Ryota Suzui

* Anime
* Thrilled
* Manga
* Drama

Ryota Suzui/Gallery

**Ryota Suzui** (鈴井 涼太) is one of the protagonists in *Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler*. Upon losing a match to Mary Saotome, he became a housepet. However, Ryota's debt was thankfully repaid by Yumeko Jabami since she gave him money as a thank you, becoming her first friend in Hyakkaou Private Academy.

## Appearance

Ryota is a pale-skinned teenage boy of average height with neck-length messy brown hair and brown eyes. He wears the Hyakkaou Private Academy issue uniform that consists of a red blazer with black trim that lines the cuffs and collar and has gold buttons for decoration. He wears a white button-up shirt underneath with the top unbuttoned and a black tie, as well as a pair of gray-black colored school jeans and brown loafers.

## Personality

Ryota is a kind and friendly person, although not necessarily outspoken or reserved. Throughout the series, he's shown to be timid, rarely ever showing any form of confidence. After meeting and befriending Yumeko Jabami, however, his self-confidence slowly grows. Despite his reluctant personality, he's very level-headed and rarely holds grudges against other people. Ryota also cares a lot about Yumeko and worries something might happen to her due to her risk-taking nature.

Ryota is also seen to be very smart despite the school rarely focusing on studying. He's quick to understand what's occurring when watching someone gambles, and whenever he's involved with a gamble, he can analyze every little detail and think of solutions to give him an advantage. He wouldn't be that bad of a gambler, but simply prefers not to take any risks.

When Ryota gambled against the current student council president Kirari Momobami alongside Yumeko, he was quick to pick up that Kirari was manipulating the game the entire time. Upon realizing this, he gains further confidence when he shows that he refuses to be controlled and manipulated by others. Not only did his confidence grow, but so did his gambling skills.

## Profile

### *Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler*

Ryota is seen losing in a game of Poker against Mary Saotome and lost his social status and became indebted to her, as well as becoming her personal pet in the process and as a punishment is treated as a slave by his schoolmates. He is used as a stool by Mary and is desperate. When Yumeko Jabami transfers to the academy, he is asked to show her around the school, which he gladly does. When she asks what they do in their free time, he's hesitant, but then explains to her what the school is known for, its tradition of gambling after classes. However, this makes Yumeko more interested in the school, which worries him.

Yumeko then plays a game of "Voting Rock-Paper-Scissors" against Mary. Ryota is forced to help her cheat, by standing behind Yumeko and give out a sign to everyone. But Yumeko still wins and Ryota goes after her when she exits the classroom and tells her that he considers dropping out of school due to his diminished social status and his inability to pay off his debt to Mary. Yumeko then tells him that she knew that Mary was using him to cheat and gives him 5,000,000 yen as thanks in order for his to repay his debt. He feels sorry for cheating, but she thanks him as she could enjoy a fun gamble.

The next day, Ryota meets up Yumeko again and promises to pay her back the 5,000,000 yen, but she relieves him of the promise by telling him that it was a gift because she had fun gambling thanks to him. Later that day, Ryota explains the house pet system to Yumeko explaining that if you can't pay back the debt you owe after gambling, you become "one without status" or a house pet. Yumeko becomes excited from the thrill until a member of the student council named Itsuki Sumeragi comes and talks to Yumeko rudely interrupting Ryota before he could say anything.

She challenges Yumeko to a game of "Double Concentration" in which the rules are fairly simple. For their match, Itsuki places down 20 irregular colored chips which are worth 1 million yen each, making it a total of 20 million yen. For the betting, Itsuki uses all the 20 million worth chips, making their bet 20 million. Though Yumeko says she does not have the money and looks at Ryota, who is embarrassed, as he can't give her back the money. Itsuki assures her worries by saying she'll lend her 20 million. Thus, their match began. Ryota gets a headache seeing them go in and out and can't imagine, that they remember all of that. When both of them have a few pairs and not that many cards are left, knowing that they both have good memories, Ryota concludes that the rest relies on who turns over a new matching card first. Yumeko loses the first game but wants to play again. Itsuki stakes Yumeko's nails. Ryota warns her not to accept the condition, but Yumeko accepts the risk telling him that there's no other way to pay back the debt unless Ryota could pay it off for her. After Yumeko found out Itsuki's cheat and beat her, Itsuki cries and Ryota tells her to leave her alone.

