Kaiji (2009 Film)

, also known as ''Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler'', is a 2009 Japanese live-action film based on ''Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji'', the first part of the manga series ''Kaiji'', written and illustrated by Nobuyuki Fukumoto. It is the first film of a trilogy directed by Tōya Satō and premiered in Japan on October 10, 2009. It was followed by ''Kaiji 2'', released in 2011.

Cast

*Tatsuya Fujiwara as Kaiji Itō
*Yūki Amami as Rinko Endō
*Teruyuki Kagawa as Yukio Tonegawa
*Ken Mitsuishi as Kōji Ishida
*Kenichi Matsuyama as Makoto Sahara
*Tarō Yamamoto as Jōji Funai
* Suzuki Matsuo as Tarō Ōtsuki
*Kei Satō as Kazutaka Hyōdō

Production

In October 2008, it was announced that the film would be directed by Tōya Satō and Tatsuya Fujiwara would star as Kaiji Itō. The Watarase Film Commission, a non-governmental organization that supports film production, posted a casting call for 70 men between the ages of 20 and 40 to be extras to play contestants of the "restricted rock-paper-scissors" game.

Soundtrack

Yugo Kanno composed the music for the film. The original score was released on October 7, 2009. Two songs by Japanese pop singer-songwriter Yui were featured in the film, "It's All Too Much" and "Never Say Die", used as theme song and insert song respectively.

Release

''Kaiji'' was theatrically released on October 10, 2009 in Japan. It was released on Blu-ray and DVD on April 9, 2010.

In the UK, the film was released on DVD by 4Digital Media under the title ''Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler'' on July 26, 2010.

Reception

In September 2011, ''Goo Ranking'' conducted a web poll of "Live-Action Manga/Anime Adaptations That Worked" and ''Kaiji'' ranked #6 out of 38 live-action adaptations.

Box office

The film became Japan's sixteenth highest-grossing film of 2009, earning () at the Japanese box office that year. Overseas, the film grossed $460,073, bringing the film's worldwide total to $25,460,073.

Critical reception

Carlo Santos of ''Anime News Network'' ranked ''Kaiji: The Ultimate Gambler'' as a C. Santos wrote that the greatest strengths of the film are the psychological gamesmanship and the theory of gambling games, preserving the spirit of the original work. He criticized the characters' one-dimensional characterization, the "artificial" closed-room scenarios and the "contrived" staging of "scrappy working-class hero versus evil old rich guy", stating that ''Kaiji'' could be labeled as a "fantasy". Santos also mentioned the changes from the original work and the "awkward plot manuevers" to make the events fit in the film's two-hour time frame. Chris MaGee of ''Toronto J-Film Pow-Wow'' described the film as a "very uncomfortable mix" between the social commentary of the 2009 film ''Kani Kōsen'', Tatsuya Fujiwara's first starring role in the 2000 film '' Battle Royale'', and televised poker shows. He criticized the "over-the-top" acting of Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama and Teruyuki Kagawa, stating that "William Shatner would end up telling Kagawa that it might be a good idea to dial things down a little bit. It seems that in the world of ''Kaiji'' more always equals better." He concluded "I could only see director Toya Sato and the producers of ''Kaiji'' the film being entertained by its game show strategies and hyper-dramatics. For those of us unfortunate enough to be sitting in the audience the whole experience is just painful. Not to give away any spoilers, but the fact that the film's ending leaves things wide open for a sequel or sequels makes me shudder."

References

External links

Official website


VAP official website



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{{Kaiji

Films about death games
Films set in Japan
Films about gambling
2000s Japanese-language films
Kaiji (manga)
Live-action films based on manga
Toho films
Films directed by Tōya Satō