Kakegurui (2017)

[賭ケグルイ]

Director: Yuichiro Hayashi
Studio: MAPPA
Starring: Saori Hayami, Miyuki Sawashiro, Minami Tanaka
Episodes: 12

Synopsis:
A new transfer student arrives at an elite private school where the students engage in high-stakes gambling.

Impressions:
This series was on the periphery of my radar and I finally gave it a shot. I'm a big fan of Saori Hayami and it was neat seeing her do a very different role than what she's known for. She does her usual nice girl act, but when the crazy kicks in, it's really something else. The core is mind games among psychos, which can be rather entertaining, especially with the sort of overwrought, grotesque faces the characters make as things heat up. I also like how the starter villains get reintegrated into the story later. It's clear to me why Mary got her own manga spinoff. On a bit of a downside, I can understand the narrative function of Suzui as part everyman audience surrogate/part exposition fairy to explain the basics, but he's about as interesting as cold oatmeal. Also, it's less about the games themselves as it is about how the characters play them, which may be a little disappointing if you if you were hoping to focus more on the gambling itself. Like I said before, mind games among psychos. If that sounds like a fun time, you should give this a watch.

Rating:
Watch It