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| THIS IS A MANGA ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS ANYTHING BEYOND THIS CHAPTER. ---------------------------------------- While it had its merits, this arc has a hard time comparing positively with everything that came before it. Thoughts? |
Guns47Nov 22, 2012 7:05 PM
One more gamble Godammit Kaiji, you foolish, foolish bugger. You never learn do you. |
Nilvius said: One more gamble Godammit Kaiji, you foolish, foolish bugger. You never learn do you. Kaiji made a vow at the end of season 1 to rematch Hyoudou. He's so close that he can probably almost taste it. The series is progressing significantly, and it's incredible. This arc was drastically different from everything else we've seen in Kaiji so far, and I really applaud Fukumoto for, once again, doing something different and making it very intense despite its absurdity and length. (The bog being the other occasion of this.) I mean, think about it, that was totally 12 volumes of one gamble, a primarily luck based one at that, occuring in one night. The fact that he pulled it off so beautifully is astounding. I enjoyed part 1 and 2 or Kaiji more, but I can't quite say anything bad about this manga. I think the reason I enjoyed it less was because it was Mahjong. It's not that I don't know how to play Mahjong, it's just that I am just kinda bored with Mahjong as a gamble. Fukumoto has done enough Mahjong, imo. I liked how Kaiji has always been original gambles, but this arc, even though it was a variation of it, was still, at its core, Mahjong, a game that Fukumoto has already milked to death. |
skutieos said: Like Sakazaki said, he should have quit while he's ahead. But his mentality is basically, "One more gamble to win it all back". He may say it's to take down that old man, but let's face it, the bottom line is that he's a compulsive gambler; he's addicted.Kaiji made a vow at the end of season 1 to rematch Hyoudou. He's so close that he can probably almost taste it. |
Nilvius said: skutieos said: Like Sakazaki said, he should have quit while he's ahead. But his mentality is basically, "One more gamble to win it all back". He may say it's to take down that old man, but let's face it, the bottom line is that he's a compulsive gambler; he's addicted.Kaiji made a vow at the end of season 1 to rematch Hyoudou. He's so close that he can probably almost taste it. That's true, but what would happen to the story if he wasn't? What if he simply decided to stop while he was ahead? The story would feel unfinished. It can't end without him having a rematch with Hyoudou. It's just the logical progression, especially after meeting Kazuya. If you think about it, the only time Kaiji ever lost at one of his gambles was to Hyoudou. He has built himself back up from that loss and he'll eventually be ready to challenge him again. That has to be Kaiji's ultimate goal. So sure, Kaiji is a compulsive gambler, but it's an important plot device. |
| While I still liked that arc, it didn't fell as good as the previous ones (but it might because I don't like Mah Jong). Still It was ok and the last 20 chaps or so felt more interesting. I think the next arc is just as long though |
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| Great ending, I can't wait to see him wipe that smirk off Hyoudou's face. Though with that mentality this could go either way, he might end up dying at the end. |
| I loved it. I know NOTHING about Mahjong, but you can understand what's going on and damn, almost 130 chapter playing one (luck based) game... But it was sooo intense. I couldn't stop reading, I read about 60 chapters today because I couldn't stop. Looking forward to the next arc, I want a conclusion, I want Kaiji to have a rematch with Hyoudo. He just deserves it and I really hope he finally lost his trust to other people because everytime he trusts somebody, he gets screwed. 9/10 for me, because I never would've thought that playing Mahjong could be that intense and thrilling... |
