It has been announced that Tanaka Kazuyuki's manga "Janket Bank," which is currently being serialized in "Weekly Young Jump" (Shueisha), will be adapted into a TV anime series and will begin airing in October. The popular series is set in a gambling hall run by a bank and depicts a new era of gambling battles between bank employees and gamblers. The anime will be directed by Kishi Seiji and produced by CUE. It has also been announced that the main cast will include Soma Saito as the mysterious gambler Makyozu Akira and Yasuda Rikiya as the new bank employee Mitarai Akira.
The series has been serialized in Weekly Young Jump since July 2020. Rookie bank employee Akira Mitarai is transferred to the Special Operations Department, where he meets the outstanding gambler Akira Makoto at a gambling hall run by the bank. He abandons his boring daily life and plunges into the life-threatening world of gambling. The latest 21st volume of the manga will be released on March 18th.
Saito, who plays Makoto Tsuyoshi, said of the work's appeal, "The deception and trickery between the characters, who are incredibly intelligent and unconstrained by common sense and ethics, is irresistible. One misreading of a move can turn the situation upside down, and you don't know what's going to happen until you turn the page...I don't think you can often have such an exciting reading experience. All the characters are fascinating, but I especially like Murasame. But Shishigami is cute, and Usami is sexy, so I like them all."
Regarding Makyotsu Akira, he said, "I originally read the original work as a reader, but Makyotsu was the most mysterious character, and I couldn't even imagine what his voice would be like. He's such an elusive character, and I think he contains an unfathomable chaos within him. 'The answer that will save you isn't in the mirror'... It's a cool line that any voice actor would want to say at least once. I intend to give it my all during the recording, peering into the depths of this character, and being peered into."
Yasuda said about Mitarai Akira, "He's the character whose impression has changed the most since I first started reading. I thought he would be a serious, pure-hearted banker who would see the story from the same perspective as us, but before I knew it, it felt like he'd walked down a completely different path. However, when I see Makyotsu gambling, I can understand how he feels. Just like Mitarai, who is curious about Makyotsu's end, I'm very curious about where he will end up and what he will see."
Original author Tanaka commented, "A gambling den where gamblers who are masters of gambling compete against each other is managed by bankers who are professionals in the business of money. 'Janket Bank' is a manga about psychological games played by people who have gone many steps beyond the line of sanity. The selling point is supposed to be the advanced battle of wits, but over 50% of the fan letters we receive say, 'I don't understand the rules, but it's fun,' so even people who aren't good at gambling, games, or psychological warfare will be able to get an extraordinary sense of exhilaration just by watching the interactions between the strange characters who keep appearing. People who keep saying things they shouldn't say, abnormal people with beliefs that can't be completely denied, sarcastic exchanges that continue to deny each other's enemies, a bank run by an insane system, and the pleasure of 'surprise' having their thinking tricked. If you are even slightly attracted to such things, you too could become a VIP customer at the gambling den. We encourage you to take a peek into the world of 'Janket Bank' as it comes to life as an anime."
The image released shows Shinjitsu with a slight smile on his face, resting his chin on his hand on a casino table. On the table are stacks of bills and a large number of chips placed carelessly, expressing the bewildering temptation of gambling and the suspicious atmosphere that one should not enter.
◇Staff (titles omitted)
Director: Seiji Kishi▽Series Composition: Makoto Fukami ▽Character Design: Masanori Shino▽Music: Taku Iwasaki▽Animation Production: CUE
