Kakegurui

What initially attracted me to Kakegurui (gambling addict) was the art. The eyes and facial expressions hinted at characters with over the top personalities with undertones of insanity. I decided to give it a go after reading the basic plot description and Kakegurui proved to be such an addictive read that I read 41 chapters in two days, which is a big deal if you consider that I'm not really into manga. This is the first manga I've ever properly gotten into. I've tried reading others but dropped them too quickly to bother adding them to my manga list.


Kakegurui's setup is very simple. It is basically a tournament-style manga with our protagonist gambling through increasingly elaborate games against increasingly skilled opponents with increasingly higher stakes, all set within a school with a hierarchical structure corresponding to the gambling ability of its student body. Despite the simplistic setup Kakegurui is extremely entertaining and a very easy read, and there are hints of a more elaborate story.

I like how, regarding its characters' personalities, Kakegurui walks the thin line of having them be over the top enough to be entertaining, but not too bombastic to be a detriment to the story. Too many stories do not treat their characters seriously enough (I'm looking at you, Danganronpa). Perhaps no better example for this is our protagonist, Yumeko Jyabami, the titular gambling addict, who is definitely one of the highlights of the manga.
The other main characters are also somewhat well written. The side-characters are one off stereotypes, and while I don't like that, that is pretty much par for the course. Some characters are set up to provide schadenfreude to the reader when they inevitably get taken down.

The art is pretty good. It really complements the story, and the characters' frame of mind.

Kakegurui isn't perfect though. It has quite a bit of injected homo-eroticism (between the female characters, obviously) for the purposes of emphasizing the deviancy of a certain character and for providing a subtler form of fanservice. There are other minor issues regarding the characterization of side characters as well; most of them come off as caricatures with very little semblance, if any, of depth.
But despite that, Kakegurui is incredibly entertaining. Would recommend it for fans of mysteries, thrillers and unconventional protagonists.

Regarding the upcoming anime adaptation in summer, for people looking to get into the manga, I would recommend waiting for the anime first, watching it, and then picking up where the anime leaves off. Kakegurui's story and setup would lend itself extremely well to animation (unless the anime just plain sucks), and your enjoyment of the anime will be reduced if you already know what is going to happen next.

Here's my take after reading 45 chapters (8 Volumes) of Kakegurui by Tooru Naomura (Art) and Homura Kawamoto (Story).

First and foremost, when I see that the manga that I am reading is manga created by a duo of writer and artist, I immediately get excited and my eyes light up. Not all mangakas are geniuses like (Togashi-san and Odachii) so I really appreciate it when one person steps down for another person to improve the story by his art and give life to his art by the writing.

Kakegurui is a story revolving around the compulsive gambler Yumeko Jyabami and her gamble escapades at the Hyakkaou Private Academy.

From the very start of the manga, you will notice a distinct treatment on the art. All characters drawn pops out, and their expressions are strongly portrayed on every panel. You will feel the sense of tension from every raise, call or challenge in every game that the characters gambles on.

But what really grabbed me and glued me in the story is how the main character Jyabami characterized. Her split persona is reminiscent of Yugi (Atem) from the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, but magnify the lunacy and gambling perversion by ∞. This is simply amazing and so addicting to consume from start to finish.

I would say that the games played here are mere tools for the characters to show their quirkiness and characterization and most of the characters are not too fleshed out but I believe this was intentional for the main characters in the story to stand out and do their thing.

You may feel that the story is fan servicey at some points; however, this was not forced and perfectly written and executed.

All in all, if you like gambling manga aside from Kaiji, this is a must read, or if you like psychological/mind game type of stories I advise you to bet on your time here and you will surely not regret it.

I gamble 9 Jyabami chips out of 10 on Kakegurui. (I want to keep 1 for myself)

I have never written a review before but I feel like I have to mainly because how outstanding this manga is. The world needs more manga like this. Why?

