Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Asians love to gamble. I guess when you live in a culture that puts a huge emphasis on work and efficiency, it’s nice to do something to help relieve that stress and if possible make some money in the process but at the same time it’s dangerous and can land you and love ones in serious trouble. Over the years, there have been many animes and mangas centered around gambling and a majority of them show gambling as this source of evil where the darkest parts of humanity shine through and are put on display for everyone to see.
(Seras): Such as Death Parade, Kaiji Ultimate Survivor, and this anime Kakegurui.
(Nitsuj): Right you are Seras. MAPPA, after Terror in Resonance went on a roll as the studio would go on to release animes that gained popularity each year. It was clear that this was a studio that wasn’t focused on the younger audience but instead the older/mature audience. In 2017, the studio really hit their stride when they released 6 animes that year and their most popular anime that year was Kakegurui.
(Seras): Kakegurui also known as Compulsive Gambler is an anime based off a manga under the same name written by Homura Kawamoto in 2014 and still continuing to this day. Unlike most gambling animes which focus on adults in the adult world, this series took place in a high school setting and focused on students who are all slightly crazy.
(Nitsuj): So naturally it was hit?
(Seras): Pretty much. While not the best series about gambling, the series was entertaining with its characters, games, and crazy facial expressions that are just memes in the making.
(Nitsuj): With the second season set to come out next month and seeing as how we both became big fans of the series, now seem liked the perfect time to review it. Let’s see if lady luck is on our side, this Kakegurui.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Nitsuj): The opening for this anime is “Deal with the devil” by Tia, one of my favorite openings from 2017 but unfortunately felt short of making the list. This was definitely one of those openings you couldn’t skip over because of how energetic, wild, and cool it was. The whole opening is jazz rock and is the pure definition of controlled chaos which matches up perfectly with this show about gambling and the chaos that ensues with it. Also, if you have a leg fetish this opening is for you.
The ending is “LAYon-theLINE” by D-selections. At first I didn’t really care for this ending but after listening to it a few times and looking up the lyrics actually discovered that this was a good song and matched up perfectly with our main character. The visuals for the ending our pretty simple, it’s just our main character walking in the rain and enjoying herself (it’s a lot hotter than it sounds). So along with a good song we also get some good fanservice too.
Episodes 1-4
(Seras): The anime starts in Hyakkaou Private Academy known for their strong traditions (Nitsuj: And insane curriculum). We quickly see that this school circles around gambling and if you’re good at it and stack the chips like they say, you’ll live a good school life. However, if you’re terrible you’ll wind up losing all your rights as a human being and become a school pet (I like the way this school thinks. (Nitsuj): Of course you would). A new female student by the name of Yumeko voiced by Saori Hayami (Ryu from Danmachi. Who really does a fantastic job here in bringing this character to life) has just transferred to the school and she gets put in the hands of Suzui the class represented but also a house pet of the school because he’s in serious debt (I can see that, he looks like a doormat). He’s voiced by Tatsuya Tokutake, a new VA on the scene who also does a good job in his role and shows a lot of promise (Nitsuj: If you’re fan of Miyano Mamoru you’ll like this guy). Yumeko gets approached by Mary another student in her class who invites her to play voting rock, paper, scissors. A game similar to rock, paper, scissors except the class creates the cards for you, you pick out three randomly from a box, and play with them (Nitsuj: Oh hey that sounds like fun). The key to victory is getting everyone on your side and effecting the cards. For example, you can get a round where almost everyone draws paper and only a few draw rock and scissors meaning if you play paper there’s a good chance you’ll win. This is the kind of strategy Mary implores in her game with Yumeko where she cleans her out but Yumeko up the states by betting 10 million yen all in one round (wasn’t the limit like 2.5 million? (Nitsuj): Not anymore). Yumeko wins the final round revealing Mary’s tricks and even pointing out later that it was Suzui who was telling everyone what to draw next since he owes Mary money (Nitsuj: By the way, Mary has the strangest facial expressions I have ever seen on a female character). With Yumeko’s win Mary is now in debt and owes Yumeko roughly 8 million yen and she don’t have that money. Yumeko gives her a few days to pay it off and we find out later that the girl a compulsive gambler (scene here: https://youtu.be/sokhe5fFdHY). She enjoys the thrill of gambling not knowing if she’ll win or not (Nitsuj: Well she’s crazy. (Seras): Hardcore crazy and I love it) and taking big risk to see if it all pays off. After taking her leave Suzui catches up to her to apologize for helping Mary but Yumeko doesn’t hold it against him and even gives him money to pay off his debt. Not out of pity but because he gave her an enjoyable experience (this girl is making the Jacks look normal).
