KAIJI 2 Press Notes

The Fatal Game Battles have Begun Again!! Source: NTV (Nippon Television Network) Official Movie Site: kaiji-movie.jp (Japan) Special Thanks to Asuka Kimura and Tzeling Huang

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains plot details and images from a Japanese movie not yet released in the United States.

DEATH NOTE`s Tatsuya Fujiwara returns in KAIJI 2 (???2 ???????, Kaiji 2: Jinsei Dakkai Geemu, 2011), the sequel to the 2009 box office hit KAIJI (???????????, Kaiji Jinsei Gyakuten Geemu). Based on Nobuyuki Fukumoto`s best-selling manga series about the ultimate gambler, KAIJI 2 was distributed theatrically in Japan by Toho on November 5, 2011. The movie will makes its US premiere at AM², running June 15-17 at the Anaheim Convention Center. SciFi Japan is pleased to present a look at KAIJI 2 with press notes and images courtesy of the film`s co-producer and international sales agent, NTV...

Introduction

The much-anticipated sequel to the hit movie, KAIJI, brings to the silver screen a feature film adaptation of arguably the most popular episode from the original comic book series. Get ready to let everything ride on KAIJI 2! Ever since first appearing in 1996 as a serial manga in Kodansha’s Young Magazine, Kaiji has amassed a cult-like following, recording book sales of over 18 million copies and leading to a box office hit film adaptation in 2009. In 2011, the much-awaited second film hit the screens as KAIJI 2, based on what many assert is the most popular episode from the comic book series, The Greed Swamp. Kaiji author Nobuyuki Fukumoto was at the center of the screenplay writing process for the sequel, adding a new high-risk game of his own invention to ratchet up the psychological intensity. There’s Chinchirorin, the “dice game from Hell” that lifts Kaiji out of an underground slave labor existence to take part in Princess and Slave, a live-or-die game of choice, and finally, the “Man-eating Swamp” -- a monstrous pachinko machine capable of instantly destroying the lives of anyone dazzled by its big payoff. On his own, Kaiji stands little chance of beating any of these games. But that won’t stop him from staking his life on saving his friends and restoring everyone’s lives!

Story

Surviving one death-defying game after another, Kaiji Ito (Tatsuya Fujiwara) managed to erase all of his debts. But within a year, he finds himself once again among the so-called “dregs” of society, choking under a new mountain of debt. Eager for another shot at turning his fortunes around for good, Kaiji earns a chance to take on a monster pachinko machine with a billion yen payout; a beast of a machine dubbed “the swamp.” On paper alone, it poses a formidable challenge, but under the tight control of the illegal casino’s ruthless manager, Seiya Ichijo (Yusuke Iseya), the machine is 100 percent unbeatable. What’s more, a dark and telling secret exists between Ichijo and Kaiji who are the only two to have ever walked across a steel beam 300 meters in the air between two skyscrapers without falling to their deaths. Now with the “swamp” controlled by his biggest rival, Ichijo, Kaiji must turn to some unlikely fellow “losers” for help in Hiromi Ishida (Yuriko Yoshitaka), Kotaro Sakazaki (Katsuhisa Namase) and Yukio Tonegawa (Teruyuki Kagawa), the man who impeded his every step in the first movie. All four have their own reasons for the current depravity of their lives, but they all share one common trait: an insatiable desire to win back their lives in what is sure to be their last chance.

About the Games

You’d have to be crazy to gamble your life on games like these! But Kaiji and his band of “losers” may know how to win at the un-winnable. GAME ?: Escape from Underground with Hell’s Dice “Chinchirorin” Chinchirorin is a traditional dice game long popular with the masses involving 3 dice and a rice bowl to shake them up in. But here in the underground mining camps of the Teiai corporate empire, the game has been given some new rules.