STORY 10 /10

I'll start from story. Pacing is perfect. At some point in manga you start to think "I think I know how this'll end up". But here's the best part - even though you KNOW how it will end up, you enjoy it either way - that's how good the writting is and it furthermore amuses reader. It's amusing to read and just see in which direction everything falls and the more you read - the more you're hooked into the story.

ART 10/10

In my opinion from the very cover of this manga you can clearly see just what a gorgeous drawing this manga has.

CHARACTER 9/10

Now this is something I have noticed not in many manga. This is just my opinion, but the way these antagonists are introduced you begin off of hating them. I would often find myself irritated by their arrogance and wishing these people would get what they deserve. And this is the point - the way their true intentions, true personality show up after they're completely crushed it makes you to feel pity for them and it furthermore proves my point that characters are built well. And as I read more and more - they developed, changed. So that alone is a valid proof of why this manga is so great.

ENJOYMENT 10/10

Enjoyed every page of this manga.

OVERALL 10/10

Although some characters needed a bit more to be explored, I'd say that this manga is far from finished and it'll all come together in the end. Anybody that is looking for some kind of different high school settling - this should fit to your liking.

In this age of anime and manga infested with average goody two shoes main characters, wouldn't watching the assholes, sadists and psychos take the spotlight be quite fun and refreshing? If your answer is yes then Kakegurui is for you.

"Gambling is the reason to exist." Apply this quote to every student in this school.. Why? Well, that's the damn reason why the institution where our characters enroll is even standing erect for. Hyakkaou Private Academy, where the wealthiest of the wealthy come and enroll to show their prowess in gambling and deceit... or in other words, where the spoiled brats who think highly of themselves come to gather and fuck each other up. Everything here can and will be treated as a gamble. Looking to play Rock, Paper, Scissors? Why not toss in a bet of 100 million yen for each player while you're at it? Want to play a game of dice? Well, why don't we double up the stakes at 200 Million Yen?

Huge amounts of money here is treated as cheap change, yes, but once you do run out of it, please prepare for the worst. Not even your human rights are safe once you do fall in a debt, is all I can say.

Abuse of power, trickery, sadism, as expected of a system that is driven by money, it's all in here. It really is screwed up but that's what makes it fun, does it not?

The characters are what makes this story what it is. From bastards and bitches to evils geniuses or just plainly insane, that's what makes most of our cast. Just seeing them interact with each other is a lovely sight and the development they get from doing said interactions is what drives me to read further and further into the story.

The art is fantastic. It just perfectly captures the characters' various emotions and moments. Ecstasy when they're winning, despair when they know they're good as fucked, shock when shown deceit, desperation when they're way behind the game, hell even orgasms.. you name it and it's done beautifully.

Enjoyment is a 10/10. Watching jerks getting owned by our main characters' (who are by far no pure-hearted people themselves) intricate trickery and plain ingenuity is just too much of a pleasure for me.

Facial expressions! This manga has some of the best facial expressions i've ever seen!

The story is intense, thrilling, interesting and satisfying. The Art is amazing, smooth and memorable. i'm giving it a 10/10! for this manga. This manga will keep you in the edge of your seat.

So, In this review i'll focus on critique of the manga. and i'll try to keep this spoiler free.

Our main character, Yumeko transfer to a Private Academy filled with rich students. where everything is decided by gambling. The academy has its hierarchy, where winners rule over the losers, debt is going to affect their entire life. nothing is going to be fair and square. which is a perfect stage for our overpowered main character to prove their strength by exploiting strengths of opponents against them..

This reminds me of my favorite anime, No game no life and Shokugeki no Soma. but the problem is, here the setting doesn't feel realistic enough. kinda feels far fetched. of course, it's not supposed to be realistic. but we need more info and justification for why this academy encourages gambling among students. anyway, it is too early to judge this manga.

