I've just watched Kaiji's (the anime) 3rd arc, the Emperor Card game.

Pretty much every arc has a message that resonated with me. Now, it's not like Kaiji just -states- things. It shows exactly how people come to do things they do. That's what I'd call -conveying- a message. That's one of the things that makes it good. But I digress.

 

So this one, the third arc, this one particularly bothered my heart for some reason.

It shows the importance of bluffing and how you can intimidate people into self-destruction via bluffing. The main character's opponent, whose name is Tonegawa, acts like he's seen people like Kaiji a thousand times. He knows exactly what card Kaiji will pick and tells him "I have a grasp on your heart". Sounds supernatural, but the MC almost buys it (since there's no other explanation for his losses) and loses his shit until he figures out the dude is just cheating. Most importantly, he ends up looking like a fucking pussy because of his despair. Which is the greatest social sin there is.

So ok, it makes sense to me why people constantly try to show shit off and act superior.

Yet I simply can't shake off the feeling of how fucking homosexual (non-homophobic) this act is. I think everyone instantly recognizes what is happening and personally I just kinda feel that this is a weakness somehow and can't really respect the person doing this on some level. It just feels pathetic. You can just sense it. The need for admiration. To "win". In the end, it's just not fulfilling on its own (probably) so you're doing this shit purely for other people.

 

And yet, from my experience, it works. Showing off simply works and it strongarms people into needing you for your resources. I can't seem to reconcile this contradiction within me yet.