Kakegurui Twin

Before going into Review;
"Kakegurui Twin" is pretty stand alone.
You don't really have to watch the main series to understand what's happening here. Also, it's incomplete.

Though Kakegurui only had 2 seasons, I didn't wanted to watch given the slightly mixed reception it got and some scenes I watched on YT made me wonder if gambling is really the point of the show. But I was still curious to see what made Kakegurui one of the popular gambling anime as it is so I checked Twin and.. I have some mixed opinions.

The story follows "Saotame Mary" in Hyakkaou Academy where not a single day passes without someone ... in school loosing their shit. Money, virginity, dignity, anything can be a prize and nothing matters in this school, as long as it's an end result of gambling. What makes this is even more f-ked up is that "cheating is allowed", which is the biggest problem here. Because when you allow cheating, you're basically distinguishing the characters, not based how intelligent they are but based on how stupid they are. The moment you hear a character inner monoluging about their plan as an attempt to hook the viewer, it pretty much tells why the said character will end up ridiculed later down the game, and this basically what happens through out this Anime and so it does in many of these kind of Anime that have been lately popular. Now one would argue, "Well, Kaiji also does the same thing" for which I agree. Kaiji becomes predictable but there's an underlying theme in Kaiji, which what makes it a great psycological Anime, and one Twin didn't had. That is;

"GAMBLING IS FUCKED"
Kaiji draws you into its gambles, mainly because it constantly reminds you why gambling is so fucked and it takes a realistic approach to do it. Kakegurui Twin doesn't have this. Most of the 'Gambling' part went into its mind games complexity which I applaud for but it doesn't work either because if you remember correctly, "Cheating is a-OK". The reason I repeat this is because the show repeats this too. "No one said [insert convenient loophole in rule], so you lose/win", that's the underlying structure of all explanations at the end of every game but it does have some interesting character antiques to look forward to. The underlying theme in Kakegurui Twin is just "Gambling is fun, and hot-crazy-yurified chicks are cool", that's basically it. But, Is Twin a bad show?

With all my rambling about why Twin don't hold a candle towards my favourite Anime makes it seem like I'm hating the show, which I don't because "Kakegurui Twin" is definitely a fun show. As I said, its underlying theme is "Fun with crazy Anime girls" and it does that part great. As over the top as it is, it is confident in its mind game elements, and it does with style. MAPPA trademark visual flair can be found in it's Jazzy opening, absolutely bop of an ending and the over the top characters does their job to deliver the fun you want to see. I personally thought characters weren't bad, they're pretty one dimensional except Mary, who's two dimensional (Wow, who would've guessed your waifu is 2D xD) and the whole Yuri element is.. well, it is charming, except *that* pet, if you know what I mean.

Want to watch some CGDCG (Cute girls doing crazy gambling) with some Yuri in the mix?
Well, this is for you.

I really have mixed feelings for this one.
I am actually a fan of animes with this kind of themes + I've watched the two seasons of kakegurui itself. Mary Saotome is a well-written character though she isn't my favourite of this anime.
The art of this ONA isn't up to expectations as the only decent looking character is Mary. The OPs and EDs were good though.
For enjoyment I will give it a 7. There were some twists and cute scenes that can match up to the main story itself.
So yep XD a 7. If you like Mary ... Saotome a lot and you want to watch animes under this genre, you should watch it.

Kekegurui, an anime that used to pop off around the late 2010’s but now its public reputation is basically summed up as that “dat one anime with the weird faces and the poker”

No wait that's Kaiji.

Kakegurui is the one and only anime that I know is not worth defending ,but I do it anyway. I know it's not a great show.But what bothers me is that it could be great. But it trips over itself a lot. And the OVA, Kakegurui Twin,I was excited for,but then it turned out……mmmm alright. It didn’t suck necessarily. I think it does some tiny little things here and there ... better than its parent story,but goddammit.

STORY
What really sucks about this OVA is that it doesn’t do a good job of proving that Kakegurui can be good, if that makes any sense. I know one in every 3 anime watchers hate this show, and that is valid,can’t argue about it. But what sucks is that Kakegurui has soooooooooooo soooooooooooooooo much potential to be a great series. Some think that it’s just yuribait fanservice with kookie faces, and they aren't wrong. But they basically write the show off as just that while myself sees certain aspects about its worldbuilding, aesthetic, and characters that feel like breeding ground for something interesting. I love how Hyyakkaou Private Academy feels like a miniature version of the real world,where the rich basically have control over everything and the poor are deprived of their human rights and bodily autonomy.The fact that all of this is based around gambling as well shows that all humans are equal in the eyes of Lady Luck.However, some students are so desperate to win at all costs that they use tactics to win either by straight up cheating, or using psychological taunts. And what makes it interesting is when they try to figure this stuff out. And I think this set up leaves some strong characters,they arent the most well written,but their personalities are so warped and fucked up because of this predatory social class that the school perpetuates.And not to mention the antagonists in Kakegurui are so alluring and captivating.They’re the type of characters that can only work in anime. I say this because I watched a little of the live action adaptation and I almost died of cringe faster than you can say Rudeus Greyrat.The downside to all of Kakegurui’s elements are that they feel like a tease.Its like a fancy pinata that is eye catching,but when you cut it open, its just hollow paper.

