St. Dominic’s is one of those weird made-for-TV schools where nobody seems to do any work, there are no teachers in sight, and the whole place is divided into themed cliques with eccentric gimmicks. The costuming and social structure are a little reminiscent of Elite, but that’s as far as the comparison goes. Netflix’s new hit series BET, a live-action adaptation inspired by the manga Kakegurui, has taken audiences by storm — and one of the standout characters is Ryan, portrayed by rising star Ayo Solanke.
- As a director and writer, he isn’t flexing genre tricks.
- Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Analytics Insight, or any of its affiliates, officers or directors.
- His earliest years, as he’s mentioned in interviews, were filled with extended family, unpredictable power cuts, and the occasional bootleg DVD of a Nollywood horror movie that left a permanent mark on his imagination.
- And he does it without sounding defensive or rehearsed.
- It’s not that he’s unaware of the drama; he’s just exhausted by it.
- He’s just a believable teenager who happens to be stuck in a death maze with a psychotic clown—and who doesn’t miraculously develop plot armor halfway through.
- We understand that every individual has unique needs and desires, which is why we approach each person with the utmost care and professionalism.
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Having said all this the character drama is still very much present. These are fairly outlandish ideas to transplant into the more relatable real-world setting that the live-action treatment creates, which is probably the show’s biggest problem. This is because most of Bet’s high-school social dynamics are filtered through the extremely exaggerated lens of high-stakes gambling games and anime-esque stylistic flourishes. Logically, this means that several students are in considerable debt and forced to become “house pets” – in other words, slaves to the wealthier students. Set in St. Dominic’s Boarding School for Girls, where gambling dictates the social hierarchy.
Lagos roots without the drama
- Ayo Solanke stops by to chat about his breakout role as Ryan in the hit Netflix series BET.
- Having said all this the character drama is still very much present.
- This chapter dissects three key projects that show exactly how far that ceiling might go.
- It has managed to stay in the top 10 in 32 countries, despite hardly any marketing efforts.
- Comic book adaptations into live-action television are always tricky, but manga adaptations — especially ones done outside of South Asia — are even trickier.
- When the roles aren’t giving you what you want, you make your own.
- After staking his claim as one of the few fresh faces to make a teen drama feel dangerous again, he’s shifting gears.
On Ayo Solanke’s Twitter, things get even less polished—and better for it. He occasionally posts character notes, often shares observations about scripts he’s reading, and rarely misses the chance to poke fun at his own industry. His tweets rarely break the internet, which is precisely the point. In an era where actors outsource their personality to PR firms, Ayo Solanke’s social media engagement with fans is refreshingly DIY. Ayo Solanke could’ve easily coasted on the buzz from Bet. But Solanke isn’t playing for comfort—he’s playing for range.
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Bet is representative of Netflix’s attempt to bring adaptations of manga to a global audience. While the series does provide drama with high stakes and excitement in visuals, it also delves deep into the problems of cultural adaptation. The reception of the show has shown that when it comes to adaptations, the balance between creative reinterpretation and respecting the culture of the original material becomes very important.
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The original Kakegurui manga made its debut in 2014, with an anime adaptation lasting two seasons following in 2017 from Studio MAPPA. Known for its arresting visuals and high stakes drama, it was a hit both domestically and abroad. A Japanese live action series aired in Japan in 2018, with film adaptations (with the same cast) arriving in 2019 and 2021. At the heart of the story lies Yumeko Jabami, a compulsive gambler who dismantles the social order of Hyakkaou Private Academy, a school where students remain ranked according to their gambling prowess. The manga is famous worldwide due to its intense characters and unpredictable plot twists, thus being ripe for live-action adaptation. Comic book adaptations into live-action television are always tricky, but manga adaptations — especially ones done outside of South Asia — are even trickier.
Cast and characters
Yumeko Kawamoto, portrayed by Miku Martineau, is a transfer student who shakes up the established order as she takes on the student council in high-stakes gambles. Gambling is a way of life at St. Dominic’s, and the Student Council are the top winners at the school, led by council president Kira (Clara Alexandrova). They make the rules of the games played. The students gamble with the stipends their parents give them; anyone who falls into the red, “below the line” becomes a “housepet” to the person they owe money to. Let’s start with the absurdly titled Clown in a Cornfield.
