I knew you’d appreciate that. Just let me know when you want to start and I’ll put you on the payroll.

I can’t wait for more.

And yeah, good point guys about these guys being the kind who are too cowardly and unmotivated to do anything. Plus this is Japan, where people are in general less violent and more acquiescent, so I suppose it makes sense.

@ Dio Bravo

Hehe, wanna come write for Epic Win? I promise we’ll pay you at least three times what DTZ does.

@ blue

Yeah, we like to talk about shows that aren’t getting as much coverage on the net. Although if you’re interested in reading more like this, allow me to direct you to The End of the World, where you’ll find Martin talking about many of the same shows.

@IKnight

I don’t blame you for being impatient! Kaiji is one of the few shows this season that has me anxiously refreshing every week waiting for the next episode to drop.

Actually I’m fairly certain that’s how they reproduce, I think the woman was just visiting from another series.

Also, I think you’re correct with the comment on reality television. It’s just a matter of time before something equally barbarous makes it way over to the Fox network.

First, yeah, having worked fast food, I instantly became depressed watching Kaiji’s miserable life. Not that I’m the picture of success now, but still, I’m at least a step up from that type of job, in my mind.

You know, I can’t explain it, but so far I like Sahara. Know why? He’s a dick, a complete and utter bastard once he drops the thin veneer, but he’s HONEST about it. He’s also got this rather amusing way of doing things. So, you know he’s gonna dick over Kaiji at the first chance he gets, and you won’t get angered in the way everyone needed to feed Andou his own double-chin.

So you can actually enjoy a bastard being a bastard, and he’s just a bit cool at it so far.

And I’m with blue. The reason these guys are in their debts is because they are mostly too weak to be the real cutthroats. The cutthroats are the lunatics on the bottom betting on people doing a deadly balance act, and egging them on to perform what could only be called attempted murder at best.

Man, the human horse race might be a bit less stifling than the Janken, but its so much more dehumanizing and brutal. You got it exactly about just how unsettling this scenario is. The glee taken in this cruelty and pain. But its not at all unrealistic, to my cynical eye. Its just the extension of reality TV, after all. Going from humiliation to humiliation AND pain. Awesome show, in all respects.

Oh, and to quote DTZ: “Holy crap, there was a girl in the show!” He half thought they didn’t exist in Kaiji-land. Which would mean the characters reproduce through their manly tears, or something.

I think most of the debtors here are the type that are forced into gambling to pay their stuff back. Sort of like Nangou in Akagi.

Nice to see someone blogging this. Most animebloggers seem too busy with eroge adaptations. I personally love the psychological depth in fukumoto series. Not the type of series everyone can appreciate, but deserves more attention.

Aren’t the debtors debtors because they’re too soft or incompetent to murder their own grandmothers for profit? Hence the outbreak of tearfulness.