This is perhaps the slowest moving episodes of all in the entire season so far, as it only spans the time of three dice rolls. However, that is not to say that this episode was uninteresting. We get to delve into the mind of Ohtsuki when his back is against the wall. The roller coaster of emotions shown during his inner monologues prove to be quite entertaining.
The set-up of what goes through Ohtsuki's head during the episode is this: to cheat or not to cheat? The episode flashes back to one year ago to reveal how exactly he is cheating. He uses three die that have only sides of 4, 5 and 6, of which the same numbered sides are opposite each other. Since the shape of the die is cubic, one can only see three sides from any angle, so no one can see the sides with the same number. Effectively, this significantly increases his chances of winning. Of course, he only uses them when the opponents bet big, to decrease any suspicion. To prevent opponents from catching them, the lackey on Ohtsuki's right swaps out the 4-5-6 die and uses normal die. In retrospect, Kaiji already commented that the spell was broken on the third man in a previous episode.
During his first roll, Ohtsuki suspects that Kaiji figured out that he is cheating via Miyoshi's notes. Thus, he chooses to use normal die and ends up rolling a bust. Seeing that Kaiji does not make a move to catch him rolling dirty, Ohtsuki makes it look like he is getting the 4-5-6 die from his pockets and rolls with normal die again. He ends up rolling another bust. More importantly, Kaiji still does not make a move to catch him cheating.
Ohtsuki reasons that the half million bet is meant to keep him from cheating and that Kaiji and his group don't know his real trick. Thus, on his final roll, he chooses to use his 4-5-6 die. He thinks that his lackeys will be able to block Kaiji from getting anywhere close to the die, because the bowl is much closer to him. However, when everyone is staring at the bowl intently, waiting for the final dice to stop spinning, Kaiji makes his move and grabs the 4-5-6 die.
I honestly thought that this arc was going to be wrapped up in this episode. Nonetheless, I forgive the lack of content because the build-up was superbly done. Ohtsuki's seiyuu did an excellent job playing the voice of a true cheater. The suspense made Kaiji's die grab in the end all the better.
-Bern
During his first roll, Ohtsuki suspects that Kaiji figured out that he is cheating via Miyoshi's notes. Thus, he chooses to use normal die and ends up rolling a bust. Seeing that Kaiji does not make a move to catch him rolling dirty, Ohtsuki makes it look like he is getting the 4-5-6 die from his pockets and rolls with normal die again. He ends up rolling another bust. More importantly, Kaiji still does not make a move to catch him cheating.
Ohtsuki reasons that the half million bet is meant to keep him from cheating and that Kaiji and his group don't know his real trick. Thus, on his final roll, he chooses to use his 4-5-6 die. He thinks that his lackeys will be able to block Kaiji from getting anywhere close to the die, because the bowl is much closer to him. However, when everyone is staring at the bowl intently, waiting for the final dice to stop spinning, Kaiji makes his move and grabs the 4-5-6 die.
I honestly thought that this arc was going to be wrapped up in this episode. Nonetheless, I forgive the lack of content because the build-up was superbly done. Ohtsuki's seiyuu did an excellent job playing the voice of a true cheater. The suspense made Kaiji's die grab in the end all the better.
-Bern
