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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2937
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Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2017 10:23 am
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#8
This is another episode which sets up the main showpiece gamble for this story arc. Along the way, viewers get to know a little bit more about the motivations behind some students and their willingness to join an academic institution so focused on gambling.
Sumeragi Itsuki might have kept her nails and family name intact after episode 2, but she has every reason to swallow her pride and beg Yumeko for help in reinstating her old position. It isn't always easy being born with a silver spoon.
Likewise, Yumemite Yumemi isn't pursuing her idol career for solely altruistic reasons. It's always fishy hearing idols extolling the virtues of their job, but once the facade slips Yumemite's true reason for being an idol makes perfect sense as a mercenary transaction between the institution and her own dream.
Someone provided Jabami Yumeko with the supposedly destroyed fan letter and the voice recorder and the list of candidates is effectively narrowed down to members of the student council. I'm putting my bet on the male council member Manyuuda as the culprit, he's actively stated his ambition to seize control of the council together with Yumemite prematurely and looks perfectly capable of playing a double-game to achieve his aims. His character profile on the show's official page even assigns the trait of "ambition" on his character picture.
The gamble itself is an unusual one since it's a contest with the odds stacked against Jabami. Her opponent has been undergoing training for public performance for some time while it's safe to say Jabami probably has little to no experience in comparison. It's possible the council is stacking the odds further against Jabami through some kind of sabotage on the performing stage, but viewers unaware of the source material will only find out what the conditions are for the gamble staking the girls' futures in the next episode.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:39 am
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I was thinking it was the girl in the dog hoodie who is always playing games, the end had her seeming pretty giddy in mocking the idea of the hierarchy falling apart under the president, like it is some game to her. Not going off much of her I am thinking her thing is treating things like some game.
No doubt the OP probably has a hint to it, I had to avoid watching a video by Mother's Basement which I think risked spoiling the entire series. Although on the subject of the OP, I think that it is actually one of my favourite this season.
The president leaving on a helicopter suddenly reminded me of Kill la Kill, where Satsuki kind of made a point that those in power and lose it, never deserved it in the first place. A female president with an almost absolute authority.
And lastly, I kind of really like how this show does close ups on eyes, where you can see the blood vessels where it takes the character from being an anime character, to looking a bit grotesque for its human details.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2937
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Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 9:47 am
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#9
I wouldn't call this week a "gamble" in the sense viewers have been accustomed to over the series, since it's clear the stage was rigged in favour of Yumemite and she was only dragging out the proceedings to deliver maximum entertainment value. Oddly enough it all came down to chance (as it usually does for Jabami during crunch time) with both sides walking off with some kind of profit.
I guessed right regarding Manyuudou, but he's now going to have a taste of how dangerous Jabami is and why his peers in the council were lucky not to lose their positions. Since the President isn't around, if Manyuudou fails to win his gamble in the auditorium he will effectively trade places with Jabami (plus lose his position on the council and get slapped with a life plan to boot). He was right that he had nothing to gain from taking on Jabami's challenge, but his arrogance made him forget why Jabami has been holding on to the tag all this while and he won't be able to run away since everyone knows full well no one can dodge an officially sanctioned challenge from one of the "pets".
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 1:40 am
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The plus side for Yumeko is that it seems that this could lead to her getting allies with the idol she just beat, that it was essentially a gamble Yumeko wanted to have her fans accept her. And on that, I was wondering if any fingerprints could be gained from who retrieved the letter, and the secretary holding the microphone. I was kind of thinking it would be more interesting because the idol part of this episode was more of a distraction from what the shows does good, and showing that the whole thing is a planned gamble on Yumeko's part might make it more interesting.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
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Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 2:19 am
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DuskyPredator wrote: | The plus side for Yumeko is that it seems that this could lead to her getting allies with the idol she just beat, that it was essentially a gamble Yumeko wanted to have her fans accept her. And on that, I was wondering if any fingerprints could be gained from who retrieved the letter, and the secretary holding the microphone. I was kind of thinking it would be more interesting because the idol part of this episode was more of a distraction from what the shows does good, and showing that the whole thing is a planned gamble on Yumeko's part might make it more interesting. |
When Jabami gambles, she always insists both sides lay something on the line to make the gamble worthwhile. It's clear she was complimenting Yumemite on her resolve to lose her career with the decision to replay the recording, it's only luck (again) which allowed Yumemite to walk away without losing her dream.
