Gambling Anime – The Genre That We Love!

Gambling is not just a form of entertainment – it is art, which has spread across the world!

People have been gambling for ages. There are dozens of books, describing the art of playing Blackjack and having the lucky spin on the Roulette wheel. Not to mention all the gambling-themed movies and TV-series we often watch at home or on the big screen!

Anime has a lot of different genres, including gambling. There are a lot of superb series you could watch about popular games like Blackjack, Sic Bo and more. There are a lot of popular titles that you should definitely check out. And that’s what we’re here for – check out our dedicated post about the top 10 gambling-themed anime, where we talk a little about the plots, ratings and more!

Short Introduction to Gambling Anime

The Japanese culture has influenced the whole world in one way or another – from the superb comics (manga) and TV-series (anime) to makeup and fashion, and even gambling games you can find in the best safe online casino sites. To make a smooth transition to the main topic of the blog post, we would like to start with a little bit of a history lesson beforehand.

Since anime is mostly based on different manga series, it is only fair to give manga a definition first. ‘Manga’ translates as ‘whimsical pictures’ – these are graphic novels or comic books from Japan which you can now find everywhere. There are different genres, characters and twisted stories that some love and others hate.

Since some manga were so good, it was only natural to create movies and tv-series based on them. Much like online roulette bonus offers in the UK – they are just too good to stay indifferent!

For those of you who are not familiar with the term, ‘anime’ is a hand-drawn or a computer animation, often based on manga. With the first animation created back in 1917 up to today, anime is a Japanese creation loved by fans all over the world. Despite its origins, anime is a form of art that has been adopted by the Western culture, and we can say that we’re impressed.

Like manga, there are different types of anime, depending on the demographic it is presented to. There is anime for small children (kodomomuke), anime for teen boys and girls (shonen and shojo), and for adults, often separated in two – for men (seinen) and women (josei). You can find anime with an adventurous theme, spooky ones with lots of mythical creatures and murders, as well as anime with a bit more, well, intimate content (hentai).

There are anime and mange for pretty much anything, including gambling. We did a little research and found which are the best anime about gambling!

Top 10 Gambling Anime List – Best Anime About Gambling

We have a lot of anime fans in our team, to be honest. We were surprised that there are so many genres, different graphic styles, plot twists – it is truly fascinating! It was interesting and fun to learn more about that form of art and its variations. As mentioned, there are actually quite a lot of gambling-related anime. We’ve gathered the 10 best anime about gambling you should definitely watch!

All these titles are well known to fans across the world. These anime have superb ratings on IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and more, and are always part of top lists of other gambling and anime sites, Youtuber favourites, etc. We are going to include the ratings for each anime, as well as a very short introduction to the plot of the series. We don’t want to spoil it all for you!

1. Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler Anime Series

A relatively new anime, Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler tells the story of the students at Hyakkaou Private Academy, where they study regular subjects like biology and chemistry during the day, and train to become the best gamblers at night. There is a distinct hierarchy in the school which has never been broken – the elite is the elite, while everyone else just does their best not to become the ‘pet’ and be tortured. Wondering what makes this compulsive gambler anime different? The appearance of a new student, Yumeko Jabami, who is a gambling addict and plays for fun, will change everything.

2. Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor

A popular classic gambling anime which should be watched at least once! It is considered a masterpiece by many critics and fans, and it takes the top spot at a lot of gambling anime charts.

Kaiji, like a lot of other anime protagonists on our chart, has a difficult life and tries to get a fresh start in Tokyo. However, he’s tricked into gambling to pay the dept of his friend to the Yakuza. He boards on an illegal gambling cruise and plays against the Yakuza to find his way back on land. Little did he know that this would not be as easy as he has imagined!

3. One Outs

If you are a baseball fan, this anime might spark your interest. Unlike the compulsive gambler anime, this one is a bit different.

‘One Outs’ is a simplified baseball game. Toua Tokuchi is a huge gambler and has a reputation at the game. He wants to get some extra cash, so he comes up with a plan – to pitch for the weakest ‘One Outs’ team in the country. Would this help him reach his goal, or it will leave him broke? Watch the anime to find out!

4. Akagi: Yami ni Oritatta Tensai

Another popular old-school gambling anime is Akagi: The Genius Who Descended into Darkness.

This is an anime series that has a plot within the plot within another plot. It is very complex and interesting but you definitely must follow every event in order to understand it in full!

Good news, according to our research, you can also watch this gambling anime on Netflix. Wondering what it is about?

Nangou is a small-time gambler that makes the mistake to play against the Yakuza. When he is about to lose it all, Akagi comes to the rescue.