After school, Ryota tries to stop Yumeko, but didn't want to and asked if he wanted to tag along. They come across the Traditional Culture Research Club where they see Mary in the middle of an official match where her debt was increased to 49 million yen. Ryota explains to Yumeko that an official match is a match where a house pet has the right to challenge anyone to a match. If the amount is reasonable, the challenged cannot refuse. They then meet another member of the student council, Yuriko Nishinotōin. She invites Yumeko to play a game that her club created called "Life or Death." Ryota notices that Yumeko's chips were always just one spot away from the right one. When Yumeko starts making fun of Yuriko, he gets worried, since Yuriko is now angered. The game continues and Yumeko soon explains to Ryota how Yuriko is cheating. In the end, Yumeko ends up losing and Ryota is shocked since she is now a house pet.

The next day, Yumeko becomes a house pet but freaks everybody out when she acts like a cat, but Ryota calms her down so that it doesn't get out of hand. Ryota offers her 1 million yen to help her out with gambling. Yumeko is touched by his kindness but declines his offer because the student council didn't notify her of the debt but instead gave her a student life plan. A classmate named Jun Kiwatari shows up and wants to force Yumeko to strip.

    Luckily the Council member Midari Ikishima steps in and Jun leaves. Later on, Ryota asks Yumeko to see if she wants to go to the gambling hall but sees that Yumeko was invited to a debt settlement party. Later that day, Ryota gets a message from the student council with a check for 260 million yen. Yumeko and Mary explain to him why he got the check, and Ryota returns the check only to see that Yumeko and Mary are much friendlier than before.

The next day, Ryota bumps into Mary being friendly to her classmates. She talks to him about Yumeko on how she hasn't reduced her debt even though she won a lot of money at the debt settlement party. Ryota remembers that Yumeko told him that she plans to gamble with Kirari. After class, Yumeko begs Ryota to join her so that she can challenge Kirari to an official match, but their time was cut short when Midari showed up, cuffs and brings them to the basement. Midari wants to gamble with Yumeko and Ryota notices how much alike the two are in terms of being thrilled by gambling. Midari then explains the rules of the ESP game. Obviously, against the idea and seeing that she's gone insane, Ryota tells Yumeko that they shouldn't get involved with Midari's game and tries to leave but is quickly stopped by Midari when she straddles him.

Since he gets in the way of her "good time", Midari begs non-stop for them to play this game, but Ryota doesn't budge. Unable to accept this, Midari points her gun at Ryota's and tries to kill him. Yumeko steps in and says that she agrees to the game. But she wants that Ryota is the dealer. He is against it, but is glad that he can at least ensure no cheating. After Midari and Yumeko agreed on all conditions, Yumeko then tells Ryota that if he's the dealer she'll be fine. Reluctant over the idea of being the dealer fearing Yumeko may die, Ryota looks away in fear over the idea of seeing her corpse. Yumeko gently touches his back and tells him to have a little more faith and if he just tools the time to calm down to remember that he and she still have "it" and if they use "it" as a sign they can win for sure. Calming down a bit, Ryota then leaves with Midari's beautification girls next door to the observation room.

He looks at the camera pointed at the cards and starts thinking about what Yumeko meant when she said if they use "it" as a sign. The two girls then rush him to pick an order. Coming to terms with himself, he realizes that Yumeko wants him to do the same for her as well, so he starts formulating a plan to help her. As he lays out five cards for the first round, Ryota thinks about how Yumeko wants Midari to believe that they have a sign, and if she knows that she's gonna lose she'd be smart enough not to load any bullets in her gun concluding that she can't put any bullets in until she knows what the sign.

    With all that in mind, Ryota learns that the sign isn't important at and that what's important is that he's sending one, so shows a two in the camera. Yumeko waves back, and she and Midari begin loading their guns with Midari loading her gun with all 6 bullets. They put their cards down, and Ryota begins flipping his cards. Midari wins the first round three to two. Midari takes a gun out of the box and points it at Yumeko, but Yumeko stops her telling her that she's holding her gun that doesn't have any bullets in it.