What Kakegurui needs desperately is a story, a story with stakes, and balls;a story that has the same amount of weight that backs up how dramatic the show acts.Its not like the writer doesn't have the competence needed to write because they sat down and planned out these convoluted as hell games. This season literally has a speed dating gambling game and it is ridiculous.But for some reason in this season along with the others, the story is just not up to par with everything else. S1 was just worldbuilding watching Yumeko walk around gambling with people, S2 tried to have a plot about a race to take the student council position but then it shits the bed by diving into different story arcs entirely,and while the story in this OVA is more cohesive than the others. Dude,come on, the story is basically Mary trying to secure the rights to some gambling den and joining some club. Its really lame tbh for something like Kakegurui. This is a gambling show, I want people to die, I want the mafia to come in, I want these snot nosed students to have actual life or death consequences,Its not like there are adults to stop them or anything.There are a shitton of expendable characters in Kakegurui and in season two the cast literally doubles in size. I WANT YUMEKO TO KILL SOME MOB BOSSES,IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK, HOMURA KAWAMOTO?

ART/ANIMATION/SOUND
On a technical aspect,Kakegurui does a lot of swings and hits, one thing that Kakegurui truly deserves praise for is its direction, the use of camera shots, 3d, and little tricks to play with the audience gives this show "style". Which is one thing I can never fault a show for. This is the type of show that has flashes of brilliance in the little moments. One scene could have some of the most fluid hair and fabric movement for a nanosecond, another scene could be an insane dance sequence. And I am really glad that they use visuals to explain these games and the thought process of each player. And also the staple of the series, the facial expressions, some say they’re kooky, I think they're effective depending on the tone of the scene. Twin is less ambitious, the facial expressions are toned down heavily because I feel like the animator they had for the previous seasons was busy or something. But this season isn't awfully animated,its alright. And the soundtrack of Kakegurui in general is lowkey one of the best anime soundtracks of all time. The most iconic track being "Strange Visage" which is so iconic that its literally labelled as "The track from Kakegurui that you've been searching for". Its one of those soundtracks that make you really think, a sort of controlled chaos with erratic jazz and electronica. And yes the soundtrack invades my study playlist. It fits Kakegurui's vibe so well that it becomes the vibe. And it even gets better in season 2.I can't tell if TWIN has a new soundtrack, but it sounded great nonetheless, goes to show that the best thing about Kakegurui is its soundtrack.

CHARACTERS
There are a lot of Kakegurui characters, but let's be honest, the only one that truly matters is Yumeko, she is bae.
I literally had an entire paragraph about why I like Yumeko but had to cut it out since she isn't even in this season :(. And major bummer because the show could have had a cameo or something to tie all the seasons together but no. And with the protag of the series, Mary. I have no problem with her, she likes to take the piss out of people which is kinda entertaining but she is more “tame” than the other characters and I have to admit her ragtag duo of glasses girl and blue haired girl aren't that exciting to watch. They are basically the Ryouta of this season,but a bit more useful.Now for the antagonist of this series Sachiko Juraku,her character is not well developed but hubba hubba. I’m not the type of guy who falls for anime girls willy nilly,I'm more of a personality rather than looks type of man. But holy shit. I love a girl who is a controlling dominatrix ,and with the red eyes and white flowing hair, woooo weeeee,put a collar around me,master,really embarrassing myself right now,but shit i already typed this, might as well own it. Her house pet SandM girl was an interesting case as well but she isnt as developed as i had hoped. I still enjoyed them because the two bounced off each other like a couple in a trashy porno.Goes to show that character development isn't always necessary, just highly highly highly highly highly recommended if you want your audience to care about things other than looks.

THE KAKEGURUI CREATOR IS WEIRD LOL
I don't know, at this point I probably should just call Kakegurui a mediocre franchise and be done with it but honestly…….I can’t. There is still something about it that allures me and it has so much potential. I just want a better story, But I doubt i'll get that because the creator is too busy making either card game anime, isekai manga, or isekai manga with card games in them. Speaking of them, I need to mention their portfolio of works,because its hilarious.This creator has a thing with card games, They were the creator of that Build Divide card game show no one cares about, and there's an upcoming anime called High Card that is about, you guessed it, card games,but the twist is that the cards have supernatural powers or something lmao.There is also that controversy where they made an isekai that ripped off real characters from other works in such a way that it felt like personal attacks against other authors,and it got to a point where the author had to apologize and the series was canceled. This is probably the funniest controversy I have seen online so far lololol.But moral of the story,the creator doesn’t have the time of day for this series anymore. They treat Kakegurui like their bastard child, ignoring them,focusing on their new children, and planning to send them to the wall when they get the chance. Sadly Kakegurui can never be the Lord of Winterfell because it's Kakegurui.

