Kaiji Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Gyakkyō Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor (逆境無頼カイジ) is the adapted 26-episode anime television series based on Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji. It aired from October 2007 to April 2008.[citation needed]

Synopsis

Kaiji Itō is a bum who, after being wastes his time gambling, drinking, and vandalizing luxury cars. This changes one day when he is paid a visit by a loan shark, Yūji Endō, who is there on the behalf of Teiai Corporation. He reminds Kaiji of a loan of 300,00 yen that he helped his former co-worker, Takeshi Furuhata, apply for. After months of missed payments due to Furuhata's disappearance, the debt has risen to a total of 3,850,000 yen and is now Kaiji's responsibility.

Endō, seeing Kaiji's distress, informs him of an underground gambling event sponsored by Teiai that promises to wipe the debts of any winners. Kaiji expresses his suspicion and uncertainty about the lack of details surrounding the event, but Endō eventually convinces him to join with smooth talk and coercion.

First Game: Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors

09 (1)
10

Taking place aboard the Espoir after Kaiji accepted Endō's offer, players borrowed up to 10 million yen to use in the game. Players need to return with a 1.5% interest rate every 10 minutes which equals 42.95% after 4 hours (the game period), although the characters round it to 40% in their speeches. After they hand out the money, Yukio Tonegawa states the instructions. The game begins with every player having 3 stars and 4 cards of each type (Rock, Paper, and Scissors). Players have to retain stars and get rid of their cards within four hours.

Second Game: Steel Frame Crossing

Months after his night aboard the Espoir, Kaiji finds work when Endō comes to him again and ask him to spend another night at gambling to change his lifestyle. Reluctantly, Kaiji accepts his offer once more in the hopes that this time he will get his debt eliminated.

Only this time, he isn't gambling just for money. He, and many others, are gambling for their very lives.

Third Game: E-Card

On the same night of the second game, Kaiji tries to avenge the death of his comrades by challenging Tonegawa in a game of E-card. Before playing E-card Kaiji had to have a certain amount of money, but ends up betting one of his ears due to his not meeting that amount. A small drill is put in place over his ear, Kaiji having to bet a certain distance the drill advances before it ruptures his eardrum. Each player must have 5 cards each. Four citizen cards must be kept at all times, one player must have an emperor while the other has the slave. This is how it works: citizen destroys slave, emperor destroys citizen, but slave destroys emperor, as it has nothing to lose. In the process of the game, Tonegawa was revealed to be cheating so he could win and watch Kaiji suffer, an outcome Kaiji avoids on their 11th match where Kaiji outright slices his ear off. By doing this, Kaiji was able to win the game and gamble his way to ¥20.1 million.

Fourth Game: Tissue Box Raffle

After winning, Kaiji gets ¥20.1 million. However after Kaiji witnesses Tonegawa receiving the "Roasted Kneeling" as punishment for his loss against Kaiji, Kaiji realizes that the real enemy is the Chairman, Kazutaka Hyōdō. After weighing his options, Kaiji challenges the Chairman to a tissue paper raffle. The game is essentially a raffle with an originally sealed tissue box used for holding all paper chits. Chairman bets ¥100 million while Kaiji bets ¥20 million and four of his fingers. However, Kaiji has hidden a secret winning lot in the box so he could win on his first try.

However the Chairman annihilates that secret winning lot on the first try. Kaiji, who goes second, ultimately picks a random lot while praying to God. On his second turn, the Chairman reveals that he could have easily taken out the winning lot on his first turn but he let it go to give Kaiji a chance, and then the Chairman takes out the winning lot without breaking a single sweat.

After losing miserably and maiming his hand, Kaiji ponders over the situation and realizes that the Chairman, had annihilated his fake lot and put a mark on the winning lot by folding it so he could easily find the winning lot to win.

After the gamble ends, Kaiji heads to the hospital so his ear and fingers could be reattached, leaving a permanent mark of his defeat in the process.

