This madness called Kakegurui (Compulsive Gambler) is just getting started.
Kakegurui is special because when it was trying to gain popularity, I was the one who wrote many of the character biographies on MAL. (Now it’s all gone. Tch.) And the artist who drew the manga was one of my all-time favourite, Naomura Tooru, who also wrote Shitsurakuen. (If you’re a fan of crazy over-powered student government like Kakegurui, I recommend you check it out.) I’d say the anime did a great job on the art work. Everybody looks crazy yet beautiful, and Suzui looks better than his manga counterpart.
One thing that kept bothering me was Yumeko’s voice, not because it’s bad, but because I kept having Victoria Serebryakova’s face in my head when I listen to her, and Victoria is such a naive little girl compared to Yumeko. The characters themselves only have two things in common: their long hair and their gender. (Yumeko and Victoria share the same voice actress, Hayami Saori.) I had imagined Yumeko would sound more mature than that, but her voice when she got pissed is another story. (Meaning: I love it.)
I shall try not to let it bother me too much. Moving on.
I also like the style this anime is going for. We have the jazzy opening where Yumeko tries to eat everybody with a knife and fork, and inside we have numbers floating around mid-air. It’s a good way to show the audience what is going on rather than have the characters spew out numbers and us having to compare them in our heads. The lighting and background also made the anime felt like it took place in a casino rather than a school.
Also, I would like to express how I love the lips so much. They look pink just like the manga. And that crazy face lol.
On the game itself, I think it’s a cool twist to simple rock-paper-scissor. I would like to play that voting RPS game with my classmates one day. RPS is a good way of getting the audience hyped because you can never guess what the opponent would use (if you didn’t cheat like Mary did) and it’s a short, simple game. If the anime started with, say, a battle to the death of poker or mahjong, the tension would still be there but I would not understand a thing. Of course after re-reading the manga twice I don’t feel any suspense on what the results might be, but my heart did skip a beat the moment they drew their cards and yelled ‘Jan-ken-POOOOOOOOOON!!!!!’.
Uhh, yeah, I won’t say the expressions in this anime was over-the-top just like the manga, because I like it.
What I didn’t care too much for was the animation at the ending.
Yumeko did state explicitly in the manga that she did not like showing her skin, so when she threw off her blazer and tore her shirt down the middle, then started going ‘AWW YEAH!’ then the camera zoomed in on her boobs, I was staring at my screen going ‘huwat who is dis?’. It seemed panty shots and panting girls was not enough fan service for this series so they had to make Yumeko wear a wet shirt and throw her bra all over the screen. The song was good though.
Aaaaand that was Kakegurui episode one, with one crazy woman running around. I think I want to start something in my review so it would get more interesting, so here goes:
CRAZY GIRL COUNT: 1
There. See you on the next review. Yumeko shall send you off.
bonutzuu 