What does a fanservice oriented show need? More women.
What They Say:
Newbie dealer Ania Fortuna arrives at Howard Resort. Assigned to train Ania, Rio is impressed by her card shuffling skills. However, she is exceptionally clumsy…Meanwhile, the arrogant Elvis shows up at the resort casino with an entourage of women. As gate holder, one who holds one of only thirteen rare gate cards in the world, he challenges Rio, also a gate holder, to a duel for her card.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Going against the seeming tide of negativity over the first episode of the series, I came away from Rio: Rainbow Gate with a big smile on my face as it gave me a good deal of fanservice and fun that was empty. It is, after all, based on gambling games of sorts so expectations weren’t high. But it exceeded what I’ve seen of certain collectible card gaming shows so there’s something to be said for that. The opening episode introduced the Howard Resort fairly well and got some of the characters into place so that it can go forward with more simple fun revolving around the dealer named Rio who is the goddess of luck.
Her luck isn’t so strong this time around though as she’s found herself having to train a new dealer, a young and inexperienced woman named Ania Helsing. With Rio not wanting to do anything but be a dealer, she’s nudged into training Ania which isn’t exactly what she wants to do either but finds herself with little choice. What this segment does is introduce us to the new girl but also to something bigger in the series as we learn that there are thirteen specialty cards in the world from the dealers association called gate cards. They’re exclusive and rare with a good deal of meaning to it for those that are dealers. Rio’s earned one and has it kept in her room in quite an attractive container as it symbolizes juts how skilled she is as a dealer and it has some special memories of its own for her.
Ania is, in general, a total disaster as she causes quite a few accidents along the way but her arrival is at the same time that another dealer has graced the Howard Resort with his presence. Elvis is quite the dealer himself and he’s also a gate card holder like Rio. He’s the flashy and stylish type with lots of women on his arms as he strolls through the casino floor with confidence. And that confidence has him there to challenge Rio outright for her gate card, which gets everyone excited since gate battles are apparently quite special. And the Howard Resort owner is only all too happy to promote it, which means a big stage, lots of scantily clad girls and an epic duel of luck between the two with a game of roulette.
In Summary:
With the series premise getting a bit clearer here about the goals of those who have the cards becoming the ultimate dealer, things are starting to come together a bit more. The show is all about the fanservice to a huge degree though and it can be quite off-putting for people, though I found it to be highly amusing and fun. The massive battle that’s fought has the pair being thrown into swimsuits first, with Elvis getting quite the skimpy piece along with Rio, and the scale of it takes it to a very comical level. Surprisingly, Rio: Rainbow Gate doesn’t go so far over the top as to make it utterly ridiculous, at least to me, so it feels like it’s a bit restrained in some ways. It plainly is being very silly in its own way and has a logic that works for it, but it’s definitely a show where you just let the events wash over you. I can’t help but be amused by this because it feels like the people behind it are having a blast making it. And the animation and designs are really attractive.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
