The main character of the story. Kaiji is poor, downtrodden and lazy - he lives by himself in a slum and is constantly in debt. He bides his time by playing cheap gambling games with neighbors, though he always loses. In spite of this, when his life is in danger, he displays a remarkable hidden capacity for gambling, which allows him to endure the hardships he faces. He is shouldered with a 3,850,000 yen debt at the beginning of the story by a coworker who convinced him into consigning a loan, leaving Kaiji with the full weight of the debt compounded over a year. Though he started off as somewhat of a naive man, he quickly develops into a clever and thoughtful gambler after his first experience on the Espoir.

Itou Kaiji is a bum who steals car emblems and slashes tires on what seems to be a regular basis. This routine changes one day when he is paid a visit by a man in a trench-coat. Once the two get talking, it seems that the visitor (Calling himself Endou) is a debt collector. The reason for his visit is an unpaid loan which Kaiji had previously co-signed for a work-mate (Furuhata Takeshi). The original loan was 300,000 yen and once Takeshi had disappeared, the loan then fell on Kaiji. 
Kaiji is then told of a way to clear the interest compounded debt (which stood at 3,850,000 yen), which involved getting on a boat with others in his position. Once on the boat the debtors would then have to gamble with loaned money, which would end with a few winning, and others getting into deeper debt and having to work to pay off their debts. After some coercion Kaiji accepts a position on the boat, in order to clear his debt and make a bit of money as well...

Actor, voice actor, narrator, and a professional mahjong player. 

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Several months after the events of the first season, Kaiji, with his appendages reattached and his debt now run up to 9.5 million yen, is still desperately seeking the elusive big score that will cancel all of his markers. Unbeknownst to him, Hyodo’s company, the Teiai Corporation, is actively searching for Kaiji, and have sent Kaiji’s old “friend” Endoh, who entered him in the high stakes games in the past, to find him. 
The two meet when Kaiji chances to walk in front of Endoh’s car at a stop light, and thinking that he has found the answer to his prayers, Kaiji gets in the car with him. While Kaiji and Endoh are “happy” to see one another, and both want to see Kaiji’s debt repaid, their means to that goal couldn’t be more different. 
Instead of leading Kaiji to the big score, Endoh delivers him drugged and docile to the Teiai Corporation’s secret underground labor camp where Kaiji will have an opportunity to repay his debt… with 15 years of hard labor. 
(Source: Sea Slugs)

Kaiji and Kazuya face off against each other in a high-stakes game of "One Poker," a modified version of standard poker. Kazuya sets forth a gamble of 2,000,000,000 yen! How will Kaiji survive?! 
Chapter count for this arc is 101-254 in the original tankoubon.

Ne'er-do-well Kaiji Itou's shiftless existence is suddenly rattled by a visit from the yakuza. Burdened by debt and resentment, Kaiji is coerced into gambling for his worthless life. As the stakes grow higher and the rules become increasingly more bizarre, Kaiji must finally take the future into his own hands! 
(Source: Denpa) 
Note: Won the 22nd Kodansha Manga Award for general manga in 1998.

Itou Kaiji, now free of debt but without a penny is leeching himself in Mr.Sakazaki's new house, despite all the flirtings (extreme torment for Kaiji) from Sakazaki's daughter, Mikoko. Sakazaki attempts to kick Kaiji out, even by offering a farewell 'we never knew each other' money of 3000000 yen. While Kaiji ponders himself on the decision, he is visited by Miyoshi and Maeda, two of his 'allies' he had saved from the last part of the series.

Teiai Group is one of Japan's largest firms. Yukio Tonegawa, a man with a larger-than-life presence and sharp intellect, works as the right-hand man of Chairman Kazutaka Hyodo. One day, the chairman commands Tonegawa to spearhead "Game of Death," an evil project that employs debtors. He rallies his direct reports and scrambles to form Team Tonegawa, only to encounter a barrage of challenges from the erratic chairman and his disloyal employees, ultimately leading to his demotion.
 
Team Tonegawa is bombarded with an onslaught of wide-ranging problems! "Mr. Tonegawa - Middle Management Blues -" is a spinoff of "Kaiji," the hit manga series that boasts a total circulation of over 20 million printed copies.
 
(Source: Nippon TV) 

Note: Episode 14-15, parts of 18, and parts of 20-23 of this entry adapts the Kaiji spin-off manga Ichinichi Gaishutsuroku Hanchou.

After Kaiji's showdown with Chairman Hyoudou at the Starside Hotel, he's forced into labour at an underground mine. With his meagre daily wage, he'll be working for decades to repay his debt unless he does something about his miserable situation.
Kaiji decides to wager his earnings in an underground dice game for a ticket to get out of the mine for a limited period of time. But even if he surfaces, he only has one chance to win it big: by challenging the unbeatable pachinko machine nicknamed "The Bog."



The school comedy story follows four friends at a girls' school. They may seem like ordinary second-year junior high school students at first glance, but they are a space pilot, a ninja without a clan, a girl with supernatural powers, and a boy in girls' clothes. 
 
(Source: Anime News Network)

A direct sequel to Tobaku Datenroku Kaiji, picking up immediately after Part 3 ends. After his tremendous victory in 2-Player Mahjong against the villainous President, Muraoka Takashi, Kaiji is being driven home by Kazuya, the son of Chairman Hyoudou. However, in the car, Kazuya asks Kaiji if he would be interested in one more gamble that night, and Kaiji accepts. What surprises lie in store for our dear Kaiji, and what will the gamble be?! 
(Source: batoto.net)

The continuation of the Kaiji series, picking up immediately after the end of One Poker Hen.
 
One Poker has been concluded, with Kaiji emerging as the victor and claiming the 2.4 Billion Yen as a prize! But now, a new problem arises... how can the Asian Trio take it with them with Kazuya's Black Suits gathered right outside the entrance of the warehouse?!
 
Chapter count for this arc begins at 255 in the original tankoubon.

One-shot exploring what would have happened if Kaiji had not taken Endou's offer to clear his debt by boarding the Espoir.

A tribute manga book to the author Nobuyuki Fukumoto with the cooperation of Fukumoto himself. All characters shown in this series are from previous manga Fukumoto has published.