Japanese anime has taken over the world by storm. Yet, there is one particular genre that stands out: gambling anime. Gambling has long been a fascinating part of Japanese culture. Following World War II, games such as mahjong rose to prominence.
Interestingly, Japan developed a unique attitude toward gambling.
Cheating your way to success was often seen as an acceptable and even admirable social skill. It’s no surprise, then, that many of the best gambling anime center on characters who fully embrace the gambling lifestyle. Some anime revolves around entire schools teaching the main characters how to master the art of cheating.
Some of these anime are dark and intense, such as Kaiji and Kakegurui, while others, like Saki, adopt a much lighter tone. Today, we explore the 10 best gambling anime and uncover what makes them so popular.
Anime Title | Release Year | What Is It About |
Legendary Gambler Tetsuya | 2000 | A young man in post-war Japan uses his gambling prowess to carve out a better life for himself |
Kakegurui | 2017 | In a private school, pupils learn to be good at gambling and thus advance in the social hierarchy |
Death Parade | 2015 | People die and reincarnate – if they win a high-stakes gambling game in the afterlife where the only currency are their souls |
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor | 2007 | Down-on-his luck gambler has to pay off his debt by surviving a series of dangerous games |
One Outs | 2008 | A talented baseball player offers his club to get paid extra for every good play – and pay back for every bad play he makes |
Akagi | 2005 | Akagi defeated Yakuza members at mahjong at the age of 13 – now he is back for more |
Saki | 2009 | A young high schooler rediscovers her passion for mahjong and embraces it despite past trauma |
Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu | 1988 | A man is taking on the underworld by defeating them at mahjong and braving some unsavory types |
Tomodachi Game | 2022 | A group of friends will test their loyalty to each other and choose between money and friendship |
No Game, No Life | 2014 | Summoned to another world, a pair of siblings remain undefeated in various games of chance |
Emerging defeated from World War II social ills befell Japan in the 1940s. Legendary Gambler Tetsuya (Shoubushi Densetsu Tetsuya) focuses on the story of Tetsuya, the protagonist, who has to use his gambling skills to survive and carve out a better life for himself in a war-torn nation with limited opportunities. Gambling quickly becomes the new key survival trait, but unlike in places such as the United States, cheating is permitted as it takes skill and intelligence to outsmart your opponents. In what is a grueling depiction of post-war Japan, Legendary Gambler Tetsuya easily positions itself as one of the very best anime about gambling ever created!
Welcome to the Hyakkaou Private Academy, the central stage for Kakegurui, one of the finest gambling anime ever created. In Hyakkaou, only your skill at gambling games matters in determining your social standing. Excel, and you ascend the ranks and be venerated on school grounds and later in society. Fail, and you become a "house pet," forced to fulfil the wishes of the higher-ups, and essentially – your betters. The anime portrays a bizarre world where gambling is the sole measure of merit and status – a concept that may seem strange to outsiders but aligns perfectly with the genre's tradition.
Death Parade is another thought-provoking anime about gambling that you ought to see! The plot is quite simple. People die - and go to the afterlife, only not exactly. Rather, Death Parade sends the soul of the deceased to special bars where they play high-stakes games, and the only currency is one’s soul.
These souls are put on the line and the winners are sent back to Earth to be reincarnated. As to the losers, they will be banished into the nether realm, simply referred to as "the void." The show focuses on the story of Decim, the bartender in one of those strange establishments, and his assistant, who together have to decide who is fit for a new life, and whose soul ought to perish in the unknown. But is their judgement fair and unbiased?
Kaiji is a popular gambling anime and one of the most iconic in the genre. The anime shares similarities with the popular South Korean drama Squid Game, where individuals in dire situations are forced to participate in deadly games of chance to settle their debts. Kaiji's story follows a similar premise.
