The HIGH CARD multimedia project is set to expand its scope with a newly announced anime produced by Studio Hibari. The anime is set for a 2023 release.

A teaser trailer that provides an overview of HIGH CARD‘s premise has been released, as has a teaser visual. Staff and cast details have also been unveiled

The premise of the “Playing Cards × Supernatural Action” anime involves power-granting cards that are being sought out by various factions, including the titular High Card. The full synopsis from TMS Entertainment 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.

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.

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 carmaker Pinochle. Scouted to become the group’s fifth member, Finn soon joins the players on a dangerous mission to find these cards.

“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 staff of the anime includes Junichi Wada (SAKUGAN) as director, illustrator Ebimo as original character designer; Nozomi Kawano (Radiant) as character designer, and Kenichi Yamashita (Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie? series composer), Kazuhiko Inukai (Bakugan: Armored Alliance series composer), and Shingo Nagai (Mashin Hero Wataru The Seven Spirits of Ryujinmaru series composer) are serving as scriptwriters.

Other staff include Shunpei Mochizuki (SAKUGAN character designer) and Junichi Hayama (Golden Kamuy main animator) as action directors and key animators, Takashi Hashimoto (Fate/Grand Order THE MOVIE Divine Realm of the Round Table: Camelot Wandering; Agateram co-effect animation director) as effect animation director, Yumi Nanmoku (Bakugan: Geogan Rising) as color designer, Minoru Oonishi (SAKUGAN) and Akira Suzuki (The Duke of Death and His Maid) as art directors, and Tomoyuki Kunii (Rumble Garanndoll) as photography director. BALCOLONY is credited with the card design.

Meanwhile, the members of Pinochle’s Old Maid branch who serve as the main cast include protagonist Finn Oldman (Gen Sato); Finn’s mentor Chris Redgrave (Toshiki Masuda); the Old Maid manager, High Card leader, and Pinochle president’s son Leo Constantine Pinochle (Shun Horie); ccounting and clerical staff Wendy Sato (Haruka Shiraishi), and systems management and sales overseer Vijay Kumar Singh (Yuichiro Umehara). Their respective X-Playing Cards are the ♠2 < Neo New Nambu >, ♥5 < Calorie’s High >, ♦7 < Never No Dollars >, ♠A < Love & Peace >, and ♣3 < Green Green >.

TMS Entertainment, Kadokawa, and Sammy are involved with the High Card project, which was announced in June 2021. Homura Kawamoto, the author of Kakegurui, and Hikaru Muno, the author of the the Kakegurui Trip and Kakegurui Joker light novels, are also part of the project’s conception. Aside from the anime, High Card currently includes drama CDs and a short story.

Source: Press release