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The story
A thread went up on a 5ch livestream-commentary board asking why Usogui, widely seen as one of the defining works of gambling manga, still hasn’t gotten a TV anime adaptation. While other titles in the same genre — Kakegurui, Liar Game, Junket Bank — have been adapted one after another, posters threw out all sorts of theories for the ‘neglect’: the author’s personality, the sheer complexity of the game setups, the live-action film’s poor box office, and more. At the same time, the thread lit up with praise for ‘Air Poker,’ widely regarded as the series’ single greatest showdown, along with comparisons to other gambling manga.
What people said
Also, there's just a ton of 'Wait, is that Izanami?!'-style over-the-top staging that gets needlessly heavy-handed, and the violent parts aren't even that fun.
I'd assume it's at least been considered.
Without the on-page text, you just can't keep up with what's happening.
Though the taste was… 🤪👎
That scene was so cool, wasn't it —
the full lineup of Baku, Kaji, Marco, and Clara facing off against Sada, Kuninishina, and Kitarou. Such a great scene.
It's not even that much of a stretch.
It's basically just psychic powers the whole time.
That one's not really a gambling manga or a battle manga to begin with — it's a character-driven manga.
Because Kakegurui just isn't interesting.
The level is low — both the gambling and the tricks tied to it.
Just playing dead, right?
→ Cue an absolutely relentless decomposition scene.
Gotta hand it to them for going that thorough with it.
It was even more brutal than how Persona 3 FES hammered home that Kitarou (fan nickname for the protagonist) had died.
Judging by the reactions, Usogui's the same way.
The character called 'Calculator' is exactly that — a calculator — with zero appeal beyond being a self-insert vessel for fujoshi shipping.
Honestly I liked the paper-based Labyrinth game he played against Yukki.
The flow from start to finish was just too clean.
The Labyrinth game itself is kind of boring, but the concept of wagering your alibi was interesting.
It pays off as foreshadowing later too.
But once you realize that's basically the author's actual personal philosophy, it suddenly gets unbearably cheesy.
Just write it with guns and weapons already.
They'd probably end up looking cheap in anime form anyway, so it's fine if they skip that part.
Batouki was made in answer to people wanting violence-only content, and look at the sorry state it ended up in.
He's regressed across the board — is this seriously the same author?
Something like that could only be made while young, with imagination and mental sharpness at their peak.
Look at Kaiji — it doesn't even do mind games anymore.
It was good from the midpoint into the back half, though?
It got dramatically more interesting starting with the hangure (semi-organized street gang) arc, right?
Though, well, Harima's realistic fights are more interesting than the Kyara look-alike's boxing scenes.
I get that.
It's not boring, but so far there's a strong sense it would've been better with Harima Ryou as the main character.
If you're wagering money, it's gambling.
If you're wagering your life, it's a death game, I'd say.
If it's money traded for a life… I guess that's still gambling?
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Usogui is a gambling manga by Shohei Manabe that even received a live-action film adaptation in 2014. The titles brought up for comparison in the thread — Kakegurui, Liar Game, and Junket Bank — have all already gotten TV anime adaptations, and the fact that Usogui holds comparable name recognition yet has gone unadapted for so many years is a recurring topic on 5ch. Opinions in the thread split mainly into two camps: one raised a technical concern about how much of the series’ intricate mind games and psychological nuance could actually be conveyed given the constraints of animation and episode length; the other speculated that the live-action film’s box-office performance may be influencing decisions about further media adaptations. Neither has been confirmed by any official source — both remain purely fan speculation, which readers should keep in mind. It’s also worth noting that specific gambling sequences like ‘Air Poker’ are held in very high regard, showing that the lack of an anime doesn’t equate to a poor reputation for the work itself.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyou G) thread “Usogui, Supposedly the Greatest Gambling Manga Ever.”
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