Kakegurui××

Kakegurui××, the second season of Kakegurui, continues the high-stakes gambling madness that made the original series so compelling. With more intense psychological battles, new eccentric challengers, and an escalation in drama, this season successfully builds upon its predecessor while introducing fresh dynamics.

The anime’s narrative maintains its unpredictable edge, as Yumeko Jabami faces increasingly complex wagers that test not only strategy but psychological endurance. The addition of the election storyline, where characters compete for votes through gambling, adds a new layer of intrigue and competition to Hyakkaou Academy’s already chaotic hierarchy.

Visually, MAPPA delivers another stunning presentation. The signature exaggerated facial expressions and stylistic cinematography heighten the ... tension, making every gamble feel electrifying. Character designs remain distinctive, and the animation effectively captures the emotional highs and lows of each confrontation.

The soundtrack complements the series well, continuing the jazz-inspired intensity that enhances each gamble’s atmosphere. The voice acting is strong across the board, with Yumeko’s unpredictable nature remaining a highlight, thanks to Saori Hayami’s captivating performance.

The soundtrack complements the series well, continuing the jazz-inspired intensity that enhances each gamble’s atmosphere. The voice acting is strong across the board, with Yumeko’s unpredictable nature remaining a highlight, thanks to Saori Hayami’s captivating performance.

However, while Kakegurui×× expands the series’ concept effectively, it does lean heavily into theatrical exaggeration, occasionally sacrificing depth in favor of spectacle. Some character motivations feel underdeveloped compared to Season 1, and certain gambles, while thrilling, lack the psychological depth of previous encounters.

Overall, Kakegurui×× is a stylish and gripping follow-up that retains the chaotic energy of its predecessor while introducing new twists. Fans of the original will enjoy its unpredictable nature and intense wagers, though its dramatic flair sometimes overshadows deeper storytelling.

"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned"

I feel as if there needs to be more Gambling related anime that perform better than Kakegurui ever did.

That being said, I don't think that this anime was very poorly executed, I just think that it missed base on a lot of specific areas.

Story: The story could have been more gripping and interesting, but in the long run I feel like it really amounted to nothing and that the ending didn't really mean much of anything, but in this pseudo-slice of life, I guess there's not much I could be expecting.

Art: Was for the most ... part pretty well done. I think they used a lot of very interesting and captivating graphics and animations that draw you in, but at the same time they had a lot of very uncomfortable facial expressions that just absolutely ruined it for me. I know this is the biggest meme about the anime but it is so unbearable having to cringe through those faces and seeing them be engraved into the viewers mind over and over again.

Sound: Was very typical as to most anime. I actually thoroughly enjoyed the OST which is what made me slide it to a 6 for sound design, but other than that, nothing to brag about

Characters: A lot of them are pretty unbearable. Just a bunch of rich kids who act like they're better than everyone else because they have the money to do so. Looking down on people is never a trope I care to watch in any show let alone anime. I enjoyed Jabami as a shtick of just enjoying the thrill of the gamble, but alot of that tends to drown out when you realize they just sexualize the hell out of her desire to gamble.

Overall: This anime could have been much much better. I like the concept of gambling anime but this, for lack of better words, is just not something that has life behind face value

IMO this season just... wasn't interesting.

The games felt inferior and like half of them involved the threat of physical harm/death which they are too chickenshit to ever pull the trigger on so I wasn't really anticipating who'd win because, like, who cares?

That's really a big problem with the whole concept of this season anyway. This season, it's based around the student council president election and, like, I guess it's been established that that's very important, but it's up against one of the most forgettable groups of antagonists I've ever seen.

Some of the antagonists don't even get their own gamble, it's a struggle to remember their ... names, they just aren't very interesting.

The only one I really liked was the last villain but even then, I wanted her to WIN because who else would win? Kirari, the sociopath who's already president? Yumeko, the agent of chaos who'd destroy the entire academy (which would presumably destabilize Japan because this academy is just SO important) because she was bored? Some other jackass from the branch families nobody cares about? ...I dunno, Mary?

They do try to work on humanizing the student council members to... varying effects. Itsuki grew on me a lot, here's to well wishes in her romantic endeavors. Yuriko, lmao, sorry if you wanted screen time. Midari is mostly a butt monkey because Yumeko doesn't like Midari which honestly just made me like Yumeko less and, again, you need me to like Yumeko for this series to work. Kaede gets something nice to work on, which I am happy to see. Runa... she's still very annoying but I liked when she ate the spicy macaron and suffered. Sayaka, the secretary, I thought her part was one of the best in the season, even if I hated the game and outcome.

...unfortunately, Yumemi gets another arc. I guess it wasn't the worst arc of the season but that's less of a positive for Yumemi and more a condemnation of the whole season considering the game was less interesting than S1's and Yumemi continues to be uninteresting at best.

So who wins the election?

Oh... I'm sorry... you'd like to know that, wouldn't you?

It doesn't say, we're still in the middle of the election when the season ends.

Did I mention Suzui, the token male?

No?

Yeah, he's not really important except for one gamble.

There are entire gambles where he's busy playing Fortnite or whatever while Yumeko's actually gambling and his presence wasn't really missed but it proves how much of an absolute nothing he is.

The OP was a huge upgrade (and the ED was pretty good too) musically and I liked how a couple of the student council members progressed, but it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, it has way less interesting games, and the antagonists are kinda boring.