2 years after Kaiji’s successful release in the theatres, Tatsuya Fujiwara reprises his role as Kaiji Ito in the sequel Kaiji 2.

Set a year after his winning gamble against Teiai Group, Kaiji has once again fallen into the depths of poverty, returning to the underground mining camps to work off his mountain of debts.

Kaiji 2 starts with Kaiji re-entering the gambling fray with the help of his friends. With 1 million yen [S$16,811.31] as capital and only 2 weeks, Kaiji has to win 200 million yen to free himself and his fellow Teiai slaves from their enslavement under the debts of the gambling corporation.

The first quarter of the movie was able to keep audiences on the edge of their seats as the storyline unfolds, without wasting much time explaining what is already commonly known. Despite the fast development, the story is paced such that new viewers of Kaiji are able to catch up with the gist of the movie.

Kaiji 2 utilizes 3 games of chance that will decide the player’s fates. The movie begins with the first game of underground Chinchirorin, a traditional dice game where the pay-off is based on the dice-roll.  The next game, an original game thought up for the movie by Kaiji author Nobuyuki Fukumoto was the Princess and the Slave. A game of life or death, the contender played the “Slave” who must find the right door to his princess. A wrong choice lands him opening the door to a starved lion, leading to his death.  The final game, a monster pachinko (pinball) machine christened the “Man-eating Swamp”, was the major theme of the movie. A game of intense difficulty but with an extravagant pay-off to match, winning meant getting one pachinko ball through a “forest of nails” and the 3-level “clune”, which were designed to be unbeatable. Advancing through these games was Kaiji’s last shot at winning the money to save his friends and himself.

The twists and turns of events as Kaiji and his friends navigate through the gambling obstacles were well-conceived – subtle foreshadowing techniques were employed to keep the audience riveted without giving away the game of the plot.

However, these games pale in comparison to those of the first movie. With the exception of the “Man-eating Swamp”, the games were not as exciting and threatening as Kaiji. The card game of Scissors-Paper-Stone: a game of Scissors-Paper-Stone was played with a limited number of cards per player; “Brave Men Road”: a race across a high-voltage steel beam placed more than a hundred metre above-ground, and the E-card game; a game much like Scissors-Paper-Stone, using “Emperor”, “Citizen” and “Slave” cards were all more engaging as they involved higher stakes from the players.

The story got a little predictable by the end of the film though, which ruined much of the movie’s suspense as audience members grew weary of the repetitive sequences, such as when Kaiji was challenging the “Man-eating Swamp”.

However, the characters were better developed as compared to the first movie. Fans can see Kaiji’s growth from a whiny and gullible bum into a mature character who carries the fate of everyone on his shoulders.

Actor Tatsuya Fujiwara also helped in this development, with his animated acting almost out of the manga itself. Fujiwara was able to bring the audience with him on his rollercoaster of hope and desperation.

Teruyuki Kagawa’s role as Yukio Tonegawa also evolved in Kaiji 2, where he sought to resist the Teiai Group and decided to place his stakes on Kaiji for a chance to free himself.

Yusuke Iseya did well in his antagonistic role as Kaiji’s opponent, Seiya Ichijou. As the only other survivor from the “Brave Men Road” that Kaiji survived in the first movie, Iseya was able to portray Ichijou’s emotional burdens and paranoia.

Overall, the intricacy of the plot and performance from the actors resulted in an entertaining movie, which both Kaiji fans and casual viewers can enjoy. Fans of the first movie, especially, can look forward to a good continuation and development of the story.

 

Movie: Kaiji 2
Rating: 4/5
Opens: Nov 17
Duration: 135 min
Language: Japanese (With English and Mandarin subtitles)
Age Rating: PG – Some Violence
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Director: Toya Sato
Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Yusuke Iseya, Teruyuki Kagawa