Lucas and Chris tackle the next great vice in anime: gambling!
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the participants in this chatlog are not the views of Anime News Network.
Spoiler Warning for discussion of the series ahead.
Crunchyroll streams FX Fighter Kurumi-chan , Kaiji -Ultimate Survivor- , Jujutsu Kaisen , Golden Kamuy , Umamusume, and Cowboy Bebop .
Netflix streams JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders , Kakeguri, Bet.
Tubi streams Rio ! Rainbow Gate.
Death Parade is unavailable to stream Stateside.
Lucas, remind me never to take my chances in the ANN office pool. Earlier this year, when Sylvia and I Well, here we are only six months later, and the chips have fallen to have us doing that discussion now instead! Truly, if I were a betting man, I'd be broke on this one. © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 Lucas, remind me never to take my chances in the ANN office pool. Earlier this year, when Sylvia and I discussed the delights of drinking in anime , I called that we'd follow up that vice, as we similarly did with the smoking column, with a TWIA on gambling in 2027.Well, here we are only six months later, and the chips have fallen to have us doing that discussion now instead! Truly, if I were a betting man, I'd be broke on this one.
I don't know, Chris, as someone who took the under on that bet, things are looking pretty good from where I'm sitting. I mean, I'm still going to have to hit it big a few more times to get out of the red, but it's finally starting to all come together! © Nobuyuki Fukumoto / KODANSHA LTD. ©DNDP, VAP, Madhouse In an anime landscape where "cute girl doing X thing" is a successful enough formula to be a genre in and of itself, it shouldn't surprise anyone that there are multiple anime dedicated to one of mankind's oldest hobbies! As someone who is no stranger to this vice in all of its forms, I could not be more excited to chat with you today about how different anime tackle the exciting and varied world of gambling! I don't know, Chris, as someone who took the under on that bet, things are looking pretty good from where I'm sitting. I mean, I'm still going to have to hit it big a few more times to get out of the red, but it's finally starting to all come together!In an anime landscape where "cute girl doing X thing" is a successful enough formula to be a genre in and of itself, it shouldn't surprise anyone that there are multiple anime dedicated to one of mankind's oldest hobbies! As someone who is no stranger to this vice in all of its forms, I could not be more excited to chat with you today about how different anime tackle the exciting and varied world of gambling!
FX Fighter Kurumi-chan HIT ME WHERE I LIVE!!! © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 Dude, thanks to the very specific life I've lived, I very rarely run into anime that hit me where I live, but as a kid who started playing the stock market (which is also just gambling) when I was 13,HIT ME WHERE I LIVE!!!
I'm glad to hear that our country's regulatory bodies have always worked to protect the nation's children.
Facebook 's IPO using the library's computers? Probably not, but I aced that class anyway and sold those shares at a profit once Zuck started undermining democracy! © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 Plus, I never stole money to recoup my losses on an investment as Kurumi did, which, Jesus Christ, I knew this anime had the juice the minute it skipped right over that moral descent to Kurumi watching her ticker! © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 Never before have I seen a piece of media so accurately capture the ways society makes day traders or financiers out to be enviable people who are richer than everyone else simply because they are smarter, only to reveal that you have to endure a pants-shitting degree of stress and low-grade terror to even have a CHANCE at making money through something like the Foreign Exchange market. In fairness...I was a bored, gifted, and talented child that my school didn't know what to do with, and Berkshire Hathaway B Shares were about to split! Should I have skipped Ms. Lahey's civics class to get in on's IPO using the library's computers? Probably not, but I aced that class anyway and sold those shares at a profit once Zuck started undermining democracy!Plus, I never stole money to recoup my losses on an investment as Kurumi did, which, Jesus Christ, I knew this anime had the juice the minute it skipped right over that moral descent to Kurumi watching her ticker!Never before have I seen a piece of media so accurately capture the ways society makes day traders or financiers out to be enviable people who are richer than everyone else simply because they are smarter, only to reveal that you have to endure a pants-shitting degree of stress and low-grade terror to even have a CHANCE at making money through something like the Foreign Exchange market.