Might want to replay the last scene between Jabami and Manyuudou again since you've missed the point why she's forcing the challenge in the first place. Why bother with concrete evidence when it's not a crime and there's no court of law to decide proceedings? Put both arguments on the line (plus a mountain of cash) and gamble to decide which argument holds sway.
Jabami's raison d'etre in this academy is to go from gamble to gamble deriving maximum personal satisfaction from each encounter, so I seriously doubt she planned to take on Manyuudou in the first place. Opportunity knocks and she seizes it with both hands. Knowing her, even if she wins the next gamble against Manyuudou she will still hang on to the tag for the privilege of gambling against anyone on campus (bar other pets) with no right of refusal to the challenged.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
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Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 2:46 am
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Harleyquin wrote: | Might want to replay the last scene between Jabami and Manyuudou again since you've missed the point why she's forcing the challenge in the first place. Why bother with concrete evidence when it's not a crime and there's no court of law to decide proceedings? Put both arguments on the line (plus a mountain of cash) and gamble to decide which argument holds sway. |
Did I miss the point? Manyuudou said he staked his student council position that he was innocent, even if he meant it as a figure of speech he said it in front of everyone. Yumeko did look surprised when he did not take the initial bait to play against her. But rather than look at the separate bets, I was kind of looking at it as one big gamble, things like something being a crime or hard evidence are just pieces in the game.
The real game can even be of disgrace, whether it lands on Yumeko or on the student council, where the real one playing against Yumeko is the student council president who kind of just disappeared and her absence led her council members acting. Like maybe the preparation was itself just to see what her pieces would be able to do without her, that Yumeko might even be able to capture her pieces. I mean, Yumeko did want to just challenge the president, why even bother with the secretary.
And don't just say I am not understanding what is happening. I said it could be the case, I did not say it necessarily is, I tend to even have a bad track record where my guesses are wildly off. So I just took little thoughts like the note being given relevance and him grabbing the microphone, and thought that there could be the slim possibility with a game on top of the game we are watching. It kind of annoys me when I get told that me doing a theory means that I am ignoring what is immediately happening on screen.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
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Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 4:23 am
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DuskyPredator wrote: |
Did I miss the point? Manyuudou said he staked his student council position that he was innocent, even if he meant it as a figure of speech he said it in front of everyone. Yumeko did look surprised when he did not take the initial bait to play against her. But rather than look at the separate bets, I was kind of looking at it as one big gamble, things like something being a crime or hard evidence are just pieces in the game.
The real game can even be of disgrace, whether it lands on Yumeko or on the student council, where the real one playing against Yumeko is the student council president who kind of just disappeared and her absence led her council members acting. Like maybe the preparation was itself just to see what her pieces would be able to do without her, that Yumeko might even be able to capture her pieces. I mean, Yumeko did want to just challenge the president, why even bother with the secretary.
And don't just say I am not understanding what is happening. I said it could be the case, I did not say it necessarily is, I tend to even have a bad track record where my guesses are wildly off. So I just took little thoughts like the note being given relevance and him grabbing the microphone, and thought that there could be the slim possibility with a game on top of the game we are watching. It kind of annoys me when I get told that me doing a theory means that I am ignoring what is immediately happening on screen. |
That's assuming Jabami is planning some kind of grand scheme to have the whole school backing her when she finally takes on the council president. Based on this week's episode and Suzui Ryouta's own admission, that's most likely not the case. I'll repeat myself: Jabami Yumeko goes from gamble to gamble maximising her personal enjoyment from each encounter; as it stands she's wants to challenge the council president using her right as a "pet" but there's nothing stopping her from challenging anyone else along the way. She's also fairly honest with her intentions so she'll take Manyuudou's declaration as an excuse to arrange a gamble whilst making the prime suspect pay for providing blackmail material. Opportunism is a big part of her personality, but feel free to disagree as you see fit. Whatever speculation there is, viewers only find out what the stakes are (beyond what was stated at the end of this week's episode) between Jabami and Manyuudou next week.
