(L) Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji

[Malintex_Terek]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

It looks Akagi had both abilities that made him so annoying for me. YMMV.

That was kind of the point. In the words of Anonymous,

Originally Posted by Anonymous

Akagi is about dominating games you're good at, Kaiji is about surviving games you're bad at.

[Mentar]

That was unexpectedly interesting IMHO. Book me a passage on the ship for a while...

[kevin13]

First thoughts:

Spoiler for Kaiji Episode one:

That noise is going to do some real damage, I can just see it being used to open a can of drink or something.

Oh they all have that, maybe try the chin then...

Hmm, shouldn't be slitting peoples tires, naughty.

Oo He's real sad now, kool...
I recommend robbing for money, or scamming people can always be a good source of cash.

Hmm, whats those symbols...

Oh, they're a type of car.

Hmm, cool a deathship.

Sounds like he's getting scammed instead now.

LOL @ the fellows methods...

OK OK we don't need it spelled out.

Jump the ship and swim!

Short cruise, thought this was going to be a series long thing.

Someone do the maths and work out just how many people can profit from this given that interest rate...

Scissors Paper Rock? Quick! To the ROCK PAPER SCISSORS HQ

Oh.. it is going to take the whole time.

Oh well, this looks pretty interesting I think, I'm definitely interested enough to want to know how it turns out.

[Deathkillz]

What a screwed up joke of a game

I echo the words of "interesting" when it comes to the first ep of this series. Now we need to see how good is kaiji at memorising things

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

I think you're the first person I know of that didn't like (or at least respect) Akagi's character.

I think there are quite a lot of people who don't like his type.

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

after one ep, anyway, which is no way to judge an anime

Actually, most people judge most anime after exactly zero episodes. They go to andib, look at the pretty picture and and the genre list and say "Ugh, I think I won't like this." I try to peek into as much as possible (if it's not for the youngest viewers or a sequel of something I already dismissed) and then I might say "Ugh, I think I won't like this." So what is better?

And from experience I can say that a series seldom surprises me after episode one enjoyment-wise. I couldn't name a recent series that started meh and ended stellar in my eyes. But there are a lot of series, as different as Skull Man and Potemayo which totally surprised me in epsiode one. So I prefer to stick to this approach, watch as much as possible and hack them down after one, two, three epsiodes. I have a life after all.

Originally Posted by Sorrow-K

IIt wasn't the fact that Akagi had superhuman genius that made him an appealing character, since obviously it's not difficult for a writer to have him make the right moves and credit it to a manufactured "genius". It was his attitude, the fact that his approach to the game was balls-to-the-wall, play with reckless abandon and do whatever you have to do to win (cheating included). It was the fact that he had no regard for the consequences of his actions that made him so fascinating as a character...

In other words he is an archetypical shounen character and I don't like this kind of character. It's as simple as that.

Back to Kaiji.

[Kanos]

Has anyone seen "Liar game"? I somehow feel that this anime will be very similar to Liar Game. Yes i do realize it's around the same idea, but if this anime ends up anything like Liar game, then people who are only following the anime is in for a real treat

[Malintex_Terek]

Originally Posted by Slice of Life

In other words he is an archetypical shounen character and I don't like this kind of character.

Sounds to me like you just hate popular anime.

[Slice of Life]

Originally Posted by Malintex_Terek

Sounds to me like you just hate popular anime.

I have been accused of worse crimes in my life, really. The 2007 anime I like most can be found in my sig for the whole world to see. Apart from that, I can't remember Akagi having been that popular but I'm too lazy to go to animenfo and count reviews for this one compared to Shana or Noein, say, which come immediately to my mind as popular 2005 anime.

You see, this is a forum for Japanese animation in its whole, encompassing stuff as different as Shigurui, Moetan, Mononoke, and Les Miserables. Some tolerance is required towards other people's tastes and distastes or this nice place will go down in flames. Just because somebody doesn't share your tastes doesn't mean he's retarded, inexperienced, or hates "popular anime" just for the heck of it. So peace. OK? OK.

[Malintex_Terek]

I understand that.

What I picked up on was that you called Akagi a "shounen" protagonist. Be aware that there are derogatory connotations with that word around anime forums as of late, flinging it around recklessly will attract the ire of people looking for a fight. I'm too old for that stuff so I'll just settle for sarcastic one liners. >__>

"Shounen" is a demographic anyway, it's not exactly correct to say characters are "shounen protagonists" but rather, "have characteristics common to shounen protagonists", of which I would argue Akagi has little if anything in common outside of the magical plot device of "genius" that makes him interesting enough to have a story written about him.

[Mentar]

Originally Posted by Deathkillz

What a screwed up joke of a game

Is it? I don't think so at all... because by linking the decisions to a limited number of cards, you turn an entirely random game into one where you can gather and use information.

To be honest, I find this intriguing. Let's assume for example that each player gets 6 fixed cards, and the first player to win 10 rounds will be the overall victor. Then a player with brains and the ability to

1) track the cards of the opponent and
2) to adjust his picks to the information about the opponent's remaining hand

will definitely have a significant advantage over someone who just randomly picks and plays.

I suspect (hope) that the inherent strategy which is going to develop out of these rules will be demonstrated in the next ep.

Very very interesting.

[SeijiSensei]

I found the first episode intellectually interesting, but I can't find any characters to empathize with. If there aren't any sympathetic characters soon (Kaiji's definitely not one for me so far), I can't say I'll be sticking with this one no matter how much it might appeal to my intellect.

