Common Name: Kakegurui
Alternative Names: Kakegurui: Gambling Addict
Score: 8/10, 5/5
Length: 12 Episodes
Genre: Psychological, Drama, Game
Summary: Hyakkaou Private Academy is a school for the children of the elite, young people who are likely to become key figures in their industry or the Japanese government itself. As such, it is the duty of this school to teach these heirs how to succeed in the savage world of business. So, what better way to accomplish this than let them run wild and let their success at this school's greatest pastime, gambling? However, there is a distinct possibility that such a school might also encourage some less healthy developments as well. While terms like "proud," "distinguished," and "beautiful" might come to mind when describing this school's students and the reigning student council, the introduction of a single rogue element, one Jabami Yumeko, proves that there might just be another word that perfectly describes everything this school stands for--"insane."
Review: To make things clear from the start of this review, Kakegurui is a terrible anime according to all the usual benchmarks that I check off for an anime. The story is dumb, predictable, and makes little to no room for growth. The games that make up the backbone of the show's premise are constantly undermined by the lack of any actual stakes. And, lastly, its characters are little more than caricatures of a single type of personality taken to an absurd extreme. Yet, in spite of all of those things that I'd normally call essential to a good show, I'm partially inclined to praise the show for throwing all those things to the wind just to emphasize its existence as a social critique. Rather than existing as a standard, fantastical title about good, evil, and the triumph over said evil we love so much, Kakegurui has an entirely different goal in mind. Instead of telling an interesting or compelling story, the point of this show is simply to express an idea or feeling in much the same way that Orwell's 1984 expresses the threat of a surveillance state or how Egan's Permutation City tackles the definition of what it means to be human.
The best part by far, though, is that the show expresses its grand, sweeping ideas
in a way only anime can--with lots of weird, kinky shit.
While I won't go so far as to claim that Kakegurui is, by any means, on par with those literary classics, it definitely seems to feature all the hallmarks typical of an idealistic or critical work--the same things that I called flaws before. Let's take, for starters, the show's frankly awful story. From start to finish, this show, as a standard anime, is dependent upon the simple concept that something is "at stake" for the protagonists. Wealth, dignity, and continued existence. All these things can and are gambled away at one point or another, creating an easy way to ratchet up the drama accordingly. In fact, the show goes about gambling away all these things in an interesting manner through the school's "Pochi" (Male) and "Mike" (Female) student pet system. Without going into great detail, this system offers a systematic and authorized means of objectifying people who have accrued a debt, meaning they have failed as a student and, perhaps unintentionally, forfeit their human rights to those who have proved to be their better. Yet, in spite of that necessary and interesting way of building drama, the show constantly undermines any and every threat posed to the show's main character, Jabami Yumeko. For example, it's revealed after the first couple episodes that money means nothing to her. Dignity is also clearly the least of her concerns, as noted by the image above. And, of course, there just wouldn't be a show if the student council simply killed her off for undermining their authority. So, accounting for all that, what could this show's plot really hope to offer when every other aspect of the show has kneecapped it before it even reached the starting line? Simple answer: nothing but help drive home the idea those other aspects are working toward.
Christ, the more I word it like that, the more it sounds like each aspect of this
show is part of some kind of ideological mafia.
Of course, with plot's death by lack of any real threat or tension, the gambling games this show was built on end up being meaningless as well. To be totally fair, though, the show's games are interesting and thoughtful variations on the classics like poker, matching, and craps. It's just unfortunate that their novelty and intrigue is ruined from the lack of any real threat or stakes against the unkillable gambling queen, Jabami Yumeko. Speaking of whom, that brings up what is the biggest problem for this show as a show and the most important aspect of the show's founding idea. I am, of course, talking about the show's awful characters. On top of being unkillable for fear of killing the show itself, Yumeko exists as everything that is wrong with anime today. Over the course of the show, it is made blatantly clear that Yumeko is an unknown quantity in every respect. No one knows how much she's actually worth, what kind of influence she has in the world, or how sane/insane she really is. Put simply, she is a Mary Sue character capable of being everything and nothing depending on the situation. The only thing that can be said about her for certain is that she's immeasurably rich and probably insane.
Ok, I take that back. There's no "probably" about it.
Unfortunately, the rest of the cast isn't much better than her. While interesting in their own ways, they rarely have anything meaningful or worthwhile to offer other than being hurtles for Yumiko to overcome during her quest to achieve the greatest gambling high possible. In fact, as far as the rest of the protagonists are concerned, they only really shine when they take on the qualities that define Yumeko when they throw off the shackles of sanity. Heck, even the main antagonist is only notable in that she possesses that exact same quality but uses it to further more malicious ends. So, clearly, having strong and meaningful characters isn't what's supposed to carry this show for 12 whole episodes. That leaves us with one big question then: What the hell is this "big ideology" I've been harping on this whole time?!
I'll give you a hint. I've kinda been showing it off this whole time.
To put it in the most succinct manner possible: this show goes to great lengths to juxtapose and warn against the two halves of "living the high-life," contrasting the erotic and beautiful allure of that life with the insanity and unsettling depravity that serves as the opposite side of that same tarnished coin. While the events of this show are not true to life, they serve as a kind of extremist representation of what "living it up" can be like. That extremism is ultimately what defines this kind of show and the greats of "what if" literature that I cited earlier, stories that take an idea to the extreme but are grounded enough in reality to be seen as referential to real life, for better or worse. Everything from the movements, the motivations, and the characters of this story are taken to an extreme that heightens the sense that there is something horribly wrong with this world. While the characters of the show are undoubtedly "beautiful" and even "sexy," representing the seductive allure of any and every vice, victory and defeat alike twist their normally beautiful profiles into something depraved and unsettling. Not only that, but the events of the show and the things put at stake highlight this depravity through the simple objectification and manipulation of human life. As if the "high" of gambling wasn't enough, what better thrill is there than to hold the life of another in your hands, turning humanity itself into a mere form of currency as the stakes grow higher and higher? While this show might not be great in the standard sense, I believe it is great in that it takes this warning against vice and the allure of riches and uses everything in its power to drive that point home. From the symbology of "Heaven" and "Hell" and the use of prayer candles (a thing easily bought to ward off sin or buy your way to salvation) to the highs and lows the characters suffer over the course of the show, everything serves the purpose. All these things and, heck, even the show's lackluster ending work to reinforce the show's founding idea or belief via a medium that is likely to grab and hold the attention of the masses the message is directed at.
Does that adherence to a belief make this show particularly great though? Not really, but it is certainly a fun and entertaining watch in its own right. While the characters aren't all that impressive, they're interesting enough to enjoy. While the plot is utter garbage, it's enough to hold up over the course of a single season. I will give credit where it's due though, in regards to the show's music which had me hooked from the start, putting it on par with the show's ideology. Of course, it also goes without saying that the animation for the show is drop-dead gorgeous, but that was kinda the point the show was getting at anyway. So, would I end up recommending this anime? Yes. Even without the ideology, this is a solid show worthy of note just because it's so weird. What that ideology does, however, is turn a fun and weird show into something worthy of that same kind of praise and criticism those "what if" classics have gotten over the years.