Tricked by a shady businessman to board a cruise ship and forced to settle his debts by participating in dangerous games of luck and chance, that raise the stakes with every passing game. Kaiji must survive to win. Each new challenge proves even more daunting than the last, but Kaiji will put his wits, natural aptitude and desperation to find a way and come triumphant.
Yet, the crushing weight of his troubles is no help, and the beloved protagonist finds himself in a pinch with the audience not sure if he will make it out alive.
Meet Tōa Tokuchi, a skilled baseball pitcher who is not past looking out for his best interest. In the series, which focuses on a baseball team known as the Lycaons, Tokuchi has an interesting proposition to make. He will earn money for every out he pitches but then have to pay money back to the club for every run he allows.
Although a talented player that few can live up to, Tokuchi will also be under a lot of stress, trying to balance his skill against equally talented players who are doubly motivated to defeat him, knowing about his odd agreement. Tokuchi though is not easily cowed – it is only gambling, after all, if he loses.
Meet Akagi, a talented boy who has been beating the Yakuza underworld gang at mahjong since the age of 13. Six years later, he returns to try his skills against the infamous organization once again, not intimidated by its reputation.
Akagi’s talents shine in the anime as he uses various psychological strategies to throw his intimidating opponents off their balance and secure another win. Can anyone stop the child-prodigy-turned-a-young-man?
Yet, his motivation is much darker – he is an adrenaline junky who wants to experience what he describes as meaningless death. His opponents, a bunch of seedy characters, will surely try their best to oblige.
Saki Miyanaga, a first-year high schooler, is exceptionally gifted at mahjong, yet past family trauma makes her reluctant to play and her own aversion to the game is no secret. But once her skill is revealed her friend Kyoutarou Suga convinces her to join the school’s mahjong club where she gradually warms up to the people present.
Although her past trauma is continuously evoked in the show, the anime quickly takes a much lighter turn and tone. Saki will quickly get back into the game, teaching her fellow club members how to master the game, and what to look out for in a game to succeed.
Unlike previous anime, Saki is about the spirit of camaraderie and friendship, even when competition in gambling pits some characters against each other and creates conflict situations.
How good are you at mahjong? For many people, this could be a friendly remark, but for Ryū, it’s a matter of life and death. The titular character of the popular gambling anime will engage in some of the most important mahjong games of his life as he navigates a series of high-stakes games where he purposefully plays against criminal bosses and other unsavory types. Ryū is not one to avoid danger and takes on new challenges, finding the thrill and adrenaline of playing against dangerous men and women exhilarating.
This is also one of the first gambling anime released in Japan, airing from 1988 through 1990.
Several friends are forced to participate in a game of chance which will seek to prove their loyalty to each other. After their school funds go missing, the friends need to join the "Tomodachi Game," which is itself a series of odd games that will force the friends to take risks, gamble on each other’s friendship, and ultimately – resist betrayal when reduced to desperate ends.
Yet, over time, the friends discover that they make extra money, and the price is relatively simple – betray a friend. This gambling anime focuses on exploring the psychological side of people when pushed to their limits and whether they are willing to gamble away what they have today in the hopes of securing something better tomorrow.
Sora and her stepsister Shiro are social recluses who do not much care about the world beyond their home. They are also exceptionally good at gambling and use the Internet to defeat countless opponents. Known as "blank," which is the term accredited to undefeated gamblers, the sisters suddenly receive an odd message – someone claiming to be a god from another dimension challenges them to a game of chess. Finding it strange, but fascinated by the mysterious being, the sisters accept only to be transferred to a realm known as Disboard.
They defeat Tet, the deity of the world, and are then offered to stay in his realm and play various games that involve chance – and allow cheating. The rules, though, are enforced by magic, with one small exception – for a rule to be enforced through magic, your opponent has to catch you first breaking the rules.
No Game, No Life is a fantastic anime about gambling which explores the familiar premise casting it fresh light, mixing together the familiar tropes that determine gambling in Japanese anime, from being skillful at games of luck to being able to cheat smartly.
Image credit: Kakegurui