FX Fighter Kurumi-chan hit that! © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 It's driven home how, in this earlier part of the story, Kurumi and most of the other girls really don't have "strategies" they can employ between exchanges—it's just making their buy, hoping for the best, and getting sucked into that feedback loop of sunk-cost fallacy. Which is why the show can hammer home so regularly that this is just gambling with all the associated warnings. © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 The same warnings we've got to remember to include in another vice-focused column like this, incidentally. Gamble responsibly, kids! This is neither an endorsement nor financial advice! © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 It's a point about gambling that these are supposed to be "games," but for those who compulsively wind up too in the hole, they're far from "fun," and BOY doeshit that!It's driven home how, in this earlier part of the story, Kurumi and most of the other girls really don't have "strategies" they can employ between exchanges—it's just making their buy, hoping for the best, and getting sucked into that feedback loop of sunk-cost fallacy. Which is why the show can hammer home so regularly that this is just gambling with all the associated warnings.The same warnings we've got to remember to include in another vice-focused column like this, incidentally. Gamble responsibly, kids! This is neither an endorsement nor financial advice!
Sydney Sweeney comes on TV and calls you a virgin for not gambling during every commercial break of whatever football game you're watching, but if you want to make money in the long run, there are way safer investments out there than day trading or other forms of legalized gambling. © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 And as someone who got into this particular kind of gambling early enough to have it lose its luster in my adulthood, I do love and respect FX Fighter Kurumi-chan for capturing the fullness of this nerve-wracking experience. It even captures how needlessly stressful it can be to figure out when to sell when you're ahead! © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 This show knows what's up and even drives the point home with some Madoka-style, fake-out cutesy visuals. I know there are better anime airing right now, but this one is legit my unsung favorite of the season. I know it's hard since we live in a society wherecomes on TV and calls you a virgin for not gambling during every commercial break of whatever football game you're watching, but if you want to make money in the long run, there are way safer investments out there than day trading or other forms of legalized gambling.And as someone who got into this particular kind of gambling early enough to have it lose its luster in my adulthood, I do love and respectfor capturing the fullness of this nerve-wracking experience. It even captures how needlessly stressful it can be to figure out when to sell when you're ahead!This show knows what's up and even drives the point home with some-style, fake-out cutesy visuals. I know there are better anime airing right now, but this one is legit my unsung favorite of the season.
FX Fighter Kurumi-chan . I think it's cool to have a show like this that demonstrates the vicious nature of a market like this and the effects of the gambling that it is. Because I'm not ready for an actual prediction market anime. © でむにゃん・炭酸だいすき/KADOKAWA/「FX戦士くるみちゃん」製作委員会 Kurumi-chan's value comes alongside the gamut I mentioned gambling anime can run, with at least one other major notable example doing the "characters try for a quick and easy shot at debt consolidation and end up very stressed out along the way" thing. © 福本伸行/講談社・VAP・マッドハウス・NTV・D.N.ドリームパートナーズ Zawa zawa indeed. I don't know that "fun" is the right way to describe a show like this, but I sure am having a time with. I think it's cool to have a show like this that demonstrates the vicious nature of a market like this and the effects of the gambling that it is. Because I'm not ready for an actual prediction market anime.'s value comes alongside the gamut I mentioned gambling anime can run, with at least one other major notable example doing the "characters try for a quick and easy shot at debt consolidation and end upstressed out along the way" thing.Zawa zawa indeed.
Kaiji , it really is a testament to this anime's writing and framing that it can make a card game version of rock, paper, scissors hype as hell! © Nobuyuki Fukumoto / KODANSHA LTD. ©DNDP, VAP, Madhouse Kaiji is simultaneously "a lot" and shockingly straightforward. While on its face, this anime is about a young man participating in high-stakes games of chance organized by sadistic oligarchs to escape his debt (if you liked Squid Game, you should watch Kaiji ), this anime also has a lot of baked-in politics about life in post-bubble-economy Japan and goes unreasonably deep into the weeds about the strategies involved in these seemingly simplistic games. © Nobuyuki Fukumoto / KODANSHA LTD. ©DNDP, VAP, Madhouse Throw in every character riding an adrenaline high big enough to restart their heart (them stopping is a very real possibility considering the stakes tied to these games!) and the end result is an anime that has me on the edge of my seat during what are largely mundane activities. Before I say anything else about, it really is a testament to this anime's writing and framing that it can make a card game version of rock, paper, scissors hype as hell!is simultaneously "a lot" and shockingly straightforward. While on its face, this anime is about a young man participating in high-stakes games of chance organized by sadistic oligarchs to escape his debt (if you liked, you should watch), this anime also has a lot of baked-in politics about life in post-bubble-economy Japan and goes unreasonably deep into the weeds about the strategies involved in these seemingly simplistic games.Throw in every character riding an adrenaline high big enough to restart their heart (them stopping is a very real possibility considering the stakes tied to these games!) and the end result is an anime that has me on the edge of my seat during what are largely mundane activities.
