FX Senshi Kurumi-chan Ep.05 - Jealousy is a bad thing, Kurumi not again!

Episode 5 of FX-Senshi Kurumi-chan delivers a scene that I've honestly experienced myself quite a few times throughout my long history as a gacha player, and from the looks of it, that feeling translates almost identically to the world of FX trading. Of course, the anime's portrayal is far more dramatic and psychological, but the underlying psychological system it's based on is the exact same.

Throughout the episode, Mebuki keeps winning over and over again thanks to Kurumi's tips. Watching her win makes Kurumi feel bitter because she could have easily pocketed those gains herself. This slowly drags Kurumi into a mental quagmire, tempting her to jump back in and chase the profits herself.

The battle of the ages, four girls trying to squander all their savings in FX. Who will get to 0 first?

Just look at Yasuko's terrified face while watching Kurumi and Mochiko. She seems to be the reasonable one?

Have you ever seen someone post their lucky gacha pulls and thought, "Oh, I need to roll right now too"? Well, I certainly have in the past. I'm much calmer about it now, but the underlying psychology is identical: you see someone else's success story and convince yourself that you'll get the exact same results, completely ignoring the fact that the odds are heavily stacked against you.

She tried to resist by clinging to memories of her childhood and her dreams, but in the end, it was all for naught because she caved in to the temptation of trying to make money through FX again. Add in the fact that Yasuko has officially joined the main group and issued a challenge to the others, and we are clearly in for something explosive in the coming weeks.

It's clear that the moment Kurumi starts trading based on her own impulses again, she'll begin bleeding money, but what will she do to escape total financial ruin this time around? Last time, she "temporarily borrowed" her dad's savings, but that trick won't work a second time now that he's onto her.

I read some discussions about the original webcomic this was adapted from, and apparently the source material was far darker than the anime, with the girls doing literally anything and everything to scrape together more capital for FX trading. And here I thought what we had so far was already pretty unhinged...

I still hate her personality, but damn if Mochiko looks good. She's the only adult looking among them...

The moment Kurumi went to play pachinko I lost it. Girl, you look out of place in that establishment!

Now the question remains: how does Yasuko plan to compete with only 76,000 yen compared to the millions wielded by Kurumi and Mochiko? That is a minuscule sum of capital, and unless she has some insane trading strategy up her sleeve, catching up will be impossible. Then again, maybe the best play is simply to do nothing and watch the others implode on their own. As Joshua from WarGames famously said: "A strange game. The only winning move is not to play."