Episode 2 starts off with Mary becoming a school pet (scene here: https://youtu.be/sGINbV3pLjU, serves her right. Bark for me) and us learning a little bit more about how one becomes a school pet. Basically, the student council collects a tax from the students. If said student can’t pay the tax, they become a school pet and they collect the taxes at irregular times (Nitsuj: Sounds like the bank. Or loans). Since Mary lost all her money to Yumeko last episode and the tax deadline came up, Mary became a school pet through bad luck (and the payback against her will be sweet). Suzui talks about how in the past the school pet position didn’t have this much discrimination, but that all changed when the student council president changed hands and the new president established a new system which made the position even worse (scene here: https://youtu.be/KON3QIx3rfs. (Nitsuj): Make them fear the position to make them work harder. Play by fear). Yumeko gets approached by a 1st year student named Itsuki who is a representative of the student council and challenges Yumeko to a game called double card memory (Nitsuj: Never heard of it). Similar to a game of matching cards only with two decks, however, the cards have to be of the same suite in order to get a point (for example, if I draw the ace of diamond I have to match it with the other ace of diamond instead of the ace of hearts). The winner is decided when they get one set of cards and the bet is 20 million yen (Nitsuj: Why does watching this anime make me feel so poor?) but Yumeko doesn’t have that cash (Nitsuj: Lies) so Itsuki loans her the money with no interest (what’s the catch?). They play the game where in the end Itsuki wins (she’s cheating) and Yumeko begs for a rematch which Itsuki accepts on the condition that Yumeko bets her nails since she likes to collect them and decorate them (Nitsuj: You’re sick woman! (Seras): Why do I get the feeling all the students in this school are crazy to some extent?). Yumeko agrees to these conditions and they play again where we find out Itsuki knows where half the cards are because one of the pack of cards was manufactured by her family’s company and she adds a special mark to them that appears when the cards reach a certain temperature (called it. I may not be big on gambling but I know a cheat when I see one). Not that it matters, as Yumeko saw through her trick in the first game and annihilates her in the second game. Of course this leaves her unsatisfied (agreed, where’s the blood and despair) so she demands another game where they both bet their nails which scares Itsuki to the point that she breaks down crying (scene here: https://youtu.be/oGgwntKsXYM. (Nitsuj): Satisfied now Seras? (Seras): You really think the tears of a child will bring me join?). Still seeking satisfaction, Yumeko roams the halls looking for a gambling den and she stumbles across one where Mary puts herself deeper in debt (scene here: https://youtu.be/KwH55kVKX4M).
Episode 3 starts off where episode 2 left off. We see Mary lose her official match. It’s a special privilege given to those who are school pets. The school pet takes on a member of the student council in an effort to win big time and return to their former status (Nitsuj: So it’s like landing on free parking in monopoly. (Seras): Which isn’t an official rule in the game. (Nitsuj): It’s how I play). Of course when you’re facing a member of the student council who are said to be the best gamblers in the school, your chances of winning are slim and Mary learned that the hard way. We get introduced to Yuriko head of the culture research club (lame) and member of the student council who invites Yumeko in to play the game Life and Death (Nitsuj: I’m intrigued. How does one play? (Seras): Dodge or die). The game is like a combination of the dice and cup game (a popular game in Japan) with roulette. 10 swords are placed inside a cup, dropped on a board and you have to predict where the swords will land. If the sword lands face up on your number your earnings are multiplied by 30 but if it’s face down you lose 30. They play big betting 40 million yen (Nitsuj: This anime makes me feel so poor) and both lose the first round where Yumeko insults Yuriko by calling her the worst kind of human for picking on Mary and calls her a piece of shit (Nitsuj: Damn~). Despite her shut eyes, clam voice and demeanor you can tell she’s pissed (she would like nothing more than to jump over that table and choke the life out of her) but decides to keep on playing. In the next round Yumeko bets everything on one number and reveals that Yuriko is cheating.