The big conspiracy theory about Jabami playing some kind of "Great Game" is easily proved or disproved in the coming weeks. If she's deliberately laid a trap for Manyuudou to come out and intends to use him as a stepping stone to challenge the president later, the coming episodes should prove this theory right or wrong in due course. I've laid out my stall and don't expect to proven right or wrong until the final episodes of this adaptation at the earliest.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2937
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Posted: Sat Sep 09, 2017 10:00 am
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#10
The gamble this week is in itself not that remarkable. As elucidated by the gambling veterans, it all comes down to who has the bigger stock of chips to stake. Consequently a huge pool of reserves to draw upon increases the chances of manipulating the game towards one's advantage.
Manyuudou has his win for this week, but it seems Jabami may have deliberately lost on purpose just to rope in Sumeragi for even higher stakes. Besides living for the thrill of the gamble, Jabami places great store in ensuring BOTH sides to a gamble have the potential to lose an equally massive something should they be on the losing side. As of this week, Manyuudou has yet to fulfil this requirement so Jabami is holding back for the time being. Now that she's turned on the full gambling thrill charm on Sumeragi, Jabami has ensured that her ally and herself stand to lose everything should the gamble fail. All that remains is to do the same thing to Manyuudou in turn.
This is a one quarter adaptation, so it's likely the series will end before Jabami will earn her chance to gamble with the council president (who incidentally seems to have skipped school to attend some kind of grand clan gathering with herself as one of the representatives). I'm guessing this is the case because there aren't enough episodes to portray a final showdown gamble between the two, short of the animators decided to extend the adaptation to cover more of what has already been published to date.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2937
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Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2017 9:57 am
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#11
Another episode showing what a different class of gambler Jabami is from mere mortals. Manyuudou is the type of gambler who plays by the odds and always goes for the optimal course of action based on probability, which is fine except when the stakes are raised to astronomical levels. The last time I saw a gambler like that was also in the Akagi anime since his imposter had exactly the same philosophy as Manyuudou. Unfortunately for those who play by the odds, gambling doesn't always work like that and those who live and breathe its essence of irrationality will always find something to outflank the human calculators.
As an incomplete adaptation of a series that is still ongoing and has spawned at least two spin-offs, I'm not sure what to expect from the final episode based on what was revealed in next week's trailer. They could go for an anime-original ending or they could follow the source material and hope enough of the Japanese public pays for the home release to warrant a second season. For the rest of the world, 2018 might not come soon enough and I haven't the faintest idea if it will contribute to the planning for a second season.
I don't think viewers will get to see a showdown between the Council President and Jabami, but the final gamble appears to involve the Council once more and Jabami's place in the school appears to be at stake. The meeting between Momogami and the rest of her extended clan might not be significant either if there's no second season adaptation in the works.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15545
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 12:09 am
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Sumeragi was one piece in the bet, that having her bet so high and freak out was enough of a bluff to make him bet everything and end the game in their favour. That part was pretty glorious.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2937
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Posted: Sun Sep 17, 2017 12:35 am
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DuskyPredator wrote: | Sumeragi was one piece in the bet, that having her bet so high and freak out was enough of a bluff to make him bet everything and end the game in their favour. That part was pretty glorious. |
Half bluff, half acting. She was ready to concede after putting in all of her monetary assets but was persuaded to continue after seeing Yumeko's hand. The bit where she pretends to collapse emotionally after seeing Manyuudou seize the decision to choose high or low is acting.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
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Posted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:56 am
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#12 End
Contrary to the fears of most visitors to this website, an original anime ending doesn't necessarily imply room for a sequel adaptation is closed off entirely. This episode is a very good example.
No money this time round, but the gamble is a simple one. Draw three tarot cards and the outcome is decided by the numeral values of the three cards drawn. To think it came down to Suzui drawing the decisive card with a 1/40 chance.
Unsurprisingly viewers are not privy to what the marked card really was (the scene with all the cards spread out on the table at the end isn't conclusive since some of the cards were kept face down). As mentioned, not knowing what it was is probably best for all concerned.
