Current Events > Kaiji (minor spoilers, tried hard not to spoil much, also tl;dr cuz I gush)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I rarely re-read things, but I read almost the entire series over again, and this is one of THE greatest thing to ever have been written in any media I think.

There will be some minor spoilers, like Kaiji is alive through his own series, which might shock some.

Kaiji is mostly a loser. He has no higher education, no job prospects, no connections. However, he has an untapped potential in gambling. Not in a specific game but just the overall gambles of life.

It's an old ass series, but Squid Game for example took massive inspirations from this series. One might even say the outcomes might even feel very similar. However, Kaiji is always written with a certain raw realism despite the scenarios being wildly fantastical (or happening beneath our eyes amongst the unimaginably rich circles)

I will have to very vaguely summarize each parts cuz not all the parts are for everybody, but I think there are no bad parts:

Part 1: More of a raw intro, several characters that will be key components of a lot of other parts, also establishes the existence of sick death games using debtors being paraded by a massive company. The games are a bit basic but have that shocking strategic edge that Kaiji will eventually take full advantage of. It starts to establish Kaiji's potential, but he's not quite realized it yet. It also establishes him as the type of human that he is, that his trust in others often contradicts his natural talents to read those he ultimately deems his opponents.

Part 2: This is the most Squid Game the series gets (it's really the other way around. Squid game is more based on Part 2), but it starts immensely strong... only to end at the universally agreed to be the worst arc, "The Bog." I think everybody who knows will have some kind of a convulsion when they hear the combination of those two words associated with Kaiji. However, despite the poor execution, the worst arc still has plenty of really interesting strategies. Sadly, very few of them end up mattering. At least the first 3/4 of Part 2 is some of the strongest stuff in the series.

Part 3: This is overall, the worst Part, because Part 2 has so many strong aspects to it. This is where a lot of ppl stop reading, and it's a shame. This is due to needing to know the basics of Mahjong to truly understand the strategies and trickeries happening. It's a very simplified version of Mahjong, and the excellent fan translation goes to absurd lengths to explain it. But if you read the intro, then skip around to about... 30 or so chs b4 the end and read on, I think the resolution is utterly fantastic, and it also leads into absolutely wonderful things

Part 4: This is the very start of many wonderful things. It introduces 3 characters that are the most important aspects of Parts 4~6. Kaiji has gone through a lot of betrayals and even sometimes losing truly good people from his life. So this is the part that kinda starts to rekindle Kaiji's inherent goodness within his heart. Kaiji is really 2 things: a hopeless gambling junkie and a genuinely inspiring human being

Part 5: THE arc. I think One Poker is one of the greatest things to have ever been written. It's strategically complex, emotionally explosive, action-packed without a single bit of action (well there's one part with a lot of... moving around). I think like every single bit of aspect in this arc is just perfect. They all have a purpose, and they all slowly lead into something. There are 2 contestants who are constantly growing to understand the other. One is a bit outclassed but blessed by demonic luck, the other is Kaiji, who completely outperforms all of his previous gambling feats here. "What does it mean to gamble?..." Kaiji answers this wholeheartedly. If you've followed since Part 4, you also come to appreciation this newfound dynamic between 2 of the returning characters. On the base, it looks like they're kinda there along for the ride, and they kinda are... but no, this arc even maximizes the presence of those two. They end up being imperative to what happens towards the end. By the end, you might even feel sympathetic to somebody who's been a scumbag for the last 2 parts. It's really about 4 people's struggle to finally start living.

Part 6: This will be contentious, but I think this arc is brilliant in its own way. It doesn't outdo One Poker, but it also asks the question of how many gambles happen in everyday situation? These situations aren't "everyday" per se, but they probably involve the most reality out of all the arcs thus far. There are some "gambles" that are just kinda funny and inconsequential or even bad small arcs lmao, but I think overall it paints a picture of how many non-guaranteed things can happen on a daily basis. It's certainly more than you'd think. But the author fucking manages to make this one of the most nerve-wrecking parts. How does he make the simple act of a guy eating at a restaurant to be one of the most nail biting parts? Or perhaps an innocent conversation with a crazy person in a hospital? Well the author suggests that gambling prowess applies to every single instance of life. However, this IS the part where I think there's the most amount of room to breathe.

tl;dr read kaiji.

Also anime is Parts 1~2. Imo insane adaptation that needs to one day get to One Poker, but I already gave up on that hope. They should skip Part 3, but who knows, that might piss off the... Mahjong enthusiasts?

Been meaning to read it since I watched the anime a while ago. Deciding between that or continuing Kurosawa past volume 1.

Man everybody usually likes Kurosawa as much as they do the other Fukumoto Nobuyuki series. I haven't been able to get into it personally. I couldn't quite get into Akagi either due to a lack of interest in Mahjong. It's been years and I actually finally know the rules, so maybe I'll try that one day.

Reading Kaiji Part 3 again though, see if anything changed for me. Re-read 4~6, parts of 2