Posted by OP Sequence
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OP: 「Deal with the devil」 by Tia
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「蛇喰夢子という女」 (Jabami Yumeko to Iu Onna)
“A Girl Named Jabami Yumeko”
Kakegurui is everything I never knew I wanted or needed.
General Impressions
As a Vegas native, let me tell you that I’ve on more than one occasion been disappointed when any anime tries to utilize the whole “gambling” aspect in its plot. Be it weak execution or just a garbage storyline, anything involving “gambling” tends to revolve around an overpowered character briefly talking about some sort of strategy that lead them to make a “move” that would ensure them victory. Something that may sound and look cool, but after a few dozen times tends to lose its effectiveness.
Enter Kakegurui, a show that throws caution to the wind and does something that I haven’t seen in a while — show us some straight up gambling addicts who love the thrill of letting it ride and could care less about whether or not the odds are in their favor. But unlike most gambling addicts who end up losing it all due to one reason or another (an addition to gambling is a pretty serious issue), we get to see it from the point of view of both someone who tried their best to be a winning gambler and someone who straight up knows exactly how the system works and how to make the act of gambling a game in itself.
Which leads me into the second thing that I didn’t think would grow on me — the exaggerated style of the faces and some of the real dirty looking responses whenever things get kind of crazy. In general, I’m not a huge fan of these hyper-realistic faces that get way too detailed, but in Kakegurui’s case, I think I can make an exception. Not only does it enhance the ridiculousness of the situation, but when someone like Jabami is trying to make a point, seeing her face turn into something that looks like the devil really helps sell whatever point she (or the story) is trying to make. Toss in the beautiful voice acting that Hayami Saori provides to the character, be it in her relaxed form or during crazy faced moments and the rather unsightly faces fade away quickly as get pulled deeper and deeper into the world that the story is trying to create.
In any case, I think this first episode did a fantastic job at telling us what we’re in for. With a large cast of characters to work with (based on the opening at least), fantastic material since gambling and “games” in general can be as simple or complicated as you need them to be, and some crazy visual style choices that help set the show apart from the competition, I think anyone who finds enjoyment from this episode should have no issue moving forward.
Anyways, I’ll catch you guys later as I catch up on posts and don’t forget to check out our Anime Expo 2017 post when it goes live!
ED Sequence
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ED: 「LAYon-theLINE」 by D-selections（小林竜之、澁谷梓希、若井友希、青山吉能、吉岡茉祐）
Preview
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This could be one of the talked about anime this season, and will definitely be known for the reaction faces. I haven’t read the manga but I’ll probably be following this to see just how much of a high roller Jabami could be. The way she makes such reckless gambles is what I think is gonna throw her opponents off their game and make her win. We’ll see. It was pretty satisfying seeing Mary lose her cool because of the crazy bets Jabami makes. And speaking of Mary, did she just break the forth wall speaking to the camera when she called Jabami an idiot?
There’s a spinoff called Kakegurui Futago, with Mary as the MC. A prequel set 1 year before the main story, it depicts Mary’s arrival at the school and her descent into gambling madness.
https://randomc.net/image/Kakegurui/Kakegurui%20-%20OP%20-%2002.jpg
Opening visuals are great but I think the song is messy.
https://randomc.net/image/Kakegurui/Kakegurui%20-%2001%20-%2030.jpg
Kakegurui will be your reaction faces gold mine for the next 3 months.
“I think the song is messy.”
I think that’s the point XD
I understand that the song is intended to be messy BUT it should still be somewhat listenable. This OP is too close to the ‘nail on blackboard’ side of sound. Maybe it’s just my personal taste. Don’t see it growing on me though.
It’s such a pity since the visual is so lovely.
I would say personal taste.
By your description I was expecting some rough metal or something but it turns out to be a Jazzy pop song. I’m gonna side with that it’s indeed personal taste as I didn’t find it messy at all (I’d rather call it energetic) and certainly not like nails on chalkboard.
I’m just curious as to how this manga series was pitched in the first place. Square Enix is one publisher of some really interesting and consistently good series, and this is no exception.
