Kaiji 2: Jinsei dakkai gemu - Japan

          Director:  Toya Sato
          Year:  2011
          Plot:  "Soon after having his debt cleared, Kaiji Ito is soon in debt again, and as is sent back underground. He earns the chance to return above ground for 2 weeks, he takes up the challenge of earning the 200,000,000 yen he needs to help his friends who are relying on him.  To make the money he finds a new game to play, one that is once again set against him."

          It's been over a year since I seen the first one, so I had to go back and look at my post for it.  While watching this movie I really did remember a lot of the first one, but nothing about what I wrote in my review. Time has sure flown by it seems, but I guess movies have a habit of leaving major impressions on me.
          In the second installment of Kaiji, the game has changed.  Instead of playing different strategy games and facing death defying challenges, Kaiji is up against a pachinko machine.  This may not seem like that big of a deal and on the simplest level, it probably wouldn't be much of a big deal.  Factor in that the machines payout would be a little over 1 billion and the fact that the game is likely rigged, and the story line starts to get a boost.
          I am not sure what it is about Kaiji, but these are the only movies involving gambling that I am genuinely nervous for the characters.  I don't know how many times my hands were clenched while watching this.  I think it might have a little something to do with the characters.  Kaiji himself is really sweet and tries to always help everyone, even when he himself is in trouble.  The pressure on him in this movie is even more intense because he not only has his own debt on his shoulders, but that of 20 or so men in the underground that are counting on him.  This isn't enough for Kaiji though and he soon takes on even more charity cases.
           I really don't think either Kaiji movie would have been so good to me if the character wasn't the way he is.  Sure, many consider Tatsuya to be an over-actor, but it has seemed to work really well with the character of Kaiji.  I just couldn't imagine him in any other way.  He is dramatic, but I like the character that way.  n.n

          As with the first movie, I highly recommend this.  Of course, the first one is probably necessary to get a feel for the characters as a few come from that one.  If you don't care for the characters and what is happening to them, neither movie will probably be all that enjoyable.  The thing is, that is the same with every movie, so you have to watch them for yourself to see if you will love the character and the movie.

          Check out my review of Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler!

Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler - Japan

          Director:  Toya Sato
          Year:  2009
          Plot:  “Kaiji spends his days gambling, vandalizing cars, and drinking booze, a debt collector named Endo arrives to collect money.  The debt collector then offers two choices to Kaiji: spend 10 year paying off your loan or board a gambling boat for one night to repay your debt & possibly make a whole lot more.”


          I decided I simply had to watch this movie because both Tatsuya Fujiwara and Ken'ichi Matsuyama are in this.  Both, of course, also star together in Death Note as Light and L.  Now even though I simply watched this for the two stars, I actually enjoyed this movie for other points.
          I saw on one site that someone didn’t like the fact that pretty much only a few parts actually have anything to do with gambling.  I would certainly have to disagree with their point.  Gambling isn’t just about an actual game such as cards for money.  You can gamble at anything with money, or simply with your life.  Not everything has to be an actual game.  This movie starts with a game and ends with one.  Though the middle part isn’t a game in a normal sense of gambling, it is still a gamble.
          I really enjoyed this movie because of the characters.  I absolutely loved the fact that Kaiji was seemingly nothing more than garbage to those who saw themselves as superior.  The only problem is that they failed to realize what true worth is.  Kaiji may have been penniless, but he was a good person.  He had the chance of breaking free but choose to stay with a man he was trying to help.  Not only that but that same man didn’t care about his own prosperity but that of his daughter in the end.  I also have to say that I love the strategies that are used in this movie.  I especially loved the final round of E-Card.
          The person who had an issue with the seemingly lack of gambling also mentioned over acting as being a problem.  This didn’t really bother me.  They happened to mention the beer scene as a major problem.  This didn’t seem like over acting to me though.  I mean living the life he was, I think I might have acted the same way getting something ice-cold.  I do have to say though that sometimes the acting does seem a bit much, but because the storyline is so interesting it isn’t too much of a problem with me.


          I would have to say that this is one I would recommend.  There might be some points that aren’t great, but the movie as a whole is really good.  I feel that I have to add this one to my collection as it goes quite well alongside Death Note.  I couldn’t tell you how dedicated they were to the original manga when they made this movie, but it was good for someone who has never read the manga, or previously heard of it.

          Check out my review of Kaiji 2: Jinsei dakkai gemu!