Kaiji is the sort of person who only truly functions under tremendous pressure. His intelligence, gut and motivation only kicks in when he's thrown into terrible, desperate situations. Left to exist on a peaceful world, he's prone to laziness, boredom, self-indulgence, given to tantrums and extremely unsociable. Under normal circumstances he's numb, a little more than a shadow. Kaiji is also a compulsive gambler.
He can't climb the social ladder the regular way. His only chance, he believes, is to get it all at once in a gambling match. That's the premisse of Kaiji Ultimate Survivor. Crazy gambling ideas, tense plots and the exploration of Kaiji's personality as he sinks deeper into the underworld of gambling, organized crime and desperate people. A lot of desperate people, including Kaiji himself.
I find the gambling ideas in this show not to be the most interesting, as far as games go. Kaiji gambles his life in 4 different games during this season, two of them are card games of random chance more than anything else. A third is more of a torture race and the last one is a draft. Although all those games end up being a battle of wits, which makes them interesting, the games themselves are not rather simplistic.
What's really interesting here is the character development for Kaiji and the people he meets on his journey to the bottom of society. One of the very best episodes is the tenth one, when we get to see Kaiji working at a convenience store. This is a critical moment for the show because we can testify how Kaiji is unable to function in normal society. "It's no use, I can't stand this sort of atmosphere. I just can't stand it!" Kaiji thinks to himself while his coworkers socialize over tea and tell silly jokes to each other. He's an outsider and there's no hope for him among normal people.
Yet, he shows deep compassion and sympathy for his fellow men. Many times he will give up everything to save someone. He will go out of his way, puting himself in great peril to rescue a lost soul. He knows this person he's saving would cross him if given the chance. He knows humans are cruel and can't be trusted. He's seen the ugly side of humanity, and yet again and again, he will choose to help others to his own detriment.
The show is filled with very tense moments, carefully and slowly crafted through dialogues and narration. These are not fast-paced stories but their outcomes are always interesting and well worth the wait. All characters, even minor ones are full of development and infused with worth and emotion. How I wish they would make more anime based on the works of Mr. Fukmoto Nobuyuki. A very nice watch.
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