Calculated Risk: Eve Edwards’ Bold Wager on Netflix’s ‘Kakegurui’ Adaptation
Ayo Solanke stops by to chat about his breakout role as Ryan in the hit Netflix series BET. Ayo shares how his life has changed since the show hit the global Top 10, what it was like stepping into a complex character, and how fans have connected with Ryan’s emotional journey. While undeniably successful in attracting attention, the adaptation has received criticism from purists in the manga audience. Some feel that by diverting from the source material, especially with character building and cultural nuances, the adaptation has never stood the rightful claim of being a legitimate one. For those not in the know, Kakegurui (賭ケグルイ, Kakegurui –Compulsive Gambler–) is a Japanese manga series that began its run in Square Enix’s Gangan Joker magazine in March 2014. It was later adapted in 2017 by the legendary studio MAPPA with a follow-up series arriving two years later.
High Stakes and Hard Choices A Conversation with ‘BET’ Actor Hunter Cardinal
- This would allow it to stand on its own for new viewers as well as longtime Kakegurui fans.
- He’s not the swaggering alpha or the tormented antihero.
- Nigeria wasn’t a springboard—it was a baseline.
- He’s said in interviews that their dynamic was “built off eye contact more than script cues,” and that tracks.
- But gambling is the very reason why Yumeko is there; in fact, right after she meets her new roommate, she bets her $10,000 that she’ll willingly switch beds by the end of the day.
Has performed live, unrehearsed, and off-book. He’s not dabbling—he’s building something that could easily stand on its own. In Canada, Ayo Solanke’s education took a sharper turn.
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We understand that every individual has unique needs and desires, which is why we approach each person with the utmost care and professionalism. A web platform dedicated to aesthetic surgery, dermatology, and beauty, where expertise meets innovation, and your desires and needs become our mission. In a world where appearance and health go hand in hand, our platform leads the revolution, delivering the latest trends, research, and expert advice directly to you. This website cannot be displayed as your browser is extremely out of date. Ryan begins the series as a believer in the school’s ruthless hierarchy, but that loyalty fades fast — especially when he finds himself aligning with Yumiko. While Ryan is inspired by Ryota Suzui from the Kakegurui manga, Ayo made a conscious effort to build a version of the character that stood on its own.
- The switch from stage to screen didn’t feel like an upgrade—it felt like being thrown into a new sport with different rules.
- Dramatic lighting and insane close-ups all throughout gambling scenes yield an atmosphere of heightened tension and suspense as the psychological stakes are being asserted.
- There’s a danger in treating manga tropes with reverence—they become parodies without punch.
- If you’re looking for something to confirm or deny how much Simon Barry’s ten-part series adheres to the source material or butchers it beyond all repair, sorry – you’re not going to find it here.
- With a premise that’s easy to translate, whether it can capture the spirit and style of the original remains to be seen.
- Everything evolves fairly naturally, and by the time the finale rolls around, you’re more invested in the interpersonal relationships than the gimmicks, which feels just about right.
- Solanke sidesteps that trap by playing Ryan with dissonance.
Behind the Scenes: Ayo Solanke’s Insights on Bet
As a director and writer, he isn’t flexing genre tricks. Just a visual puzzle with enough thematic weight to demand more than one watch. Solanke’s dip into horror didn’t come with the glossy prestige of a Sundance darling or the PR sheen of a studio reboot. Instead, he picked roles that could’ve easily sunk under cliché—and decided to mess with them from the inside. At 13, the Solankes moved again—this time to Canada, the land of maple syrup, healthcare, and the kind of arts programs that actually fund school theatre productions.
- Solanke leans into the unsettling tone here, not with overacting but with a kind of quiet dread.
- Gambling is a way of life at St. Dominic’s, and the Student Council are the top winners at the school, led by council president Kira (Clara Alexandrova).
- Let’s start with the absurdly titled Clown in a Cornfield.
- It was later adapted in 2017 by the legendary studio MAPPA with a follow-up series arriving two years later.
- A good example is Bet, an adaptation of a manga about a high schooler who is a compulsive gambler going to a prep school full of people wagering their parents’ money.
- This chapter looks ahead, not with PR spin, but with a critical eye on what these choices say about where he’s headed—and who he refuses to become.
