= Alright so i am a huge Kaiji fan having read all the Manga to date that i can. I truly love the character and the well developed scenarios,the settings and the general atmosphere of the series. I am gonna go over the good and bad points of this particular serialization of Kaiji.

The story is pretty much the same as past Kaiji arcs except this is not started by force because of a debt he must pay. This time Kaiji makes the decision to try and gamble for a sure win and help his friends in the process. A fairly noble yet self serving plot for Kaiji but still noble enough for a character like him. The problem with the plot of this particular serialization is its about Mah jong, for anyone who has no idea about Mah Jong they may be completely lost in this arc. Every panel gives specific information about different Mah Jong hands and plays that generally no average Joe would know. Though if you pay close attention you can get a general idea of what he needs to do and what he is doing. I had to have someone fully explain what was happening at the start of this because i have never played any form of Mah Jong before. I can tell you this Mah Jong without your life on the line is one thing if only one thing, extremely boring. The best part of the story is actually just Kaiji lamenting and making realizations the actual game is kinda long and drawn out with some very obscure knowledge needed to fully understand.

The characters the main characters for this series are very bizarre ones at that. The best part of them is that from the way there faces are and the sounds they make and even the trembling you can get a really good grasp of what they feel and just what kind of person they are. A new set of gambling opponents for this series being the manager and a mysterious loan shark. Miyoshi,Maeda and Kaiji are back in the game trying to win there freedom and a little spending cash to get back on there feet. Kaiji seems to be himself for the most part but in this story hes more relaxed and rusty and he lacks the desperation that makes him complete at the start. Half way threw the Manga he starts to show his true character more and more sweating and panicking as he laments at his poor judgement and trust.

The art of Kaiji is not exactly a master piece. It is a very unique art style with some pretty specific quality's to it. It has some very pronounced features like for the face like the nose,eyes and chin. Kaiji only shares this art style with Manga produced by the same creator and it can be delightful if you pick up on what its trying to convey. It is not exactly pretty but its expressive and that’s whats needed for this Manga.

I touched on this in the story portion of the review but the Mah Jong element really brings down the excitement when reading for this. I maybe might not be a big Mah Jong fan but its a pretty simple table game and it's just not as over the top as some of the past games. Kaiji has not cut off his ear or watched anyone die over it so its watching a board game essentially. Though i do enjoy the drama and atmosphere of Kaiji so much that i do keep reading and i can get past this one game just like Kaiji.

I think true fans of Kaiji's saga will like this even if its not as exciting as the past books but Kaiji is still Kaiji, the most miserable and unlucky person ever. I consider this a good Manga but not great compared to the books before.