The logical aspects of gambling games and puzzles are sometimes hard to follow, you might need to read two or more times to understand everything. It is not like you need to understand everything to get excited. even if you have no idea whats going on you can enjoy this manga to the fullest. pacing is perfect as it is. it'll keep you excited.

Yumeko's background is complete mystery, for now. I hope the main character's background will be strong. a gambling main character shouldn't be from moderate/poor family. An overpowered background for Yumeko is much preferable in my opinion. again, it is too early to see where this is going.

If you want an intense manga experience. read this. i totally recommend this manga.

Kakegurui has been one amazing revelation.

I started reading this manga 'cause I was fascinated by the art but I didn't expect the story to be so good too. Here's why you should read this series:

Story: 9
Games. There are plenty of series about games but you won't find one darker than this one. The story is set in this school where your social status, school life, and your whole life is determined by how good you are at gambling. You can play everything, from rock-paper-scissors to something more dangerous like Russian Roulette. If you manage to win you gain respect, other than enormous amounts of money. If you lose you become a "pet", an insignificant student that everyone can bully and it won't be easy to come back being a "human". The villains are the Student Council, a group of students who rule the school and has created the pet system, ruled by the pragmatic Student Council President.
The story begins with the male MC losing a game and becoming a pet, until the real MC come and save him, which lead us to the characters.

Characters: 9
"Madness" is the key word to describe characters of this series. Starting with Yumeko, the protagonist: she looks like a lovely school girl but she shows her true nature when gambling. She's crazy for gambling and risk, toying with their opponents in order to enjoy the thrill as much as she can. What I like about her is that she's not evil, she's just crazy for the thrill. Watching her suddenly showing this part of her personality out of the blue is amazing.
As for the other students they're well developed.
The only important male character, Suzui, is a simple guy who starts the series being a pet, being saved by Yumeko and then thanks to her he becomes stronger as the story progress.
Mary Saotome is the bully who made Suzui a pet but later become an ally.
As for the villains, the student council, basically they're all crazy. Everyone of them has their illness for gambling, some of them reaching crazy level like Midari, and on top of them the Student Council President, a mysterious and feared girl who leads the whole thing.

Art: 9
Art is stunning. I love the expressions characters make while gambling, in particular Yumeko's "crazy" moments are a pleasure to watch. Character desing is good and there is some funny moment too, altough not very common.

Enjoyment: 8
I'm currently at chapter 17. I look forward to see how the story progress. I'm sure it won't disappoint me.

Overall: 8
I give this an 8 that could become a 9 depending on how the story ends.
By now I'm really enjoying this series, I recommend you to read it.
If you like psychological stories and crazy characters, everything mixed with an interesting story and universe, you won't be disappointed.

Story: 2.5 - An interesting and striking premise undermined by incompetent storytelling and baffling decisions in narrative direction.

Art: 6 - Character designs are, while nothing spectacular, are more than adequate and the artwork is for the most part competent. The over the top facial expressions are what push it up from a 5 to a 6 for me.

Character: 2 - Easily the weakest part of the work as a whole. I will expound on this later, but for now just know that everything interesting about the characters at the beginning fizzles out into nothing.

Enjoyment: 4 - As much as I rag on the individual aspects of the show, it still is engaging nonetheless is still highly readable, despite the at times clunky panel composition. It is, while at times incomprehensible in its direction, never quite boring.

Overall: 4 - If you think about any of the narrative concepts for more than 5 seconds you'll break the logic into over a thousand pieces but it's still pretty readable.

Kakegurui is one of my most favourite manga ever.

It's absolutely brilliant. It's a masterpiece.