Kaiji myself, and even knowing my propensity for getting the gambler's high off these sorts of shows, I was surprised at how immediately it got its hooks into me! © 福本伸行/講談社・VAP・マッドハウス・NTV・D.N.ドリームパートナーズ A lot of the effect comes from the title character himself, I'd say. The girls of FX Fighter are ostensibly "everyday" people, but they got into their dangerous day trading of their own avaricious volition. Kaiji however, really is just a nobody who happened to get dealt a couple of bad hands (pun intended) and now finds himself on a black-money death gambling boat fighting to survive. © 福本伸行/講談社・VAP・マッドハウス・NTV・D.N.ドリームパートナーズ It makes it that much more engaging when Kaiji shows that he has just enough intuition and cleverness to come up with ways to win at the game. It also means he sort of figures out the layers to it at the same rate the regular audience does, which is always a nice storytelling arc in this kind of show. This subject was a perfect excuse for me to finally kick off checking outmyself, and even knowing my propensity for getting the gambler's high off these sorts of shows, I was surprised at how immediately it got its hooks into me!A lot of the effect comes from the title character himself, I'd say. The girls ofare ostensibly "everyday" people, but they got into their dangerous day trading of their own avaricious volition.however, really is just a nobody who happened to get dealt a couple of bad hands (pun intended) and now finds himself on a black-moneyboat fighting to survive.It makes it that much more engaging whenshows that he has just enough intuition and cleverness to come up with ways to win at the game. It also means he sort of figures out the layers to it at the same rate the regular audience does, which is always a nice storytelling arc in this kind of show.
Kaiji to win against those stacked odds...only to make you pull back and realize "Oh right, all these people are here because they're broke, debt-ridden screw-ups on their last resort!" © 福本伸行/講談社・VAP・マッドハウス・NTV・D.N.ドリームパートナーズ So it's actually about the people at the top of the system pitting those at the lowest against each other for their own amusement and benefit. Society, live in, etc. The show does a pretty neat trick where it shows characters seemingly in different strata of game strategy or has scrappy characters band withto win against those stacked odds...only to make you pull back and realize "Oh right, all these people are here because they're broke, debt-ridden screw-ups on their last resort!"So it's actually about the people at the top of the system pitting those at the lowest against each other for their own amusement and benefit. Society, live in, etc.
Kaiji really does hit you like a ton of bricks, and it's really easy to understand through these down-on-their-luck characters why the idea of gambling, and changing your life through an equal measure of skill and luck, is so appealing to so many. Especially considering (and once again I need to urge our readers to gamble responsibly if they choose to do so) gambling can be super cool! © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project really does hit you like a ton of bricks, and it's really easy to understand through these down-on-their-luck characters why the idea of gambling, and changing your life through an equal measure of skill and luck, is so appealing to so many. Especially considering (and once again I need to urge our readers to gamble responsibly if they choose to do so) gambling can be super cool!
Kaiji 's steel beam crossing, the fact is that virtually anything can be a gamble, and a lot of anime has caught on to that for raw entertainment value! © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project As with smokers and drinkers, just introducing a "gambler" character can cue them to get the audience ready for a cool time, hence JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 's exceedingly memorable showdown with Daniel J. D'Arby. © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project I mean, as you mentioned with's steel beam crossing, the fact is that virtually anything can be a gamble, and a lot of anime has caught on to that for raw entertainment value!As with smokers and drinkers, just introducing a "gambler" character can cue them to get the audience ready for a cool time, hence's exceedingly memorable showdown with Daniel J. D'Arby.
