For 11 years, Homura Kawamoto’s manga “Kakegurui” has delighted readers with its hammy, enjoyably ridiculous story of an elite private school where student popularity is determined through a cutthroat underground gambling circuit. Combining intensely serious gambling battles with a strong dose of lesbian homoeroticism, “Kakegurui” (which translates to “Compulsive Gambler” in English) has spawned an entire franchise since its first publication in 2014, including two seasons of an anime series produced by Studio MAPPA, a live-action Japanese series, two spin-off manga, and two live-action films.
Now, Netflix — which licensed the anime series for international distribution — is taking the gamble of seeing whether this weird, campy property can make the same successful adaptational leap that manga like “One Piece” have in the past, rather than flop on its face like some other attempts to translate anime to new mediums (see “Cowboy Bebop”). The streamer has today announced that an English live-action adaptation of “Kakegurui,” titled “Bet,” will premiere May 15.
Developed for television by Simon Barry, best known as the creator behind the two-season Netflix action fantasy series “Warrior Nun,” “Bet” hews relatively closely to the basic premise of the original manga. Miku Martineau stars in the series as Yumeko, a transfer student to an elite global boarding school and a compulsive gambling addict with a mysterious past. At the academy, students bet huge sums of money and even their freedom for a chance to rise up the strict social hierarchy, where the richest rule as gods, while those with the highest debts are relegated to servitude. Yumeko’s addiction and her gambling skills cause ripples in the school immediately, and put her in the crosshairs of the powerful student council members.
In addition to Martineau, the cast includes Ayo Solanke, Eve Edwards, Clara Alexandrova, Hunter Cardinal, Anwen O’Driscoll, Aviva Mongillo, and Ryan Sutherland. Aside from developing the show and executive producing, Barry will direct the series. Other executive producers include Jeff F King, David Fortier, Ivan Schneeberg, Jon Rutherford, and Nick Nantell.
All 10 30-minute episodes of “Bet” will be released on May 15. In addition to announcing the premiere date, Netflix released a trailer for the series. Watch it below.
