History Film / KaijiTheUltimateGambler

Kaiji Itō is a loser in life. All he does every day is waste his money on lottery tickets, work a meagre job and vandalise cars belonging to the rich. Unfortunately, a loan shark, Endo, informs Kaiji of an unpaid debt owed to a previous co-worker. Two choices are laid out in front of this hapless man: he can pay the debt in 11 years, or all in one night if he embarks a special ship named Espoir [[labelnote:Translation]]"Hope" in French[[/labelnote]]. Kaiji chooses the second option, and is thrust into a series of gambles that may make or break him in every way possible. Nonetheless, Kaiji will find the courage he thought he never had to achieve possible victories, big or small.

Kaiji Itō is a loser in life. All he does every day is waste his money on lottery tickets, work a meagre job and vandalise the cars of the rich. Unfortunately, a loan shark, Endo, arrives to inform Kaiji of an unpaid debt owed to a previous co-worker. Two choices are laid out in front of this hapless man: he can pay the debt in 11 years, or all in one night if he embarks a special ship named Espoir [[labelnote:Translation]]"Hope" in French[[/labelnote]]. Kaiji chooses the second option, and is thrust into a series of gambles that may make or break him in every way possible. Nonetheless, Kaiji will find the courage he thought he never had to achieve possible victories, big or small.

* ThemeMusicPowerUp: When Kaiji is reeling from [[spoiler:Ishida's suicide on the 'Brave Men Road']], he slowly wills himself to keep walking across to the other building. This moment then segues into a roaring reprise of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXiJQ3u47E&list=RD87KaufnbXzs&index=13 "OPENING TITLE"]][[note]]The reprise begins at 5:32.[[/note]], as Kaiji regains the will to live and win for a better future.
* TriumphantReprise: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXiJQ3u47E&list=RD87KaufnbXzs&index=13 Kaiji's main theme]] is played in a higher, hopeful key at the ''exact'' moment it's revealed that [[spoiler:Kaiji actually won against Tonegawa in 'E-Card']]. It's even punctuated with the [[spoiler:Teiai underground workers loudly cheering at this achievement, since they watched the whole thing on a TV]].

* DeadlyGame: It's the ''modus operandi'' of the Espoir. If you lose 'Restricted Rock Paper Scissors', you will be sent to daily underground labour to pay off your debt in monthly instalments, which is highly unlikely given the unfavourable conditions or the hefty prices for medicine or snacks. If you lose the Electric Current Steel Frame Crossing, you die by either losing your balance or electrocution. If you lose the 'E-Card' game, you will be sent back to labour for a longer period of time, possibly permanently.

* ThemeMusicPowerUp: When Kaiji is reeling from [[spoiler:Ishida's suicide on the 'Brave Men Road']], Sahara shouts at Kaiji to keep going, and not to fall like the other competitors. This then segues into a roaring reprise of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXiJQ3u47E&list=RD87KaufnbXzs&index=13 "OPENING TITLE"]][[note]]The reprise begins at 5:32.[[/note]], as Kaiji regains the will to live and win for a better future.

* BookEnds: Not only are the first and last games on the Espoir a card game, but they also involve Kaiji [[spoiler:using blood to mark a card and trick his opponent into believing that their opponent will move in a way that will benefit them]].
* CaneFu: Hyōdō puts his walking stick to good use at the end, by [[spoiler:whacking Tomegawa thrice over his E-Card loss]].
* ChekhovsGun: The microchip injected into Kaiji's right shoulder for labor, designed to track the person 24/7. [[spoiler:It's also a handy heart monitor that Tonegawa has on his watch, used to foresee what card Kaiji will play in the E-Card game]].

* DeadlyGame: It's the ''modus operandi'' of the Espoir. If you lose Restricted Rock Paper Scissors, you will be sent to daily underground labour to pay off your debt in monthly instalments, which is highly unlikely given the unfavourable conditions or the hefty prices for medicine or snacks. If you lose the Electric Current Steel Frame Crossing, you die by either losing your balance or electrocution. If you lose the E-Card game, you will be sent back to labour for a longer period of time, possibly permanently.
* DeterminedDefeatist: When the rules for the E-Card game are revealed, this trope is used to justify why the Slave card can beat the Emperor card.

