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kirasaya · 4 years

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Kakegurui Meta: Is Kari Worth It?

I’ve talked about Kakegurui Midari on this blog. I should talk about it again - things have gotten bad with it.

I’ve talked about Kakegurui Twin, at length, and should talk about that again, too. The line to get stepped on by Sachiko Juraku is very long.

But one publication that has miraculously avoided a full-length post on this blog is another spin-off: Kakegurui Kakkokari. What is it, and, more importantly, is it worth reading Japanese to understand?

Kakegurui Kakkokari (commonly just “Kakegurui Kari”) is a series of short, 4-panel comics (4koma) released alongside Kakegurui proper, Twin, and, on a good day, Midari. As per usual, Kari is written by Homura Kawamoto, and illustrated by Taku Kawamura. It’s similar to the 4-panel comics present in the published versions of the manga, only Kari is just those.

And they’re charming. Every now and then, they even offer character insights, like that Runa calls Nozomi’s dog “Doge”/”Doggo” (”Innu”):

Or how Kirari has glasses, sometimes:

(I really hope this is canon. It goes with the idea that Kirari and Ririka are albino twins.)

They also offer small bits of worldbuilding, like Hyakkaou having a huge indoor pool:

(Translation @castleoflions)

Basically, they’re a bunch of small slice-of-life bits that could have happened in the main series if they had the time to do them. None of them are related to gambling; they’re just supplemental.

Are Kari comics canon? We have no reason to assume they aren’t. They’re still written by Kawamoto. This alone gives us cute little insights into the characters and world of Kakegurui. For example, we know that Yumemi writes her own songs thanks to this bit:

(Credit to @kakeguruibeyond)

The problem? There’s no English translation - not a licensed one, anyways. Some Tumblrs, like @kakeguruibeyond, @awhs-translations, and @castleoflions do Kari translations, from time to time. There’s no consistent source, though. While this isn’t terrible, it’s still a shame.

That said, KG Kari is great if you know some Japanese, and want practice. These comics are all very short and simple. It’d be really cool if a newish translation group picked them up, or if a bunch of KG fans slowly compiled a complete KG Kari compendium. Like I said, there are some juicy little nuggets if you can read Japanese.

Overall, I’d compare Kakegurui Kari to vitamin C. Kakegurui (including Twin) is a diet of gambling lesbians. If that diet doesn’t suffice, maybe you need a little supplement. Kari is for the people who need/want that supplement. And, hey, maybe even the casual readers of Kakegurui could use a little extra something. Kari is something that can’t hurt you to read, and may even be beneficial. I maintain that it should get a translation, but not as urgently as Midari.

Poor, poor Midari. That’ll be next, promise.

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kirasaya · 4 years

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