exodusman Kaiji is an awesome movie. It shown how to play Jan-Ken-Pon (Rock- Paper-Scissors) in Japan which very popular games. Which under the debt pressure, he join the other play in Espoir ship (means Hope in French). This is where he lost, work underground as slave, pay with underground money called Peria, and challenge to join Brave Road (to survive and return above ground).When he made an final, he should play card with Tonegawa. Play E-Card (Emperor-Slave-Citizen) to win his freedom and clearing his debt. He lost because of Tonegawa using cheap trick. Using Chip that control and know the users heartbeat, but he lost cause Kaiji too excited winning the last round and make Tonegawa fallen on his own trick.

sillybuddha Although based on a manga from years ago the plot line of desperate debt-ridden men being exploited is very timely in today's economy. You certainly feel the film is trying to cram a lot into its plot - the underground society, the rich tyrant, the games, all feel like they were explored in greater depth in the manga. You certainly want to know more about the organisation running the games. The whole thing is absurd and not very believable but keeps you fascinated. The pacing is often all wrong, as the scene on the 'brave man road' and the end game is played for melodrama and takes too long as we watch characters emote for ages. Kaiji is the kind of hero you often get in Japanese films - a loser who gets a chance to find some backbone and determination while keeping to a moral code while others around him give in to temptation and fear. The twist ending is an amusing touch although you deal feel a little cheated after everything Kaiji has gone through, (though no doubt so does Kaiji himself). If this was a Western film Kaiji would have figured out some way to destroy the organisation, but perhaps like all of us little people, when it comes to the power of the rich and financial institutions, the best we can hope for is to get out free of debt, like Kaiji did...

gothic_a666 The problem with this movie is that it has to compact the material of 13 volumes of manga into a 2 hour long movie. The very format forced some of 'Kaiji's strongest points to lose much of its impact, namely the gambling aspect of what is a very brainy and interesting manga. The movie cuts down on the mental gymnastics that make Kaiji able to beat the odds in a believable way. As a result the viewer cannot quite grasp his genius as everything is edited to the point of losing coherence. The manga is plotted in such a way as to cover several arcs, each with its own crazily high stakes and particular flavor. The movie cannot frame a transition of the moments of the narrative without coming undone at the seams.Some choices in the adaptation were odd such as changing Endou's gender and changing the order of some events and there are other changes that may seem minor on the surface but end up diluting the tense do-or-die atmosphere that had readers of the manga flipping the pages anxiously and sitting at the edge of their seats. Such as the terrifying ear perforation device or the finger guillotine, both if which are completely absent in the movie.Kaiji's inner dialog is hyped mostly as an emotional appeal without the counterbalancing effect of his quick mind. The manga's eponymous hero is known for bursting into tears rather often but he remains a very clever young man whose gambles have plenty of reasoning behind them, the movie shows us only flashes of this. It is also unfortunate that some of the more intense moments of the 'Kaiji' saga take place in material that is not covered by the movie.The acting is solid, namely Fujiwara who plays Kaiji flawlessly, a completely different role of Death Note's Light that first introduced me to him. Having a woman playing a loan shark lends itself to romantic vibes but these never materialize.Fans of the manga may enjoy seeing Kaiji in 3D but this movie does not match the brilliance of the original work.

DICK STEEL This was one of the films that I had to give up on during last year's trip to the Tokyo International Film Festival, not that I thought it was no good – the casting reunion of those from the Death Note films is reason enough to flock to this – but because I had got some faith that it'll make it to Singapore because it should have some appeal given the success of Death Note here, and manga to film adaptations have usually done fairly well. So it made it to our shores, and while I was expecting some serious gambling utilizing the rule book from casino card games, Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler just lives up to its title, where the stakes are deadly, usually that of life or lifestyle.However, the strength of the film is how it metaphorically paints the picture of society with that rich-poor divide, between the elite class and those who are perpetual losers, being dealt the shortest end of the stick in life. It's easy to be on one side of the fence and accuse the other of being stupid, lazy and not worthy of their lot, but put it this way, who doesn't want to be able to live a financially free life with nary a material care since it's all taken care of. One thing in life that's constant, besides change, is that life is never fair, and usually being somebody, or knowing somebody else, may open some doors for you, making it a tad easier to get to one's objectives. The playing field is rarely even, and only made worse if one group decides to exploit the other.Tatsuya Fujiwara plays the titular role Kaiji, a down and out young adult who's living his life without much aim, being painted an illusion by Endo (Yuki Amami) who had conned him into boarding a ship, on the hopes that by playing a game onboard would change his debt- ridden life as it is. It's a life-changing experience alright, one that Kaiji soon finds himself stuck in, being held against his wishes but on a principle that he made, and then sucked into an underground social system which is aimed squarely at how we, the workers, get bordered into a routine of work-rest-eat-drink, and a financial system that's basically out to regain every penny of reward given for honest work, and that's in the form of induced consumerism.And that's how I suppose the rich and powerful can keep a stranglehold on the common folk, keeping them in despair until they resign to their "fate" that there's no way out of the vicious circle, and to conform and continue in their routine so as to fuel the economy. With each revelation comes Kaiji's resolve to get out of the system, only to find more obstacles in his way, becoming mere pawns of entertainment to the idle rich folks, one of whom is the chairman of a powerful conglomerate known as "Teiai" (or Love Emperor, played by Kei Sato).The key entertaining moments in the film are of course the death-defying situations the gamblers are put through, and it turns out more to be like problem-solving coupled with going up against stacked odds. Fans of Kenichi Matsuyama will also be pleased that their idol had gotten a supporting role here looking quite rugged with his unshaven look, and instead of being at loggerheads with Fujiwara's Kaiji, it's a welcome change to see the two actors in roles that require support from each other. Teruyuki Kagawa (of Tokyo Sonata) also shines as the main over-confident villain in the film, whose bright idea it was to capture idling youths and to put them to work as slaves for Teiai, only to find himself setting up an adversary in Kaiji, adding to his reputation of not being well-liked.Since it's adapted from the manga, the three key gambling moments were drawn from the books, although they come with minor tweaks to allow for a cinematic interpretation. Amongst the three games of Restricted Rock Paper Scissors, Human Derby and E-Card, which is an interesting game of chance involving Citizen, Emperor and Slave cards, director Toya Sato (who also helmed Gokusen the Movie) should be given credit for crafting the games and heightening tensions in an order of a crescendo befitting of a grand hurrah, striking a balance between the need to entertain, and to tickle that mind of yours in a battle of wits. There's a certain formula employed as well, with everything explained toward the end in a series of flashbacks, so yeah, the answers will be given after you exercised that noodle a little.In some ways, the games were played in a fashion similar to how Jigsaw designed his. With the latter, the games serve as a lesson to those who had lived the good life, to teach them to be contented with their lot and not take life for granted. With this, it's in a way to break the barrier of zero confidence amongst those who are deemed losers in life, giving them monetary incentives to participate in death-defying games, in order to make them realize that through hard work and surpassing what is deemed impossible, will the survivors know that reward only comes from performance. Sounds a little like our workfare scheme, minus the death elements.Like any manga inspired or movie adapted from graphic novels, the film barely scratched the surface of its rich origin material. As such, do keep your eyes peeled for a sequel currently scheduled for a 2011 debut. Expect more death-defying games, battle of wits, and a caution to those who are too smart for their own good, and if those elements in a film are your cup of tea then you shouldn't miss this!