Gambling Apocalypse, Suffering Pariah, Ultimate Survivor, the thing has three subtitles and I forget what relation they have to it. Regardless, they all sound cool.
So like the Baccano! topic, I'm hoping to attract some people over to this series too - it's also recently ended. If you've watched Akagi (and if you haven't than you should), you know what to be expecting here. Unique, bolded art-style, intensity, gambling, and philosophical themes that seem to extend farther into games than they should, but damn if it doesn't work well.
The premise is simple: Kaiji is a bum. He's depressed, in poverty, and in desperate desire of money. Basically his life sucks and he's just moping around crying. Anyways, one day, a man comes to him, claiming that there is an outstanding debt to his name. You see, Kaiji co-signed a massive loan with one of his 'friends' some two years back. Dumb move. This dude came to collect it and it's something to the amount of 3.5 million yen. Obviously, Kaiji can't pay this off, but Endo (said dude), gives him a special option: board this gambling ship called the Espoir for one night and it's all payed off. Obviously, things can't totally be this simple. And they're not. I'd rather not say anything else after this, but trust me, the ensuing events are absolutely engrossing and a large majority of the episodes are seriously thrilling. Kaiji himself, pictured above, is also a really atypical hero. Unlike his spiritual predecesor Akagi, Kaiji is no genius, he's not very good at anything, and he starts off pretty ... pathetic, admittedly (oddly enough, this doesn't make him any less endearing). He does have one great talent though, his ability to survive. And damn does he survive.
Torrent for series: http://a.scarywater.net/triad/%5BTriad% ... 26.torrent
Alternative link: http://www.boxtorrents.com/download.php ... 5D.torrent
Second season is basically confirmed too, so don't expect it to end with complete closure. I request that you all check it out.
Paper towels!