1. The art is AMAZING. The art is beautiful. It's very different and so unique. I frankly love reading the manga just for the art. 10/10

2. The story line. One word. Crazy. There's a shit tonne of gambling, half the time you don't know what's going on, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. 9/10

3. Characters. The mfc is absolutely badass. She's a fucking genius. And for once we don't have a male dominant manga, but a female who challenges the student council. Yumeko is absolutely brilliant, and a freaking lunatic, and all the characters are very intriguing, each having their own personality and insanity.
The mmc is kinda there, not exactly doing anything. It''s honestly funny how he reacts to the crazy antics of Yumeko. 9/10

4. The overall experience is awesome. I'm still reading the manga as it is still publishing, but trust me once you pick it up you won't be able to put it back down again. It's non-cliche, badass, intense brain games, and the stakes of the games are absolutely demented. 9/10

I'd give this outstanding manga a 9/10

A short review for the people that are too lazy to read:

Story: 10
The story starts with a mysterious girl aka MC, enrolling a private school for rich kids (no I mean really, really rich kids,seriously). What's so special about the school is that gambling is everything in this school. Your social rank, status, and everything will be lost if you are bad at gambling or if you run out of money, and vice versa, if you have loads of money on your hands and you're good at gambling, you can have it all.
OP MC enrolls into the school and basically kicks ass at the people who underestimate her, which gains a lot of attention, making her a target on the student council black list. Thus begins the story of MC vs. the mighty student council.

Art: 10
Brilliant. Just brilliant. The art style captures the character's nature perfectly.

Character: 9
All of the characters are pretty unique and different, so I think it's quite fresh. It's definitely interesting watching the characters as their layers of personality crumble.

Enjoyment: 10
Proud to say I stayed up all night reading it. Made me cling to the manga like a sloth to a tree.

Overall: 10
10/10 would recommend/brainwash/hypnotize someone into reading it. Please do so for your inner otaku.

Wow, again, we seem to have people who love a manga about crazy people in a school with a dumb premise. This must be one of the worst trends ever, the trend of having a special school which makes people insane and exploring their psychology. Oh, and by Psychology, I mean seeing them be crazy. So why is this Bad?

THE PREMISE IS THE WORST- A school built on ILLEGAL acts, aka gambling, which has people who are rich betting MILLIONS of yen to build a social class that only lasts for about, like 3 years? Except the money and SLAVERY which continues outside of school. Sure, the world wont go insane and shut down the school, and the politicians and media (SOME OF THEIR KIDS GO THEIR!!) wont jump and say anything on the school which the MC says has been rumored, aka people know it exists. this premise is broken just because no one with 3 brain cells will ever let this school exists, let alone lend millions of yen, or even entire companies to their high school kids. I thought Caste Heaven had a dumb school, but at least it makes some sense why the school is built in its way or HAS TEACHERS.

TWO DIMENSIONAL CHARACTERS FTW!!!- Good god are the characters bland. They have two modes (some at least, others only get the first one): 'Insert a type of personality here' and crazy. Our MC also gets a third one-sadism. The manga cant be taken seriously because it doesn't show how the school effects the people there, because they are always in cray cray mode. Except blonde pigtails who, even with her minimal development (that is just a privilege here) she still has these two modes. At times characters may have panic attacks but that's not development, that's just nothing.

ITS ABOUT...?- There is no theme to this story. Well, it may be a "commentary" of the human condition and the sin of pride and greed, but with such deep, complex and grounded characters, this message makes as much sense as chocolate in clam chowder. Caste heaven had a theme. This has nothing

EDGY- good lord is this edgy. If they didn't have pools of blood I would have thought this was by the guy who wrote Mirai Nikki or any other over the top horror. Sure the art is detailed, but it only makes the characters look more crazy, instead of giving nuance to their body language, everyone is just CRAZY FACE MODE ALL THE TIME.

In conclusion, it didn't offend me like Caste Heaven, but its way dumber and worse then that manga. Everything here has been done better elsewhere. After all, why read a complex story instead of pretending to read a story that is complex. Lets say its deep and imaginative compared to other manga and lets make it so good manga and anime with a complex story, characters and ideas, with real heart and passion be thrown away so we can see crazy girls gamble. Because that's the state of this art form.

