As of July 2026, Kaiji Season 1 aired in 2007 with 26 episodes — streaming now on Crunchyroll Amazon Channel. Full episode guide and where to watch below.

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Kaiji Season 1

2007 26 Episodes Animation · Drama ⭐ 8/10

Right now you can watch Kaiji Season 1 on and — and it earns its twists rather than manufacturing them. A compact run that never overstays its welcome. Its 8/10 TMDB score, built from 102 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. Masato Hagiwara's performance alone is worth the time investment. Start it whenever you need something guaranteed to land.

Kaiji Season 1 is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. The plotting gives Kaiji Season 1 its backbone, but it is the characters you come back for. Season 1 of Kaiji includes 26 episodes. It aired from October 2007 to April 2008. This season stars Masato Hagiwara and Fumihiko Tachiki. Masato Hagiwara and Fumihiko Tachiki lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was aired in 2007. Kaiji Season 1 is at its best in the quiet scenes between the plot beats, where the character work actually happens. It rarely drops the ball, and when it does, it recovers fast.

Viewers who think they have seen every crime drama tend to find Kaiji Season 1 proves them wrong. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. Short enough to finish in a weekend, substantial enough to feel satisfying. Watch Masato Hagiwara work — it is a masterclass in the genre. Few crime dramas earn their twists this consistently.

📡 Where to Watch Kaiji Season 1

🇦🇺 Australia

Crunchyroll Amazon Channel

Hidive Amazon Channel

🇺🇸 United States

Crunchyroll Amazon Channel

Hidive Amazon Channel

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Crunchyroll Amazon Channel

Hidive Amazon Channel

🇨🇦 Canada

Crunchyroll Amazon Channel

Hidive Amazon Channel

🇳🇿 New Zealand

Hidive Amazon Channel

Crunchyroll Amazon Channel

🎬 Kaiji Season 1 — Episode Guide

Kaiji Itou is a bum who's been living in Tokyo for 3 years and gambling his life away, then one day a shady man named Endou Yuuji comes to his home asking for Takeshi Furuhata. It turns out that his friend Furuhata disappeared and left Kaiji with the debt of ¥3,850,000, which will take him 11 years ...

The event that will decide the fate of Kaiji and the rest of the debtors, onboard the Espoir, is a game called "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors". Following the explanation, Kaiji is then approached by Funai (the other person who borrowed 10 million) and it turns out that he's a repeater. He wants to ...

Trapped in the depths of despair, Kaiji teams up with Furuhata and Andou but their group is already in a shambles, when Andou decides to backstab them. Kaiji doesn't let this affect him and he comes up with a plan to win, yet they first need some stars and someone to take the bait.

Kaiji managed to win the match, 2 stars better of however the group still needs 4 more stars and only has 14 million in total and no cards. So Kaiji comes up with the plan to monopolize the bored by getting 30 Rock cards, however they are not the only ones who've thought of the strategy.

Deadly Decision

Both having thought of the buyout strategy, Kaiji challenges Kitami to a Rock Paper Scissors death match but Kitami doesn't accept. So they have a different kind of battle.

With Kitami's group now falling apart, Kaiji proceeds with his plan of buying out all their 30 Paper cards. Funai later approaches Kaiji with their proposition to trade his star for some of Kaiji cards but Kaiji refuses. Now that no one can trust each other, Funai decides to proclaim that everyone s...

The 4 hour game of "Restricted Rock Paper Scissors" is nearing its end and Kaiji's group is forced to join Funai's idea of reshuffling all the cards amongst the remaining participants. However soon afterwards they are stuck in their tracks with no one to play against. Kaiji was finally able to stop ...

There are only 5 minutes left and only Funai is left, so Kaiji challenges him to a final match wagering 5 stars. Kaiji has the edge because he knows that either way he will be sent to the "other room" but Funai is reluctant to except this unfair wager. In the other room Kaiji pins all his hopes on b...

Kaiji is in the other room waiting to be resurrected by his comrades, however Andou is having second thoughts and decides to betray Kaiji by selling his stars. It doesn't take much for his last hope, Furuhata to betray him as well.

Against all the odds, Kaiji was able to survive the night on the Espoir but he left with a new debt of ¥6,295,000. It's been 4 months since then and all Kaiji has been doing is living a mundane life, working in a convenience store. It all changes when Endou appears before him, yet again, offering Ka...

Kaiji accepts the invitation to the next party at the Starside Hotel and he recognizes a few familiar faces from the dreadful night on the Espoir. Kaiji is really determined this time not to fall for any tricks however the gambling event this time is "Human Derby" which the spectators are gambling o...

The event is Human Derby, a sick game which plays on ones mind and body and Kaiji must decide to push or be pushed. What will Kaiji choose to do? By the end of the Human Derby, only 21 people out of the total 60 contestants survived. Yet this is not the end of it, as there is a new deadly challenge ...

10 people including Kaiji have volunteered for the Human Derby on the final bridge, 22 stories high, which spells instant death if they fall. After deciding which order they will go in, the pathway to salvation opens but it may not take much for the monster they've all kept hidden away within themse...

At the Starside Hotel 8 people now remain on the 74m bridge-crossing of death. Faced with imminent death, they all want to give up but Yukio Tonegawa ignores their pleas of mercy and in a mere 3 minutes only Kaiji, Sahara and Ishida remain.

With only 2 people remaining, Sahara is the first to survive the bridge-crossing of death however there is something sinister behind the window, before him. With all options out of the question, Kaiji is at a loss of what to do but he eventually finds a loophole that is potentially a path to salvati...

Now that the ticket he had from the bridge-crossing is void, Kaiji cannot leave empty handed, so the mastermind of this offers him a chance to gain up to ¥100million. The game is "E-Card" and there are 3 types of cards (Citizen, Emperor & Slave). The rules may be simple but there's a lot more to thi...

The game of E-Card has just begun and Kaiji is feeling pretty confident after winning his first 2 matches. However the true psychological battle has just begun, where Kaiji struggles to figure out his opponent's mindset.

The game of E-Card that Kaiji put his hearing on the line continues into the 2nd Round and even though Kaiji has come up with a plan, it still doesn't stop him from losing the next match. Confident now that he has found a way to win, Kaiji bets 10mm for the next match but it may end up causing an up...

Onto the 9th match, this is the most crucial point for Kaiji who only has 4 more matches and 4mm till destruction. His mind is full of so many conflicting thoughts and even without the confidence in his choice he somehow managed to win to ensure his safety. Yet something feels off about the whole tu...

Kaiji has figured out Tonegawa's method of cheating and decides to use this to his advantage by recklessly wagering the maximum remaining length available (18mm). But this isn't completely reckless, since he's thought of an idea to win the 2 remaining Slave rounds.

🎭 Cast of Kaiji Season 1

Masato Hagiwara

Masato Hagiwara

Kaiji (voice)

Fumihiko Tachiki

Fumihiko Tachiki

Narrator (voice)

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