Summary

After graduating from high school in 1996 in Japan, Itō Kaiji moves to Tokyo to get a job, but he fails to find steady employment because of his eccentric disposition and because the country is mired in its first recession since World War II. Depressed, he festers in his apartment, biding his time with cheap pranks, gambling, liquor and cigarettes. Kaiji is always thinking about money and his perpetual poverty frequently brings him to tears.

Kaiji’s unrelenting misery continues for two years until he is paid an unexpected visit from a man named Endō, who wants to collect an outstanding debt owed to him in Kaiji’s name. Endō gives Kaiji two options – either spend ten years to repay this outstanding debt, or board the gambling ship Espoir (“hope” in French) for one night to clear the debt. Using a con, Endō pressures Kaiji into accepting the deal, believing he will never come back from the voyage.

However, Kaiji survives the gamble and is invited to another gambling night, this time at the Starside Hotel. Although initially wary about the offer, he is spurred by his aquaintance Sahara to go. After being the only survivor of the Human Derby, Kaiji decides to avenge his friends by competing in any other gambles the Love Corporation may have prepared for him.

Genre