JoJo's is miles ahead of just about all of its battle shonen contemporaries. Without either of these characters throwing a single punch, a downright gripping power struggle plays out between them using the easy-to-understand but impossible to master game of five-card poker. © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project I hate this particular strain of modern slang, but Jotaro managing to aura farm his way into a victory in this scene is both the perfect crystallization of why he's been the baddest dude in anime and manga since his introduction, and is deeply hilarious. © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project The D'Arby the Gambler story arc really is the best example of howis miles ahead of just about all of its battle shonen contemporaries. Without either of these characters throwing a single punch, a downright gripping power struggle plays out between them using the easy-to-understand but impossible to master game of five-card poker.I hate this particular strain of modern slang, but Jotaro managing to aura farm his way into a victory in this scene is both the perfect crystallization of why he's been the baddest dude in anime and manga since his introduction, and is deeply hilarious.
Cool-Hand-Lukes his way through the duel instead. © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project It also works as an example of how the mind games of gambles can define the characters who participate in them. i.e., Joseph is still utilizing his Bugs-Bunny-ass trickster tendencies to try to win, while Jotaro doesn't have that and just has to rely on his cultivated badass facade instead. © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project © Hirohiko Araki&LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA･JOJO’s Animation SC Project As you said, it shows how different acts work in the context of "battles." No wonder Araki would return to this idea a couple of times through the series' run. The show primes the characters with so much cheating through earlier exchanges with D'Arby (all done without the use of Stand powers, notably) so that it's that much more of a swerve when Jotaro justs his way through the duel instead.It also works as an example of how the mind games of gambles can define the characters who participate in them. i.e., Joseph is still utilizing his Bugs-Bunny-ass trickster tendencies to try to win, while Jotaro doesn't have that and just has to rely on his cultivated badass facade instead.As you said, it shows how different acts work in the context of "battles." No wonder Araki would return to this idea a couple of times through the series' run.
Steel Ball Run anime reaches the storyline where Gyro and Johnny are, to their annoyance, the richest men in Milwaukee, but I'm having a pretty fun time regardless! © JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE PART 7 STEEL BALL RUN © 2004 by LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS/SHUEISHA Inc. You know, a part of me is bummed that we're doing this column before theanime reaches the storyline where Gyro and Johnny are, to their annoyance, the richest men in Milwaukee, but I'm having a pretty fun time regardless!
Brewers in 5, baybeeeeee!
Kakegurui also understands that the games and their rules and mechanics are half the fun in getting a feel for the characters manipulating them to their advantage. This was thus one of the many, many, many problems that Netflix 's Bet adaptation had in fundamentally misunderstanding this. © Netflix The fact that we've got another season of this thing on the way while we're still indefinitely waiting on continuations of the original Kakegurui or Kakegurui twin anime really feels like we lost a...well, you know. also understands that the games and their rules and mechanics are half the fun in getting a feel for the characters manipulating them to their advantage. This was thus one of the many, many,problems that'sadaptation had in fundamentallyunderstanding this.The fact that we've got another season of this thing on the way while we're still indefinitely waiting on continuations of the originaloranime really feels like we lost a...well, you know.
Netflix 's Bet, but making it a soft-core Euphoria clone is probably one of the most egregious. Though, I guess it is longstanding tradition at this point for US adaptations of global media to just jam in formally popular cultural artifacts in the adaptation process to make something more palatable to American audiences. © Konami And speaking of culture, gambling can be a fascinating window into another community's subcultures, and I am delighted every time one of these anime or another cultural artifact reminds me that horse racing is quietly big in Japan! © あらゐけいいち・講談社／CITY THE ANIMATION 製作委員会 © 2014 by Satoru Noda/SHUEISHA Inc. © Gege Akutami/Shueisha, JUJUTSU KAISEN Project © Cygames, Inc Showing up in anime that would never be mentioned in the same breath otherwise, like CITY The Animation , Golden Kamuy , and Jujutsu Kaisen , I attribute horse racing so completely to European and US culture, and seeing it show up in anime always reminds me of how we all have far more in common than we do separating us. Heck, I bet if folks combined horse racing with something like idols, the resulting franchise would have enough power to topple the current US political regime! Yeah, there were a lot of conceptual issues in's, but making it a soft-coreclone is probably one of the most egregious. Though, I guess it is longstanding tradition at this point for US adaptations of global media to just jam in formally popular cultural artifacts in the adaptation process to make something more palatable to American audiences.And speaking of culture, gambling can be a fascinating window into another community's subcultures, and I am delighted every time one of these anime or another cultural artifact reminds me that horse racing is quietly big in Japan!Showing up in anime that would never be mentioned in the same breath otherwise, like, and, I attribute horse racing so completely to European and US culture, and seeing it show up in anime always reminds me of how we all have far more in common than we do separating us. Heck, I bet if folks combined horse racing with something like idols, the resultingwould have enough power to topple the current US political regime!
