Chuukan Kanriroku Tonegawa

Aaaaaah the refreshing feeling of watching something good and original!!

That's what I felt watching Tonegawa's anime. Despite one or two disposable episodes towards the end, the series as a whole is quite fun and well done, I'm not just talking about fluid animation, the story has its highlight here.
The episodes are always based on extremely original little adventures, whether from the Tonegawa saga or another character, with jokes that make you laugh out loud. It's silly without being stupid. It's very cool.

Tonegawa will never be forgotten and his legend is immortalized in this wonderful 24 episode anime!

Tonegawa, the title and the man alike, is an near perfect execution but can not exist in a vacuum. Without Kaiji, the show and the man alike, Tonegawa would still be an enjoyable show and character but would not have earned the label of Masterpiece. Keep this in mind and do not watch the show without having seen Kaiji.

With this in mind, Chuukan Kanriroky Tonegawa is a gaiden piece. From Kaiji, we see that Tonegawa is a smart man who earned his position; but as the primary antagonist, he needs to be flawed and also able to be rooted against. CKT shows the other face ... of the coin. Tonegawa is a man who does care for the people around him, he does have his flaws but puts in the hard work to overcome them and better his lot in life. No, he is not a paragon of virtue, but CKT gives us the character development to make him a fleshed out villain and not just an antagonistic force meant to be overcome.

Lastly, I want to draw specific attention to the opening sequence. Lyrically delightful, the true appeal of the opening is the changes it makes to reflect the plot. I won't go into details, but I wish more shows did this (understanding it does eat into resources and budget).

I like a five-star rating system rather than 10 stars, so a four really means a two and that means that I thought this anime was ok, but I don't think I would recommend it to other people.

I wanted to watch this because I thought it would be a deeper exploration into Tonegawa as a character and the rest of the Teiai organization. In a way I got that, and I wasn't opposed to it being a comedy series, but it just was not as fulfilling as I thought it would be. I don't mind the artstyle but it just doesn't look as good as ... the other series, it references the Kaiji series too much, the narrator (announcer, really) can be too much, and there isn't much that goes into how the characters and corporation really tick in a deeper way. Having good comedy would make up for that, but it was ok for me, definitely some laughs, but not amazing.

The last episode sums up the series, not coming to any real conclusion, but referencing Kaiji a lot and ending on a half-decent joke. It's alright for people who want to see more of this world of Kaiji, even with less ruthlessness, but it really feels like a published fan series, which it basically is. It's not so bad, but take it for what it's worth.