Episodes[1]

Episode List
No. Title Original airdate
1 "Departure"
"Shukkō" (出航)
October 2, 2007
Three years after moving to Tokyo, Kaiji Itō is a bum wasting his life away on cheap liquor and cheap gambles. His dull world is turned upside-down when he is paid a visit by a man named Endō, a loan shark coming to collect on a loan Kaiji once co-signed as a favor to a friend. He learns his friend defaulted on the 3 million yen loan and the responsibility now falls to Kaiji! Broke and desperate, Kaiji's one ray of hope is a unique proposition from the shady loan shark...[2]
2 "Open Fire"

"Hibuta" (火蓋)

October 9, 2007
Boarding the ship of hope, the Espoir, Kaiji prepares to play a unique game called "Restricted Rock-Paper-Scissors." The MC, Tonegawa, explains that everyone is given twelve cards and three stars. If you can play all twelve cards and keep three stars, you may leave the ship with your debt forgiven, but fail and a fate worse than death awaits...[2]
3 "Game"

"Shōbu" (勝負)

October 16, 2007
Kaiji, his old friend Furuhata and newcomer Andō band together to try and conquer the Espoir with the power of teamwork. Kaiji devises a strategy for victory, but when Andō makes a move on his own, will Kaiji cast him aside?[2]
4 Failure"

"Hatan" (破綻)

October 23, 2007
Pooling their resources, Kaiji's team begins buying up all the "Rock" cards on the floor. If things go according to plan, they could walk away with enough stars to win the game and have leftovers to sell! But have they tipped their hand too soon?[2]
5 "Deadly Decision"

"Kesshi" (決死)

October 30, 2007
Kaiji is caught off guard when he realizes too late that another player, Kitami, has been buying "Paper" cards to counter Kaiji's "Rocks." With time running out, and Kitami about to retire from the game, can Kaiji find a way to escape defeat?[2]
6 "Rise and Fall"

"Kōbō" (興亡)

November 6, 2007
After soundly defeating Kitami, Kaiji weasels his way into getting their pool of "Paper" cards as well. Now with 30 Rocks, 34 Papers and 5 Scissors, Kaiji's team has a huge deck to draw on. But can they use it to get the stars they need to escape the ship?[2]
7 "Proclamation"

"Kappa" (喝破)

November 13, 2007
With the other players too afraid to move and the clock winding down, Kaiji's group seems trapped. Their only option is to go along with Funai, the man who swindled Kaiji at the start, and his plan to shuffle everyone's cards so that everyone starts from a clean slate.[2]
8 "Iron Hammer"

"Tettsui" (鉄槌)

November 20, 2007
No one can find the three missing "Scissors" cards for a good reason - someone tried to sneak out of playing by flushing them down the toilet. Now with an odd number of cards, someone in Kaiji's group will have to be the odd man out and fall into the loser's pen...but will the other two come to his rescue?[2]
9 "Resurrection"

"Kaisei" (回生)

November 27, 2007
Furuhata and Andō's true colors emerge as they leave Kaiji to rot with the other losers, sentencing him to a fate worse than death. As a fellow prisoner mocks his doom, Kaiji frantically searches for a way to escape…[2]
10 "Messenger"

"Shisha" (使者)

December 4, 2007
Four months after the Espoir, Kaiji is working part-time at a convenience store, barely able to even pay off the interest on his massive debt. Things only get worse when the store owner starts suspecting him of stealing.[2]
11 "Revelry"

"Kyōen" (狂宴)

December 11, 2007
Stepping foot into the Starside Hotel, Kaiji is greeted with a familiar face from the ship of hope. He once again falls into the world of bizarre gambles, this time as a contestant in what the hotel bills as a "Human Derby."[2]
12 "Degradation"

"Tenraku" (転落)

December 18, 2007
Kaiji and 11 other men are forced into a footrace across a narrow beam high off the ground. But with no way to pass the person in front of him, will Kaiji give into the temptation to push him off?[2]
13 "Monster"