(Nitsuj): What! How? It’s a game of chance, how is she cheating?
(Seras): Simple, the dealer. The dealer has magnetic piercings in her hands and one of the swords is magnetic so the dealer can influence the blade from the outside and drop it anywhere she wants (like say on a number that guarantees a victory for the challenger). But the catch is it’s an uncertain cheat as in there are times when it’ll work and won’t work but she still has an advantage over everyone with this knowledge. After revealing all of this Yuriko is freaking out because if Yumeko wins Yuriko will owe her over 2 billion yen which would mean closing down the club and forcing all the members into school pet roles along with her. Just before she can try to talk her way out of this the student council president, Kirari, comes in and says to keep the bet going where Yuriko wins (by luck mind you. (Nitsuj): Or was it?) and now Yumeko is in a 310-million-yen debt (scene here: https://youtu.be/2UbWorDaZWc). After the match Yumeko reveals that Kirari cheated by using the room underneath their room to manipulate the swords to make sure Yuemko lost and the scary part is Yumeko isn’t mad if anything she’s excited (Nitsuj: And possibly turned on). The next day at school Yumeko becomes a school pet and everyone turns on her.
In episode 4, Yumeko’s life as a school pet begins (scene here: https://youtu.be/PfJeo1wFvxo) as she receives a booklet from the student council which actually has detailed information about her future such as who she’ll marry, when she’ll marry, and how many kids she’ll have (so basically, when you become a school pet, you become this school’s bitch). Suzui tries to loan her some money but she refuses it (Nitsuj: So she loans people money but won’t take money herself. She’s a hypocrite) and some boys led by a guy named Kiwatari come along and drag her off to a secluded area to strip (well there’s a way to pay off your debt). She does get saved by Midari a member of the student council who gets off playing Russian roulette (Nitsuj: This school has too many freaks) and tries to get the boys to pull the trigger but she instead kills their boner (Baron: Speak for yourself) and they leave (scene here: https://youtu.be/5bnOzPTHiQM). Needing some “release”, Midari goes to the bathroom herself and pulls the trigger herself where she survives (scene here: https://youtu.be/Zc9kXicWFk0). After this, the student council rounds up all the students in huge debt for a big event to get them out of debt. In this game the students will form a team of 4 and gamble. Depending on how you perform will change your debt entirely. Come in first in your group and you’ll receive the lowest debt amount, come in last and you’ll receive the highest debt amount (basically, your debt will change hands with someone else). In the end, the person with the lowest debt will have their debt forgiven and paid off entirely. Yumeko and Mary wind up in the same group and the game they’ll be playing is Two-card Indian Poker (oh~ a favorite of mine). The rules for this game are you use a deck of playing cards minus the face and Joker cards, the dealer gives you one card followed by a second card which you can’t see and stick on your forehead. The goal of the game is to match your cards within 10 turns or at least get the cards to be the same suite and each round you have to pay a participation fee of 10 million yen. The game begins where Yumeko and Mary are put in a group with Kiwatari who took on a friend’s small debt in order to make some money in the games. Kiwatari wins the first game but Yumeko manages to win the third one. Kiwatari figures out that Yumeko and Mary are working together and when he thinks he sees through their trick he guesses wrong and looks like an idiot (scene here: https://youtu.be/Oy3_alhVRvQ).
Episodes 5-8
(Nitsuj): In episode 5, Yumeko and Mary own Kiwatari. It gets revealed that everyone is cheating in some way or form. For Kiwatari he’s using the fourth player Nanami to help him out. Nanami is also a school pet who was constantly tortured by Kiwatari and forced to become his servant. The one thing he did to break her was cut her long hair, the hair that she’s been growing out since elementary school (that bastard). Despite knowing that everyone is cheating, the student council representative allows the game to continue where Kiwatari keeps losing and even Nanami stands up to her oppressor and fights back (yeah, I know I missing out a lot of stuff but there is just way too many numbers to explain). In the end, Kiwatari thinks he’s won by coming in first but in truth he came in last because he has a lot of Yumeko’s chips and since her debt is bigger that means her chips count for more money which means he’s been inheriting her debt and screwing himself over (Seras: This guy was an idiot to the end). In truth, Kiwatari came in last (and becomes a school pet because of his new debt), Yumeko third, Nanami second, and Mary first meaning her debt has been paid off and she’s no longer a school pet (Seras: She also made a little money on the side). Mary sends the extra money to Suzui who in turn returns it back to her (through a weird series of events they used to trick Kiwatari) and Yumeko forces her to become her friend (scenes here: https://youtu.be/jYx-5QjWvU4 and https://youtu.be/RJqmFlg23xA).
