Watching 'Kakegurui xx'

Kakegurui xx is the second season to the 2017 anime Kakegurui, that was produced by studio MAPPA. It carries on where the previous season left off, where Jabami Yumeko is constantly gambling at Kyakkaou Academy for the simple pleasure of gambling. Although, around her there are constant struggles for power, clan power dynamics, high school hierarchies (in a very literal sense), and students simply trying their best to survive the hand that they had been dealt. As it was with the previous season, this is an outlandish show, with ridiculous characters, nonsensical narrative points, ludicrous stakes, all contained inside a mind numbingly stupid concept.

I loved every single minute of it.

Starting with my two favourite aspects of the anime, I loved the opening to the show, which I watched every time the new episode started. It was filled with creativity, visual flair, colour, and imagination. In short, it was a visual treat in every way. In fact if I were to liken it to anything, I would say that the opening it reminded me most was actually the opening sequence to Casino Royale from 2006. In fact the visuals as a whole in the show were fantastic, despite the detailed character designs there was a lot of expressive body movement from the characters, and their facial expressions were contorted in less than flattering ways which always got across the feelings of the characters accurately. The designs of the characters were fantastic, each one is distinct, even if you do not remember their names, you will always be able to tell them apart.

Characters

Moving on to the characters, there is an influx of at least ten new characters, who are all from the student council presidents clan. While they all look distinct, most of them are devoid of any character, and those of whom actually has some character are devoid of any layers. In fact this is the same for all the characters, we do not get to know anyone in a deep or meaningful way. However, there are some characters that are around the central characters that undergo small character arcs. Mary being a prime example, in fact I would go so far as to say that Mary is the most developed character, who has had a significant arc, and the one we know most about. In fact, she is the only one continuing from season one that has a defined goal that makes sense when we put her narrative and character together. There are other characters with the same goal, however to these characters the goal is simply a macguffin, something they want, whereas for Mary it is a desire because we have seen her at her highest, and at her lowest. As such it becomes far more understandable.

A Moment

This season did have one of my favourite moments from the entire show so far, where there is a character reveal that is very similar to that of Aizen from the end of the soul society arc of Bleach, however unlike the subtlety Bleach treated the moment with in order to drive up the tension in the scene. Kakegurui, grabs the plotpoint by the scruff of the neck and injects it with so much energy and showmanship that it makes the potato chip scene from Death Note seem tame in comparison. (In fact this reveal had me questioning my sexuality the remainder of the season, so it is par for the course when it comes to anime really.)

Recommendation

In closing, is this a good anime? NO, no it is not. With that being said, this show revels in the outlandish, and as such is a show that I thoroughly enjoy. I will say right away that this is not for everyone, in fact I doubt I know anyone in my immediate circle of friends that I could actually recommend this to. As such for those of you reading this piece, if I were to give you a recommendation, it would be to watch the first episode from season one because it is a pretty accurate representation of what the entire show is like.