High Card original TV anime announces premiere with a new trailer and key visual

Homura Kawamoto, Hikaru Muno, and TMS Entertainment’s collaborative project High Card has become one of the most-awaited poker-themed anime. Kadokawa Anime's official YouTube channel recently dropped the second trailer with a new key visual featuring all the pivotal characters in the series, illustrated by Nozomi Kawano.

The anime was announced to premiere on January 9, 2023, at 8 pm JST on AT-X Tokyo MX, TV Aichi, BS11, KBS Kyoto, and Sun TV in Japan. Apart from the trailer and key visual, the anime introduced two new cast members who will be playing Greg Young and Sugar Pease.

---

Toshiyuki Morikawa and Rie Takahashi join the cast of High Card as Greg and Sugar

Toshiyuki Morikawa, who played Isshin Kurosaki in Bleach, Bondrewd in Made in Abyss, and Kagaya Ubuyashiki in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, will voice Greg Young in High Card. Rie Takahashi, known for playing Megumin in Konosuba: An Explosion in This Wonderful World!, Takagi in Teasing Master Takagi-san, and Emilia in Isekai Quartet will be taking on the role of Sugar Pease.

Despite being an original TV anime series, the reason behind the hype for High Card is that Homura Kawamoto is a part of the mixed project. Kawamoto is popular for his Kakegurui franchise, one of the most popular gambling psychological-thriller manga series with almost 7 million copies in circulation worldwide.

Besides Toshiyuki Morikawa and Rie Takahashi, other cast members who would join the High Card franchise include:

• Gen Sato as Finn Oldman
• Toshiki Masuda as Chris Redgrave
• Shun Horie as Leo Constantine Pinochle
• Haruka Shiraishi as Wendy Satō
• Yuichiro Umehara as Vijay Kumar Singh
• Kazuhiro Yamaji as Bernard Symons
• Daisuke Ono as Theodore Constantine Pinochle
• Nobunaga Shimazaki as Owen Alldays
• Toshihiko Seki as Norman Kingstadt
• Shunsuke Takeuchi as Brist Blitz Broadhurst
• Mie Sonozaki as Brandy Blumenthal
• Tomokazu Seki as Ban Klondike
• Toshiyuki Toyonaga as Tilt
• Chiharu Sawashiro as Bobby Ball

According to Kadokawa, the official synopsis of High Card reads:

"After discovering that his orphanage was on the brink of closing due to financial stress, Finn, who was living freely on the streets, set out for a casino with the aim of making a fortune. However, nothing could have prepared Finn for the nightmare that was awaiting him. Once there, Finn encountered a car chase and bloody shootout caused by a man's 'lucky' card."

Continuing as:

"Finn will eventually learn what the shootout was about. The world order can be controlled by a set of 52 X-Playing cards with the power to bestow different superhuman powers and abilities to the ones that possess them. With these cards, people can access the hidden power of the 'buddy' that can be found within themselves."

Introducing the protagonist Finn Oldman, the synopsis then talks about the secret group of players known as the High Card as they work for the King of Fourland while "moonlighting" as car makers:

"There is a secret group of players called High Card, who have been directly ordered by the king of Fourland to collect the cards that have been scattered throughout the kingdom, while moonlighting as employees of the luxury car maker Pinochle. Scouted to become the group's fifth member, Finn soon joins the players on a dangerous mission to find these cards."

Welcoming the interested viewers to the mysterious "world order," the synopsis further elaborates:

"All you need in life are manners, dignity, and the will to bet on your own life." However, Who's Who, the rival car maker obsessed with defeating Pinochle, and the Klondikes, the infamous Mafia family, stand in the way of the gang. A frenzied battle amongst these card obsessed players, fueled by justice, desire, and revenge, is about to begin! Are you ready? It's Showdown!!"

The global premiere of High Card hasn’t been announced yet, but with the release date in Japan getting closer, fans can expect the anime to reveal further details soon.