In this beautiful month of holidays for the lucky ones and where the temperatures are pleasant, we offer you a new J-Drama released this year. We are of course talking about Gambling School (Kakegurui). The plot is an adaptation from the manga by Homura KAWAMOTO and Toru NAOMURA already adapted into anime. The second season should not be long in coming out.
When the world of gambling and money leads the way, a person's status can quickly shift from powerful to slave. We tell you everything about this live !
This review contains important elements from the J-Drama and anime and may therefore contain spoilers. To be read at your own risk.
Gambling School
Original title: 賭ケグルイ – Kakegurui
Alternative title: Gambling School
Gender: School – Games – Psychological
Country: Japan
Episodes : 10
Chain: TBS – MBS
Streaming platform: Netflix
Release period: January 15 to March 19, 2018
Director: Tsutomu HANABUSA (Miseinen Dakedo Kodomo Janai)
Writers: Homura KAWAMOTO – Toru NAOMURA
Original manga: Homura KAWAMOTO – Toru NAOMURA
Synopsis:
Yumeko Jabami enters the Hyakkaou Academy where the ranking of students is made according to their winnings at games, their fame or their fortune.
Spring: Netflix
Main cast
Minami HAMABE
Yumeko Jabami | Mahiro TAKASUGI
Ryota Suzui | Aoi MORIKAWA
|
Ruka MATSUDA
Sumeragi Itsuki (JK is a Snow Woman) | Natsumi OKAMOTO
Yuriko Nishinotoin (Saki) | Yurika NAKAMURA
Sayaka Igarashi |
A caste system determined by play
Gambling School exploits human relationships and its shortcomings by starting from any game: determining the place of students based on a social pyramid. The subject is interesting, thanks to its psychology of the characters and their more or less important evolution as the plot develops. However, the series is not the first to exploit this vein since dramas such as Liar Game or Friends Games have also used this kind of subject. The script still thrilled and attracted us especially because this type of drama is still rare, let's face it.
This theme is often associated with that of the survival game since here, the loser is forced to be the underling of the winner. In this rather well done system, we discover a beautiful panel of people with various personalities. Yumeko is a freshly transferred student to this special high school. At first she seems to be a normal person but behind her angelic face hides a challenger. Accompanied by Suzui who serves as our "presenter", we dive into a destructive game that can cost them their lives.
Compulsive gambler
The number of protagonists present is quite small so that we can get to know and appreciate them well. Some stand out more than others although it is mainly the heroine Yumeko who attracts us the most in her way of playing and turning the situation in her favor. The choice of the actress did not disappoint us: we find the character of the original version, except that it is more human and less caricatured. Another good surprise, the special effect added when the latter becomes serious.
We are unfortunately in total incomprehension vis-à-vis Suzui who corresponds very little to her paper character and brings no freshness to the heavy context of the drama. The actor was however very good in P to JK… But here, impossible to appreciate him in front of the degree of debility he shows as soon as his comrade starts a game of play. In addition to the fact that he plays the presenter, it is especially his cries and dialogues that spoil all the interest that could have been found in him!
If there is one character that on the contrary surprised us greatly, it is that of Mary who is by far the actress who has best exploited the strengths and weaknesses of her 2D counterpart. Mary evolves over the episodes, following the many trials standing in her way, a real consecration !
We will also mention Sayaka who is one of the members of the student council and who serves as an intermediary and mediator between the two camps. The character of Nishinotoin also seemed well interpreted but lacking a little response to his duel against the heroine. Finally, we finish with Itsuki, a cheerful but slightly calculating girl that we found interesting.
A great adaptation effort
Gambling School was not in itself a manga difficult to adapt since its plot remains in an ordinary register. We still found the script coherent and worked despite the lack of surprises and failed interpretations from some actors. The production focuses mainly on the Hyakkaou academy, which brings tension because of the closed doors created by the school. The actors' costumes remain faithful to the original, as do the sets and details of the school or the reproduction of organized games. The fact that we chose to keep the actors' natural hair is a good thing because using a blonde wig like in Fullmetal Alchemist is a bit too much.
Overall, we find a large majority of the elements essential to the plot , which makes the story not difficult to understand, whether you know it or not. This one is quite simple, indeed, Yumeko wants to satisfy his thirst for play by provoking people at his height, to better humiliate them once they have lost. The drama allows us to discover the different facets of the human being through games determining their future. We are pleasantly surprised by this adaptation whose format could have been extended by a few more episodes knowing that the plot was just beginning. If the end may disappoint because it remains open, it will encourage the most curious to fall back on one of the other two supports, which is not bad!
The Japanese drama adaptation of Gambling School is a success and a good choice on the part of Netflix. We took great pleasure in following these exciting and original games dealing with the human condition of man!
Gambling School trailer:
