BET, Netflix’s next English-language live-action manga adaptation after One Piece, has a major challenge ahead of it when it comes to replicating the best thing about Kakegurui. Hollywood live-action anime adaptations have improved recently, namely with One Piece. The Netflix live-action adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s manga avoided several issues that could be found in virtually every other Hollywood remake of beloved anime and raised the bar for similar projects. Per THR, Warrior Nun showrunner Simon Barry is behind BET, which will star Miku Martineau as Yumeko.

BET will not be the first live-action adaptation of Kakegurui. The hit manga and anime series was turned into a two-season live-action Japanese series, which retold the story of the source material with some changes. There have also been two Japanese Kakegurui live-action movies, one of which retells the story of the anime, with the sequel telling an original story. Although Kakegurui’s premise is relatively straightforward, there is one thing about the manga that will be very difficult for the live-action show to replicate.

Netflix’s BET Must Bring Kakegurui’s Visual Style To Live-Action

Kakegurui makes ordinary games feel like battles.

Kakegurui and its spinoffs have a very distinct visual style that cannot be easily replicated in live-action. Both the manga and the anime series turn what is supposed to be a simple game of cards – or any other type of gambling – into a dynamic, high-stakes mind battle between two or more characters. Although Kakegurui is technically more grounded than anime like One Piece or Death Note, it turns something ordinary into extraordinary thanks to its visual style. From the lighting to what is going on inside the characters’ heads, Kakegurui’s game sequences are very intense.

Although not much is known about Netflix’s BET show, most live-action anime adaptations so far have tried to approach their source material from a more realistic approach. If such an approach is used for Kakegurui, it will be interesting to see how BET will portray its gambling sequences. Hollywood has done countless movies and shows about banking games and gambling in general, yet none of them can be compared to Kakegurui’s visual style. In Kakegurui, playing games is the equivalent of fighting someone in an action anime. This includes the score, the inner monologues, and even how time passes.

How Netflix’s Live-Action Kakegurui Can Make Its Game Scenes Exciting

Replicating the anime’s style may be impossible.

While the Kakegurui manga is arguably even more exaggerated than the anime, the latter does a good job of explaining the rules of every game and makes sure viewers are keeping up with the outcome of every round. The use of inner monologues and visual guides in Kakegurui is very clever, and it’s one of the reasons why the anime was so successful. It might be impossible for Netflix’s BET to replicate the visual style of Kakegurui, which does not mean the live-action show cannot make its game scenes exciting.

Between the use of slow motion and the score, there are many ways Netflix’s Kakegurui live-action adaptation can make its betting sequences as engaging as the ones from the anime. Inner monologues can work in live-action as well, although they have to be carefully used. Even a more “regular” sequence featuring two characters playing a banking game can be compelling and exciting if the stakes are high enough. Whether BET will follow the structure of the anime like One Piece did is difficult to say, but Kakegurui’s premise can make for a great live-action series regardless.

Sources: The Hollywood Reporter