Story -
Itou Kaiji, a depressed NEET loser who spends his time with petty crime and generally being miserable gets to go on a cruise.
Not just any cruise though, a cruise ship paid for and owned by the Teiai Corporation, which is pretty much the Yakuza. They make money from gambling, slavery, loan sharks and most likely legitimate stuff too, there isn't a large span of episodes detailing the intricate details of the organisation because it's not called "Teiai Group the animation". It's Kaiji.
Owing 3 million yen (£16k) debt traced back to him due to co-signing a loan for a friend, a loan shark visits his apartment and offers him to board a cruiseship with the possibility of making his money back and more! Without any choice other than slavery, and nothing else going on in his life Kaiji accepts this offer.
When Kaiji arrives on the ship for an overnight cruise, the way to make money is revealed: Restricted Rock, Paper, Scissors. Which is just Rock Paper Scissors but you use cards instead of your hand, participants only get a select number of cards and an even number of each type. I'm going to stop there because if you should just watch the show if you want to know more about that, but as with most psychological game genres you can't trust anyone. It's relatively unpredictable and at times Kaiji feels like a gambling addict, rather than a genius hero compared to L or the guy from Liar Game, also unlike Liar Game friendship doesn't match wits. A positive for me, but I still thought Liar Game was good, check that out too if you are into the genre, it's more genius vs genius like Death Note than desperate gamblers vs desperate gamblers like Kaiji is most of the time.
Art: Really nice and unique style. It is a bit more dull than other anime, but the fact that 90% of anime are colourful, joyful styles that make me wonder where's my joy? it works fantastically. If more anime had a similar style it wouldn't be as impressive.
Sound: Great voice acting, great op/ed, really nice background music. So basically I enjoyed it, adds to the dramatic scenes.
Character: I love Itou Kaiji as a man, he is what I wish I was like. He fights through fear, is brave ect. but he also acts like a gambling addict at the first few signs of possible success. He is relatively naive and trusting. He isn't a selfish person, unlike most of the other characters and genuinely wants everyone to be happy rather than focusing on his own greed. He is a fool at times, but if he was perfect I wouldn't like him nearly as much.
Enjoyment:
This is an odd one for me, as I don't get immersed like I did up to around 16. Life and my mental health melted is thanks to that, but seeing someone so low is kind of relateable, which is nice. I would say it's (actually season 2 is) my favourite anime I've watched this year (2015) over Fate/Zero and many others. A couple of years ago I'd have probably been totally immersed in the fate series, but sadly that time is gone. Kaiji is a nice distraction from life, so it's something.
