chance to get royally hosed now would you?

The best part was how indignant Funai was about the rejection. I mean would that work in any other situation? If a doctor gave you a band-aid to cure your cancer would he be shocked that you didn’t want him delivering your baby?

I really loathe Funai; if he doesn’t get completely rowned by the next phase of gambling I’m going to be disappointed.

I have to disagree here. While Kaiji’s reaction was an understandable and very human one, I think the best objective decision would have been to accept Funai’s offer. After all, Funai didn’t have any more guarantee than Kaiji did that his target would willingly play him. He even pointed this logic out to Kaiji.

Kaiji should have remained cool headed and thought through the best outcome logically, as he’s done up until this point. He probably could have even bargained two stars from Funai to replace the two that were taken earlier.

Speaking of which, honestly, Kaiji needs to cut lose his so-called “teammates”. The group would’ve had 7 stars all together if it wasn’t for them running like chickens with their heads cut off every time things turn bad, but instead they’re still stuck at 4.

Theses guys have already shown that they have no spine, and will readily betray him given the opportunity. It’s one thing to stick by your comrades, to fight together with your brothers-in-arms until the bitter end, but to keep dragging these two dead weights along is highly questionable on Kaiji’s part, in my opinion.

So now it’s Duck Duck Goose, and Kaiji’s in the mushpot.

All right everyone, let’s turn those frowns upside-down and sing Kum Bah Ya!

It’s strange how trusting and glib virtually everyone is, though I suppose that’s why their in such a despairing situation. Personally, I’m far too aware of the fact that I possess no shrewdness whatsoever for gambling to be able to get in such a mess.

Instead, I focus my addictions on less costly things such as caffeine and tobacco. But if that wasn’t the case I’d probably be in Furuhata’s position; maybe that’s why I sympathize with their plight so much.

I don’t think it’s so strange that everyone agrees to go along with Funai’s shuffle strategy (hold the Navel jokes, please). Objectively it’s the best way to help ensure that no one know what cards you have. Of course, that assumes the shuffle is done fairly.

So it appears as though the paper buyout has failed, but if Kaiji has joined then we can only assume another fearsome strategy has begun to form in his mind.