In episode 6 Mary pays off her debt and is no longer a school pet (she’s still a school bitch) and Yumeko remains a school pet despite winning big from last episode. Suzui and Mary conclude that Yumeko hasn’t paid her debt off because she wants to remain a school pet on purpose so that she can challenge the student council in bets as school pets have the right to challenge the student council to a game. Speaking of the student council, they’ve done a little background check on Yumeko where they discover her parents are dead and the only family she has left is her older sister who’s in the mental ward of a hospital with Yumeko paying for her expenses (Seras: Makes sense, that girl is loaded). The student council also figures out that Yumeko plans to challenge Kirari which Midari won’t allow because she’s afraid that Kirari will break her (Seras: Jokes on them, she’s already broken beyond belief). Midari finds Yumeko and Suzui, arrests them both, and takes them to her underground facility (which looks like something out of the Saw movies). Midari challenges Yumeko to a gamble called ESP game (oh boy, another complicated game on the way). It’s a simple matching card game where the players have to guess which cards the dealer laid down in a specific order. But they won’t be betting money (because Midari don’t play normal), they’ll be betting with their lives as Midari has loaded two guns with bullets in them and if you win the round you get to take a shot at your opponent and possibly kill them (Seras: The more points you win by the more shots you get to take). Suzui says to hell with this but Midari won’t let him or Yumeko leave because she needs this. Nobody will gamble against her (I can’t imagine why) and the thrill of gambling is the only thing that gets her off in the world. Yumeko accepts the duel (because they’re both perverts) but has three conditions: they only play 3 rounds, Suzui is the dealer, and the losing side must pay 1 billion yen. Midari accepts these conditions but also adds the rule that if someone misses a shot on purpose the other player gets a free shot (we are definitely going to watch somebody die in this anime aren’t we?). Suzui gets taken to another room while Yumeko and Midari load their guns with however many bullets they want and toss them down a chute. Suzui is freaking out because Yumeko’s life is in his hands (Seras: And up until this point he’s proven he’s pretty much a coward) and because she says she’ll be alright if Suzui uses their sign to help her. The only problem is he doesn’t know what she’s talking about. At the end of the first round Yumeko loses by one point and Midari prepares to fire her gun (Seras: All while getting off on the thrill for what’s about to happen. That girl is turned on. (Nitsuj): You’re a little bit too excited with how turned on she’s getting. Scene here: https://youtu.be/NIOflWHn6gY).