"Kaibutsu" (怪物)

December 25, 2007
With the Human Derby over, Kaiji and the rest of the contestants are led to another set of beams so high above the surface, they can see nothing but darkness below. Now, the real race begins.[2]
14 "Dying Spirit"

"Bōrei" (亡霊)

January 8, 2008
As the desperate group of men begin plummeting off the beams to their deaths, Kaiji screams for Tonegawa to cut the power to the electrified iron beams. But when his pleas are ignored, can he muster the courage to press forward?[2]
15 "Heavens"

"Tenkū" (天空)

January 15, 2008
Kaiji and his friend Sahara are the last two men clinging to their lives 74 meters above the ground. Sahara finally traverses the beam to the window on the other side, but the smiling faces of the rich elite behind the glass have Kaiji confused…and terrified.[2]
16 "Fury"

"Dohatsu" (怒髪)

January 22, 2008
Cheated out of his prize on a technicality, Kaiji is given one last chance to make some money before leaving the Starside Hotel - a psychological battle with Tonegawa himself, "E-Card."[2]
17 "Adversity"

"Gyakkyō" (逆境)

January 29, 2008
Tonegawa continuously presses Kaiji, questioning him, trying to get inside his head. Meanwhile, Kaiji is wracking his brain trying to decide the perfect moment to strike, badly needing to survive his turn playing the Slave with minimal losses.[2]
18 "Trifled"

"Honrō" (翻弄)

February 5, 2008
With his sense of hearing on the line, Kaiji becomes more and more panicked as Tonegawa begins to read him like a book. Can he survive E-Card with his hearing intact, or is Tonegawa simply too experienced to outwit?[2]
19 "Limit"

"Genkai" (限界)

February 12, 2008
Even with the overwhelming advantage of playing Emperor, Kaiji is to scared to risk more than the minimum bet of one millimeter. But with his paralyzing fear of Tonegawa turn into an unexpected benefit?[2]
20 "Fierce God"

"Kishin" (鬼神)

February 19, 2008
Round 11 of E-Card sees Kaiji resort to his most extreme, most desperate, and most brilliant plan to date. Does he have what it takes to defeat Tonegawa once and for all?[2]
21 "Heart's Blood"

"Shinketsu" (心血)

February 26, 2008
The madness of E-Card continues as Kaiji is now up 11 million yen. Now betting 18 millimeters and risking death or brain damage, Kaiji strives to humiliate Tonegawa and avenge the deaths of his friends.[2]
22 "Enforcement"

"Shikkō" (執行)

March 4, 2008
The final round of E-Card has finally come. Tonegawa, Hyoudou, the Teiai suits, and the losers from the Human Derby all look on as Kaiji plays his final card.[2]
23 "Heresy"

"Jadō" (邪道)

March 11, 2008
Unsatisfied with besting the corporate puppet Tonegawa, Kaiji challenges the President of Teiai himself, Hyōdō himself. His brilliant plan to make Teiai pay and walk away with a fortune? A simple tissue box raffle.[2]
24 "Conditions"

"Jōken" (条件)

March 18, 2008
Hyōdō readily accepts Kaiji's challenge, but after a lifetime of dominating others financially, the twisted President is not satisfied with simply taking Kaiji's money. Instead, he demands something much more valuable…[2]
25 "Investment"

"Tōnyū" (投入)

March 25, 2008
Kaiji is fully confident his rigged tissue box will trick Hyōdō and net him over 100 million yen. But does the sly President know more than he lets on?[2]
26 "Afterglow"

"Zankō" (残光)

April 1, 2008
With his 20 million in E-card winnings and four of his fingers on the line, Kaiji reaches a hand into the tissue box, and pulls out…[2]

Gallery

Volume Covers

Volume Box Covers

Production Artwork

Character Sheets

External Links

References

Advertisement