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Kakegurui became one of the notable anime of 2017 for its intriguing plot and fascinating characters. The story revolves around Hyakkaou Private Academy, an educational institution where only students from rich and powerful families are accepted. The academy may seem like a normal school, but at night it transforms into a whole new gambling den.
Kakegurui has featured characters who are well versed in tricking others with their mind games, asserting their manipulative skills. Especially the protagonist Yumeko Jabani, who just plays to seek the thrill out of the game instead of winning.
A lot of anime out there carries the essence of Gambling similar to Kakegurui. However, here is a list of cherry-picked ones that consist of manipulation, deceit, and mind games.
Anime that Kakegurui fans would love to watch
10) Akagi
An obsessive gambler named Nangou has accumulated a hefty burden of 3 million yen. In hopes of getting back on track, he decides to wager his life by playing a game of mah-jong with a Yakuza.
However, the chances of winning the game slowly started dissipating. Out of the blue, the game got interrupted by the titular protagonist Akagi Shigeru, who is on the run from the police.
Trying his luck for one last time, Nangou handed the game over to Akagi. However, Nangou doesn’t know that Akagi is a prodigy in Mahjong. He rapidly outbeats the Yakuza and turns the tide in favor of Nangou.
9) Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma
Souma Yukihara has been cooking and helping his father since he was a kid. Working alongside his father for years as a sous chef, Souma developed exceptional culinary skills and impressed his customers by presenting them with amazing dishes.
With that growing anticipation of one day surpassing his father, out of the blue, he gets shocking news that turns his life upside down. Souma’s father decides to close the restaurant he owns to pursue a job that requires traveling around the world.
He enrolled his son in the prestigious Totsuki Saryo Culinary Institute, an elite culinary school where only 10 percent of students end up graduating. Totsuki Saryo’s cutthroat Food Wars cooking competition and its challenging environment await Souma’s capabilities.
8) Saki
Saki Miyanaga developed a hatred towards Mahjong despite being a genius in it. The reason behind her strong dislike was due to her family’s odd tradition. If Saki loses the game, she will also lose her allowances and if she wins in a row, her family will get upset. Saki resorted to keeping a low profile by maintaining the score at zero.
However, Saki’s friend Kyoutarou Suga convinced her to join the school’s Mahjong club. Members of the club were astonished by her unusual break-even ability and persuaded her to win. After Saki gets started with unleashing her capabilities, the only goal that awaits her and her team is winning the nationals.
7) Prison School
Five boys named Kiyoshi, Gakuto, Shingo, Andre, and Jo got selected for Hachimatsu Private Academy. The institution was once an all-girls school, but after refurbishing its policies, it started accepting boys too.
After witnessing themselves surrounded by thousands of girls, these shy individuals try to survive each day while hoping to communicate with their fellow female students.
However, after committing an indecent act, they landed themselves beneath the bars of the school prison by the Underground Student Council. All of the boys were sentenced to serve one month in prison as punishment. These guys have to strive through each horrible day, maintaining their composure and strengthening their bond with each other.
6) Joker Game
Following the uprising of World War 2, Lieutenant Colonel Yuuki, also known by his moniker Demon Lord, established a spy training organization named D-Agency. This organization consists of eight marvelous individuals who apart from being highly trained military personnel are also exceptional in the art of manipulation.
These individuals are trained to survive extreme conditions and can speak multiple languages. They’re deployed in powerful countries around the world to gather Intel and keep an eye on their movements.
5) Kaguya Sama: Love is War!
The most envied pair in the entirety of Shuchiin Academy may seem like the perfect couple. Student Council President Miyuki Shirogane and Vice President Kaguya Shinomiya indeed have feelings for each other. The only thing that comes between them to confess to each other is their honor and pride.
Both of them are in a constant battle to make the other person subdue with their manipulative games and make them confess their feelings. The person who confesses would lose.
4) One Outs
Hiromichi Kojima is the legendary baseball star batter for Saitama Lycaons. Kojima's team has been losing consecutively and is regarded as the weakest of them all.
One fated day, while Kojima is looking for a replacement for his injured teammate, he crosses paths with Toa Tokuchi. Kojima witnesses Tokuchi’s skills and determined himself to recruit the latter for his team.
Kojima put his career on the line and defeated Tokuchi in his own game of One Outs. In this game, the pitcher and the batter duel 1v1 against each other while gambling on the outcomes with money. With Tokuchi’s arrival in the team, things are going to escalate real quick.
3) Death Parade
The moment after one’s death, they’re destined to either be entwined with the void or be reborn again. However, for the selected few, they end up at Quindecim. A place that may look like a lavish European bar, but it is not what everyone would expect. Quindecim is a bar run by a bartender named Decim who serves as an arbiter for these lost souls.
To pass through his trial, everyone who ends up at Quindecim has to play a game in which winning and losing would decide their fate. Those who end up being victorious will be reincarnated and those who lose will be banished into the void.
2) Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor
Kaiji Itou is an unproductive, aimless thug who spends most of his time either drinking or stealing from others. He gets tricked by his former co-worker and gets burdened with a huge debt.
Unable to repay the debt on his own, he agrees to a shady offer where he has joined an illegal underground gamble on a cruise ship.
With the aim of clearing his debts as well as making a bit of money for himself, Kaiji has to survive everything thrown onto him, without getting trapped in others’ manipulation.
1) Classroom of the Elite
Koudo Ikusei Senior High School is known for its reputation for harboring elite students while giving them modern facilities. However, behind its make-believe façade, the school treats its students with partiality. Only those who have outstanding merits will end up in A-Class and others who are not considered capable will be dumped in D-Class.
Kiyotaka Ayanokouji is a student of Class-D, who likes to keep a low profile of his genius. After he meets Suzune Horikita and Kikyou Kushida, his situation begins to change, and his presumption of an ideal normal high school life begins to fade.