At the start of episode 7 Yumeko tells Midari not to fire the gun because it’s Yumeko’s gun and didn’t load any bullets. Instead, she just clogged the gun with lipstick (it’ll still fire). Midari then talks about her backstory where she says that her whole life she felt out of place in the world. Even when she went to the school she felt out of place and found gambling boring. Her life changed forever when she racked up a debt of 300 million yen. Since she had no way to pay it back and Kirari not finding her suitable for the life plan program (Seras: Because nobody wants to sleep knowing that woman is next to you) comes up with an alternative for Midari to pay back her debt. She wants Midari’s left eye because she’s interested in seeing what’s on the other side of an eye. Midari openly gouges the eye out herself with a pen (ouch) and yet despite doing this the student council president wasn’t the least bit interested in this turn of events. It was at that moment that Midari came to think that the thrill of gambling was pain and not knowing whether or not you would live to play another game (Seras: And apparently getting off on the gamble as well). Midari begged the president for another match but said no and promised to one day kill her (scene here: https://youtu.be/T1n7hpKA11w). We return to the present where Midari thinks she and Yumeko are the same (not by a long shot. You’re both insane but the levels of your insanity are far apart) and that the only thrill she gets from gambling is ending someone. They do the second round where this time Suzui and Yumeko are on the same wavelength and Yumeko wins the second round 5-3. This means she gets 2 shots at Midari (Seras: Who is so turned on by this that’s she drooling. Crazy bitch. (Nitsuj): From the mouth of the kettle ladies and gentlemen) but Yumeko gets her gun which holds no rounds. They move on to the final round where Midari plays her final cheat, returning the monitors to normal. Throughout the game both Yumeko and Suzui have been seeing mirrored monitors throwing each other off. Luckily, Yumeko realized this earlier in the game because Suzui is right-handed instead of left-handed however she’s pissed off at Midari for not understanding the true joy of gambling and instead wanting to have all the pain to herself (Seras: Just like a man. They always get the orgasm but the women never do). In the final round both ladies load two bullets into their guns, but this would turn out to be pointless because they both miss all of their matches on purpose. Midari missed because she wanted to get shoot and Yumeko missed just to mess with Midari. Seeing as how they both missed, the match is a draw and Midari has been blue balled (scene here: https://youtu.be/X7i8vD9O-78). While that was all going on the student council president tries to get Mary to join the student council but she refuses because the president is crazy and messed up (yes, that seems to be the running gag in this series. Everyone is crazy. In fact, I think the only sane person is Suzui. Scene here: https://youtu.be/QYmNC36GXgk).
(Seras): In episode 8 Kirari leaves the academy for a few days (sometimes you just got to get away from the craziness and deal with your own insanity. (Nitsuj): The academy is going to be burnt down when she returns isn’t it? (Seras): Oh there’s no way it’s going to be standing when she comes back). With Kirari gone Sayaka is now worried because one, the student council isn’t really all that united (just like anybody in a political system) and two, Yumeko is still on the loose and because of her presence the landscape of the academy has changed greatly (Nitsuj: You’re the ones who let the fox into the hen house. What did you expect?) and being that she’s still a school pet she can challenge the student council all she wants (scene here: https://youtu.be/G2amXRfVdW0). Yumemite, a member of the student council who’s also an indie idol (Nitsuj: The fuck is wrong with her eyes!? She has stars in them, that’s not normal) says she’ll take care of Yumeko and calls her out where they bet 50 million yen which is enough to pay off Yumeko’s debt but if she loses she has to become Yumemite’s idol partner and dedicate her life to being an idol. Yumeko sees through Yumemite’s fake personality and wants to know what she’s really after. Yumemite admits that she hates her fans and couldn’t give a damn about them (thank you for the honesty). All she cares about is winning an academy award and she’ll do anything to get it (even if it means interacting with greased up fanboys). Yumeko gets their whole conversation on a recorder and adds that to the bet saying it’s not fair if she’s the only one betting her life on this gamble (Nitsuj: She’s got a point. Equivalent exchange baby. Scene here: https://youtu.be/5DGNKJ05YwA). The day of their match comes after Yumemite’s concert where we see Suzui, Mary, and Itsuki (Nitsuj: Who has decided to join Yumeko’s party after finding out that she’s aiming for the student council president’s seat in the hopes that once Yumeko takes over she’ll be allowed a seat on the council. Play your house of cards right and bet on the one you think will win. (Seras): And who you fear the most) are there in the crowd to watch the gamble which is a battle of the idols.
