History YMMV / Kaiji

** Yugo Kanno of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' fame was the one to helm the three live-action films, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W83F1jHehJ4 his main theme]] just fills you with hope for our protagonist to achieve a victory of some magnitude.

* JerkassWoobie: Hiromitsu Ishida is quite rude and unpleasant with how he constantly tells Kaiji that his plans to excape are pointless, but he;s still meant to be sympathetic and one of the big questions of the Bog arc is if he'll be able to improve himself. [[spoiler:Thankfully, at the end, the 45'ers put their money together to buy his freedom]].

* NightmareFuel: Teiai Corp.'s various [[ColdBloodedTorture torture]] [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment devices]] as well as the second half of the Brave Men Road arc.

* TheWoobie: Some will argue that the whole point of this series is to see Kaiji lose tremendously, get back up in an inspiring and heart-winning manner...then lose even more tremendously. In the end, you just want to give him a hug or buy him some drinks after all that's happened to him (losing scads of money, betrayal and bullying, [[spoiler:maiming, losing his comrades, being forced into slave labor, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking being harassed by a girl he doesn't like]]]]...the list goes on). Many fans will argue that Kaiji is indeed "moe", or moeGAR.
** JerkassWoobie: Hiromitsu Ishida comes off as this at first.

* HilariousInHindsight: During the Brave Man's Road gamble, Tonegawa compares the participants' refusal to take the situation seriously with them pretending to be in a virtual reality. Years later, the gamble itself received a video game adaptation. In Virtual Reality. A trailer for the game can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctWLThMFDo here]].
** It's never explicitly stated what happens to people who get sent to the other room aboard Espoir. The Playstation 1 Kaiji game takes a guess in it's game over, [[spoiler: showing people getting strapped down on a restraining table [[CruelAndUnusualDeath and chopped up to sell their body parts for profit]]]]. Years later in Part 3, it turns out Kazuya uses the exact same method to make people repay their debts to him.

* HilariousInHindsight: During the Brave Man's Road gamble, Tonegawa compares the participants' refusal to take the situation seriously with them pretending to be in a virtual reality. Years later, the gamble itself received a video game adaptation. In [[VirtualReality Virtual Reality]]. A trailer for the game can be seen [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jctWLThMFDo here]].

** Kaiji is commonly paired with Sahara, Endou, Kazuya, [[FoeYay Tonegawa, or Ichijou]].
** NoYay / FoeYay: Between Hyoudou and Kaiji. The former ''drools'' at the sight of the latter in pain.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: With most (if not all) Kaiji's victories being either temporary or [[PyrrhicVictory too nominal and costly to be celebrated]], and most losses resulting in permanent injury or unrecoverable consequences, many viewers wonder if it's reasonable to cheer for a protagonist who appears to be doomed from the start. The story starts to become more optimistic in the later parts, as Kaiji begins to succeed in his goals more and more, giving viewers the idea that he may actually stand a chance thanks to his willpower and morality.

* {{Bishounen}}: Ichijou (in-universe, of course).

* DudeLooksLikeALady: Ichijou.

* StylisticSuck: The character designs are infamously ugly, with super-thick lines and faces that are either soft and bulbous or creepily hyper-masculine.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: With most (if not all) Kaiji's victories being either temporary or [[PyrrhicVictory too nominal and costly to be celebrated]], and most losses resulting in permanent injury or unrecoverable consequences, many viewers wonder if it's reasonable to cheer for protagonist who appears to be doomed from the start. This begins to become less extreme in the later parts, as Kaiji begins to succeed in his goals more and more, and the idea that he may actually stand a chance thanks to his willpower and morality.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The manga keeps driving the point to not rely on luck. The gambling industry is ''not'' trying to help you. It only wants your money and ''will'' take advantage of your hopes and desperation. That said, this can also be an example of SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped, with how popular gambling has become.

** Some of the ''Proverbs of Kaiji'' segments in season 2 come off as this, due to the way said proverbs can sound [[ItMakesSenseInContext out of contenxt]].

