Kaiji: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Kaiji: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

An average gambling anime series.

Kaiji is an action-suspense anime series which revolves around the world of gambling. The anime is produced by Manabu Tamura (Space Pirate Captain Herlock The Endless Odyssey, Kimi ni Todoke – From Me to You) and Toshio Nakatani (Hunter x Hunter, The World Is Still Beautiful). The series is adapted from the manga by original creator Nobuyuki Fukumoto. Kaiji is licensed by Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Films.

Kaiji (Masato Hagiwara) is an unemployed deadbeat who spends all of his time gambling, drinking, and indulging in excesses. Kaiji rakes up debt after debt – all while spiraling downwards. He is in trouble when loan-shark Endou (Naoya Uchida) wants to collect on defaulted loans adding up to 3,000,000 yen.

Determined to not bite-the-bullet by Endou, Kaiji goes out of his way to resolve the excessive debt: gambling even more and placing even bigger bets to get enough money to solve the problem. As Kaiji delves in to an even more complicated gambling game, the stakes continue to raise and all bets are off. The game is on.

The central protagonist is a bit of an odd-ball character and that is part of the fun of the series. Kaiji is no ordinary hero. The character gets in to some strange trouble and the antics of the character are the backbone of the anime. The journey of Kaiji is an interesting one and audiences are in for a unique and wild trip.

The animation is reasonably decent – ultimately it gets the job done. Yet there is nothing special about the art on the series and that is something that makes it a less enjoyable anime to watch. The series has below-average character designs by Haruhito Takada (Mr. Tonegawa, Gakuen Basara: Samurai High School) and there is nothing particularly worthwhile about these designs. Characters appear rounded with simplistic art that doesn't accentuate details. The animation looks drab at times as well (with the color style implemented on the series seeming uninteresting).

Time to gamble!

Under the art direction by Norihiko Yokomatsu (Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie, Godzilla Singular Point), the results are modest at best. There simply isn't anything that special about the art design and the background art-work. The series often looks low-budget and it lacks any special finesse. This is a decidedly mundane effort at times. While one might hope for something more impressive for modern anime productions – such as One Piece or Fairy Tail – the effort goes the opposite direction and is an uninteresting affair in several respects. Traditional hand art would have been preferable but the art has no close resemblance to cell-based anime.

The cinematography by Lee Suk Bum (Claymore, Bakumatsu Gijinden Roman) and Oh Seong Ha (Gilgamesh, Oh! Edo Rocket) is ineffective as well. The animation looks subdued and lacks the cinematographic style one hopes to find for an anime. Instead, the series often looks overcast: decidedly dark and uninteresting color tones on the production.

The music score composed by Hideki Taniuchi (Otogi Zoshi, Real Drive) doesn't make much of an impression, either. The score is average. The music fails to make any meaningful impression. The music doesn't seem to detract from the experience – and that's a good thing – but it doesn't really manage to add anything special to the series, either.

The series is written by Hideo Takayashiki (Dear Brother, Master Keaton). Fans of gambling series might find it an interesting concept. The idea of the series is interesting as well. Though the series doesn't excel as something particularly grand, it still manages to make a decent impression. No audiences should expect “gold” from the story but the series writing is serviceable.

Directed by Yuzo Sato (Police in a Pod, One Outs), Kaiji is no great anime. The series is merely a decent one. The filmmaking could have been more inspired and creative. Nonetheless, the series is watchable enough, and doesn't seem as bad as some similarly themed anime series can be. This is nonetheless a niche anime (focused on gambling) and it doesn't feel as cohesive as one might be hoping for.

Kaiji: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Sentai Filmworks, Kaiji is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The release has an average presentation quality. The picture-quality is inferior to most high-definition encodes.

The presentation appears to not be in native high-definition one and has the appearance of an upscale. Jaggies are visible in some scenes. Color reproduction is average at best. The release looks soft and fuzzy at times. By and large, a serviceable presentation at best.

Kaiji: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The soundtrack sounds crisp and clean. Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The music score by composer Hideki Taniuchi sounds reasonably impressive on the release as well. Though not the most engaging sound design (with a decidedly average stereo audio track), the reproduction quality is good enough to satisfy most listeners.

Kaiji: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc 3:

Clean Opening Animation (HD, 00:52)

Clean Closing Animation (HD, 1:13)

Disc 6:

Clean Opening Animations (HD, 2:24)

Clean Closing Animations (HD, 2:24)

The release also includes a selection of trailers promoting other releases available from distributor Kino Lorber: Hero=Mask (HD, 1:31), Assassins Pride (HD, 00:45), Mr. Tonegawa (HD, 1:59), and Babylon (HD, 1:34).

Kaiji: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kaiji is an average anime series that doesn't manage to make as big of an impression as one might hope to find. The concept of the series is decent enough but there isn't much to the anime at the same time. The anime is set against the backdrop of the world of gambling and explores the goofy antics of the central protagonist while exploring the story. The animation is nothing to write home about, either. Everything looks average: colors are muted and the background art is simplistic. Nothing special. RENT IT.