Writer: Nur Safina Othman

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Watch this if you liked: "God of Gamblers", "All For The Winner", “Poker King”

Perhaps not many know that most Japanese movies out there are adapted from successful anime or manga, the example at hand being this new Toya Sato ("Gokusen The Movie") release. Indeed "Kaiji" reunites the cast of "Death Note" which is adapted from Noboyuki Fukumoto's wildly popular manga series about the art of gambling that has reportedly sold millions of copies worldwide.

Tatsuya Fujiwara plays the lead role as Kaiji Ito, a guy forced to join a gambling competition on a cruise ship to settle his debts and stand a chance of changing his life forever.

Unfortunately, the director has failed to present the movie effectively due to pacing problems and a plot that takes too long to get deeper. The duration of the movie (over two hours) doesn't help either. However, although there is little information about the character presented for the benefit of first-time audiences, watching Kaiji as he goes through his challenges (Scissors Paper Stone Card Battle, Steel Beam Crossing Death Race and E-Card Strategy Game) can be very exciting. These scenes provide the best moments of the film.

Although Tatsuya Fujiwara plays the titular "Kaiji", it is the performance of veteran actor Teruyuki Kagawa ("Tokyo Sonata") who impresses as the villain Yukio Tonegawa. Maybe there are fans who are happy with the appearance of Kenichi Maysuyama as Makato Sahara although it was for a short while.

This film may not be everyone's cup of tea but it has reportedly collected an estimated US$ 24 million in just a month of screening in Japan alone. It is no wonder then, "Kaiji", touted as the best of 2009, has gotten the green light for a sequel that is aiming for release next year.

Cinema Online, 22 March 2010