The next round begins with Ryota learning that even if there was no hint in the first round, now there's information he and Yumeko can share thinking about how his cards, Yumeko's and Midari's were lined up. With those in mind, he decides to try and match up his cards with those knowing that Yumeko knows that he can come up with those three options. Unfortunately, he was only looking at his cards and Yumeko's cards, so he only remembers how they were lined up. He then realizes that it's normal not to memorize three sets of five cards and that if Midari wanted to remember any set it would be his hand instead of Yumeko's. On the other hand, he knows that Yumeko remembers every detail of every hand. With all that in mind, he decides to copy Yumeko's hand from round one. After loading their guns and setting down their cards, they flip their cards, and Yumeko wins five to three. Yumeko then throws up a peace sign to Ryota and then pulls out one of the guns and points it at Midari. She pulls the trigger revealing that she was holding her gun.

In round three, Ryota decides to use the same plan he used in round two, but that changes when he looked at the monitor realizing that Midari and her girls were cheating. Midari then threatens him by saying that if he doesn't lay down his cards, she'll kill Yumeko on the spot. Realizing that Midari was threatening Ryota, Yumeko puts two bullets in her gun and points it at Midari that this was her punishment for threatening Ryota. Midari then laughs and decides to do the same and puts two bullets in her gun as well. Ryota then flips his cards, and Midari follows suit after being called out on cheating by Yumeko. Ryota gets scared because Midari got all five cards wrong, but his mind was put at ease when Yumeko reveals that she got all five cards wrong as well ending the game in a draw.

After leaving the basement, Ryota reunites with Yumeko and notices that she's upset about the game. She then asks if he's up for a sweets buffet but they have to flip a coin to see who pays. Ryota is reluctant at first due to him being low on funds, and Yumeko looks at him with a depressed yet alluring look in her eyes asking if he's sure. Not being to resist, he agrees to the game, Yumeko flips the coin. She asks him why he recreated her hand even though he knew they were cheating. Ryota admitted that there wasn't enough time, so he couldn't think of anything. He also admitted that she figured out that he had no idea and pick up on it. He apologizes for what he did. Touched by his honest feelings and finally understanding him, Yumeko lifts up her hand revealing the coin and that Ryota won. Ryota celebrates feeling relieved, and Yumeko just laughs at him. She then thanks him because she had a great time gambling because of him.

A few days later, Ryota walks to school watching a music video until he bumps into Yumeko. She asks what he's watching, and he explains that he's watching a music video by an indie idol named Yumemi Yumemite and explains how she is also a student council member and hosts concerts regularly. Later at lunch, Ryota and Mary notice how upbeat Yumeko is. Ryota thinks it's probably because of the gambling invitation she received. Their conversation is interrupted when Itsuki shows up and offers Yumeko a chestnut cake. Ryota knows she most likely just wants to use Yumeko in order to get back on the council, but she denies that accusation. Itsuki explains how she heard about the rumors that Yumeko wants to gamble with the president and she wants to help her with that.

    Ryota thinks about how Yumeko only wants to gamble for fun and not to become the president, but Yumeko is happy to be friends with Sumeragi.

The next day, Yumeko tells Ryota that the invitation she received was from Yumemi and she is very excited. Ryota is worried that the Council might be gunning after her. They then meet up with Yumemi and her manager, Saori. Ryota gets very nervous realizing that he's getting the chance to meet her in person. Still nervous, Ryota introduces himself, but Yumemi immediately cuts him off because she recognizes him from when he came to one of her concerts on the second of the three school day festival shows. Ryota is amazed that she remembers that day since it happened a long time ago, and Yumemi explains that she remembers the names and faces of each one of her fans just like any good idol should. Yumeko points out that she actually hates her fans. When Yumemi gets angry and Yumeko records it, Ryota is shocked and embarrassed by Yumeko's risky behavior.

The next day, Ryota, along with Mary and Itsuki, sit a watch as the match between Yumeko and Yumemi begins. Ryota is surprised by how fair it is being kept, despite a Council members involvement. After listening to Yumeko's singing, they were amazed to see how much of a great singer Yumeko is. He still wonders, how she was able to beat Yumemi despite all that.

Ryota is also shocked that everything was apparently planned out from the beginning and that student council treasurer Kaede Manyuda set it all up. He watches the Choice Poker game and worries that Yumeko will lose everything. He was naturally very relieved when it was over.