| Well, I don't know where to begin, this was definitely an interesting arc. Much like the Pachinko arc, it lasted forever taking over 100 chapters to finish (I don't remember which chapter the game started but I can confidently say it lasted at least for 120 chapters). Thankfully for us, this arc was way better than the Pachinko arc (which wasn't even bad to be fair). Maybe it's because I was allowed to consume the story at my own pace but this never really felt like it dragged. I'm glad it didn't last any longer than it did but unlike the Pachinko arc, I was more happy to see Kaiji win than to be done with 17 Steps. Fukumoto did something incredible here, he managed to not only make the game consistently entertaining, it only become more interesting over time. The final few games were easily the best of the batch though the 12th was probably my favorite. While Kaiji's victory came from an incredibly amount of luck, the plan behind it was brilliant & a fitting end to Minefield Mahjong. While it wasn't as awesome as say, his win in Chinchiro, it was still a very satisfying victory. The characters this round were what you'd expect from Kaiji. A really, really strong protagonist, shitty betraying friends, a greedy villain and a sadistic & smarter villain. Kaiji has always been the strongest character in the series & he is, in my opinion, one of the best leading mans you'll ever find however this time he brings along some of the best supporting cast with him. Miyoshi & Maeda's betrayal at the very least, isn't a horrible as I imagined. It's not just motivated by greed, they believed him to have betrayed them first. Muraoka's over the top performances can be quite funny, making him rather entertaining on his own. & Kazuya played an integral part of this arc, rather being the impartial judge or the quiet sadist he is (him casually bringing up cutting people was awesome). They aren't my favorite characters from Kaiji but as a whole they're probably the strongest cast sans, funnily enough, the Pachinko arc (maybe E-Cards). The art I suppose can be a hate it or love it but I love it. Characters becoming all wavy here > characters becoming chibi, any day. There are a lot of funny moments brought on just be the art style itself, & I love it. For an example of how well the art can positively embrace the comedy, the page in the spoiler tag from this chapter, had me laughing my ass off . . . Everything from Kaiji's sparkle to Muraoka's snot is hilarious & I'll hear nothing to the contrary. Anyway, I'll be honest, I don't think I enjoyed this as much as the first two parts but really, that's a causality of the medium more than anything else. I can only imagine how much more I enjoyed this part if Madhouse ever gives Kaiji a season three, with it's hype-man narrator, Masato Hagiwara's perfectly casted Kaiji or Hideki Taniuchi's immaculate score. I really hope we see that one day but none of this is the fault of the manga which on it's own, is another great entry in the Kaiji franchise. 8/10. If I were to rank the arcs . . . Bridge of Life>E-Cards>Chinchiro>17 Steps (this, E-Cards & Chinchiro are really, really close)>Janken>Pachinko>Tissue Box Lottery. Oh & after marathonin' this & Akagi, I think I'm done with Mahjong for awhile. |
| This was some good shit |
| Wow. Just wow. From knowing nothing about Mahjong to knowing a little bit something about Mahjong just from reading this manga. Putting that aside, the first time I jumped into this manga thinking I wouldn't enjoy it because I don't know anything about Mahjong, but I've been proven wrong. Despite the pacing issues just like in almost every Fukumoto's works, the tensity is still there(it's almost as tense as the Bridge arc but the narrator of the anime really boosted the tensity of the Bridge arc). 8/10. |
| Fantastic, lives up to part 1, better than part 2. I loved Muraoka as a villain, I initially thought he was a poorly written dumb antagonist but the manga slapped me in the face, when I was thinking, man oh man Kaiji has this guy on lock harder than anyone else before, why is he so dumb, it slapped so hard. It told me, you fell right into the same rabbit hole as Kaiji did. Not only that, but I knew Miyoshi would betray him, or at least do some scummy stuff because my friend spoiled that for me. What actually happened for me though, is I assumed he must do it later down the line, everything was so real, he couldn't be betraying him. Both notions I initially had, one I accepted before it was proven wrong, and the other I denied before it was proven true, really shocked me. On top of that, I just loved him so much, he was a scummy dude. He was pathetic, and had no guts and he was a horrible person, but at the same time he was incredibly human. He hated Kazuya, even wanted to strangle him, he had fears, and he had a lot he didn't want to lose. When we heard his thoughts, especially in the latter half of the manga, he was so real. I found his