Deceiver’s Distrust in Psychological Anime & Manga

I was studying for an exam and the term, deceiver’s distrust, came up.

Deceiver’s distrust = When people lie to others, they often begin to perceive the recipients of the lies as less honest and trustworthy as a result.

I thought about it, and it does happen in a lot of psychological and gambling anime. Two examples of deceiver’s distrust in anime and manga are Kaiji and Liar Game. Deceiver’s distrust plays out often in these two series, but I’ll outline two specific scenarios. Spoilers ahead!

1. Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor

Kaiji is the best psychological anime I’ve seen. I highly recommend it. In a match against Middle Manager Tonegawa, Kaiji trusted Tonegawa. Tonegawa, who was cheating the entire match, believed that Kaiji had switched the cards for his own benefit. Because Kaiji trusted Tonegawa and because Tonegawa thought that Kaiji had switched the cards, he lost… bitterly.

2. Liar Game

Liar Game is a psychological manga. I highly recommend this series as well, but the ending was extremely disappointing. During the Contraband game, Nao and Akiyama promised to save everyone, even though it meant that they had to move onto the next round. Yokoya, who was secretly smuggling money into his own account, did not believe Nao and Akiyama’s good intentions. He called them losers, stupid, and foolish. Spoiler alert: he lost the match.

There are many more examples of deceiver’s distrust in anime and manga. Can you think of other examples? What about in real life? Perhaps believing that others are less honest and trustworthy reduces their own guilt. What do you think?

Character Spotlight: Fashionable Kaiji

Kaiji Ito from Kaiji is one of the most fashionable characters I’ve seen in anime. People who have watched or read the series know that he doesn’t have a big budget to spend on clothes, but he manages to always look good. Here are my favourite looks (basically all his looks).

His signature jacket goes so well with those jeans.

Wearing the cap backwards really suits his mullet.

Sunglasses.

The white gloves just work. He looks fashionable even when wearing the uniform.

Classic plaid shirt.

---

Do you guys agree with me? If you don’t, name a more fashionable character in the comments! Hahaha.

Kaiji References in Anime

Kaiji is in my top 5 anime list. The art style is unique, the music is great, and Kaiji has great style. It’s different in many ways, including the fact that there are no women in the anime (excluding the convenience store co-worker, who is a minor character).

If you see Kaiji’s signature long, pointy nose in an anime, it’s a reference to Kaiji. It is usually shown when a character wants to play a game, and the character’s appearance changes from the original art style.

1. Himouto! Umaru-chan

VS Kaiji

2. Osomatsu-san

3. Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii

4. xxxHoLiC Kei

5. Monogatari

VS Kaiji

6. Haiyore! Nyaruko-san W

VS Kaiji

---

There is also a Kaiji reference in the video game, Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony (the Rock-Paper-Scissors Cards)!