Ryota asks Yumeko if she's really prepared to go up against Kirari and worries, but knows he can't stop her. So he decides to support her the best he can leaving Yumeko surprised that she would hear that from him. Ryota thinks to himself in how he's bewitched by Yumeko, but that thought process is interrupted by Mary and Itsuki. They ask Yumeko if she has a game plan and brings out some gambling cards and dice meant for cheating. Ryota criticizes them for thinking that Yumeko should cheat, but they criticize him believing that this is the only way to beat Kirari. Yumeko agrees with Ryota and tells Mary and Itsuki that she has no intention of cheating because she wants to keep this game as pure as she can and won't allow anything to taint. Reluctant over her choice, Mary and Itsuki follow suit and say that they support her to the very end. Yumeko thanks all three of them for their support.

Later that day, Yumeko, Ryota, Mary, and Itsuki go into a room where Kirari and Runa Yomozuki are waiting. Kirari then explains that the bet will be that whoever loses will be expelled from the academy. Kirari then explains that in this game, three people will choose from the Tarot cards to determine the score calling the game Tarot Cards of Fate. Yumeko and Kirari will draw one representing Present and Past respectively, leaving one left representing the Future. Kirari immediately chooses Ryota to draw the third card, but questions why him. Yumeko becomes elated over the fact that he would be the perfect choice since he's basically the main reason why Yumeko enjoys her time at the academy. Ryota is overwhelmed over the choice but remembers that Yumeko was there for him when he was feeling conflicted over a gamble like this, so he agrees.

Yumeko's draw is very unlucky and Kirari draws a -21. Ryota knows that he has to draw The Fool to win, but hesitates because any wrong move would lead to Yumeko's expulsion. He is unable to take that responsibility. She tries to comfort by telling him that he doesn't have to worry about since if they lose, she's the one who has to leave. Ryota calms down and tells her that what she said is not true stunning Yumeko in the process.

    He then reminds her that he wanted to watch her gamble from the best seat in the house and then confesses his feelings for her by saying that he wants to be with her to the end, so he then states that the risk she mentioned was just as much his leaving Yumeko flustered over his determination. Ryota thinks to what card he should draw. He looks at Mary and Itsuki (while the latter is shaking the former over his confession to Yumeko) believing that they must saw something about the cards. He then looks back at the cards only to see that one of the cards has a blue kiss mark on them, which can only be from when Kirari touched the Fool. Ryota touches the card but then slides it away. He states that Kirari would never leave that Kirari would have drawn it herself and he rather takes the risk upon himself.

With a strong resolve growing inside of him, he yells out that this is his own gamble which greatly excites Yumeko. She clings to his back, holds his hand, and whispers in his ear to *show her what it means to risk*. With those words in his head, Ryota develops a natural gambling instinct and draws the Judgment Tarot card in the upright position. The Judgment's number is 20 so plus 20 points making the grand total zero ending the game in a draw. Ryota tries to catch his breath as Yumeko looks at him in a state of euphoria. Itsuki interrupts the moment between them and criticizes Ryota for not choosing the Fool and taking the unnecessary risk. Kirari then confronts Yumeko and Ryota knowing fully well that the game would end in a draw. She then states that Yumeko has some amazing pets, but Yumeko tells her Ryota, Mary and Itsuki aren't her pets but the greatest friends she's ever had.

### *Kakegurui XX*

Ryota is with Yumeko when they hear the announcement of the election. When they receive their votes, Yumeko is thrilled and excited. Ryota notes how small and unseeing the chips are. He tells her to take it easy but knows she probably won't listen to him. Then Mary comes in and tells her about the news, that a group of people came to the academy who all have -bami in their name. Ryota points out that Yumeko might be related to them. Then Rei appears and invites them to a game. One of Yumeko's supposed distant relatives has invited them, along with Midari. The game seems dangerous and involves an actual guillotine.

Ryota is extremely shocked when the rules are explained, but Yumeko wants to play it, despite his worries. While Inaho Yamato prepares it, they wait outside. He remembers how much Yumeko despises Midari and thinks its odd to see her truly dislike somebody. During the game, he simply watches but is nervous about Yumeko. When Midari cuts both strings at once, he gasped but was then quickly relieved to see that nothing had happened and is happy for her. But he is somewhat frightened when she insults Midari so much.

