Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI

A manga about a deadbeat man who falls deeper and deeper into a spiral of debt and gambling where the stakes keep growing.

We’ve discussed this book on an older episode.

I have a hard time recommending KAIJI to new readers because if you’ve never seen Nobuyuki Fukumoto‘s art work, you’d be shocked at how bad it looks. But while Fukumoto can’t even consistent draw body proportions correctly, I and millions of other are drawn to his manga because of his amazing storytelling.

Fukumoto cut his teeth on various mahjong manga where he effectively used bluffing and cheating tactics that lead to dramatic comebacks. KAIJI takes it a step further with various original gambling games that force our protagonist to struggle through betrayal, loss, and redemption. It’s entertainment at its finest.

If the art is keeping you from checking out the English edition from Denpa, you can always check out the excellent anime adaptation.

~dakazu