ENJOYMENT?
And as a mild supporter-not really a fan- of this series,I feel like defending this show is like a dog trainer in a circus trying to get the dog to do a trick but it just sits there and I just yell at the audience being like “ Just you wait, it's gonna do something amazing,just you wait!”. I don’t know how long this delusion can last,but each year I kinda feel the intrigue of Kakegurui fading away,and this OVA,while not terrible, does little to take me back to those days where Kakegurui was a fresh and exciting face in the world of anime.

If you want to see if you will like Kakegurui, watch kakegurui twin! It is honestly a good prequel and shows what the show will be like, but is even better. It is also shorter, so if you don't want to commit to double the episodes, this is a good option.

Story - 6
There is more of a story to this than Kakegurui. In Kakegurui, Yumeko basically just goes from person to person gambling with them. But in Twin, Mary has more of a reason to gamble, and we see her develop a bit. We see her character do things other than gamble, which is ... nice to see compared to Kakegurui.
The gambles themselves are also better. There is some "cheating", but the cheats are less annoying and still have a bit of mind games to them. I didn't like the last cheat Mary used, though. I did find that the coupling game "cheat" was a bit hard to understand at first, overall the game could have been explained better so that you understand how the cheat works. But, the cheat for the coupling game was actually smart.
So, in short, the mind games are better in Twin, and there is more of a story instead of just episodic gambling.

Art - 7
I thought the art looked better in this season. Not as much hyper detail on the eyes, but generally more crisp art.

Sound - 4
I didn't like the opening or the ending, and the general soundtrack wasn't as good as the two seasons of Kakegurui, it was just okay.

Characters - 6
In my opinion, Mary is the best character in the whole series. She is smart, but not unrealistically able to solve everything and guess everything right like Yumeko. She also acts realistically and has a likeable personality. She is harsh, but it makes her character fun.
There are two main side characters that are basically Mary's friends. I like them as well, they have actual personality traits and are likeable. We also see how the trio becomes friends, and a part of how they met is used in one of the gambles, showing how this isn't just an episodic anime,

I didn't really like the girl who seems like she is the president and has a housepet on a leash, like what. Just more unrealistic and kind of annoying. But I did think some other side characters were good, like the two girls the trio works with for the coupling game.

Overall, we don't have any characters who are simply unbeatable and always have a trick up their sleeve, which is refreshing. It allows for more realness and more mind games.

Enjoyment - 6
The anime still wasn't amazing. There was still some unrealistic parts, like the fact that they even have a coupling game at this school, like who is paying for this and what the heck are these rules. But it is still kinda fun to watch, especially since the characters are better.

Overall - 6
Not perfect by any means, but it is the best out of the entire series. It actually has a story and some of the best gambling games.

Wagwan! Alexandre desu.

The Plot
Kakegurui Twin is a prequel for the main series and tells the story of Mary Saotome, and how she became one of the most feared players in Hyakkaou Private Academy. It depicts on how she was a transfer and didn't have any rich friend and how she uses her fast thinking to fool the other player during multiple games.

The Cons
The story is abysmal. It is the same formula for every game in this anime. They explain how the game is played, and then they try to fool the viewer to think that Mary was tricked or has fallen for a cheater move, ... and in the end of the game the roles reverse and Mary is a gambling mastermind. That threw me off a bit because it is not relatable, it is not organic. I understand if a player is experienced in a few games, like dice or cards but, she has the knowledge of every game and every bit of information that a new player like her shouldn't have. And then you have lesbian love because Netflix tries to be inclusive every time and a side character that is only used for Mary to win the gambling room and later for the couple's game. There is no connection between the three of them and that is barely spoked about during the episodes.


The Neutral
I don't think there is nothing neutral about this anime because the cons cancel the pros so it became a neutral anime.

The Pros
If every anime had Mappa has a studio and the budget of Netflix, I think every anime would have this type of animation and music. It is fluid, it has motion, and the OST is appropriate for the theme.

The Conclusion
If you liked the parent story, you should watch this. It is the backstory of one of the principal characters. For newcomers, I have mixed feelings because it is an introduction to the main theme of the anime that is gambling and hierarchy status, but I don't think it does enough to appeal and create curiosity to pursue the anime.

While it is not great, and it is not downright awful. Kakegurui Twin doesn't fully live up to the expectations that the two main animes have had. It feels like a downgrade in some sort of ways, Mary is not strong enough on her own to carry a show even with some supporting characters she has that we have never seen in the two main animes. This stems from the problem, of how her role in the Kakegurui seasons one and two were that of as a supporting character. You can be a fanastic suppoting character, but if you have the lead role and you ... are expected to do more it is not easy. Perception is key, and it was evident from the first two episodes, that this show was going to be a rating of a 5.5 to a 6 for me. Then it hits you with the third and fourth episodes mainly to get it out of being stuck in first gear. Honestly, if this show was made first and had a transition phase of Mary and her character supporting crew I would have felt better about it. The show is ok, but it isn't in the form of hype that it should have been for a better overall presentation.