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Kazutaka Hyōdō]] is a {{sadist}}ic and {{greed}}y monster of a man who orchestrates many of the horrors in the story to satisfy his own depraved love for seeing others suffer. Taking advantage of gamblers and other people in deep debt, Hyōdō offers them the chance to win their way out of debt by engaging in a variety of "games" that range from harmless card activities to tightrope walking across high buildings on electrified posts. Hyōdō forces the participants to risk body parts, organs, and even their very lives in service of his challenges, ensuring that the dozens of losers of his games either die in the process or are [[SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil enslaved]] and worked in horrible conditions for years or until death, and [[BadBoss doles out similar punishments to his own minions for often absurd reasoning]]. Hyōdō also subjects even the loyal [[TheDragon Yukio Tonegawa]] to burning his head on a boiling plate for [[YouHaveFailedMe failure]]; [[TheCorrupter corrupts]] his son Kazuya into becoming a similar monster as himself; and schemes to one day hold the key to survival for all life on Earth, planning to only save those who can pay him or who he will find amusement in tormenting.

* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: It's alright to lie, cheat and steal when your survival absolutely depends on it.

** Yugo Kanno of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' fame was the one to helm the three live-action films, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG5FTZsoqM4 his main theme]] just fills you with hope for our protagonist to achieve a victory of some magnitude.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Kazutaka Hyōdō]] is a {{sadist}}ic and {{greed}}y monster of a man who orchestrates many of the horrors in the story to satisfy his own depraved love for seeing others suffer. Taking advantage of gamblers and other people in deep debt, Hyōdō offers them the chance to win their way out of debt by engaging in a variety of "games" that range from harmless card activities to tightrope walking across high buildings on electrified posts. Hyōdō forces the participants to risk body parts, organs, and even their very lives in service of his challenges, ensuring that the dozens of losers of his games either die in the process or are enslaved and worked in horrible conditions for years or until death, and [[BadBoss doles out similar punishments to his own minions for often absurd reasoning]]. Hyōdō also subjects even the loyal [[TheDragon Yukio Tonegawa]] to burning his head on a boiling plate for [[YouHaveFailedMe failure]]; [[TheCorrupter corrupts]] his son Kazuya into becoming a similar monster as himself; and schemes to one day hold the key to survival for all life on Earth, planning to only save those who can pay him or who he will find amusement in tormenting.

* CompleteMonster: [[BigBad Kazutaka Hyōdō]], a wealthy socialite and [[CorruptCorporateExecutive president of the financial consulting firm Teiai]], is a man driven mad by money and power whose only enjoyment in life is to see the lower classes of society struggle for their lives and money in illegal gambling tournaments. In Part 1, Hyōdō has a group of his debtors gamble in a ship, collecting badges from each other. Those who lose all their badges are transferred to an underground mine where they are forced to work for their money in horrible conditions, most of them dying due to work-related injuries or breathing problems caused by the smoke. In Part 2, Hyōdō forces another group of debtors to walk on a narrow plank ten meters up the air, and to win, they have to push down others, breaking their bones while doing so. After [[ActionSurvivor Kaiji]] and a handful of others manage to walk on the other side, they are then forced on a similar plank which is electrified and hundreds of meters up the air. Kaiji, being the sole survivor of the second part, is then obliged to duel against Hyōdō's right-hand man, [[TheDragon Yukio Tonegawa]], and [[SadisticChoice choose]] either his {{eye|Scream}} or [[EarAche eardrum]] as his stake. After Kaiji wins, Hyōdō proves [[BadBoss how cruel he is to his subordinates]], forcing Tonegawa to kneel for a minute on a scalding platform. Briefly appearing in Part 3, Hyōdō is seen drinking the blood of his victims, while treating his other subordinates with similar cruelty. A truly despicable old man, Hyōdō is the living incarnate of {{greed}} and cruelty in a [[CrapsackWorld world where people are willingly to do anything in order to pay back their debts]].