In the first season, the first two hate to gamble. There are three named male characters in the show, Ryota, Kiwatari, and Manyuda. What is notable about this show is that Yumeko and the other gamblers are almost all female. The anime stars Yumeko Jabami, a woman sexually obsessed with gambling, to the point of never cheating (unlike nearly everyone else in the show) and continually risking everything she has for the chance at a true gamble. Each episode contains at least one game of chance, and the students put their parent’s fortunes and their own futures on the line for money, power, and prestige.
The show, for those who haven’t seen it, is about a Japanese high school (aren’t they all?) called Hyakkaou Private Academy, where the sons and daughters (though mostly the latter) of the Japanese elite eschew class in favor of high-stakes gambling matches. What struck me about the show was the male leads, or- rather- the lack thereof. The animation and style were par for the course on a big-budget release like this one, and the fan-service was gratuitous, though (aside from a single shot in the opening theme) not terribly explicit. Aside from a few surface-level connections to the Japanese-only season of Yugioh, I didn’t think the plotting or story were especially interesting. This week, Netflix released the first season of Kakegurui- Compulsive Gambler in its entirety, and I watched it in one sitting. It’s by no means universally sexualized, but the pervasive nature of its fan-service and it’s near-blatant disregard for good gender politics have led me to categorize it among romantic comedies and horror films as a genre I seek to find exceptions to rather than indulge fully. That’s not to say I’m not willing to try.
I grew up on Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and One Piece, and I’ve seen a few of the classics ( Bebop, Akira, etc) but I’ve always held the genre at arm’s length.