‘Kakegurui’ Season 2 Release Date: Netflix Anime In 2018, Manga Compared To Episode 12, And Blu-Ray/DVD Sales

Anime fans who can’t wait for the Kakegurui Season 2 release date are still better off than English Netflix watchers. Not only have Japanese viewers already watched the ending of Kakegurui Episode 12, but the second season was confirmed to be in production even before the release of Netflix’s Kakegurui in the United States!

What’s more, the Kakegurui anime only complicated the situation with an original ending. While reading some spoilers can numb the sting of waiting, the fate of the second season really depends on the source material.

The story of the Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler manga started in 2014 when writer Homura Kawamoto and illustrator Toru Naomura began serializing the story in Square Enix’s Gangan Joker. The manga is up to Kakegurui Volume 8 as of August of 2017.

There’s also a spin-off prequel called Kakegurui Twin that started in 2015 which focuses on Mary Saotome a year prior to when Yumeko Jabami transfers into Hyakkaou Private Academy. Starting in 2017, the series also spawned a four-panel comedy spin-off.

The Kakegurui English translation is being handled by Yen Press. The first three volumes have already been released, with Kakegurui Volume 4 scheduled for February 6, 2018, Volume 5 for April 24, 2018, and Volume 6 for July 17, 2018.

Kakegurui Manga Enough Source Material For A Second Season Of Anime?

Fans of the manga probably realized very quickly that Kakugurui Episode 12 was an original ending since the story was not contained in any of the chapters released so far. Author Kawamoto wrote the anime original ending, which had Yumeko gambling directly against student council president Kirari Momobami.

For some fans, this episode was a letdown since the manga literally had them betting life or death stakes. The stakes of the anime’s final gamble were more about a power trip than money, especially since Yumeko has piles of cash stored up and Kirari exerts control of Japan outside of the school.

Still, this ending allowed the anime series to have some sort of semi-final resolution since the character progression was building up to this type of confrontation. Runa Yomozuki’s passion toward neutrality was kept intact while the gamble between Yumeko and Kirari did not result in either character being forced to leave the academy, which would have derailed the story away from its manga plot. In addition, Episode 12 linked back to the manga when Kirari decided to dissolve the student council, which leaves an opening for the second season of Kakegurui.

To give anime audiences an idea about where the story ended in the manga, Episode 10 was already catching up to the first half of Volume 5. The anime finished up the remainder of that book, which ends with Chapter 27. Unfortunately, that means there are only three volumes left as source material, which is probably not enough for creating Kakegurui Season 2 unless filler content is added by anime studio MAPPA.

Kakegurui Netflix Release Date In 2018

The UK and U.S. release date for Netflix’s Kakaegurui has been confirmed for February 1, 2018. It’s uncertain if there will even be an English dub and the Netflix Kakegurui trailer notably used English subtitles rather than being dubbed.

Last year, Netflix released a trailer saying the premiere would be in 2018 but did not provide an exact time frame. Netflix’s anime exclusives have a history of releasing within six months later. Releasing in February makes sense from a business perspective since the manga English translations will also be published soon after.

Kakegurui Blu-Ray/DVD Box Sets Coming Soon In Japan

The 12-episode Kakegurui Blu-Ray and DVD disc box sets will be divided up into six volumes, with each box containing two episodes from the anime. Box sets one, three, and five will contain an extra picture drama based on a comedic maid cafe story. The DVD box sets are priced at 6,000 yen each while the Blu-Ray box sets are priced at 7,000 yen each (prices are before tax).

• Kakegurui Volume 1: October 13, 2017
• Kakegurui Volume 2: November 10, 2017
• Kakegurui Volume 3: December 15, 2017
• Kakegurui Volume 4: January 12, 2018
• Kakegurui Volume 5: February 9, 2018
• Kakegurui Volume 6: March 9, 2018

As one of Netflix’s anime exclusives, Kakegurui is different from most anime in that the revenue from the streaming rights may be more critical than the Blu-Ray/DVD sales in Japan.