One man plays the “house” while the rest are his clients. A client stands to earn a multiple of the amount bet depending on the dice roll. For example, if he rolls a 4, 5 and 6 (called a “gigolo”), it pays off double; a triple roll of the same number between 2 and 6 earns him 3 times his bet, and all ones has a 5-fold payoff. But a roll of 1, 2, 3 (“hifumi”) and a client must pay the house twice what he bet. Any cheating or foul play discovered results in the perpetrator paying back 4 times the bet. The client determines how much he wants to bet up to a maximum of 100,000 “pelicas”. GAME ?: The Ultimate Multiple Choice “Princess and Slave” An original game dreamed up by Nobuyuki Fukumoto that is not found in the original story, the “Princess and Slave” plays on a primal life-or-death decision. The “slave” (player) is locked in a chamber surrounded by 3 doors. Behind one of the doors is his beautiful princess. But behind the other two doors lie ferocious and starved lions. The slave must push the button on a panel opening one of those doors. If he opens the door to the princess, he (and the princess) earns their freedom. The twist is that the princess actually knows which number door she stands behind and can tell the slave whatever she wants. But will she tell him the truth? GAME ?: Monster Pachinko Machine “The Man-Eating Swamp” A standard pachinko machine pays off 4 yen for every metal ball that falls into a retrieval hole. By contrast, a ball won on the Monster Pachinko machine pays 1,000 times that, or 4,000 yen. Hit the jackpot and a player can take home a billion yen ($10 million). But there are two major obstacles to overcome. The first is a “forest of nails” on the pachinko board that is designed to send the pachinko balls in every direction but the right one. Any balls that manage to clear the forest then enter the 3-level “kroon” -- three concave dishes that funnel the balls into winning and losing holes: 3 holes on the top level, 4 holes on the middle tier and 5 holes on the third and lowest kroon. With only one winning hole per level, the odds of a ball passing through all three to earn the jackpot is 60 to 1. Doesn’t sound too bad. But is that all there is to it?

KAIJI 2 Credits

Running Time: 133 Minutes Screen Size: 2.35:1 Japanese Theatrical Release: November 5th, 2011 Kaiji Ito: Tatsuya Fujiwara Seiya Ichijo: Yusuke Iseya Hiromi Ishida: Yuriko Yoshitaka Kotaro Sakazaki: Katsuhisa Namase Yukio Tonegawa: Teruyuki Kagawa Kazutaka Hyoto: Suzuki Matsuo Tamotsu Murakami: Hayato Kakizawa Koji Ishida: Ken Mitsuishi Yoshihiro Kurosaki: Kyusaku Shimada Original Story: Kaiji (Kodansha Young Magazine) by Nobuyuki Fukumoto Directed by Toya Sato Screenplay by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Junya Yamazaki, Sachiko Oguchi Music by Yugo Kanno Production Executive: Hiroshi Miyazaki Production: Naoki Suganuma, Yoshitaka Hori, Minami Ichikawa, Ken Hironaka, Fumihiro Hirai, Hiroyasu Asami, Tomio Yoshioka, Masatoshi Yamaguchi Executive Producers: Seiji Okuda, Takashi Kamikura Planning & Production: Naoto Fujimura, Masatoshi Yamaguchi Production Producer: Hirohito Watanabe Production Design Producer: Kazuhisa Kitashima Associate Producer: Toshio Nakatani, Takahiro Kobashi Planning & Screenplay Associate: Hint Inc. Cinematography: Osamu Fujiishi (JSC) Lighting: Kousuke Suzuki Sound Recording: Kazushiko Yokono Production Designer: Tetsuya Uchida Set Decorator: Yoshio Yamada Editing: Mototaka Kusakabe Scripter: Yukiko Yamagata Assistant Director: Tadashi Otsu Production Manager: Morihiro Tanaka VFX Supervisor: Ryo Nishimura Planning & Production: NTV Production Company: AX-ON Inc. Production Companies: NTV / HoriPro Inc. / Toho / YTV / VAP / D.N. dreampartners / Kodansha / Hint Inc. / STV?MMT?SDT?CTV?HTV?FBS © Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Kodansha / 2011 Kaiji 2 Film Partners

For more information on KAIJI please see the previous coverage here on SciFi Japan: