Kakegurui – Episode 10 [Selective Woman]

Yumeko has challenged Kaede to a gambling match, and since it’s impromptu the Student Council [SC] vice-president will chair the game.

In a nutshell it’s like regular poker with a twist. Whoever bets more gets to picker whether a “stronger or weaker” hand will win. The duo can exchange as many cards as they’d like once after they place their bets, and then the duo must reveal their cards. If someone has a hand that best matches the choice, they win the round. If neither Kaede nor Yumeko has a matching hand then the person with the highest card (ie a 9 versus a King) is the winner.

Each poker chip is worth 10 million yen, and right off the bat Kaede buys more chips than Yumeko, putting her at a disadvantage. The audience is absolutely flabbergasted that Kaede has that much money at his disposal, but Mary and a select few others know Kaede can easily access more of his family’s wealth.

Yumeko wins in the first round but appears to naively lose the second round (for a rather stupid reason too). Kaede has made a series of mental calculations about Yumeko and he refers to them throughout the match. As the game progresses he is forced to factor in Yumeko’s eccentric behaviour and recognize that he can’t accurately predict her moves like he’d ordinarily be able to do with any other “normal” opponent.

Yumeko loses all her money after two rounds, and according to the game’s rules Yumeko would be declared the loser. However Yumeko stands up and appeals to Itsuki to loan her some money. Kaede in turn tries to bribe Itsuki into not helping Yumeko and also offers her her former SC seat back. However as he does he also insults Itsuki pretty severely, and Itsuki flashes back to when she first tried to get onto the SC and Kaede let her join. He had portrayed them as two of a kind, two similar people both trying to be “king”, but Kaede had discarded her the first chance he got.

Yumeko rebukes Kaede for being so rude to Itsuki, and tells her schoolmate that Itsuki can either take the safe road and accept Kaede’s offer, or she can reject it and literally gamble with her life on Yumeko. Because remember that everything good in Itsuki’s life, and her relationship with her father, rely on Itsuki being on the SC. If she remains off the council then she will upset her father and her future will become uncertain.

Itsuki finally declares that she will buy Yumeko 100 more chips, and that she will be the only one who will be king. So now there are two lives riding on Yumeko’s match with Kaede. Who will win? And when will the SC president return?

My thoughts: A neat note – when referring to having nothing good in their hand, this episode uses the word “buta” (literally meaning “pig”). It was used during the gambling match in episode 4 too if I remember correctly.

I really enjoyed this episode, particularly when watching Kaede try to figure out Yumeko’s potential hands and which way she might bet (stronger versus weaker). Kakegurui‘s use of CG was pretty seamless and smooth during these little asides too.

It’s interesting to me that as the series progresses, we get to see each episode’s main cast as they are twisted and warped by their gambling addictions. You know the big wide eyes and the large, twisted mouths. First it was Mary, and we’ve seen Yumeko’s red eyes and lips several times too, but we’ve also seen the SC members succumb one by one. Yuriko, Runa, Midari, Yumemi, and now Kaede. I’m guessing eventually we’ll get to see the SC president gamble against Yumeko as well. How twisted and evil will her facial expression be? (Is it weird that I find this intriguing? Warped? I don’t know but it makes Kakegurui memorable, to me anyways. >>; )

I wonder what the SC president is up to. Who is she meeting, and why? I’m assuming it has something to do with Yumeko, and if so what?




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