The next day he and Yumeko are invited to the Nim Type Zero game. He doesn't want to play since he distrusts Miyo and Miri, but he after seeing Yumeko's resolve and that she's at a complete disadvantage, Ryota tells Runa that he'll take part in this game as well. Runa is fine with this as long as Miyo and Miri are okay with it, and they agree to his inclusion. Ryota breathes a sigh of relief, and Yumeko clings to his arm admitting that she's very happy over him joining because they get to gamble together again. During the first round, he is forced to bet Serve Chips. He realizes he has a great hand with two zeros and isn't hesitant to bet them though. But to his surprise, Miyo was the one who lost. But Yumeko starts to feel bad and begins to sweat. He realizes she must have been poisoned by Miyo. She lays down and he is forced to play against the other two. Ryota decides to call Mary, since Runa told him to get someone with a lot of votes. She comes as fast as she can and joins the game.

     Before they start Yumeko tells him, that he should put all his trust into Saotome and that way he could enjoy a fun gamble. Miyo added a rule that loser must poke themselves on a poison needle. He gets scared so she offers him an antidote for Yumeko if he works against Mary. But he refuses and promises to save Yumeko.

They then start to play and he realizes his hand is really bad. But Mary tells him to reveal his cards. He is confused and doesn't want to until he remembered what Yumeko told him. So he revealed them. During the first round, Ryota looks at his cards to see which one to play, but Mary tells him to trust her and play a 1. Miyo refutes by saying that Mary could possibly be trying to throw him under the bus to save herself. She then tries to convince Ryota to betray Mary and if he does, she'll give him a syringe to save Yumeko's and another for himself. Ryota declines her offer, and Miyo believes that he's worried about Mary, so she tries add another syringe for Mary. Ryota then states that he declined because it's not what Yumeko, and it's definitely not he wants. In the end, Ryota trusts Mary and they win the first round.

During the second round, he again showed his cards. He was still scared that he would have to poke himself but was ready to take the risk for Yumeko's sake. And again they won. Miyo begins to realize that Ryota and Mary had the advantage over her and Miri because of Runa's way of shuffling. Mary explains that Runa used what's called a Gilbreath Shuffle, and when Mary saw what cards Ryota had, she knew what cards they other two had. Miri criticizes her saying that there's no way for to know what they had individually. Mary refutes by telling them that she wouldn't be explaining this if she wasn't sure to win. She then blushes and admits that this plan wouldn't come to fruition if it wasn't for Ryota trusting her, so she thanks him. After losing, Miyo leaves the room swearing revenge on Mary.

After winning, Ryota was very glad since he got an antidote for Yumeko. Rei brought her to the hospital and treated her. Later he goes to thank Rei for helping Yumeko. She gets embarrassed, but just then a girl also comes to thank Rei. Ryota smiles at her, noting how, even though the Momobami's are scary, she has got a good heart.

The next day he witnesses how Yumemi asked Yumeko to gamble and then the appearance of Kawaru Natari. He is surprised to see Kawaru and can't believe Yumeko doesn't know her yet. He accompanies Yumeko and Yumemi and sits in the audience during their game against Kawaru. Ryota tries to comfort Saori when Yumemi looks so pained. He didn't realize she broke her own finger and was shocked to learn that. After the game, he was also very happy. During the time when Yumeko played the Greater Good Game, Ryota actually gained a few votes and appeared during the broadcast. He witnessed how Sayaka challenged Yumeko and was worried about her. After the game, he tells her how relieved he is. When they enter the classroom they find the invitations to the auction.

He talks to Mary about who the sponsor could be. After Mary tells him it isn't Ririka, he guesses it's Terano. He also knows, that Yumeko will certainly accept and that he will have to tag along. At the entrance, they bump into Yuriko and Midari. He greets them and Midari asks him if he knows how she can make up with Yumeko. Before Ryota can answer, Yumeko acts as if she can't see Midari at all and asks Ryota who he's talking to. Rei Batsubami then explains to them how the auction works.

     Ryota himself can't bet a lot though since the numbers go high quickly and he refrains from voting at first. He tries to reason with the others, but no one listens to him. He finally decided to take a risk and bet 10 of his 13 votes. He was very nervous, but after someone bet something higher, he knew he wouldn't be able to compete anymore.

