"The year is 2020. The end of the Tokyo Olympics, which were held with great national fanfare, triggered the country's economy to slow down at a frightening pace. The national debt is well over 1.5 quadrillion yen, and prices are rising due to inflation. The unemployment rate is now 40%, and foreign investors are buying up exhausted and cheaply sold Japanese technology like vultures. Now, in this country, only the rich and powerful can survive, while the weak, with no money, are easily crushed. They try to stay alive by huddling together. Money. It's all because of money."
— Kaiji Itō's Opening Monologue.
Kurosaki: I used to work in a finance-related field. BUT LENDING MONEY TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE IT ISN'T GOING TO HELP THEM! Why don't we offer jobs, instead of money? DON'T YOU THINK THAT'S THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM? So I appealed directly to Chairman Hyōdō of the Teiai Group about setting up a dispatch company called Goodwill Industries. I have sent hundreds of temp workers to this man's company, but he terminated all of their contracts due to downturns. THE VERDICT? My valued temp workers have fallen on hard times, and some of them have taken their own lives.
Tōgō: What are you talking about? THAT'S NOT TRUE!
Kurosaki: I've come here to avenge them!
Tōgō: What are you talking about? THAT'S NOT TRUE!
Kurosaki: I've come here to avenge them!
— Yoshihiro Kurosaki pleads his case to "The Last Judgement"'s fans.
"I've kicked a lot of people to the curb, and I've had my share of employees resent me for it. It is indeed true that I've never lived a life of praise. But right now, I can't leave this country on the brink of sinking! This man is taking advantage of the messy inflation crisis, and making temp employees work for unfair wages! The dispatch employees I had working for my company took their lives because of it! I'm the one who wants revenge here!"
— Shigeru Tōgō pleads his case to "The Last Judgement"'s fans.
Takakura: Why would you do something so stupid? DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? ALL YOU'VE DONE IS RUIN THIS COUNTRY! YOU'LL SINK IT! YOU DESTROYED THE ONLY WAY FOR THIS COUNTRY TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE! THE ONLY PATH TO JAPAN'S SALVATION...
[Kaiji shoves Takakura off him.]
Kaiji: GO TO HELL! JAPAN'S SALVATION?! YEAH, RIGHT! ALL YOU'VE DONE IS THROW THE WEAK TO THE WOLVES!
Takakura: (Standing up) It's those weaklings... that are eating away at Japan! Pensions, medical bills, warfare... they are all burdens that are sinking the ship of Japan! WE HAVE NO CHOICE! SOME SACRIFICES ARE INEVITABLE! I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO SAVE JAPAN FOR THE NEXT GENERATION, EVEN IF IT MEANS SPILLING SOME BLOOD NOW...
Kaiji: You're crazy! Look. (Walks to Takakura, grabs and turns him around the stadium) Look at that!
[Takakura looks at the broadcast of the politicians' attempted escape with their suitcases of money.]
Kaiji: YOU WERE TRYING TO SAVE THESE PEOPLE, NOT JAPAN! WE'RE JAPAN! AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF US ARE! IF THE GENERAL PUBLIC ISN'T JAPAN, WHAT IS?! WE'RE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT! WHY DON'T WE SHARE THE PAIN TOGETHER?!
Takakura: Don't get the wrong idea! I didn't want to let those guys get away unscathed! I was just using them! I USED THEM TO MAKE AN IDEAL CHOICE, TO GET RID OF UNPRODUCTIVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU, AND BUILD A NEW JAPAN WITH MY OWN HANDS...
Kaiji: STOP BEING SO PRIDEFUL! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! It's up to you to decide who and what to bet on! It's the people who have to gamble that decide! Just get it through your head. You've lost. Lost to the ants you were trying to destroy.
[Kaiji shoves Takakura off him.]
Kaiji: GO TO HELL! JAPAN'S SALVATION?! YEAH, RIGHT! ALL YOU'VE DONE IS THROW THE WEAK TO THE WOLVES!
Takakura: (Standing up) It's those weaklings... that are eating away at Japan! Pensions, medical bills, warfare... they are all burdens that are sinking the ship of Japan! WE HAVE NO CHOICE! SOME SACRIFICES ARE INEVITABLE! I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO SAVE JAPAN FOR THE NEXT GENERATION, EVEN IF IT MEANS SPILLING SOME BLOOD NOW...
Kaiji: You're crazy! Look. (Walks to Takakura, grabs and turns him around the stadium) Look at that!
[Takakura looks at the broadcast of the politicians' attempted escape with their suitcases of money.]
Kaiji: YOU WERE TRYING TO SAVE THESE PEOPLE, NOT JAPAN! WE'RE JAPAN! AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF US ARE! IF THE GENERAL PUBLIC ISN'T JAPAN, WHAT IS?! WE'RE ALL IN THE SAME BOAT! WHY DON'T WE SHARE THE PAIN TOGETHER?!
Takakura: Don't get the wrong idea! I didn't want to let those guys get away unscathed! I was just using them! I USED THEM TO MAKE AN IDEAL CHOICE, TO GET RID OF UNPRODUCTIVE PEOPLE LIKE YOU, AND BUILD A NEW JAPAN WITH MY OWN HANDS...
Kaiji: STOP BEING SO PRIDEFUL! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! It's up to you to decide who and what to bet on! It's the people who have to gamble that decide! Just get it through your head. You've lost. Lost to the ants you were trying to destroy.
— Kaiji Itō laying down the reasons why Kōsuke Takakura's deposit blockade failed.
