THIS REVIEW CONTAINERS SPOILERS The theme of Kaiji season two is powerlessness. Hyodou himself says so describing the broadcast of Kaijis grand pachinko gamble as being an exercise in powerlessness. This idea permeates every facet of the season and nothing impresses me more than media that integrates a theme into every fiber of its being. However we also see another more longrunning theme of Kaijis in season two: Good ideas failing to reach their true potential. Unfortunately like many other wouldbe greats the show becomes victims to all variety of annoying anime tropes that drastically hurt at least my viewing experience in addition to one greater mistake on the part of the production team. But lets start with what the show does well: THE GOOD Season two manages to improve upon much of the successes and failings of its predecessor. The narrator now only explains MOST of whats going on as opposed to interrupting every 5 minutes the analogies and their respective animations have become much more interesting the gambles themselves have become less predictable and the number of Kaijisans has been roughly cut in half. As well as this the show further improves upon its two main strongpoints: the integration of its central theme and the character of Kaiji. Kaiji as a show has always distinguished itself thanks to the uniqueness of its protagonist who unlike many of his fellow MCs is a deeply flawed person beyond just the surface level. He is a compulsive gambler a horrendous hypocrite and bears quite the hero complex. He is also entirely static. Throughout the whole 52 episode runtime Kaiji learns just about nothing never growing out of his old ways. In any other anime a lack of character development would spell total and utter disaster however this gamble on the part of the author pays off in spades. It succeeds because Kaiji is not a normal character. Where other anime would fail because they do not have a cast interesting enough to create conflict on their own Kaiji succeeds because Kaiji is a complex person. He has his own selfdoubts moral code fears hopes and even an irregular flirtatious relationship with religion. At the beginning of the show Kaiji already is a complete toolkit for plot generation and this is quite the impressive feat. It also enables the show to entirely change its metric for progression. Instead of being measured by his own actions and developments as a person the viewer is left to judge Kaiji by his material wealth. Kaijis successes are only defined by the money he gains and his losses are defined by the money he lost his only viable path to redemption being the pursuit of even more money through the same methods that caused him to lose it in the first place. This creates quite the biting criticism of materialism as it satirizes the idea of someone being defined only by their wealth through the very storytelling mechanics of the anime. If this was intentional its fucking brilliant. Speaking of money while Kaiji has always been about the dangers of greed season two branches out to discuss the idea of powerlessness and how it relates to gambling. Pachinko is a game that is literally all luck which leads one to believe that it would be a terrible fit for any real narrative as character achievement by pure chance is generally not very satisfying. However remember Kaiji the show doesnt care about character achievement it cares about money. In this season it paints a clear picture of the risks involved in gambling by portraying a scenario in which Kaiji along with the rest of the cast is entirely powerless. Still the series takes its time easing us into the idea of sheer chance controlling both the narrative and the life of the MC so completely. The season begins with the Chinchiron arc which is inversely defined by empowerment. It is about Kaiji taking control of his life despite his circumstance actively pushing against the antagonist Ootsuki to escape the labor camp. When he creates his own snakeeyes dice he is an acting force making effort to push towards his goals. And it pays off the dice secure his victory meaning that his previous actions had merit and purpose. The Pachinko arc is set up the same way with Kaiji scheming for weeks devising the perfect plan to defeat the Bog. This is a very clever illusion meant to get the audience invested in Kaijis plan. Keeping the plan itself hidden furthers this as it builds anticipation for future episodes where it will be revealed. It has been made clear time and time again that Kaijis plans are if anything convoluted and spectacular defining their respective gambles.Thus the audience is left to assume the same is true here and get attached to the idea of the plan. Then said expectations are flipped on their head as Kaiji slowly runs out of tricks to pull. The Bog refutes each of Kaijis real attempts to beat it curling up in selfdefense. It refuses to let him win through any method other than luck. Kaiji getting 10 million off of Endou was luck the disposal tubes blocking was luck the old man showing up with another 20 million was luck. Kaijis plan is an enabling force at most but in the end is utterly meaningless. He could have just as easily lost regardless of his action prior to which is a far cry from the near guaranteed success we saw his actions yielding in the first arc. As such a clear stance is given on gambling as well as life: that everyone is at least at some stage entirely dependent on luck. There is still one ray of hope though as at the end of the show we see Kaiji finally free of his debt accompanied by the op of the first season which boldly states the future is in our hands. Where previously this phrase was used as satire to the belief many gamblers hold that they can determine their destiny through the cards in their hands now it feels sincere as Kaiji finally has a fresh start with the opportunity to make his own future. Compounding on the theme of powerlessness is the motif of the screen. Near the beginning of his battle against the Bog a number of suits show up to broadcast Kaijis gamble to the prisoners underground as well as to Hyodou. Hyodou explains that he wants to do this because the prisoners underground can do nothing but watch as Kaiji presumably fails teaching them a lesson in powerlessness. What he does not explain however is that they too are powerless. In fact nobody has any real say in the proceedings. While the television screen separates the prisoners from Kaiji leaving them helpless so too does it separate Hyodou when Kaiji inevitably wins leaving him frustrated and vindictive. Then there is the glass screen of the Bog itself preventing both Kaiji and Ichijou from affecting the proceedings. They establish in the beginning that neither party is allowed to modify the machine midgamble. As such the glass of the Bog becomes an impregnable wall leaving both parties helpless but to watch as the measures they had set in place before are set into motion. Even Kaiji who is the one at the reigns is nothing more than a glorified spectator. His options to influence the game are entirely limited to getting more money and sending in more balls both of which are largely circumstantial to success. Finally the viewer is also literally separated from the events by a screen of their own placing them in the exact same spot as Kaiji. This is the shows secret how it keeps you hooked. You want to see what happens next because youre in the exact same position as the protagonist entirely helpless but to continue. However in its execution of these ideas the show falters. Which brings us to... THE BAD The latter half of this season has the pacing of a boss fight in an awful dragon ball z clone. Kaijis war on the Bog lasts nine whole epsiodes. For over three hours the show revolves around Kaiji sitting at a Pachinko machine and screaming/crying. That and a couple dozen flashbacks to slowly reveal his plan. In theory this gamble could have been the most gripping arc yet but it loses itself in its own selfindulgence whittling away precious runtime with excess drivel. I cant tell if this is the result of poor storyboarding or blatant filler to round out the season but it is bad. I went from being on the edge of my seat cheering Kaiji on to cursing him for continuing to fight back. I just wanted it to end and after a certain point I didnt care who won. This constitutes a fatal failure for Kaiji. On paper they had a foolproof method to keep the viewer hooked but they drew it out too long. There is a limit to the duration of a persons excitement for any single given thing this a simple biological factor that they didnt consider. In failing to do so Kaiji becomes grating and boring almost tempting the viewer to skip episodes just so they can get the relief they were looking for and move on with their life. At this point watching is no longer about the character the themes or the plot it is a primal need for closure. This overrides everything else that the show does well ultimately ruining much of its value. It also forced me to notice all the little things the show does that I hate. As well as having the pacing of a dragonball clone it also has the same dependence on midfight flashbacks. Initially I think they do serve a purpose but at a certain point it ventures into absurdity. Again this likely would not have been an issue if the gamble was simply shorter. Plus even if its less often theres always some filler character shouting out Kaijisan a chant that was on my nerves before the season even started. Overall I think the second season of Kaiji was still worth watching but it could have been so much more. One last word of praise I think Kaiji wasting all his money on Pachinko only to be bailed out by a random suit is the perfect ending.