Uma Musume! © K, S, I/S, UCP © Cygames, Inc Though this is also the point where I have to bring up the fun fact that, canonically, there is no betting on races in the world of the horse girls! Everyone's into it purely for love of the game! Which does make it funny, given the origins and motivations of both its real-world inspiration and its predatory gacha ecosystem, but also goes to show how ingrained the institution of horse racing is in the culture. One losing bet now would be if we can actually get through a given month of columns without bringing upThough this is also the point where I have to bring up the fun fact that, canonically, there is no betting on races in the world of the horse girls! Everyone's into it purely for love of the game! Which does make it funny, given the origins and motivations of both its real-world inspirationits predatory gacha ecosystem, but also goes to show how ingrained the institution of horse racing is in the culture. It's to the point that, as you pointed out with your examples, if a "gambler" character pops up in a series, it's even odds they'll be a track addict! © SUNRISE I like how it can run the gamut, too. Like Cowboy Bebop 's Faye Valentine isn't a gambler purely for thrill-seeking. She's doing it out of desperation because it's the only chance she can see to scrape together cash to pay off her crushing medical debt. Escapism! I like how it can run the gamut, too. Like's Faye Valentine isn't a gambler purely for thrill-seeking. She's doing it out of desperation because it's the only chance she can see to scrape together cash to pay off her crushing medical debt. Escapism!
If I were a betting man (and I am, but I've TOTALLY got it under control), I'd wager that you just surfaced an anime that's likely to show up on our upcoming Secret Santa lists!
Rio before because she crossed over into my beloved Dead or Alive. © TECMO KOEI GAMES CO.,LTD. © TECMO KOEI GAMES CO.,LTD. I'm just saying, there's a reason I only knewbefore because she crossed over into my beloved
Dead or Alive. You certainly were the "most" video game series of the 90s and 2000s! © Nippon Television Network Corporation Also, if folks are interested in an anime that is far more dead than alive and focuses on all manner of games of chance, I'd be remiss if we got through this column without highlighting Death Parade ! An anime where the recently deceased play bar games, it is exactly as edgy and pseudo-intellectual as you'd expect a brooding anime from 2013 to be, and it's certainly a fun nostalgia romp for anyone who got into anime around that time! Oh. You certainly were the "most" video game series of the 90s and 2000s!Also, if folks are interested in an anime that is far more dead than alive and focuses on all manner of games of chance, I'd be remiss if we got through this column without highlighting! An anime where the recently deceased play bar games, it is exactly as edgy and pseudo-intellectual as you'd expect a brooding anime from 2013 to be, and it's certainly a fun nostalgia romp for anyone who got into anime around that time!
Death Parade (and its preceding OVA , Death Billiards ) is cool because it still fits that "gambling" vibe with the games, but the wagers are all more metaphysical examinations of the characters coming to terms with their lives. © Nippon Television Network Corporation © Nippon Television Network Corporation So you still get the effect of characters concealing and revealing their decisions, just with even more raw ramifications than watching someone spend their whole livelihood on a bad bet. © Nippon Television Network Corporation © Nippon Television Network Corporation Again, not necessarily "fun," but extremely cool and engaging, as a good gamble must be. (and its preceding) is cool because it still fits that "gambling" vibe with the games, but the wagers are all more metaphysical examinations of the characters coming to terms with their lives.So you still get the effect of characters concealing and revealing their decisions, just with even more raw ramifications than watching someone spend their whole livelihood on a bad bet.Again, not necessarily "fun," but extremely cool and engaging, as a good gamble must be.