Kakegurui Season 2 Release Date

During the “Hyakkaou Private Academy Cultural Festival” event in Japan, anime production company MAPPA officially announced that production of the second season has been greenlit. MAPPA has not stated the exact time frame for the Kakegurui Season 2 release date, although this article will be updated as soon as the anime sequel’s premiere is confirmed.

Yonkou Productions made the announcement about Kakegurui Season 2 by simply saying, “We keep getting anime announcements. Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler is receiving a second season. How do you keep doing this MAPPA.” No further details were provided by Yonkou, but they are well known for being the first to announce Japanese anime news to the English-speaking world.

Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler is receiving a second season. pic.twitter.com/D5h8NU3EQ9

— YonkouProductions (@YonkouProd) January 5, 2018

Unfortunately, anime fans may be waiting a while since the anime industry has been operating at full capacity in recent years. Combine that history with the fact that the Kakegurui manga chapters are released monthly and it seems likely that anime audiences will have to wait until at least late 2018 or 2019 before a new season could be released. Fans of the manga would probably prefer the waiting game rather than end up with yet another anime that diverges from its source material.

Kakegurui Season 2 Spoilers

Chapter 27 and Episode 11 both ended with Kaede losing both 10 billion yen and his council seat when he gambled his entire life schedule. However, the Kakegurui manga chapter ended with Runa calling Kirari’s twin sister, Ririka Momobami, to tell her to come back since Runa does not think Kirari can handle Yumeko on her own.

In the next chapter, Secretary of the Student Council Sayaka Igarashi demands that Kirari kick Yumeko out of the academy since the compulsive gambler is supposedly destroying the school that they love. Instead, Kirari points out that an easy way to kill Yumeko’s soul is to have everyone simply refuse to gamble with her. But the student council president won’t do that since she loves Hyakkaou Private Academy’s principle of survival of the fittest via gambling.

Kirari sees the students as hungry tropical fish swimming around in an aquarium that she’s built. Similar to the anime, Kirari and Yumeko even discuss challenging each other for this aquarium with a gamble, but this confrontation is shrugged off as a mere whim rather than a serious idea.

Sayaka is flustered by their banter and demands to know why Kirari disguised herself in her sister’s mask, but the student council president wants to keep her reasons a secret. This response only angers the secretary even further, causing her to blame Yumeko for the president’s behavior. Sayaka lashes out by challenging Yumeko to a game where the stakes are literally life and death.

The rest of the student council is similarly upset now that the student council has been laid waste by a mere housepet. They believe Sayaka, who earned the nickname The Brainiac in middle school, has a chance to socially “kill” Yumeko by gambling her life.

Surprisingly, Yumeko turns down the offer because “that’s just boring. There are lots of things you’d hate to lose more than your life, right? For example, your memories, your status, emotions, and everything that forms your relationship with Kirari.” In return, Yumeko promises to give up gambling forever if she loses, which would be like ending her life. Thus, they’re both invited to gamble everything dear to them in the Tower of Doors.

They begin by taking the staircase to the top floor. The goal is to go to the bottom and then return back up top. Navigating the entire tower requires bringing a lily from the ground floor as proof that the task was completed. There are riddles along the way and some of the doors lead to empty air. Kirari ups the ante by saying the loser will need to throw herself out from the fifth floor and plunge to her death.

Without giving away too much, the tower is filled with math puzzles but it’s also a message to those who take part. In the end, the winner learns that the tower game is all a gamble. The loser ends up leaping from a tower door, but even then it’s not what it seems.

And with the gambling of life and death over, Kirari announces that she’s considering disbanding the student council by resigning and then holding an open election for her seat. For Yumeko, this is only a chance to go gambling mad!

Based on the pacing of the anime, Volume 10 of the manga will probably be published before a second season can be produced. Anime-only fans will just have to wait until the Kakegurui Season 2 release date to find out what insanity Yumeko has in store for Hyakkaou Private Academy.

[Update January 5, 2018] Added announcement of Kakegurui Season 2 and updated related information.

[Update January 6, 2018] Added official announcement and promo art for the second season.

[Update January 24, 2018] Netflix confirmed the Kakegurui release date in the United States.