This anime is relentless, not even letting you breathe for a second while still throwing everything it has against you. Not only do the side characters progress well, focussing on how gambling can cause the darkest human traits to surface when under enough pressure, but the main character's progression from an impressionable yet hopeless lowlife to a man driven to the edge, only determined to push on because he has nothing else to lose helps to constantly drive the series forward amongst all the chaos.
The show has a slow start, but quickly picks up the pace and never stops. The gambles and the stakes escalate very quickly and you are left gripping your chair as you wait for the next episode to load. The only breaks you get are at the start and after the first arc. The reason this anime does such a good job at building tension is because it constantly reminds the audience of the stakes and whether it's constant cuts of the time limit or a sweeping shot of the danger that threatens the character's lives, the audience really gets a taste of what kind of peril the characters are in. Even though money is the main prize that most of the characters are aiming for and are motivated by, they are constantly questioned to weigh the life of one another against said money. Kaiji's morals constantly flip as the series goes on because of the gambles that he finds himself in, whether he should dive into his inner demon or try to keep sane by upholding his humanity. Also, seeing the constant changes in the side characters really help to illustrate the strain and pressure they are in, though sometimes the characters aren't really justified in how they change like this. Sometimes it's hard to believe Kaiji is such a genius and is so determined to win considering that he started the show as a lowlife with nothing really to lose. But, it works well enough that I can shelf my disbelief for most of the show.
The gambles themselves and the games that the characters have to participate in are really pushed to their limits, with the anime exploring every possible facet of the game including cheating. The fact that cheating is used alone helps to push the boundary of the games that are played and they are done quite cleverly, apart from the simplicity of the final game that Kaiji plays against Hyoudou, the mastermind behind all the sick games. This entire underground gambling world and hierarchy are explored very lightly, but I think it hits pretty well when the characters turn out to be the things that people are gambling on.
Admittedly, the artstyle will drive many people away from the series despite it suiting the dark tone of the series because of how the unique face shapes allow the anime to express the very twisted expressions needed to sell the dire situations of the characters. The way the faces contort and bend to the will of the animators help in emphasising the desperation, which is important considering the stakes that the characters are pit up against. In terms of imagery, I thought that this series would be kind of boring because even though the games are ridiculous, it would be pretty hard to entertain an audience with that alone. The imagery is simple, but because of the crazy artstyle the series manages to use the imagery to enhance the tense moments for the most part, though most of the actual imagery and what they mean is a bit too simple.
The narrator in my opinion is the most distracting element of the show, and so are some of the inner monologues of some of the side characters. Though the narrator is necessary to explain the rules and establish some of the inner workings of the games to the audience, he repeats himself way too much and as an audience member I feel a bit insulted. Sometimes the show really does respect your intelligence, and then the narrator just adds a layer of unnecessary fat on top, essentially negating how the show actually respected your intelligence. However, the show does show moments of brilliance in terms of perspective and inner monologues especially in the most climactic moments. The show usually shifts the perspective from Kaiji to the other character that he is dueling, making it a lot more tense since the audience is forced in a position to second-guess what Kaiji is thinking and what he concludes to be the correct decision. These moments to me are the best parts of the show because it causes the audience to actually think about what actions will have what repercussions by disecting the mind of the character that we spend the most time with.
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