Kekegurui, an anime that used to pop off around the late 2010’s but now its public reputation is basically summed up as that “dat one anime with the weird faces and the poker”
No wait that's Kaiji.
Kakegurui is the one and only anime that I know is not worth defending ,but I do it anyway. I know it's not a great show.But what bothers me is that it could be great. But it trips over itself a lot. And the OVA, Kakegurui Twin,I was excited for,but then it turned out……mmmm alright. It didn’t suck necessarily. I think it does some tiny little things here and there better than its parent story,but goddammit.
What really sucks about this OVA is that it doesn’t do a good job of proving that Kakegurui can be good, if that makes any sense. I know one in every 3 anime watchers hate this show, and that is valid,can’t argue about it. But what sucks is that Kakegurui has soooooooooooo soooooooooooooooo much potential to be a great series. Some think that it’s just yuribait fanservice with kookie faces, and they aren't wrong. But they basically write the show off as just that while myself sees certain aspects about its worldbuilding, aesthetic, and characters that feel like breeding ground for something interesting. I love how Hyyakkaou Private Academy feels like a miniature version of the real world,where the rich basically have control over everything and the poor are deprived of their human rights and bodily autonomy.The fact that all of this is based around gambling as well shows that all humans are equal in the eyes of Lady Luck.However, some students are so desperate to win at all costs that they use tactics to win either by straight up cheating, or using psychological taunts. And what makes it interesting is when they try to figure this stuff out. And I think this set up leaves some strong characters,they arent the most well written,but their personalities are so warped and fucked up because of this predatory social class that the school perpetuates.And not to mention the antagonists in Kakegurui are so alluring and captivating.They’re the type of characters that can only work in anime. I say this because I watched a little of the live action adaptation and I almost died of cringe faster than you can say Rudeus Greyrat.The downside to all of Kakegurui’s elements are that they feel like a tease.Its like a fancy pinata that is eye catching,but when you cut it open, its just hollow paper.
What Kakegurui needs desperately is a story, a story with stakes, and balls;a story that has the same amount of weight that backs up how dramatic the show acts.Its not like the writer doesn't have the competence needed to write because they sat down and planned out these convoluted as hell games. This season literally has a speed dating gambling game and it is ridiculous.But for some reason in this season along with the others, the story is just not up to par with everything else. S1 was just worldbuilding watching Yumeko walk around gambling with people, S2 tried to have a plot about a race to take the student council position but then it shits the bed by diving into different story arcs entirely,and while the story in this OVA is more cohesive than the others. Dude,come on, the story is basically Mary trying to secure the rights to some gambling den and joining some club. Its really lame tbh for something like Kakegurui. This is a gambling show, I want people to die, I want the mafia to come in, I want these snot nosed students to have actual life or death consequences,Its not like there are adults to stop them or anything.There are a shitton of expendable characters in Kakegurui and in season two the cast literally doubles in size. I WANT YUMEKO TO KILL SOME MOB BOSSES,IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK, HOMURA KAWAMOTO?
#ART/ANIMATION/SOUND
On a technical aspect,Kakegurui does a lot of swings and hits, one thing that Kakegurui truly deserves praise for is its direction, the use of camera shots, 3d, and little tricks to play with the audience gives this show "style". Which is one thing I can never fault a show for. This is the type of show that has flashes of brilliance in the little moments. One scene could have some of the most fluid hair and fabric movement for a nanosecond, another scene could be an insane dance sequence. And I am really glad that they use visuals to explain these games and the thought process of each player. And also the staple of the series, the facial expressions, some say they’re kooky, I think they're effective depending on the tone of the scene. Twin is less ambitious, the facial expressions are toned down heavily because I feel like the animator they had for the previous seasons was busy or something. But this season isn't awfully animated,its alright. And the soundtrack of Kakegurui in general is lowkey one of the best anime soundtracks of all time. The most iconic track being "Strange Visage" which is so iconic that its literally labelled as "The track from Kakegurui that you've been searching for". Its one of those soundtracks that make you really think, a sort of controlled chaos with erratic jazz and electronica. And yes the soundtrack invades my study playlist. It fits Kakegurui's vibe so well that it becomes the vibe. And it even gets better in season 2.I can't tell if TWIN has a new soundtrack, but it sounded great nonetheless, goes to show that the best thing about Kakegurui is its soundtrack.
#CHARACTERS
There are a lot of Kakegurui characters, but let's be honest, the only one that truly matters is Yumeko, she is bae.
I literally had an entire paragraph about why I like Yumeko but had to cut it out since she isn't even in this season :(. And major bummer because the show could have had a cameo or something to tie all the seasons together but no. And with the protag of the series, Mary. I have no problem with her, she likes to take the piss out of people which is kinda entertaining but she is more “tame” than the other characters and I have to admit her ragtag duo of glasses girl and blue haired girl aren't that exciting to watch. They are basically the Ryouta of this season,but a bit more useful.Now for the antagonist of this series Sachiko Juraku,her character is not well developed but hubba hubba. I’m not the type of guy who falls for anime girls willy nilly,I'm more of a personality rather than looks type of man. But holy shit. I love a girl who is a controlling dominatrix ,and with the red eyes and white flowing hair, woooo weeeee,put a collar around me,master,really embarrassing myself right now,but shit i already typed this, might as well own it. Her house pet SandM girl was an interesting case as well but she isnt as developed as i had hoped. I still enjoyed them because the two bounced off each other like a couple in a trashy porno.Goes to show that character development isn't always necessary, just highly highly highly highly highly recommended if you want your audience to care about things other than looks.
#THE KAKEGURUI CREATOR IS WEIRD LOL
I don't know, at this point I probably should just call Kakegurui a mediocre franchise and be done with it but honestly…….I can’t. There is still something about it that allures me and it has so much potential. I just want a better story, But I doubt i'll get that because the creator is too busy making either card game anime, isekai manga, or isekai manga with card games in them. Speaking of them, I need to mention their portfolio of works,because its hilarious.This creator has a thing with card games, They were the creator of that Build Divide card game show no one cares about, and there's an upcoming anime called High Card that is about, you guessed it, card games,but the twist is that the cards have supernatural powers or something lmao.There is also that controversy where they made an isekai that ripped off real characters from other works in such a way that it felt like personal attacks against other authors,and it got to a point where the author had to apologize and the series was canceled. This is probably the funniest controversy I have seen online so far lololol.But moral of the story,the creator doesn’t have the time of day for this series anymore. They treat Kakegurui like their bastard child, ignoring them,focusing on their new children, and planning to send them to the wall when they get the chance. Sadly Kakegurui can never be the Lord of Winterfell because it's Kakegurui.
#ENJOYMENT?
And as a mild supporter-not really a fan- of this series,I feel like defending this show is like a dog trainer in a circus trying to get the dog to do a trick but it just sits there and I just yell at the audience being like “ Just you wait, it's gonna do something amazing,just you wait!”. I don’t know how long this delusion can last,but each year I kinda feel the intrigue of Kakegurui fading away,and this OVA,while not terrible, does little to take me back to those days where Kakegurui was a fresh and exciting face in the world of anime.
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