| “ | 100 yen...that was the first time I ever owned money.
— Kaji Takaomi
|
” |
Kaji Takaomi (梶 隆臣, Kaji Takaomi; "Takaomi Kaji") is the deuteragonist of Usogui. He used to be young man chased by loan sharks and debt collectors until he met gambler Madarame Baku and entered deep into the world of gambling.
Appearance[]
Kaji is often seen wearing hoodies and sporting short, black hair.
As Kaomi Takaji, he wears a bandanna, sunglasses, and a shirt that reads "Dear Me."
Personality[]
Kaji Takaomi was originally a very ordinary man before he met Madarame Baku with a typically trusting personality, for example he unknowingly signed a loan that would lead to a bunch of loan sharks coming after him, thinking that it would be fine. It can be said that his trusting personality is a bit naive, and his intelligence at this moment is definitely not that high.
However as he went through and experienced many life-threatening situations, his mentality strengthened. He grows and becomes more courageous against dealing with people like yakuza and Kakerou members, going as far as to trick a member using fake cards, despite all this, in the end hates killing people over gambles and allows them to live, even betting Marco to fight against a Kakerou member in order to safe a person whcih attempted to scam him.
As the series continues however, he even became so cunning to the point where he allowed someone's death during Bull's Womb, even suggesting that they go all out on a man with killing intent during Propotorus. However he only do these deeds when needed and usually won't do anything that could be considered a harm to others, infact he very well hates harming people.
Despite this, he had grown to be capable of killing when his life is on the line, at first denying the fact that he killed someone, but slowly he made up his mind to never kill someone, and become a gambler that doesn't take lifes.
Originally, he believes he will never be able to stand as Baku's equal, though he is fine with that. During the Contradiction Game, he vows to become Baku's equal.
History[]
Kaji grew up in an abusive household. His mother did not love him and would frequently put him in harm's way, for insurance. He had many stepfathers while growing up, one of them cut him with a razor. At one point he volunteered himself to be hit by a car to please his parents.
On November 5th, 2004, his mother invited him to go to the sea-side, for his birthday. She planned to push him into the water for insurance money, but the plan backfired. Kaji got distracted by a coin on the ground and his mother ended up falling in instead.[1]
Plot[]
Introduction[]
Kaji spots Baku playing a Fist of the North Star pachinko game. Baku loses the game, causing Kaji to play the game for him out of pity. Kaji gets the added two sevens, winning the game. Kaji and Baku are walking together when Kaji's loan sharks arrive. When Baku acts like an angry fellow loan shark that was mad due to Kaji's lawyer relative ratting out their whole group. the two proceed to go to a casino where Baku gambles every number. He proceeded to remove every number he had bet on, triggering the croupier to cheat and make it land on his unbets. At this moment Kaji intuits that Baku wanted him to gamble the unbetted, which gets them the money. He proceeds to watch Baku scare off the loan sharks, though he has a panic attack thinking about them truly being yakuza members. Afterwards, Baku learns he has an overdue porno, and gets the video rental store where Kaji rented it to let him keep it.
Abandoned Building Arc[]
He and Madarame Baku challenged Q-Tarou in the Escape the Abandoned Building Game. During this game, Kaji almost lost his mind at the intense feeling of having put his life on the line. He earned his Kakerou membership during this game.
Poker Shark Arc[]
Baku offered Kaji a chance to waste money in order to free himself from the control it had over him if he let it. This led Kaji to take his winnings from the previous game to an illegal casino and place bets freely, win or lose. He challenged Nikaido Samemaru.
Old Maid Arc[]
Kaji assisted Baku in a game of old maid with a hangman's noose as the loser's penalty.
Labyrinth Arc[]
Madarame Baku and Kaji challenged Yukiide Kaoru in the Labyrinth Game.
Bull's Womb Arc[]
KY Declaration Arc[]
Tower of Karma Arc[]
Battleship Arc[]
Protoporos Arc[]
Kaji was one of the allies chosen by Baku for the Ban. Kadokura is his exclusive referee. He starts out as a slave in the Taper kingdom.
Untouchable Line[]
Contradiction Game[]
Protoporos Nightmare[]
War of the Three Kingdoms[]
Protoporos Nightmare[]
Air Poker Arc[]
Surpassing the Leader Arc[]
Drop the Handkerchief[]
Kaji is the first one to enter the Obelisk and is later followed by Oofuna. The two wait for Baku, Souichi and the referee to arrive. Once they do, Yakou asks if they have been together the whole time. Kaji says "no," with Gakuto corroborating the story. Yakou says that the two must leave as only the three of them, Yakou, Baku and Souichi, are allowed to observe the match. The two leave. After leaving the Obelisk, Kaji and Oofuna argue over who will win the match, with Kaji claiming Baku will win.
Abilities[]
Mental Abilities[]
Physical Abilities[]
Relationships[]
- Madarame Baku: Kaji feels indebted to Baku for saving him and wants to pay him back. He will even risk his life for Baku. He sees himself as inferior to Baku. Baku sees Kaji as a good luck charm, and there are many instances when Kaji's actions have helped Baku. Baku and Kaji refer to the other as "Kaji-chan" and "Baku-san," respectively. Baku's nickname for Kaji is "clever-creep" (キモ冴えている, kimo-saeteiru).
- Marco:
- Kyara: Kaji and Kyara originally have a hostile relationship. Kyara considers Kaji weak and pathetic and does not understand why Baku values him. He insults Kaji and will even threaten physical violence on him. Though Kyara is upset with himself being unable to stand Kaji.[2] Eventually they begin to have mutual respect for each-other. Kyara spares Veronica because he hears Kaji shout his name.
- Karl Belmont: Karl refers to Kaji as "my friend" (マイフレンド, mai furendo).
- Kadokura Yuudai:
- Hayama Ikuto:
- Floyd Lee: Floyd became interested in "Kaomi Takaji" after watching KY Declaration. He investigated this mysterious man and thus learned his true identity and past.
- Oofuna Gakuhito:
- Yokoi:
- Champ:
- Ryuusei:
Notes & Trivia[]
- Kaji's surname name comes from the Japanese pronunciation of casino, カジノ (kajino).
- "Kaomi Takaji" is an anagram of his real name.
- Baku often calls him by the nickname "Clever-creep".