[gianna]

HOLY SHIT EPISODE TWO WAS AWESOME
I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Kaiji lol

[sukreih]

Gianna: I agree!!!!

Just watched ep 2
omg the later half was amazing, loved it. Kindda disappointed on the first half before the janken game starts.

Spoiler for ep2:

I think Tonegawa's lecture affected me(cuz I'm already a stereotyped manga-reading fan) a lot; I don't know if the people who haven't read the manga found it okay, but it wasn't that of an impact compared to the manga itself.
Hagiwara(Kaiji's VA)'s Kaiji acting (especially the screaming) wasn't bad at all. I was impressed.
Oh,I really liked Funai's voice acting.
And the music.
AND the Zawazawas.
And I'm glad they didn't cut the scene where Kaiji gets bitch slapped by the Black Suit Man..
And I'm sorry to say the bitch slapped and crying Kaiji is so adorable..but seeing all those people cry and in the depths of despair made me sad the same time ;_;
Gets more interesting from there!
Yes, there were mentions of 'Liar Game' and 'Yugioh' from the fans. Hehe.

Honestly, too many good scenes were cut out in the anime ;_;
I know I know, anime is anime and manga is manga. It's pointless to compare each and everything, but I really hoped at least these were present TT:

Spoiler for scenes cut from the manga:

1. Instead of 'Shut up', Tonegawa says the F word.In English.
2. Tonegawa's lecture is a lot longer and has much more impact. Hakuryuu as Tonegawa was...imo Meh.
3. When Funai talks in luring Kaiji into the All-Draws method,he is more specific on the rumours on when you lose.
One is you become the experiment of some new drug, and become a junkie(or a crock,or whatever..) in several years.
One is that you're forced into prostitution. Kaiji reacts to it: 'But all of the people in the ship are...' and Funai responds by saying 'Guys are more popular.' Thing is, a conversation related to this occurs in part 2 as well..oh well I guess they'll cut the whole thing ;_; (not to mention there are various parodies of 'Prostitution Apocalypse Kaiji' lol)

Ookay, NOW Kaiji is beginning to wake up to his gambling abilities.
I still consider the show's gonna be great,and very smart for the eps to come . Just the lecture turned me down.
Until next week!

[hi no ken Jebus]

Spoiler for ep 2:

Seriously who didn't see that coming that Funai was going to bend him over and aim for penetration. Kaiji crying afterwards had me almost in tears laughing especially the slap and him chasing after the guy who stiffed him on the loan. That aside now that he woke up to the fact it's eat or be eaten, whatever his quick thinking will turn out to be in the next episode should be all kinds of awesome.

[gianna]

Same for me too -- Tonegawa's scene and VA were pretty boring
And I realized his Fuck you being changed to shut up (from all the comments)

I haven't read the manga (yet...) so thanks for all the information you keep providing!

Spoiler for scenes cut from the manga:

3. When Funai talks in luring Kaiji into the All-Draws method,he is more specific on the rumours on when you lose.
One is you become the experiment of some new drug, and become a junkie(or a crock,or whatever..) in several years.
One is that you're forced into prostitution. Kaiji reacts to it: 'But all of the people in the ship are...' and Funai responds by saying 'Guys are more popular.' Thing is, a conversation related to this occurs in part 2 as well..oh well I guess they'll cut the whole thing ;_; (not to mention there are various parodies of 'Prostitution Apocalypse Kaiji' lol)

lol May I ask if any of the rumors were actually found to be true later in the manga

[sukreih]

Originally Posted by gianna

lol May I ask if any of the rumors were actually found to be true later in the manga

Spoiler:

uh....yes.Though no specific scene is present.bummers!
This is a spoiler to part 2, but.. Kaiji is not eligible for prostitution because he's over 20. But before he knows that, he was very,very concerned about it. And with all the situation he was in. Poor guy. I consider babbling more can cause spoilers

[ruurguy]

Episode 2 was pretty good, can't wait to see what 14 million yen, 5 cards and 4 stars can do though. If they win every gamble I suppose they could accumulate 9 stars and survive, but that doesn't seem like the likely path, since money is part of the resources here. Is restricted janken the only game that gets played while on this cruise for all four hours or will it have other games too? I suppose they could try to find someone with 3 stars and buy their cards with the money, and accumulate stars which they might be able to sell at a higher price. Interesting stuff, i'm pretty excited to see how this goes.

[USCPharmacist]

Originally Posted by luniz

sounds lame to me to be honest. a lazy hero, great. why should i care about a lazy slacker who has a mysterious talent that he only uses to save his rear?

OOOOO troll!!!!

[Kanon]

Spoiler for Episode 2:

That was awesome ! Can't believe Kaiji fell for such an obvious trick. Well, in the end I guess he got the slap he needed to awaken (litteraly )

Anyone else thinking Kaiji will backstab his new partners? He doesn't seem the type of a guy who would do such a thing, but after what he just went through, I guess there's a slim possibility.

[Jazzrat]

First episode got me interested, 2nd got me hooked. Kaiji is the anime to watch this season for me.

They turn a game of Jankenpon from a game of chance into a game that not only pit against your memory but your wit and psychology. Can't wait to see what Kaiji and co got up their sleeves next episode.

Unique, clever and inspiring especially when Kaiji thought back about his life after getting slapped. Letting other people decide for you is usually the fastest way to lose in life.