Episodes 9-12
Episode 9 starts off with the rules of the game Yumeko and Yumemite will be playing. The whole game is basically set up like a game show where they’ll play as many as 9 games (each meant to test a different aspect of what you need to be an idol) in order to get a tic-tac-toe. The match goes in Yumeko’s favor because Yumemite wants to keep the fans excited and pull a come from behind victory crushing Yumeko and embarrassing her in front of everyone. Unfortunately, her plan backfires when they move on to one game where they have to guess the birthday of someone in the audience. Yumemite thinks she has this one in the bag because she memorized the birthdays of her fan club members and they’re all in the audience but Yumeko rolled the dice and it’s Mary who gets picked (Nitsuj: You don goofed bitch). With no knowledge of Mary, Yumemite is force to guess and she loses to Yumeko which gives Yumeko the space she needs to win the gamble (scene here: https://youtu.be/s39TfpvFkSM). Yumemite’s manager comes out with 50 million yen and begs Yumeko not to play that recording from the other day but Yumemite says to go on ahead and play it (because of some dumb idol reason I’m too lazy to talk about). It gets played and to the amazement of Yumemite her fans remain loyal to her (scene here: https://youtu.be/coHrE50TWTQ. (Nitsuj): Now that’s what I call true fans. (Seras): Or they could just be straight up masochists. (Nitsuj): Yeah, I can see that). The crowd calls for an encore performance and it gets stupid where Yumeko and Yumemite sing and dance together (scene here: https://youtu.be/rIYT4Ty62Zs. No practice whatsoever and they’re in perfect coordination with each other. Bullshit). Yumemite than exposes that the person who set up everything for this gamble was Manyuda the accountant of the student council and a man who strives to become president. Manyuda denies these claims saying they have no evidence so Yumeko challenges him to a gamble which he refuses. With no other options, she challenges him to a public match.
(Nitsuj): In episode 10 Manyuda accepts Yumeko’s gamble and decides to do the gamble right there and now (hot damn, this is the best concert encore I’ve ever seen). The game they play is a personal favorite of mine, Choice Poker. The rules are similar to regular poker except the joker card is added into the deck, you can’t fold or call in this game, and you have to bet or raise. The players will show their cards at each hand and whoever bets the most in the end will earn the right to choose which hand wins in the end, the weaker hand or the stronger hand (Seras: Ohh~ I like I like. We’ve got to try this sometime). While the rules seem simple and fair in truth Yumeko is a disadvantage. Manyuda has the financial backings of the student council so God only knows how much money he has while Yumeko has limited money and in this game the one who has the most money has the advantage and since Yumeko isn’t allowed to call or fold in this game she has no choice but to keep gambling her money away at each hand (she’s practically at the mercy of Manyuda). Each chip is worth 10 million yen and there’s no limit to the amount of money they can bet. Yumeko starts off with 31 chips (310 million yen) while Manyuda starts off with 100 chips (1 billion yen) (scenes here: https://youtu.be/ligocmGlJ8s and https://youtu.be/6cSWlSg_FXI). Yumeko wins the first hand but loses all her chips in the second hand meaning she has no more money (well that was the shortest game of poker I’ve ever seen) but she’s not out of the game yet as she can borrow money from Itsuki who at first is hesitant because on the one hand if she sides with Manyuda she’ll get her seat back in the student council (Seras: That would be the safe and demeaning route) or she can side with Yumeko and risk it all on becoming president of the student council and reaching her ambitions (Seras: That would be the unsafe and fun route. (Nitsuj): Big risks means big rewards). Itsuki rises up to challenge and gives 100 chips to Yumeko so she can keep gambling.
So in episode 11 Manyuda and Itsuki keep raising the stakes and betting like crazy (all while Yumeko gets off on this no doubt. (Seras): She’s turned on! (Nitsuj): I’m beginning to think the Jacks are having an effect on you) until Itsuki finally hits a wall and runs out of money. With nothing else to bet, Yumeko and Itsuki bet their lives since they’re worth billions in society (we have a girl who’s the heir to a major toy company in Japan and a girl who’s an MC and the best female character from 2017). Manyuda rebukes this bet but the vice president allows it and reveals herself to be Kirari (Seras: It’s amazing how easy it is to fool people by letting your hair down, wearing a mask, and using a voice changer). With this bet Yumeko and Itsuki now have the right to choose which hand wins but Manyuda counters this by betting his life as well which is worth 10 billion yen because according to him he’s destined to the Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Finance when he graduates (that’s a bold claim). The president allows this which means he now has the right to decide the hand and Itsuki is panicking trying to find something to bet like Mary and Suzui but the Kirari says they have no social status so they’re worthless (https://youtu.be/baJ_cOzOOfI, I don’t know whether that was intentional or not but that was a major burn). Manyuda chooses strong and shows his hand which is 3 of a kind with 8s and Yumeko which is also 3 of a kind only with Jacks which means Yumeko wins the bet. This whole time she and Itsuki were playing him, making him believe they wanted to go for a weaker hand but in truth they wanted the strong hand this whole time (Seras: They made him look like a damn fool. His face is priceless). So, not only has Manyuda lost all his money (I lost count after a billion), his life, and future but he’s also been fired from the student council. He responds to this shock by fainting in front of everyone and making his hair go white from the shock (scenes here: https://youtu.be/n-p0k33rv9A and https://youtu.be/EaGHAVUwWss. (Seras): That’s overexaggerating. . .but I like it). After the gambling is over and everyone has left Yumeko and Kirari talk to each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/K9edhdL5xnk. Oh when are they gonna stop this game of cat and mouse and do it with each other? (Seras): Now who’s being effected by the Jacks?).
