Anime like Kaiji - Ultimate Survivor

What is Kaiji - Ultimate Survivor about?

Studio: MADHOUSE
Status: Finished

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...

Tags: Gambling , Survival , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast , Seinen , Class Struggle , Male Protagonist , Death Game , Philosophy , Tragedy , Crime , Card Battle , Revenge , Yakuza , Torture , Ships , Anti-Hero , Urban , Athletics , Body Horror , Nudity , Work , Prison

Where to watch?

Crunchyroll

HIDIVE

Netflix

Touhai Densetsu Akagi: Yami ni Maiorita Tensai

Also known as Akagi.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , DR Movie
Status: Finished
Genres: Psychological , Sports , Thriller

While mahjong is a game that is often played with family and friends, it is also a game that is played in the darkest corners of society. Nangou is a compulsive gambler who has accumulated a debt of over three million yen. In a last-ditch attempt to clear his record, he decides to wager his life on a game of mahjong with the mafia. Unfortunately, as the game progresses, Nangou only moves further from the prize and closer to death.

When all hope seems lost, the game parlor is suddenly intruded upon by Shigeru Akagi, a young boy on the run from the police. Desperate to turn the game around, Nangou hands the game over to Akagi after teaching him a few of the rules. The mafia can only smirk as Akagi sits down to play. However, they soon come to learn that Akagi is a natural-born gambler. An imposing figure who does not fear death. One who is destined to become a legend.

Tags: Gambling , Mahjong , Death Game , Noir , Time Skip , Seinen , Anti-Hero , Historical , Crime , Yakuza , Police , Male Protagonist , Primarily Adult Cast , Vampire , Body Horror

Where to watch?

Crunchyroll

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One Outs

Also known as One Outs.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP
Status: Finished
Genres: Psychological , Sports

The story begins when Hiromichi Kojima, the star batter of the fictional Lycaons in Japan's Pacific League, heads to the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to train and bring himself out of a slump. There, he meets Toua Tokuchi, a 134-kmph (83 miles per hour) pitcher and the undisputed king of a gambling form of baseball called "One Out." At Kojima's urging, Tokuchi signs up with the Lycaons under an unusual contract: he gets 5,000,000 yen (about US$46,000) for every out he pitches, but loses 50,000,000 yen (US$460,000) for every point he gives up.

Tags: Baseball , Gambling , Philosophy , Seinen , Primarily Male Cast , Primarily Adult Cast , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist

Where to watch?

No streaming links available

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DEATH NOTE

Also known as Death Note.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , Viz Media , Nippon Television Network , Konami , Ashi Productions , Shueisha , Selecta Visión
Status: Finished
Genres: Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural , Thriller

Light Yagami is a genius high school student who is about to learn about life through a book of death. When a bored shinigami, a God of Death, named Ryuk drops a black notepad called a Death Note, Light receives power over life and death with the stroke of a pen. Determined to use this dark gift for the best, Light sets out to rid the world of evil… namely, the people he believes to be evil. Should anyone hold such power?

The consequences of Light’s actions will set the world ablaze.

Tags: Crime , Detective , Anti-Hero , Male Protagonist , Fugitive , Police , Philosophy , Tragedy , Primarily Adult Cast , Kuudere , Gods , Memory Manipulation , Urban Fantasy , Primarily Male Cast , Urban , Unrequited Love , Amnesia , Espionage , Shounen , Yandere , Suicide , Tennis , Acting , Feet , Time Skip , Assassins , Achronological Order , Asexual

Where to watch?

Hulu

Netflix

Tubi TV

Amazon Prime Video

YouTube

Hoopla

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Tomodachi Game

Also known as Tomodachi Game.

Studio: Okuruto Noboru , King Records , Kodansha , Nippon Television Network , Crunchyroll
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Thriller

High school student Katagiri Yuuichi, who values friendship above all else, enjoys a fulfilling life with his close friends Sawagiri Shiho, Mikasa Tenji, Shibe Makoto, and Kokorogi Yutori.

However, after a particular incident, they're dragged into a debt repayment game.

The only way to beat the "Tomodachi Game" is to not doubt their friends. Bound together by solid friendships, the game should've been easy, but– The hugely popular comic that sold over two million copies is finally becoming an anime! Will they trust or betray their precious friends? The true nature of humanity is exposed in the ultimate psychological game!

Note: Premiered on Hulu and d Anime Store at 0:00 on Wednesdays, 1 hour 29 minutes ahead of Nippon TV's broadcast.

Tags: Male Protagonist , Survival , Anti-Hero , Shounen , Crime , Battle Royale , Revenge , Death Game , Torture , Acting , Tragedy , Gambling , Ensemble Cast , Bullying , Heterosexual , School , Love Triangle , Gangs , CGI , LGBTQ+ Themes

Where to watch?

Crunchyroll

Disney Plus

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RAINBOW: Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin

Also known as Rainbow.

Studio: MADHOUSE , Funimation , VAP
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Psychological , Thriller

Seven teenagers in 1955 have to learn to live together in the same hold in the reformatory of Shounan. Confined in a hall where suffering and humiliation are daily, they are waiting for a ray of hope in a dark, incarcerating world. The story follows their life together and how they move on afterwards.

Tags: Ensemble Cast , Seinen , Tragedy , Coming of Age , Delinquents , Survival , Primarily Male Cast , Rehabilitation , Historical , Crime , Gore , Revenge , Prison , Boxing , Torture , Time Skip , Orphan , Found Family , Philosophy , Drugs , Bar , Gangs , Suicide , School , Yakuza , Language Barrier

Where to watch?

