LogFAQs > #969454871

26. Kakegurui
https://myanimelist.net/anime/34933/Kakegurui
Summer 2017 (12 episodes), Winter 2019 (12 episodes), Summer 2022 (6 episodes)
My Score: 9/10, MAL Score: 7.24/10 S1, 7.20/10 S2, 7.30/10 Twin
Best Character: Jabami Yumeko

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNAP32b9ZWM

My Yumeko figure: https://imgur.com/FdTkB61

Premise: Hyakkaou Private Academy is an elite school where gambling is common. The new transfer student Jabami Yumeko seems nice and normal, but she actually loves the thrill of a high-stakes gamble.

The Good: Kakegurui is a drama anime about gambling. It's set in a private school for the rich and elite. Gambling is encouraged to teach things like how to read others, manipulation, and cheating without getting caught. It also separates the strong from the weak. Any student who falls into debt becomes a house pet that everyone else can push around. If someone falls far enough, they could even be forced to sign their entire future away. It's not a school for the faint-hearted, but it turns out to be a paradise for Jabami Yumeko. Under normal circumstances she's nice and friendly. When taken by the thrill of an exciting bet, though, she turns into an insane gambling freak willing to take any risk.

The first season of Kakegurui was so amazing that the series was once one of my 10/10s. Yumeko is one of my favorite anime characters because she's such a fun and interesting enigma. I like the contrast between her friendly everyday persona and the gambling demon lurking beneath the surface. She happily accepts any challenge, and she's never worried the game might be rigged. After all, Yumeko loves the thrill more than anything else, and what's more thrilling than seeing if she can overcome stacked odds? I love how the narration never peeks into her thoughts, usually leaving that to her opponents or friends watching the game. Yumeko is an enigma, and even the audience is left wondering how much she knows at any given moment.

The Bad: The second season isn't bad, but it's a huge step down. None of the gambles were as good as anything from the first season. It also introduced a plot arc and then didn't conclude it. I waited years for another season... and then they came out with a prequel starring Yumeko's friend Mary instead. Kakegurui Twin wasn't bad either, but it was also a huge step down even compared to season two. It also introduced a plot arc and didn't conclude it, so now Kakegurui is weighed down by two unfinished arcs. Maybe they'll pay off in future seasons, but Netflix is scaling back on anime now so I'm afraid this might be all we ever get. The first season was such a masterpiece, it almost would've been preferable if it had been left to stand alone.

Overall: Even though the prequel and sequel seasons had weaker gambles and left their stories unfinished, I still love Kakegurui. It has an interesting setting full of fun characters for Yumeko to face off with. She is such an amazing character, and I loved every moment I spent wondering if she'd be able to overcome the odds.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/5/4/5/AAcDcBAAD4qx.jpg

CHARACTER: Jabami Yumeko (Kakegurui)
https://myanimelist.net/character/119413/Yumeko_Jabami
Voiced by: Hayami Saori
TOP 100 RANK: 7th

SPOILERS FOR KAKEGURUI

VIDEO LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehEql1DHIIc

I already talked quite a bit about why I love Yumeko in the anime write-up, but now I can get specific without fear of spoilers! The video I linked is from the first episode, and that game with Mary was the perfect introduction to the setting, the characters, and the two sides of Yumeko. She comes off as friendly to the point of being naive. Mary, who has the game and spectators rigged in her favor, figures this will be an easy score. And it is, at first. Yumeko loses the bet and is forced to make a larger one. It turns out she's hustling poor Mary, however, because Yumeko has already figured out the cheat. Mary has stacked the rock, paper, scissors deck to have uneven amounts that only she knows about, giving her a huge advantage.

Notably, Yumeko still takes a risk. There was a chance she wouldn't get one of the rare cards. When she did, though, knowing how Mary was cheating instantly lets Yumeko win the game. Still in her gambling freak mode, Yumeko requests the money... and then the switch flips back and the friendly side returns. She thanks Mary for the fun game. Yumeko is even grateful to the guy who helped Mary cheat, because it made things more exciting. All of this plays out without the viewer getting a look into Yumeko's thought process. We have no way of knowing if she's figured out the cheat or how to beat it. I loved the tension that created.

Yumeko is also just such an interesting character to think about. She values the thrill of gambling above all else, and that results in some truly alien and insane ways of seeing the world. She has a game of what's basically Russian roulette with Midari. It's real guns with real bullets, literal life-and-death stuff, and Yumeko is disgusted... not at the risk or the game, but at Midari for stacking it against herself in a way that made things boring. In the final gamble if the first season, Yumeko has her future in the school on the line. Her friend Ryouta is choosing a tarot card, and he realizes one of them is marked. If he's right, that card would win it for Yumeko, but theres also the chance this is a trick. Thanks to Yumeko's influence, though, he looks past those considerations. The marked card was meant to be noticed, meaning that, if he picks it, it won't be a real gamble. He decides to choose another card at random. Despite what's at stake, Yumeko is delighted at the thrill it gives her. Shes so happy he understands what's important.

My main problem with the second season was that the gambles weren't as good. The finger guillotine was so obviously rigged that there weren't any stakes. The tower of doors was stupidly convoluted. The final auction was just stupid altogether. Still, even during all of those, I enjoyed watching Yumeko. I love her disarming friendly side, and I also love the gambling freak that rises to the surface whenever things get thrilling.