Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji
Japanese Title: Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji
English Title: Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji
Length: 26 episodes
AniDB Listing: Link
AnimeNewsNetwork: Link
Production Studio: Madhouse
MEYDAY Rating: Poor-completed
Sexual Rating: E for bros, dude
Violence Rating: M for weird and gross shit happening to characters
Genre(s): Action
Setting(s): Real life
Theme(s): Social underbelly
Target Audience: Seinen
Production Vintage: 2007
First Viewed Vintage: June 2009
Number of Rewatches: 0
Review:
Ah, Kaiji. It's that show that you really want to like, but just can't quite manage to, thanks to the gratuitous yuck factor, complete disregard for the laws of nature, and wtf-that-was-depressing-ness. If you want a realistic (and yet completely unrealistic) look at what happens to the deadbeat scum of Japan's underbelly, or if you want a good diet plan (because seriously, the last 5 or so episodes will ruin your appetite), this is the series for you.
Would I recommend it? No. Would I deter someone from watching it? Probably not. It's not an awful series, it's just ... upsetting and not really good enough to be worth the upset.
List of all series I've watched can be found here.