The context of the drama is pretty entertaining and angsty. Indeed, in Hyakkaou Private Academy, students climbs or fall down the social ladder by playing various gambling games against each other. The unlucky ones are becoming "slaves" of the victorious ones.

I have not read the manga and not watched the anime, so I am not sure how close the drama is from those. For sure, I found the series very Shonen-like in its approach. All the characters are crazy, the focus is clearly on the various games rather than any characters / relationships developments. The games are fun and for most part are easy to understand, I did not find them too repetitive even if the mechanics are quite the same every time.

The actors and actresses go all in on the overacting...I is clearly a directing / stylistic choice as apparently all the gambling made the characters feel very stimulated. Women are hyper-sexualized but I feel it is probably totally in line with the type of story the manga and anime wanted to convey. The main male protagonist is used as the narrator of the series. It seems very theatrical with all the aside he does, while shouting out / reacting to the situation. .Over-the-top and caricatural is not my favorite style of acting but here it fits very well the drama.

Production wise there is not a lot to see. The wardrobe / styling of the characters is really what make them and there is nothing outstanding relatively to the games directing and filmmaking. It feels small, especially when comparing to other shows featuring big games with money at stake. You can feel the limitations in the budget but at the same time I must admit it is enough to convey properly the story. I liked the opening song with its rocky vibe.

I will recommend this to people that enjoy mind games stories. If you do not mind some overacting and just want a short and entertaining series featuring in a very Shonen-way gambling matches between highschoolers, you will enjoy this. This first season is clearly just an adaptation of an arc of a manga. I will probably be watching the sequels to get to a more conclusive ending...But not immediately as I am satisfied where we left of. I just regret that there are not much in terms of characters relationships evolution and that it is quite predictable.