Coming in at what has to be one of the weirdest anime I have ever seen and the weirdest anime that has ever been made. Some animes will have you questioning what you are watching and this is one of them. I watched this show years ago when it first came out and revisiting now I have to question my decision-making skills. Kakegurui is a Netflix anime that follows a school full of rich kids who on the outside seem like normal private schoolers but at a closer look, every student at the school is a gambler. This isn’t just an attribute that every student has but it is the school itself, to not be treated like an animal and rise in popularity you have to be good at betting away your life.

The anime does well with introducing us to the system through straight-up exposure. We follow the new girl at school, Yumeko Jabam who at first seems quiet and revered not someone who would survive in the harsh environments that come along with gambling your life away. She gets to know the only boy at school, Ryota Suzui who is what the high rollers call a ‘pet’. He gambles and lost the game he was in becoming a servant to whoever he played against, and as he is showing Yumeko the ropes she gets challenged to a modified game of rock paper scissors. Now at this point when you are watching it as a viewer you are kind of getting the hint that something might be off with Yumeko. It does a great job of dropping hints as to Yumekos’s true character, as the game progresses so does the excitement on her face. She is a certified gambler addicted to the thrill that comes with the high stake games in the school.

The games that the characters play through the show can only be described as horrifying. The second game that Yumeko plays is a twisted game of concentration the card game. With each successful match against the other has to rip one of their nail beds off and keep playing. The animation lends itself to the plot of anime being bright, and quick, slowing down in moments they want the viewer to catch what is happening in the scene. At some points it felt like I couldn’t take my eyes off what I was watching, each student is deeply involved with the hierarchy that is the school. No matter the lengths that a game might go to they will always play it. The thrill plus the fear of being a pet keeps the students from even thinking about not taking part, and it’s very apparent in one of my favorite characters; Midari Ikishima.

Midari is one of the conical members that instilled the gambling rule in the first place. She is previously damaged from losing one of her eyes in a bet and is honestly out of her mind crazy. She convinces Yumeko to play a guessing game of Russian roulette and the way Midari has no care for her safety in the slightest makes the entire scene. I love how deranged she and this anime is. It is a tentative watch as it might not be your vibe but just as an anime itself, it comes in at a 7/10.

Other Ratings

Netflix: 73% Match