Kaiji season 2 episode 10 – a madman’s game

Sakazaki: Holy crap does this guy seem untrustworthy!

Last episode was kind of transitional, so this episode was effectively the first episode of the Man-eating Bog arc. Here we get some background on Sakazaki, his explanation of the Bog pachinko machine, and the setup before the first ball is dropped as Kaiji and Sakazaki shoot for the 600 million yen payout.

Sakazaki does not seem like a deep thinker.

Sakazaki’s plan does not seem like it is guaranteed to pay out. There were only two people to not get swallowed by the bog in the past, and Kaiji knows them to be leaders in the organization that runs this illegal casino. So despite the fact that the machine is rigged to deny them a win, Sakazaki thinks he can win and get all the money. True, he has some inside information (that he describes in a very “colorful” fashion), they will be playing on the one day of the month that the machine is set to be most “loose”. Sakazaki has also set them up with a large bankroll by stealing cash from his workplace, which should give them more chances to get the ball to the final stage. Finally Kaiji will pull some stunt to help nudge the ball into the critical hole.

My concern about Sakazaki isn’t that he is intentionally trying to cheat Kaiji, but rather that he doesn’t have what it takes to pull this off. Somehow this just doesn’t seem like it will go right. One major problem for Kaiji is that the house could view his interference in an ill light, and Sakazaki might walk away with the money, whereas Kaiji gets nothing but a beating. Even more likely Sakazaki has overlooked something, and his plan will simply fail. At any rate, things seem to be completely out of Kaiji’s hands. The machine decides whether or not to pay out. He isn’t even playing it. His role is just a notch above bystander, and I have no faith in Sakazaki.