Kaiji is an anime that i watched after watching Monster, i was looking for something similar in quality and was often disappointed but when kaiji started i realized that i would be during the two seasons available.
You might ask what is Kaiji ?
Kaiji is the anime, but most of all it is the name of the main character. He is unemployed, hopeless and in debt. He live a miserable life in Tokyo, wasting his time and little money on playing pachinko (Japanese slot machine). Scratching emblems off from luxury cars as a revenge against the rich people. Few months prior the start of the anime kaiji cosigned a loan for a former colleague. One day, a debt collector come at kaiji home to ask him to repay his colleague debt. Having no money kaiji is forced to join an underground casino game on a boat to hope to repay his debts.
I won't spoil what happen on the boat and after, neither what happens in the second season (even though i think the second season i way more exciting and stress full). If you have readed my yesterday post you probably know that i like "slow" anime a lot, kaiji is one of them sometime so slow you are under pleasure. >
The main topic of the anime is gambling ? Yes but no, even though we talk a lot of playing various game to earn money and pay off debts in the anime it is not the main subject. The main subject is the mega corporation that have so much money and influence that she can use it to organise death full games without having to think of being in trouble. Kaiji fight is to pay off debt but to try and beat this injuste system.
Most of these "gamble" are not simple luck game, it's about manipulating the opponent, strategic thinking and reading in other mind and emotions. Even if most of them game same like only luck, they often reveal to have a lot of strategy.
You know what make kaiji such a great anime and character ?
He is just like us, maybe we aren't unemployed but we are nothing compared to these mega corporation. Against these corporation "robots" he act like a normal human he is sympathique and pathetic at the same time and impulsive. When you watch you could say "i would do this or that differently" but in the end you would probably do it the same way he did.
In a way he is there to represent the hardness of life of a common human who don't like the corrupt system.
In the end, after each defeat kaiji never have the choice to continue or not he is forced to keep going suffer and go back at work (or in this case at gamble) and maybe in the end you will break the system.
I must addmit i didn't finish kaiji because S3 is readable only and treats of majong therefore and due to my lack of majong knowledge i didn't really understand... but one day i will go through the rest of the story.