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Kakegurui poster

Shows that feel likeKakegurui (2017–2019)

Run by a corrupt and sadistic school council, the “system” at Hyakkaou is based on gambling, with losers who cannot cover their debts being demeaned by their peers and forced to serve their debtholders. And if that’s not terrifying enough, some games can result in losing an eye, one’s fingernails, or even their life! But the system is shocked when transfer student Yumeko Jabami arrives. Dark, mysterious and attractive, she’s a wildcard who plays for the thrill of it…

If you loved Kakegurui, the closest series we have are BEASTARS (2019), ERASED (2016) and The Chestnut Man (2021). All three share Kakegurui's twisty and gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is The Alienist (2018).

10 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Hulu
Stream it:Netflix ↗

If Kakegurui hit the spot, these will too

BEASTARS poster
BEASTARS
2019–2026 · 3 seasons · Fuji TV
★ 7.6animation · drama · mysteryNetflix

Two things both keep coming back to: school and shounen

In a world where beasts of all kinds coexist, a gentle wolf awakens to his own predatory urges as his school deals with a murder within its midst.

ERASED poster
ERASED
2016 · 1 season · Fuji TV
★ 8.4animation · drama · mysteryHulu

Common ground in both: based on manga and school life

Satoru Fujinuma is a struggling manga artist who has the ability to turn back time and prevent deaths. When his mother is killed he turns back time to solve the mystery, but ends up back in elementary school, just before the disappearance of his classmate Kayo.

The Chestnut Man poster
The Chestnut Man
2021–2026 · 2 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.6drama · crime · mysteryNetflix

Both are built on the same subject: psychological

At a grisly murder scene sits a figurine made of chestnuts. From this creepy clue, two detectives hunt a killer linked to a politician's missing child.

Classroom of the Elite poster
Classroom of the Elite
2017– · 5 seasons · AT-X
★ 7.7animation · drama · mystery

Common ground: anime

The difference: Takes it somewhere less gritty than Kakegurui does

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji enrolls at the prestigious Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Academy, but is assigned to Class 1-D, where students with behavioral problems are housed. The school awards points equivalent to 100,000 yen per month and allows unusual freedom in classes, masking a more complex system.

Monster poster
Monster
2004–2005 · 1 season · Nippon TV
★ 8.8animation · drama · mysteryNetflix

One thread runs through both: based on manga

Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, finds his life in utter turmoil after getting involved with a psychopath that was once a former patient.

Scream: The TV Series poster
Scream: The TV Series
2015–2019 · 3 seasons · MTV
★ 7drama · crime · mystery

The same mix in both: twists, then grit

What starts as a YouTube video going viral, soon leads to problems for the teenagers of Lakewood and serves as the catalyst for a murder that opens up a window to the town's troubled past. Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies. Everyone is fair game.

Ratched poster
Ratched
2020 · 1 season · Netflix
★ 7.2mystery · drama · crimeNetflix

Mystery built on stillness, twice over

In 1947, Mildred Ratched begins working as a nurse at a leading psychiatric hospital. But beneath her stylish exterior lurks a growing darkness.

Quantico poster
Quantico
2015–2018 · 3 seasons · ABC
★ 6.7crime · drama · mystery

Twisty crime in both cases

A diverse group of recruits has arrived at the FBI Quantico Base for training. They are the best, the brightest and the most vetted, so it seems impossible that one of them is suspected of masterminding the biggest attack on New York City since 9/11.

The Alienist poster
The Alienist
2018–2020 · 2 seasons · TNT
★ 7.7drama · crime · mystery

Gritty drama, and it commits to that

New York, 1896. Police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt brings together criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, newspaper illustrator John Moore and secretary Sara Howard to investigate several murders of male prostitutes.

The Undoing poster
The Undoing
2020 · 1 season · HBO
★ 7.4drama · crime · mysteryMax

Animation with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

Grace and Jonathan Fraser are living the only lives they ever wanted. Overnight a chasm opens in their lives: a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster, Grace must dismantle one life and create another for her child and her family.

Defending Jacob poster
Defending Jacob
2020 · 1 season · Apple TV
★ 7.7drama · mystery · crimeApple TV+

Both lean on twists more than on mystery

A family's lives are irreparably disrupted when the 14-year-old son is accused of murdering a fellow classmate.

The Outsider poster
The Outsider
2020 · 1 season · HBO
★ 7.6drama · mystery · crimeMax

Crime with a pulse of grit, in both cases

When an insidious supernatural force edges its way into a seemingly straightforward investigation into the gruesome murder of a young boy, it leads a seasoned cop and an unorthodox investigator to question everything they believe in.

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The best-reviewed series that share Kakegurui’s defining feeling.