In the final episode (aww~ we were having so much fun) we get the match the anime has been building up since the beginning, Yumeko vs Kirari where they’re betting everything and the loser can never set foot in the academy ever again. The name of their game is called Tarot cards of fate where they’ll play three arounds and in each round they’ll turn over one card. Now as we all know there are 22 cards numbered and those numbers will decide their score with the person with the highest score at the end wins the game. The only swerves in this game is that if the card is facing downward (or reverse) than you get minus points. If Yumeko enters the negative zone (Luigi, stay out of this) she automatically loses but if it’s a positive she wins. The final swerve is the Fool card which will serve as the Joker card in the game where if Yumeko picks this card and it’s facing upright Kirari automatically loses and Yumeko will be declared the winner. For each round Kirari will pick the card of the past, Yumeko will the card for the present, and Suzui gets the honors of picking the card for the future (in other words, he gets to decide the fate of these two crazy young ladies). The game begins where Yumeko draws the Magician in the upright position getting one point but Kirari draws the world in the reverse position which means -21 points. Now Yumeko’s fate lays with Suzui who has to draw the Fool in order for Yumeko to win (or he could draw Judgement and cancel out the points. (Seras): Yeah, but it’s more intense and thrilling if he draws the Fool to win the game. (Nitsuj): That’s true). As Suzui looks around to decide which card is the Fool he notices one card has a smudge mark on it that Kirari made when she grabbed the Fool. At first, it seems like Suzui is going to pick that card but no he sees through the trick, says this is gamble and risk, and gives Yumeko an orgasm (Seras: The best orgasm of her life). He picks his card and gets Judgement upright earning Yumeko 20 points and making the final score 0, it’s a draw (called it! (Seras): Damn you. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/AJSh94kCDu0 and https://youtu.be/J64sXQK4b28).
Final Thoughts
(Seras): And that was Kakegurui. Like I said before it’s not the best gambling anime out there as it never really feels like Yumeko can lose in this series but it is one of the more entertaining ones in my opinion.
(Nitsuj): What makes the series so entertaining is the variety of games they have which are all interesting and fun. Hell, me and a few of my friends have actually tried these games and had a lot of fun with them. Another factor that makes this anime fun is the cast of interesting characters. Yumeko doesn’t care money, winning, or losing, she’s in it for the thrills and the high she gets from gambling. She’s clearly intelligent but at the same time slightly insane an you can’t help but love her for it. While the rest of the characters aren’t as interesting as her, they all have goals on what they want to achieve. Whether those goals being something big like ruling the country or something small like just getting through the school, they all have something they’re fighting for and want to make come true.
(Seras): The animation is nice. They choose the right color palettes for each scene and I especially love how the colors and backgrounds convey the emotions and feelings of the characters and of course the facial expressions of the characters are hilarious and a gold mine of memes waiting to happen. The music is also good as it matches up with the scenes perfectly and do raise the tension of the scene even if you know the end results of the match will be Yumeko’s victory.
Final Score
(Nitsuj): The final score for Kakegurui is a 7.5/10 for me. An entertaining anime from beginning to end with a lot of fun card games to try out in real life.
(Seras): I’m giving the aniem a 7.5/10 as well. If you’re looking for a gambling anime to terrify you and make you tense up at the slightest of moves than check out Kaiji Ultimate Survivor but if you’re looking for an entertaining gambling anime than check this series out. With the second anime set to come out next month I’m excited to see what’s next for Yumeko and what other surprises they have in store for us.
(Nitsuj): Thanks for reading, happy new year everyone, and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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