This manga doesn’t have a review and I consider it deserve at least a short one, even though it has just 6 chapter for the moment. That why I will not give too much information, otherwise I will spoil you. Kagerui is manga about rich peoples. The action happens in a private school where are enrolled the progenitors of the elites (politicians, rich bastards, etc.). But this school is pretty unique; not only is full of rich punks, but it has a special system, that revolves around... gamble. Yes, the whole school is a damn casino, in which those kids bet money... and their life’s... The system is a little similar with Liar Game. At the beginning, the students make a donation to the school, which will represent the amount they will use in gamble. The amount of money they have and their skills play an important role in their social status... Those who are good at gambling (and cheating) live enjoy their student life and privileges, those who lose all their money and have debts they can’t pay, fall at the bottom and become pets/slaves that have to obey the other students and take their abuse. The school is really fuked up. The students are real jerks in an overwhelming proportion. The main antagonist are the students council, who are the elites when it comes to gambles, crazy like shit, and rule over the school and its finances.
The main character is Jamabi Yumeko, who is just... awesome. Imagine a Tokisaki Kurumi addicted to gamble... that would be Jamabi, she loves so much gambles that she has orgasms. She doesn’t care of the danger or the bets, she enjoy taking dangerous gambles. You will love her. It goes the same for antagonists too... especially the Student Council President who is kind of hot and badass... Is not too much to tell about other characters from just 6 chapter’s trough...
The art is great. The character design is awesome and sexy when it comes to girls, without being moe or having oppai. I love how the artist is able to portrait expressions that show despair, fear, pleasure, excitement, or just the ugly souls of the students.
I highly recommend this to everyone, especially to those who enjoy psychological genre. You will definitely love this from the first chapter.

Story: 9
Art: 10
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 9

This manga can best be described as a pulse pounding gambling thriller. It's a great one too: an easy 8.5/10 that I will round up to a 9.

In short is it a gorgeously drawn manga with dementedly detailed facial expressions that heighten drama and tension during adrenaline pumping gambling games between gorgeous girls. If that sounds like your thing then just go read it.

Art in this manga is a solid 10/10.

It's drawn with the sort of manic and warped facial expressions you'd see in a horror series. The main character Jabami Yumeko has a gorgeous design with a look reminiscent of Jigoku Shoujo while staring at you with the bloodlust-filled eyes of Alucard from Hellsing. The manga absolutely soars during the tensest moments, usually the climaxes of each gamble. The manga does not shy away from using extreme facial expressions to heighten drama at every turn. And those facial expressions are absolutely delightful: from Yumeko's lustful gazes or sadistic pressure, to the looks of despair and desperation in those losing a gamble, to the wonderfully smug faces of winners. Not since Great Teacher Onizuka have I seen such a diversity in facial expressions used to portray the extremes of emotion. And you would think with a cast that was 90% female that it would get same-facey, but somehow all the character designs are distinguished and it isn't hard at all to tell them all apart.

This brings me to the characters, which I would rate an 8/10.

There is only so much character-building one can do in a manga where the focus isn't character development, but the gambles themselves. Through those gambles we can really get a strong understanding of our main character Yumeko and her psychology. She shines the brightest among the cast, and her mesmerizing presence carries pretty much every page she is on. The side characters, however, suffer a bit. The manga tries and succeeds in weaving many side characters back into the story to give them more development and things to do even after their "main gamble" is many chapters in the past. There is a delightful sense of having no throwaway characters in this manga. A huge amount of the cast sticks around and has active parts in the plot or as a fun peanut gallery in the later chapters, and it is appreciated. Goku wouldn't be half as entertaining in DBZ without his gang of friends following him around, and it's the same here with Yumeko and the friends she makes along the way. Still, don't expect extremely deep characterization, since this is not the focus of this manga.

The weakest part would have to be the story, which I rate 7/10.

