# Kakegurui (2018)

> A mysterious transfer student who is a compulsive gambler turns an elite private academy's hierarchy of winners and losers into a series of lethal high-stakes games.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/66170

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 15
- Episode runtime: 30 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, mystery
- Network: MBS
- Cast: Minami Hamabe, Mahiro Takasugi, Aoi Morikawa, Taishi Nakagawa, Yurika Nakamura, Natsume Mito, Ruka Matsuda, Matsumoto Kiyo
- TMDB rating: 6.8/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7691766/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: feverish, theatrical, tense, psychological, predatory, glossy

## What critics say

Audiences broadly praise the over-the-top gambling spectacle and the magnetic central performance, while the reception is mixed overall.

## Synopsis

Kakegurui (2018-2019) is a Japanese live-action adaptation of a manga, aired on MBS, a psychological school drama built around high-stakes gambling. Minami Hamabe plays Yumeko Jabami, a serene new transfer to the elite Hyakkaou Private Academy who is secretly a compulsive gambler craving the thrill of calculated risk. Mahiro Takasugi plays Ryota Suzui, an ordinary student who gets drawn into her orbit, while Aoi Morikawa plays Meari Saotome, a ruthless student council figure who enforces the school's rules. The academy is ranked by games: students who win rule as the elite, and those who lose become property of their classmates. Each episode is built around a single escalating wager with explained rules, reversals and cruel psychological pressure, so the drama lives in the faces of players who bluff, scheme and break. Its tone is glossy, theatrical and feverish, with a predatory undercurrent beneath the school uniforms. Fans of Liar Game, Battle Royale and Alice in Borderland will find resonance in its brutal hierarchies and game-based suspense. The two seasons together run fifteen episodes.

## Shows like Kakegurui

- [LIAR GAME (2007)](https://ember.film/tv/13009)
- [KAKEGURUI TWIN (2022)](https://ember.film/tv/114159)
- [Alice in Borderland (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/62738)
- [Classroom of the Elite (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/63232)
- [Danganronpa: The Animation (2013)](https://ember.film/tv/44342)
- [Alice in Borderland (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/92064)
- [Mr. Hiiragi's Homeroom (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/72668)
- [Friendly Rivalry (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/173684)
- [Kakegurui (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/63052)
- [Girl from Nowhere: The Reset (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1105074)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt