First of all, Kaiji is a character driven... thriller/drama of some kind. It's about a man named Kaiji who's a bum... he's never had it good all his life, and his still bumming around aimlessly without clear direction which to apply himself.
Keep in mind that... if you do not like the premise or the main character... then you probably won't find it memorable.
The part that I found were important in this anime... are it's philosophies and qualities that make you think. It's very grim and dark... and it sometimes feel kind of preachy... but if you take a moment to think then you would find that those ideas have their own merits... and upon further application, that it's worth 100s of hours of thoughts.
This is very much about battle in society... or the rat race or should I say human stepping stones.
The philosophies root in money and the system that there is only a set amount of money and that if someone in the world is rich... someone is bound to be poor. Because really when your making money your getting it from somebody else.
You get where I am going with this? This anime documents these kinds of happenings around the world and how a low life bum would feel about it.
At first Kaiji is a very innocent man... able to trust anyone easily, but as the show goes on he quickly loses that innocence and becomes much more sharp... somewhat cynical but in the end he reaches a higher understanding and is able to have the spirit and the insight necessary to carry those all around him and himself into victory.
I watched this around the time when I was 17... and when I was conscious about my deprecating innocence. I was also a kid who was poor and had gone through some life stories some hard ships of his own. I think this really made me identify with the characters... and what they were trying to say...
The later arcs philosophical ideas really made an impact on me... even though I was thinking quiet similarly before I saw it.
Now that I am 19 and has changed some of my ideals... My ideals aren't as gritty as they used to be... but this anime still remains in a cozy part of my heart.