Yumeko notices that Mary is cheating, and only wants to play fair. But, as we see in flashbacks to her childhood in Japan, winning money isn’t the only reason why she’s at St. Dominic’s; she wants revenge. Unlike the curated grids of celebrities holding lattes or fake-laughing with influencers, Ayo Solanke’s Instagram feels like it was built by a human with taste and a sense of humor. Scroll far enough and you’ll find saxophone clips recorded in grainy rehearsal rooms, obscure film recommendations, and behind-the-scenes shots that aren’t drenched in filters. He posts like someone who doesn’t need validation, which—ironically—makes him more worth following. There’s no mysticism in Solanke’s Lagos Nigeria chapter—just ordinary life.
Everything evolves fairly naturally, and by the time the finale rolls around, you’re more invested in the interpersonal relationships than the gimmicks, which feels just about right. But the human drama mostly works, largely thanks to the cast being so up for it. It’s a show that takes some fairly big swings and not all of it works, but I mostly loved it and I suspect most people who aren’t worried about the accuracy of the costumes will too.
- But the human drama mostly works, largely thanks to the cast being so up for it.
- Ayo Solanke doesn’t just survive this high-stakes teen chaos—he detonates expectations from his very first scene.
- Now to the main question – who is the owner of bet9ja?
- While the series itself splits audiences faster than a bluff gone wrong, Solanke’s character, Ryan Adebayo, is a wildcard worth watching.
- There’s no mysticism in Solanke’s Lagos Nigeria chapter—just ordinary life.
- She also meets Michael (Hunter Cardinal), who refuses to participate in the wagering madness and encourages Yumeko to do the same.
You feel the tension—not the romantic kind, thankfully, but the kind where two people recognize each other’s damage and make a silent pact not to flinch. Solanke’s Ryan Adebayo isn’t the hero Netflix usually casts, and that’s precisely the point. He’s not the swaggering alpha or the tormented antihero. A student at St. Dominic’s who gambled and lost, Ryan’s role is defined by subjugation. And yet, Solanke gives him spine, nuance, and just enough moral discomfort to keep things interesting. The premise revolves around Yumeko Jabami (Miku Martineau, Kate), an enigmatic transfer student who arrives at St. Dominic’s Prep with a mind to take down its dominant and corrupt Student Council as revenge for her parents’ murder.
The Man Behind the Roles: Personal Insights into Solanke’s Life
The Canada chapter didn’t launch Solanke. There’s no mythology to mine here—just a kid who moved countries, swapped accents, absorbed cultures, and didn’t flinch. There’s something quietly radical about that. Just sharp, self-aware evolution—scene by scene. Our team consists of highly skilled professionals in the fields of aesthetic surgery and dermatology, committed to providing reliable information and guidance that will help you make informed choices about your appearance and well-being.
His earliest years, as he’s mentioned in interviews, were filled with extended family, unpredictable power cuts, and the occasional bootleg DVD of a Nollywood horror movie that left a permanent mark on his imagination. There’s a temptation to romanticize this phase as formative, but Solanke resists the narrative. His acting wasn’t “inspired” by his roots so much as complicated by them.
The characters in manga stories are designed to be over-the-top and at times are more known for their quirkiness than any kind of depth of character. How to translate that into a live-action series that doesn’t feel cartoonish is tough. A good example is Bet, an adaptation of a manga about a high schooler who is a compulsive gambler going to a prep school full of people wagering their parents’ money. The ensemble cast is diverse, featuring Ayo Solanke as Ryan Adebayo and Eve Edwards as Mary Davis. Clara Alexandrova stars as the fierce student council president, Kira Timurov. Each character conveys depth in the storyline, reflecting complex social structures in the school.
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If the first episode is any indication, episodes will consist of one face-off after another, characters giving sneering and sniveling speeches, and lots of expositional dialogue of the type that weighed down the first episode. It’s easy to categorize actors-turned-directors as restless or ambitious. In Solanke’s case, it reads more like necessity. When the roles aren’t giving you what you want, you make your own. Enter The Island—a short film that isn’t looking for mainstream applause, but one that makes its own weather in the indie space. If you’re looking for something to confirm or deny how much Simon Barry’s ten-part series adheres to the source material or butchers it beyond all repair, sorry – you’re not going to find it here.
It’s easy to see why Netflix found the series ripe for adaptation, especially as it carried the anime and could see first hand how popular it is. With a premise that’s easy ayobet.id to translate, whether it can capture the spirit and style of the original remains to be seen. Hopefully they’ll embrace the series in the same way Netflix adapted One Piece and not their bland version of Death Note.