back and fourth with Kaiji amazing, despite being a gutless bastard, he was smart and their back and fourths were intense. For one game, the entire manga based around it, literally 131 chapters of two dudes sitting across from each other, I was enthralled non stop. Not once did I want to put it down. A huge portion of that goes to such a fantastic villain, I truly had no idea who would win, or what was even going to happen next. This part also had some of my favorite moments in Kaiji thus far. I loved when Kaiji, had first realized the betrayal and tested his comrades to see if they were betraying him. I really liked how he reflected on both his friendships in part 1, and part 2 to decide on whether they could truly be betraying him or not. And when Kaiji finally switched his entire hand at the last second, THEN called out Maeda as a betraying piece of shit, I was so hype. That was gar. When three chapters took up a minute, one being 15 seconds in Kaiji's time, just to show us the panic of Kaiji dancing around the room in a gross display of defeat, only to find his last pieces at the last second. I had to hold my breath the entire scene. I laughed hysterically when Kaiji came sprinting from the bathroom to catch Muraoka in the act of cheating. He then punches out both Miyoshi and Maeda, and forces the door in to punch yet another lackey. What a beautiful moment, with Muraoka freaking out and scrambling to save himself, seriously one of the funniest moments in Kaiji yet. Lastly, when Muraoka was trying to get into Kaiji's head before the last game or so, and Kaiji called him out and told him to his face, that it wasn't Kaiji but the pres that was going to lose. This is why Kaiji is a top tier husbando folks. Honorable mention to early on, when Kaiji had to improvise to get Miyoshi to catch on to re-signal to Kaiji what Muraoka's wait was. Overall, I absolutely loved the back and fourth of the game, the humanization of such a scum bag, I loved the gar moments and I absolutely loved the themes of the last parts coming back so strong, especially to it's strong effect of showcasing Kaiji's major development throughout the series. 8/10, lives up to part 1 in my mind. May be on the high of finishing it and change my mind, but these thoughts definitely won't change. Side note, but the blurb about Muraoka being a subtraction kind of guy, one who judges other people doing their job as a 60%, and if they make any mistakes they're a 40% or even 20% even when they're doing their best, really resonated with me. I find myself falling into doing this sometimes and it actually let me catch myself well I was in the act and appreciate someone already. Kaiji life lessons. |
| I thought this arc was great! While I instinctively gave it a 10/10 I will probably lower it a bit... This last chapter in particular had some great moments. I had to laugh at some points. Muraoka was a great villain, and I like the Hyoudou kid, too. I may have went on a Kaiji binge a bit too much, maybe I will have to take a break. |
| This is garbage, i literally saw 1000 pages on 2 people standing on a seat thinking, if it wasn't for the characters and the story in general i would have dropped this boring mess 100%, i just hope the next chapter is more dynamic, ohhhh man. Last 10 chapt saved the series from a 5/10 EDIT: I don't care, this garbage deserves 5/10 |
QuasarAfterLifeJan 16, 2022 5:37 PM
| I won't lie, I'm relieved this arc is finished. Since I don't know anything about mahjong I had a hard time following the game which made me unable to fully appreciate it. I hope that the next time I read it, I will understand |
| I really liked this part, I only know the very basics of mahjong and this deepened my understanding of mahjong greatly(I guess I can read Akagi now). I loved how much of a lunatic Muraoka acts during the game. Kazuya is also an interesting character so far. also, Miyoshi and Maeda are so gullible to believe Muraoka. That Kaiji guy actually saved your live from hell ! I wonder what Kaiji will get himself into now. overall, 9/10 |
| Woah, this manga went by like a breeze! I'm familiar with mahjong so not having to use extra brain power in trying to comprehend the rules and terminology was an asset for sure, but the narrative repertition that's used as a device to amplify intense situations made the reading experience extra smooth. May the goddess of luck be on Kaiji's side in the next arc as well... |
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