No streaming links available

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Yu☆Gi☆Oh!

Studio: Toei Animation , NAS
Status: Finished
Genres: Action , Comedy , Fantasy

Yuugi is a somewhat frail young boy who happens to be a big fan of gaming of any kind. But when he solves an ancient egyptian puzzle he is granted all the powers of darkness. Now when confronted with danger and injustice, he transforms into a much darker and dangerous form, and proceeds to dish out the justice and punishment for those who so richly deserve it.

Tags: Death Game , Dissociative Identities , Shounen , Card Battle , Henshin , Reincarnation , Gambling , School , Male Protagonist , Primarily Teen Cast , Urban Fantasy , Mythology , Delinquents , Bullying , Isekai , Video Games

Where to watch?

No streaming links available

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Kakegurui

Also known as Kakegurui.

Studio: MAPPA , Square Enix , Dentsu , Movic , DIVE II Entertainment , Netflix , Sentai Filmworks
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological

During daylight hours, an exclusive, elite private school prepares its illustrious students for careers in business, politics, and high society. But when darkness falls, the halls of this esteemed establishment transform into an underground gambling den where bright-eyed youngsters learn the timeless art of bluffing, backdoor dealings and social manipulation. In this school for the rich and elite, money is power, and the tyrant of the betting books rules with an iron fist. So when the beautiful Yumeko Jabami upsets the academy hierarchy with her voracious appetite for the thrill of the gamble, the entire student body mobilizes to send her house of cards tumbling down.

Tags: Gambling , Female Protagonist , School , Primarily Female Cast , Body Horror , Masochism , CGI , Primarily Teen Cast , Poker , Ojou-sama , School Club , LGBTQ+ Themes , Anti-Hero , Shounen , Bullying , Villainess , Slavery , Death Game , Yandere , Idol , Delinquents , Guns , Battle Royale , Male Protagonist

Where to watch?

Netflix

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Shoubushi Densetsu Tetsuya

Studio: Toei Video , TV Asahi , Toei Animation
Status: Finished
Genres: Sports

In the year 1947, the people of Shinjuku are down on their luck. With little money to buy food or necessities, some resort to gambling in order to survive. Traveling Tetsuya chooses to spend his time at Mahjong parlors where he is wiping the floor clean with his adversaries. However, when Tetsuya meets the intensely skilled Boushu-san, he realizes that his skills are still lacking.

Tags: Gambling , Mahjong , Historical , Shounen , Survival , Time Skip , Drugs , Primarily Adult Cast , Primarily Male Cast

Where to watch?

No streaming links available

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Death Parade

Also known as Death Parade.

Studio: MADHOUSE , VAP , DAX Production , Nippon Television Network
Status: Finished
Genres: Drama , Mystery , Psychological , Supernatural , Thriller

When two people die at the same time, they’re sent to a place that’s neither heaven nor hell—a lavish bar between worlds where the stakes are high and the rules are simple: if you win you live again, if you die… you’re gone for good.

Decim is the bartender charged with serving the souls who enter Quindecim. He may make a mean cocktail, but his true profession is to play the role of arbiter—a judge who determines whether or not a soul is worthy of reincarnation. To aid in his judgment, the bar’s patrons are forced to play simple games laced with sadistic twists designed to bring their true natures to light. To Decim, judgment has always been black and white—that is—until he meets a mysterious young woman whose fate seems impossible to decide. His indecision shakes the very foundation of the games and raises the biggest question of all: Who is fit to judge the dead?

Tags: Death Game , Afterlife , Philosophy , Tragedy , Amnesia , Memory Manipulation , Reincarnation , Bar , Primarily Adult Cast , Episodic , Suicide , Gambling , Female Protagonist , Male Protagonist , Mythology , Kuudere , CGI , Ice Skating , Revenge , Bowling , Gyaru , Tanned Skin

Where to watch?

Hulu

Netflix

Crunchyroll

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NHK ni Youkoso!

Also known as Welcome to the N-H-K.

Studio: GONZO , Funimation
Status: Finished
Genres: Comedy , Drama , Psychological , Romance , Slice of Life

Satou’s life – or what’s left of it – is a paranoid mess of conspiracy theories and social anxieties. He’s terrified of the outside world; his apartment is overflowing with the remnants of cheap take-out food; and his retinas have been permanently scarred by a steady diet of internet porn. But maybe it’s not all his fault. After all, the nefarious N-H-K is out there, and they’re determined to turn society’s fringe-dwellers into a brainwashed lot of jobless, hopeless, futureless recluses.

Enter Misaki – a mysterious girl-next-door type who is Satou’s last chance to beat down his inner demons and venture out into the light of day. She’s ready to help him overcome his crippling phobias, but Satou would rather cower in his existential foxhole and pretend to work on the demo for his virtual sex game.

He’s afraid to face the world. She’s strangely desperate to fix a total stranger. Maybe together they can be normal.

Tags: Hikikomori , Rehabilitation , Otaku Culture , Male Protagonist , Denpa , Conspiracy , Philosophy , Suicide , Primarily Adult Cast , Coming of Age , Psychosexual , Tragedy , Disability , Video Games , Software Development , Heterosexual , Nudity , Politics , Trains , Drugs

Where to watch?

Hulu

Crunchyroll

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