The final conversation confirmed what some viewers have probably suspected for some time: the council president and vice-president are probably twins or one of them has gone to great lengths to impersonate the other during key moments. The vice-president's insistence on wearing a mask doesn't make sense otherwise. Yomotsuki Runa probably has a better idea than anyone else regarding the truth behind the top two of the council, but interested viewers either need to read the source material or get enough friends to pay for a second animation adaptation.
Gambling anime is rare, really good examples either don't draw any attention or are only known to those who are already fans of the franchise. Since Netflix have taken this series up I can't tell if this trend of gambling anime remaining obscure will change, but I've enjoyed this series immensely and it's made me want to rewatch other examples of this kind (e.g. One Outs, Akagi, both Kaiji adaptations). The source material is going great guns with two spinoff series and the main one still going strong, so odds are there will be another adaptation in the future once enough time has passed.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15545
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 12:48 am
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A pretty good finale, it looked like Yumeko managed to get Ryouta to get into a gambling a bit, at least in the choosing your own fate thing. There was a bit of a confession there, which Itsuki liked, Yumeko too by her possible (likely) orgasm, that is just how this series runs. The episode also made me like the evil loli girl in a rabbit hoodie, who just seemed sort of fun. Would have liked to see more of her.
And I will use that to springboard in talking about the show in general. It was fun, of course a number of quite unhealthy, but it is the general fun this show has and pretty much embracing that sort of self satisfying and dark or sexual side. The show is pretty unapologetic, and that is fun. The strange facial expressions, that made you feel like you were watching something wrong, grew onto me as an exciting style. It could be creative without feeling like it was trying too hard to look smart or something. And a win for the OP as being my favourite of the season, Deal with the Devil is something that I found getting stuck in my head, with the added very energetic and fun visuals.
From the weight of general aesthetics, I give a rating of Very good (8/10), the sort of don't miss it category in being quite interesting, without I would say quite being offensive, which I would maybe put to others. I would like to see more, and with things like that I guess twist at the end of there being something going on with the president, hopefully they will be willing to animate what that means.
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Harleyquin
Joined: 29 May 2014
Posts: 2937
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2019 6:14 pm
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Season 2 #1
The students with an inveterate gambling addiction are back for more. It's been just over a year since the first season first aired, so there's a little montage in the middle reminding the casual viewer of what happened in the first season.
Similar style in this season OP's compared to season 1, but the lyrics are easier to relate and to sing along to. The ED reminds viewers about the other unique aspect to this franchise, which thankfully the OP is less keen on. The new ensemble introduced at the end of this episode gets highlighted in the OP, so there's that.
With the sudden introduction to this week's gamble, it looks insane from the likes of the hapless bystander that is Suzui Ryouta. But Mushibami has not been following the exploits of Jabami Yumeko and is trying to beat them down using a weapon that was never going to work to begin with, especially when her safety mechanism was easily seen through by Jabami with the overseeing council member acknowledging the dodge. It looks like the gamble will be settled next week, but I'm not expecting anyone to lose a finger since Mushibami is already feeling the pressure.
The Momobami (百喰) clan look like an interesting bunch, with Council President Momobami (桃喰) ruling the roost for now. Considering Jabami's own surname (蛇喰) it wouldn't be a coincidence if she was also one of the cadet families of the clan, sharing the character in her surname seems a bit much. The President's wariness of Jabami might well be justified if they are distantly related.
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DuskyPredator
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15545
Location: Brisbane, Australia
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 5:13 am
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Note to prospective gamblers who focus on intimidation; research your targets first, that way you don't suddenly realize you are up against someone who has a crazy fetish for high profile bets, and another that may still have such a thing for actual self harm from bets. Maybe ask why she wears an eye patch so you can find out that she ripped her own eye out from a bet, and an actual extra party making sure things are fair in this school, will probably pull all stops. At least try to bribe the ref first like the other cheaters before taken out of her hands.
I guess a good way to be reintroduced to our heroine's craziness that she will see how long the girl will squirm after realizing her cheat was likely removed.
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