Ryota is shocked by Rei's reveal later on. He again suggests, they must work together, but Yumeko reminds him that colluding would count as cheating. In the end, he also understands Yumeko's message and manages to win some votes for himself. When Yumeko put her name on the line, he wanted to stop her but knew it would be pointless. After everything, he is simply glad Yumeko is fine. He then told Itsuki about what happened. Itsuki was relieved she didn't lose her family name. They then saw Yumeko gambling away all her votes she won at the auction. He then spotted Rei, who is free now and is surprised how different she looks.

### *Kakegurui (Kakkokari)*

In the spinoff manga, Ryota is shown to be self-conscious about his small role in the original series, commenting that he wishes he had a cool spinoff like Mary's or Midari's ones. Ironically, he also tends to be a minor character in the parody.

## Drama

In the live action, Ryota is played by Mahiro Takasugi.

While he still tends to be in the background, he is more talkative and often comments the events, usually speaking to the viewers directly. He's usually a source of comic relief thanks to the clash between his pragmatic attitude and Yumeko's eccentric behavior. He was given more relevance during some episodes: he's the one who saves Yumeko from Jun Kiwatari (taking Midari's place) by pretending that a council member is just around the corner and will get them. He also witnesses their game through a monitor in the school.

## Episodes

### *Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler*

* A Girl named Yumeko Jabami
* Boring Girl
* The Slit-Eyed Girl
* The Girl Who Became a Pet
* The Girl Who Became Human
* Tempting Girl
* Refusing Women
* Love-Dancing Woman
* Dreaming Girl
* Selecting Girl
* The Woman Who Bets Her Life
* Gambling Woman

### *Kakegurui XX*

* Gambling Women Again
* The Women Of Momobami Clan
* Do Not Touch This Woman
* Communicating Women
* The Connected Woman
* The Hollywood Star
* The Woman By Her Side (non-speaking)
* The Logical Woman
* The Woman who Bears the X
* The Null Woman

## Relationships

### Yumeko Jabami

Ever since Ryota met Yumeko, he has lived through numerous intense situations with and for her, but despite everything he has been supporting of her. He's shown to cherish his friendship with her and has developed feelings for her.

### Mary Saotome

At first, Ryota was the housepet of Mary Saotome. However, the fact of pursuing the same goal has started a friendship between these two.

## List of Gambles

* Kirari vs Yumeko & Ryota (Anime only)
* Mary & Ryota vs Miyo & Miri
* Most of the election candidates

* Tarot Cards of Fate
* Nim Type Zero
* Hundred Votes Auction

## Etymology

* His first name contains 2 Kanji: **Ryo (涼)** means *"cool"*, *"fresh"* and **ta (太)** means *"high", "tremendous"*.
* His surname contains 2 Kanji: **Suzu (鈴)** means *"little bell"* and **i (井)** means *"water well"*.

## Trivia

* Despite being one of the main protagonists, Ryota rarely gets screen time yet he is always involved in gambling matches.
* Out of all the characters introduced, Ryota is the most level-headed character in the series.
* Ryota is the only character who is canonically stated to be right-handed.
	+ However, it doesn't mean he is the only one, just that in Ryota's case it was explicitly stated.
* When asked about her favorite character (excluding her own), Minami Hamabe, the actress playing Yumeko in the live-action, said Ryota.
* Mahiro Takasugi, the actor who plays Ryota in the live-action version of Kakegurui, played as Mitsuzane Kureshima (Kamen Rider Ryugen), in the Tokusatsu drama Kamen Rider Gaim.

## Quotes

* *"That's not true. I told you I wanted to watch you from the best seat in the house, but I just wanna be with you. So this risk is just as much mine!"* - to Yumeko Jabami
* "*You set this all up! You enjoy the risk! You won't leave it to anyone else! But now I have a choice! I decide the risk I'm going to take! This is... this is my gamble!"* (Japanese)*- to Kirari Momobami*
	+ *"All of it was laid there by you Ms. President! And taking risks is the fun part! No one would leave that most crucial task to someone else! This is my choice to make! I'm the one who decides which risks I'm gonna take! And this one is mine... this one is my gamble!"* (English Dub)

## References

1. ↑ https://entertainmentstation.jp/388789/2