* GratuitousEnglish: Tonegawa shouts out ''[[PrecisionFStrike "FUCK YOU!"]]'' when the contestants for Restricted Rock Paper Scissors demand more answers about the game.
* HopeSpot: There is one that the villains don't even cause to the heroes, in Restricted Rock Paper Scissors. After Kaiji beats [[{{Jerkass}} Funai]] at his own game, he harmlessly expends all his cards with a newfound friend, Ishida. The timer runs out, and the two rejoice... only for Ishida to realise that he forgot about one more card in his pocket, meaning he failed the game. Kaiji decides to join him in his fate, despite using up all of his cards, and both are sent to underground labor.

** In Restricted Rock Paper Scissors, Kaiji and Funai noticed each other's last cards: rock and a bloodstained scissors respectively. Kaiji then created a plan when Funai announced the reshuffling of everybody's cards, by counting on Funai's strategy of deliberately giving his rival and himself the cards seen earlier to easily win immunity. He then joined up with Ishida, who still had all 12 cards, and proceeded to wipe off the blood on the Scissors card's corner and reapply it on the corner of one of Ishida's Paper cards that he would take for himself. Giving the newly possessed Paper card to Funai, that man would bend the corner of his Rock card to reclaim it while giving back the blood-stained card he thought was Scissors to Kaiji. In the end, Kaiji chose to bet his final star and Ishida's two remaining stars for his match against Funai and proceeded to beat Funai's Rock, keeping Ishida and him in the game... [[HopeSpot seemingly]].
** The final E-Card round turns out to be this. Kaiji figures out that [[spoiler:Tonegawa's watch worn in the first two rounds was different than the one before the game started, which Tonegawa constantly looked at during the duel. From this, he discovers that Tonegawa was viewing his opponent's heart rate on the watch via Kaiji's SlaveBrand microchip, so that he can know what cards his opponents will use. So, Kaiji headbutts a nearby mirror over and over to draw blood before the third round begins, hoping to employ the marking tactic from the Restricted Rock Paper Scissors round on two of his face-down cards: a Citizen on the left and a Slave on the right. Due to Kaiji's injury, Tonegawa's heart monitor levels rapidly fluctuate, rendering it useless. Kaiji then grabs another face-down Citizen card with his hand covering it, moves the card so that it's over the right card and then pulls it back. He ends up riding on the fact that Tonegawa would hesitate and notice which cards were stained with blood, what strategy Kaiji was using, and the possibility that Kaiji may have swapped the face-down right card, essentially baiting him into using his Emperor card. Thus, Kaiji destroys that card with his Slave card and wins the game]]!

* RageAgainstTheReflection: Before the third E-Card round, Kaiji smashes his face four times on a mirror, chastising himself over his loser status. [[spoiler:This is actually part of his plan, as he can mark specific E-Cards with his blood and screw over Tonegawa's readings of Kaiji's heart rate on his watch]].

* ScreamDiscretionShot: When people lose Restricted Rock Paper Scissors, they are taken to a back room by black suits, where only screaming is heard. When Kaiji goes in there later, we see why: they are being branded with the Teiai Corporation's emblem. This trope, along with SmashToBlack, is also used for Kaiji himself, as the brand gets closer to his arm.

* ThemeMusicPowerUp: When Kaiji is reeling from [[spoiler:Ishida's suicide on the Brave Men Road]], Sahara shouts at Kaiji to keep going, and not to fall like the other competitors. This then segues into a roaring reprise of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smXiJQ3u47E&list=RD87KaufnbXzs&index=13 "OPENING TITLE"]][[note]]The reprise begins at 5:32.[[/note]], as Kaiji regains the will to live and win for a better future.