#let me know if i missed anything
some differences i noticed between certain scenes. i’m not going to go over the differences between when something happened, because ultimately it would be redundant, and also because i think it’s more interesting to look at the differences between what happened. mainly, this will be about things that happened in the manga that didn’t happen in the anime. long post under the cut. ofc, spoilers.
season 1, ep. 8 (Ch. 17), the helicopter scene
it essentially plays out the same way. in the manga, there’s this small extra scene between sayaka and “ririka”, in which you get to see more of sad sayaka, being ignored by both the president and VP (poor sayaka).
@kakeguruibeyond already made an analysis about what happened, specifically about the twin switching, along with what happens later in ch. 36 (season 2, ep. 2).
https://kakeguruibeyond.tumblr.com/post/185900564323/can-i-ask-you-a-question-regarding-kakegurui-ch
in the anime, because rei exists, they changed the meeting between terano and actual kirari to be about bringing rei in the election. in the manga, since rei doesn’t exist, their meeting re-inforces the fact that yes, kirari and ririka switch places, and also lets the audience know that yes, terano, and most likely the whole family, at least knows about this trick. but terano is able to discern the difference between kirari and ririka at a glance. we don’t know (yet) if any of the other family members can do that. i can’t wait to see what this will mean in the future.
but maybe i’m getting ahead of myself. let’s go back and go over some differences in season one. Ep. 6, after the debt-resettlement gamble, there was a small extra scene between mary and yumeko, which i’ll just leave here:
kind of sad this yumary scene wasn’t animated
another difference was when kirari attempted to recruit mary, season 1 ep. 7 (ch. 16) . essentially,it played out similarly, but in the manga, when mary asks about the housepet system, instead of bringing up the aquarium, she explains her motivations in a bit more depth using a different example:
like i get why they wanted to use the aquarium metaphor in the anime during this scene, because that’s a recurring theme, but here we have the originfor the aquarium spiel. it’s not just about making the big fish eat the smaller fish because it’s interesting, it’s about powerand how kirari is maintaining and preserving that power. this scene in the manga just adds more depth to kirari’s motivations beyond her doing things just because it’s “interesting”.
now, let’s talk about this scene, season 1 ep. 11 (Ch. 26), when kirari reveals herself during the yumeko/manyuda gamble.
previously, during the helicopter scene, we’ve seen sayaka already having doubts about the president not trusting her. this thought has been embedded into her ever since kirari left without telling her anything, and now, she is sure.kirarinot saying anything to sayaka as ririka, solidifies that fact in sayaka’s head. in the anime, she says something completely different that lessens the impact of sayaka’s internal struggle: “How long has she been in our midst?” which is a lot different from what she’s thinking here. i guess you can infer in the anime that sayaka is having doubts, but in the manga it’s crystal clear that she is freaking out and not okay about the whole situation.
another big difference was the build up to the ending of season 1, right after the yumeko/manyuda gamble. the main difference is, in order for the yumeko/kirari gamble to happen in the anime, sayaka had to be more passive and not have that emotional/mental ourburst that led to Tower of Doors in the manga, which was already being set up by the previous helicopter scene and the realization that the president doesn’t trust her:
unfortunately, this also means we miss out on some more of sayaka’s dialogue in the manga that made her a more interesting and relatable character (imo, anyway). more on that later.
next, in the same scene, there was an exchange between yumeko and kirari that didn’t make it in the anime. @castleoflions already made a post about that.
there’s also another exchange that didn’t happen in the anime where kirari brings up the aquarium again, when sayaka asks why they can’t just expel/make people stop gambling with yumeko:
which leads to sayaka freaking out even more about not understanding the exchange between yumeko and kirari, and wanting more answers:
ow. again, poor sayaka, being refused an answer again from the president, not being trusted by the president. which leads to… more sad sayaka, when sayaka initiates the gamble with yumeko and what each person would bet was being discussed:
oof. i wish the anime kept these scenes with sayaka, it just gives us more insight into what’s going on inside her head besides the angry/jealous, obsessive, tit-grabbing (lol) secretary. sayaka was hurtby kirari, (multiple times! with no explanation!) and wants answers, and when she stilldoesn’t get them, she breaks. which leads to the all-or-nothing gamble with yumeko at the tower of doors. it makes more sense to me than the slow buildup between two seasons in the anime, but i get that they wanted to add in an original scene (the yumeko/kirari gamble) and therefore a lot of sayaka’s internal struggle had to be dampened and spread out over another season. what do y’all think?
that’s it for season 1 ish. (Ch. 1-29). i think i’ll make a separate post for (more) season 2 stuff, since this is long AF