He is followed by the police, but he manages to escape. He defeats the Yakuza at a game of Mahjong, frees Nangou and wins a lot of smackers. From there, Akagi is involved in a lot of trouble that has to do with gambling.

5. Legendary Gambler Tetsuya

One of the first gambling anime released. Legendary Gambler Tetsuya is truly a work of art.

Tetsuya is a very skilled gambler – he easily defeats his opponents and gets a lot of cash, leaving everyone else struggling during WWII. Some say he is unbeatable, until one day the inevitable happens. He has been defeated by a gambler named Boushu-san in a game of Mahjong. After that, Tetsuya dedicates his life to get back and beat the gambler who took his money and his dignity.

6. Death Parade

Death Parade is a beautifully drawn anime with a lot of gothic elements and superb character features. Again, on the grim side, the anime presents gambling in a different way that a lot of anime fans like.

Decim is an arbiter, and he is the one to decide which souls are reincarnated or obliterated. He does that by observing how people act when they gamble, and everything is on the line. However, Decim starts to question his intuition and sorting methods and might be up to a surprise.

7. Saki

Saki is a more ‘relaxing’ and fun anime to watch. The other anime mentioned here may present gambling as a grim and evil activity, but this one is a bit more lighthearted.

Saki is a little girl who has played Mahjong at her home so many times that she now hates this game. When she loses, she loses all her money as well; when she wins, her family is mean to her. She learns how to control her scores so well that she can now never win nor lose. This powerful skill takes her to the school Mahjong club, where she might now find her place. Wondering where to watch these series? According ot our research, you can now enjoy this gambling anime on Netflix and Crunchyroll.

8. C: The Money of Soul and Possibly Control

Kimimaro Yoga is a guy who’s life is not easy – he can hardly find enough money to get some food and has a lot of problems that are hard to fix without any cash. He meets Masakaki – an interesting demon-like girl – who wants him to go to the Eastern Financial District, where he can get as much money as he wants. He agrees, but little does he know, he will become an Entre and will have to gamble his way to earning more money.

9. No Game No LIfe

A gambling anime that takes us in outer space. The anime presents the story of siblings Sora and Shiro, who are known as the unbeatable gaming team Blank. Their life is not easy – they’re too afraid to go outside and explore the world and live a happy life. They’re transported to the land of Disboard – a place where you have to play your way through life. A place where Sora and Shiro can finally be themselves. Wondering where you can watch their story? According to our research, you should be able to enjoy this gambling anime on Netflix.

10. Alice in Borderland

Unlike the classic book that everyone has read at least once, Alice in Borderland is a bit grim. The main character, Ryouhei Arisu, is a depressed high school student who has no ambition for anything, including life itself. One day, he and his friends are surprised by an unexpected and strong firework which transports them into a different world called Borderland, where you have to gamble to survive. Will Ryouhei snap out of his depression and start gambling? Watch the anime to see what happens!

Other Examples of Best Gambling Anime Series

From the listed gambling anime above, you might think that that’s all. Surprise! There are a lot more gambling-themed series out there, some are good, while others are not as popular. Since we know you might be wondering if the list could get any longer, we’ve added another 5 highly recognized and popular gambling-themed anime that might spark your interest:

These are just some of the gambling-themed anime that we know a lot of you like and would definitely watch. Would you add any other popular or not so popular titles? We’d love to hear from you! Make sure you find us on our social media and share your opinion on the mentioned anime, which ones you would recommend or which ones you would like to read a separate review about.

Popular Anime with a Dash of Gambling

Of course, not every anime has something to do with gambling. Most of them are love stories, adventures, horrors and more – gambling is not an essential and on-going theme. However, there are a lot of mainstream anime that often incorporate some kind of gamble in the plot to make things more interesting. Here are the top 3 non-gambling-related anime, which might make your gambling senses tingle a little:

Even in some of the most famous children anime like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh you can spot a small dash of gambling. Hmm, that might explain why a lot of schools around the world do not let kids play these games. Interesting!

Which Gambling Anime Would You Watch?

We hope you had fun reading our article! We’re sure a lot of you, fellow readers would watch some of the mentioned gambling anime. As mentioned, we’d love to read/hear what you think. Would you like us to review each anime separately? Share your thoughts!

The anime world gets bigger, and there are a lot of new genres, characters and plots that grab the audience. We’re sure there are going to be a lot more gambling anime and that they’re going to be successful. And if you are eager to test your own luck, we advise you to take a look at the best online roulette sites which we chose for you!

Gambling Anime FAQ

Since there will always be something that we haven’t covered in the previous paragraphs, we thought it would be a good idea to add this FAQ section. Here, you will find some of the most popular questions people ask about gambling anime, and we hope that this would be a helpful guide for future references.

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