I also wonder as to whom this series is aimed at, because even though I am not a gambler and don’t like gambling myself, I enjoyed this hell of a lot. Maybe it’s just the faces, the rampant psychosis and degrading social condition in this school. Like this anime is already so good, but it just eludes me as to why it is good. I fear the reason might be psychological XD This is seriously one anime I cannot wrap my head around.
And Hayami Saori. Good god, she is going places with this one. Just goes to show you that “Beware the nice ones” may apply to seyiuu as well. One would already know how freaking psychotic Jabami is capable of being because of her deceptive smile, so Hayami-san doesn’t even try to deceive us into thinking Jabami is a nice, sane lady and instead, through some subtle difference in tone of voice, tells us that this character is going to be bat shit crazy nuts and that Hayami-san is going to revel in it, and boy does she ever, because that is perhaps what it takes to bring this character to life. No doubt in my mind that Hayami-san enjoyed working on this. From the many roles I heard of her, it’s very exciting how she is going into this role. Well done Hayami-san, very well done.
I think I should also add that, even though I don’t like gambling, I love the half-chance, half-wit machinations that go into determining one’s chances of winning and such. Hunter X Hunter did that to me.
Wow. What a first episode! This episode (and preview) gave me distinct Death Parade vibes… in a very good way. Like Death Parade, it got my heart pounding with excitement and anticipation for the next episode. It also reminds me of LIAR GAME (I hope they animate this sometime in the future!)
I’m always in for a deranged character and Kakegurui give me just that, with a gambling den as the stage. The OP is like a declaration that this show is a big mess, and the ED just amplify Jubami’s exit at the end of the episode.
I get a lot of Maria Holic vibes from the OP and the academy of sadists. I’m also in for deranged characters with distorted reaction faces, and am always looking to get into more high stakes gambling anime. Saori Hayami did a great job capturing the balancing act Jabami has between the kindness she shows to Mary’s pet and the demented desire she has for thrill-seeking, reckless gambling. I’m pretty pumped up for what the show has to offer from here.
was probably going to skip this, didn’t seem like my cup of tea
after seeing them faces though, i’m not so sure anymore ._.
This met all of my expectations, so I am definitely going to continue watching it.
Sadly, I’m also not crazy about the op song. I was getting hyped because of the jazzy feel to it, but the song itself just doesn’t sound good.
This is DINNER!
https://randomc.net/image/Kakegurui/Kakegurui%20-%20OP%20-%20Large%2001.jpg
Tbh, I skipped the OP after listening to 10 seconds of it.
Am I the only one who loved the OP? Cuz I honestly did.
I actually enjoyed the OP. It had a nice chaotic jazzy feel to it, and they didn’t even have to have someone screaming or digging their nails on a chalkboard to give it that frantic vibe. It fits well with the show to have something that smooth yet disorienting.
Interesting opening theme song they got there. Reminds me of the music principles of hard bop. Definitely not free jazz though… Anyways, I scoped out a bit of Episode 1 while I was at a friend’s open house and it was quite interesting. I won’t be watching it but I’ll be dedicating some time to checking up on RandomC’s weekly posts on the anime. Well, at least I hope there’ll be weekly posts seeing that it’s apparently a Netflix exclusive was it? I dunno, I live in South-East Asia. We don’t get all these things often through corporately-bound means…
Oh man, this show is so much better than I though it would be. there’s something about it where it makes you drawn into it.
Lol. All of those Light Yagami “gotcha” faces.
Las Vegas native? You’re still there occasionally?
I go there to play Blackjack 3 weeks every year. If you’re around next year, I’ll treat you to dinner!
Can’t…stop…watching…ED sequence…
Honestly, Kakegurui is a horrible gambling anime. The stakes are low, as it’s either money,(which we know doesn’t matter to Yumeko), or death,(which we know won’t happen because that would mean the anime couldn’t continue). This makes the gambling matches boring and predictable. The main reason I watched and most other people as well was because of the interesting characters.
Great , thank you