Kakegurui XX Episode 5 Review: The Connected Woman

In case you’ve been missing some idol dancing and singing action (I sure know I haven’t) you’re in for a treat: Yumemi and Yumeko team up again with their duo Dreaming Creaming Sisters, this time to bet against the famous Hollywood actress Sumika, who obviously has nothing better to do other that fly to Japan to be a bitch to a bunch of rich high-schoolers who receive betting their lives away as education. OH WELL.

Plot

Right. So the episode starts with a broadcast reminder of the current voting ranks of the election, Yumeko being last and the president being first. We also get a brief recap of the president’s match against that Kirari kid, who initially challenges her on a poker game then drops out, realizing the president is just going all in round after round, just because she can and does not feel intimidated by her opponents. In the meantime, Saotome Mary is being stalked by the Vice President who claims she has promised to join Mary and support her in the election. Mary is not convinced or impressed by the Vice President’s previous shenanigans so she agrees to team up with her if the Vice President wins against her in a gamble. Last, we get the Yumemi drama, who after an argument with Kirari trashes a whole room (that girl needs more help than anyone else). Hoping to get more votes and having already harvested the votes of her fans, Yumemi asks Yumeko to join her in another duet performance and share the vote earnings. That’s when the creepy Momobami girl shows up and reveals she’s a famous Hollywood actress (lol at everything but especially the choice of making Yumeko oblivious to celebrities which is just so much like her). Yumemi pees herself a little and challenges her on a gamble. Sumika accepts to have a performance duel against their duet. It is arranged as a major event and only 100 seats to the competition are available; the audience votes for the favorite to win and there are three rounds, the first one being singing. Sumika destroys them, even though Yumemi admits to having bought off the majority of the votes. That’s not how things… work.

Episode Highlights

I will never get over this: Can we take a moment to appreciate how much money and effort is being spent on an election in a school where rich kids are basically taught nothing? If you’ve been wondering where your money is going and why the majority of the human population is in poverty, the answer is probably somewhere along those lines: so that these kids can have a broadcast of their voting ranks.

Kirari, you party pooper: I was so disappointed Kirari did not take the President on, how lame was that? I was actually looking forward to seeing a deadly match between someone and the president, some real display of skill, you know? Instead, we just got a montage of the President carelessly betting all her chips away. Bah.

Yas Yumeko: Loving the fact Yumeko is oblivious to show business. I approve and relate.

Themes & Trivia

Dreaming Creaming Sisters: Ugh… I have genuinely forgotten the name of the duo. At this point let me say that I just DON’T do idol things, like, at all. I am not interested, not there, not anywhere near, so episodes like this are of very little value to me. I was hoping we’d get something like another edgy gamble where actual intelligence and skill are involved, and instead we got the Dreaming Creaming Sisters jumping around for fan service, and Sumika’s ultra cringe performance which, regardless of its vocal quality, which was okay (let me stress the ‘okay’ here), is something I care very little for in anime, unless it’s tightly tied to the script or very well executed. Example: think of the concept of acting and performance in Millenium Actress (a top anime film that you must see if you haven’t because it’s breathtakingly good and I feel it deserves a lot more recognition than it’s getting). The whole essence of the film is based on exploring the essence of acting and it’s so well made it actually does make you consider how acting is an art. Sumika’s 30 seconds of singing and her basic description of the experience of singing is doesn’t get anyone anywhere and this whole performance competition does not belong in the style of the show in any way. *drops mike and runs away*

Can we get back on the gambling, pls

Yeah, I don’t wanna see idol shit, sorry.

How did you find this Kakegurui XX episode? Let us know in the comment section. And don’t forget to check the rest of the Winter 2019 anime reviews on MANGA.TOKYO!