It's a bit above average, dragged down mainly by the world building and setting. The world is almost wholly unbelievable and falls apart on close inspection, which impacts the stakes involved in the gambles. How a school like this exists requires an enormous amount of suspension of disbelief which distracts you from the story. However, the plot itself moves at a very good pace, and the overall narrative goes from gamble to gamble seamlessly and ceaselessly. The games chosen for this manga are relatively straightforward (at least compared to the complex scoring system of Mahjong in Kaiji). This is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes the games feel too simple, where a more complex game could lead to more mind games and more reversals. But it is also good that the manga does not overburden the reader with long pages of rules or the chance to get completely lost trying to figure out the games being played. The plot does its job, and goes by fast enough and entertainingly enough to distract you from its unbelievable set-up. So long as you can get lost in the gambling, the story is good enough.

Enjoyment is easy 10 though.

This score is admittedly a bit biased because I am already predisposed to loving gambling manga such as Kaiji and Akagi. I have also enjoyed shows themed around high stakes games such as No Game No Life or One Outs. Lastly, I gravitate towards overpowered sadistic characters like Alucard from Hellsing who toys with his prey and needlessly ups the stakes to amuse himself. This manga tickles me in all the right places and I can't help but smile while reading every chapter.

Long story short, the best gambler in this manga is author himself. While he is not very good at mindgames, tension, worldbuilding or character writing, he knows how to hook up average reader. Just make a story about cute schoolgirls doing edgy and silly things with some “special school” premise.

So, there is an elite school where main thing is your gambler skills, because… well, author said it’s a best way to attain a strategic mindset needed in high society. This special environment permits rich kids to freely bet lives or wealth of their parents. 10 thousand or 10 million or 10 billion of yen doesn’t matter. Even slavery system exists for losers. You can find this premise hilariously stupid, but it’s just a tip of the iceberg. Real show begins with main character

Jabami Yumeko – typical mysterious transferred student, mostly gentle and polite girl, but when things go to gambles she can go in crazy-yandere state in span of mere second accompanied with many suggestive expressions. By the way hers and other characters exaggerated expressions ranged from typical rapeface to angry gorilla mask is one of if not the main selling feature this manga have. Back to MC topic, naturally, no, OF COURSE she is also very talented in different fields, observant, good at strategy and reading opponents and most importantly she is lucky. She is opposite of normal high stakes gamblers whose try to minimize luck factor, but anyway, it doesn’t obstruct her constant wins. We also never see her thought process, so all games come to same scenario. Third person or opponent thinks that situation is hopeless for Yumeko, state by internal monologue or sometimes even openly petty trick (like marking cards...), then Yumeko goes crazy gambler mode, discovers cheating by means reader hardly can imagine beforehand (for some reason no one concerns with open cheating), read obligatory moral and win with help of devil luck or not very impressive strategy. Stakes unfortunately don’t matter or make sense, absurd amount of money comes out of air, life or death bets results so no one ends hurt. All games are brief, so the same pattern becomes tiring fast. Not to mention games themselves often poorly thought-out with little to nothing space for strategy and the most of “strong” opponents in this so called meritocratic school actually incompetent at gambling. As a result technically it’s very bad gambling manga.

Someone says, cast and their interactions are saving grace, but I thought most characters personality is nothing to note. They have normal mode with standard archetypes and stupid edgy mode with expressions I mentioned earlier. Their backstories are typical, kind of you can expect from rich kids or highschoolers in general. After defeat they usually become friendlier with mc and as consequence more likeable. Finally it doesn’t look like author trying to convey interesting message, so manga filled with boring phrases like “money is power”, “be yourself”, “life is interesting, because it’s unpredictable”.

Well, in the end 90% of characters are gilrs with good design either moe or sexualized and show presented a lot of yuri-bait moments, so with good art and typical humor it can be considered as okay mindless entertainment. Nothing more, maybe, something less.