Kakegurui follows a handful of classic and beloved anime storytelling tropes, but it's also willing to subvert or even break them to tie into the story's exciting themes. Many shonen series star a gritty underdog protagonist, and at first, Kakegurui seemed poised to have Ryota Suzui in that role.
However, the rug is yanked out from both the viewer's and Ryota's feet as he's quickly replaced by the hedonistic and aggressive gambler Yumeko Jabami. This series is all about breaking rules, and the narrative itself also lives up to that theme. Here's how Ryota ultimately subverts the traditional shonen underdog role.
Ryota Suzui Becomes Yumeko's Cheerleader & Friend
Kakegurui takes place in a specialized school where the students learn how to gamble in high-stakes games. Hyakkou Academy is known for its rigid and strict power hierarchy among the students. The student council is on top, as expected, while regular students can rise or fall in the ranks based on their gambling performance and, most of all, their debts. The cruel "housepet" system is a major component of this, and when Kakegurui begins, Ryota falls victim to the school's brutal setup. He loses a game to the fierce Mary Saotome and becomes her housepet, and all signs point toward him becoming the stubborn underdog who will overcome this challenge and rise to the top. Instead, a new girl arrives at the school assumes that role: Yumeko Jabami.
Ryota understands the system and has some gambling skills but isn't on Yumeko's or Mary's level, which becomes evident early on. Yumeko is clever, insightful and daring while gambling, which sees her win her first big game against Mary and earn serious cash. Mary is humiliated as this event begins an intense rivalry -- and later friendship -- between the two girls. This effectively knocks Ryota off the "shonen hero" pedestal and places him in a humbler position. He now assumes the role that many female sidekicks have in shonen stories, being the main character's friend and advisor -- and potential love interest.
Being meek and fairly unambitious, Ryota isn't terribly bothered by this. He never fancied himself a star in the making and is greatly impressed by his new friend Yumeko. So he takes on the role of characters such as Sakura Haruno, Ochaco Uraraka and Happy the talking cat, and he does it well. Given the nature of this school and Yumeko's style, Kakegurui couldn't have ended up any other way.
Ryota's Early Demotion Fits Kakegurui's Theme Of Anarchy
Ryota's sudden demotion from shonen protagonist status certainly has some shock value to help new fans realize Kakegurui is packed with exciting twists and turns. While it flips the genders of the classic "shonen male lead and his best female friend" paradigm, Ryota's situation is deeper than that. Despite having a setting where rules, hierarchy and tradition are dominant, Kakegurui as a series is about anarchy, chaos and rule-breaking. Yumeko is a bull in a china shop, a hedonistic and emotionally driven young woman who is true to herself and defies all logic and external rules. Her rule-breaking chaos shatters Hyakkou's rigid system and allows every student there to gamble on equal grounds. The story itself is following her example, where Ryota is concerned.
Kakegurui is also breaking some rules, unwilling to dogmatically follow the shonen manga formula in its narrative. In another author's hands, Ryota would have been a star roughly akin to Izuku Midoriya or Naruto Uzumaki, only trading magical powers and action for gambling. The story creatively defied all expectations and rules by demoting its would-be male lead in exchange for a heroine whose goal is not to become a great hero, but rather to enjoy herself and challenge Hyakkou's delicate system to help all the students reveal their true selves.
Compared to Ryota, Yumeko actually has little room for growth or improvement, making her an entirely different sort of protagonist. Kakegurui is about what happens because of her, not what happens to her, and Ryota never could have pulled that off. Yumeko's surroundings don't cause her to grow and change. Instead, she causes everything else to change one wild gamble at a time, while Ryota supports her as a friend and advisor. Rules are indeed meant to be broken.
