The four participants for September’s “Produced by GACKT! POKER×POKER ~Industry One-on-One Tournament” tournament, broadcast on the free online TV station AbemaTV’s “AbemaSPECIAL Channel”, has been announced.

This is a poker program that is produced by GACKT, who possesses such a level of skill that he has even taken part in international poker tournaments. Geared towards poker beginners, it is conducted in a style where GACKT himself will explain the rules and commentate on the players’ psychological state, and there will also be telop explanations of the roles and terminologies by the character Daiya-chan, voiced by voice actress Kakuma Ai, creating content that can be fully enjoyed by poker beginners as well.

The challengers for September’s tournament are Shinkawa Yua from the actress world, who is the first on this program who stars on AbemaTV’s drama “Stardust Revengers (星屑リベンジャーズ / Hoshikuzu no Ribenjyaazu), President Fujita Susumu from the IT president world who helms CyberAgent and AbemaTV, ex-NMB48 member Suto Ririka from the idol world, and BAND-MAID’s Kobato Miku from the maid world. The fiery battles between these four will broadcast from 7 September (Fri) onwards.

In addition, “SUPERCHOICE” will be used in conjunction with the program for viewers to
guess who will win. Those who guess correctly will have the chance to be picked to win
luxurious prizes.

-Comments from the participants of September’s Tournament-

■Actress world representative・Shinkawa Yua

◇Having tried playing poker, what do you think of it?
It has the image of it being a men’s game but I think that there’s also the fact that men show their thoughts on their faces more easily too, so I’ve come to think that if a woman goes all out playing it, a strong player might just emerge.

◇What do you think of the game itself?
It’s fun! Very fun!
There were many things that I didn’t know about while playing, but I was able to bring things in my favour, and I was also able to hide my emotions, and when I grow capable of making the decision of whether to bet or not, I think there will be an even larger variety of ways to enjoy this game.

◇Having practiced in the application then played in an actual game, how do you find it?
I think that the dealer is amazing. She’s adorable, and her gestures look sexy too. It made me want to practice being a dealer (lol). During the game, I got the feeling that “I’m being dealt cards by a beautiful person”, and I thought that that was cool too. She was the most composed of all and that really stood out to me.

◇GACKT was single-mindedly commentating and explaining next to you, so how was that?
He’s funny and when he speaks directly to me, I’ll end up laughing. But he was very accurate. Even though he can’t see our cards, he would comment things like “You’ve drawn this card, haven’t you” and it would really be true, and he could see through many different points.

◇Please share your thoughts about your opponent for your first round, President Fujita
As he is a company president, I’d think that he has been bargaining and trading, and I have no experience with anything similar to poker, so I’d think that someone like me without much life experiences would be in a disadvantage.

◇Please share your thoughts about this program and tell us about the highlights
It’s a see-saw game in losing and winning so it’s interesting, but I would like viewers to look out for something outside of that which came at a cost. I hope viewers will enjoy watching this see-saw, and laugh with us.

■IT president world representative・Fujita Susumu

◇This is your first experience with poker, but have you played something else that is similar to it?
It’s quite similar to Mahjong, so I thought that it was my speciality.

◇I heard that you’ve practiced on the application, but what was it like playing against an actual person?
I heard that Shinkawa-san is a beginner so I could read her line of sight and when she loses her bearings.

◇What do you think is the charm of poker, that even gives GACKT-san the ability to start a program about it?
Originally, with AbemaTV’s concept, I wanted to broadcast poker in the middle of the night like they do overseas. I didn’t know enough about the rules, so if GACKT-san conveys it in an easy-to-understand manner, even the general public will find it simple to watch. I also finally came to understand poker by watching this program.

◇Having experienced GACKT-san’s live commentary right next to you, what do you think?
It’s way too funny (lol). I always burst out in laughter when I watch the program, so I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to hold it in with him in front of me.

◇Do you have plans to play it in your private life after this?
I found that it was very easy to find opponents to play against online, so I would like to continue playing in the app after this.

◇Please tell us what the highlights are this time.
With the participants this time around, I think that I’ll win but do watch and find out what happens.

■Idol world representative・Suto Ririka

◇This is your first experience with poker, but have you played something else that is similar to it?
I thought that each game lasts a long time (lol). There’s a strong element of luck to it but I think that each action you make affects whether you win or lose, so I think that if I accumulated more life experience, I could get better at this.

◇Were you able to experience the joy of playing card games?
Yes! I thought that poker was fun!

◇You’ve played Mahjong and such before, but what part of poker makes it fun to you?
To me, I think that even if I lose once I can fight back the next time, so even if I lose, I’d feel sad but poker makes me think “I’ll do my best next time”. I would like all kinds of people to play it too, I think that if they try, they’d find it fun too.

◇GACKT-san was commentating next to you the whole time, and how was that?
I thought that it was so amazing. Having spoken for such a long time, I thought that his breath would smell but he had a really fresh breath (lol). It made me think that GACKT-san is really superhuman.

◇Would you think of playing poker in your own time after this?
I would!

◇Do you have people around you who play poker?
Yes! There are people who go to Los Angeles to play poker. I’ll play with them next time!

◇Please share your highlights, thoughts, or what you would like viewers to look out for
I think that it’s a game worth watching, so please do look out for it!

■Maid world representative・Kobato Miku

◇This is your second appearance following the special episode, so how do you feel?
After that time, I became interested in poker and I’ve been playing it as a hobby ever since.

◇Please share your thoughts regarding this time’s appearance.
It made want to become stronger, and make sure that “Kobato” is the one who gets mentioned when one talks about a poker-playing maid.

◇Please share what you thought about your own poker playing and about the program as a whole
I think that Kobato special characteristic is tenacity, so in this program, I’ll be able to show how I’ll persevere even more with my competitive spirit, that I’m still fighting.

AbemaTV『Produced by GACKT! POKER×POKER ~Industry One-on-One Tournament』
Date/Time of first broadcast for September Tournament: 7 September (Fri) Midnight 0:00～1:00 (Total of 4 episodes)
Broadcast date/time: Every Friday Midnight 0:00～1:00
Broadcasting channel: AbemaSPECIAL

-Starring-
GACKT
Shinkawa Yua (Actress world representative)
Fujita Susumu (IT president world representative)
Suto Ririka (Idol world representative)
Kobato Miku (Maid world representative)

Source: tvlife.jp

Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team

Translation © GACKT ITALIA