Tomodachi Game

High school student Yuuichi Katagiri cherishes his close circle of friends, composed of four classmates: Yutori Kokorogi, Shiho Sawaragi, Makoto Shibe, and Tenji Mikasa. However, when the funds for the upcoming school trip are stolen, the incident causes Shiho and Makoto—who had been tasked with collecting the money—to distance themselves from the rest of their class.

Soon after, Yuuichi and his friends are deceived into meeting up and knocked unconscious by unknown assailants. After waking, the group find themselves confined in a white room with controversial figure Manabu-kun, who reveals that one of the five has gathered them together to clear their personal debt of twenty million yen. To pay off the amount, they must participate in a variety of psychological games that will test the true nature of their friendship and humanity.

Distressed and isolated from the outside world, Yuuichi and his friends need to cooperate to complete the games. But as their concealed feelings and problematic pasts begin to surface, their seemingly unbreakable bond may soon shatter into irreparable pieces.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Katagiri, Yuuichi Main

Kobayashi, Chiaki Japanese

Sawaragi, Shiho Main

Miyamoto, Yume Japanese

Mikasa, Tenji Main

Hamano, Daiki Japanese

Kokorogi, Yutori Main

Amano, Satomi Japanese

Shibe, Makoto Main

Ono, Tomohiro Japanese

Shinomiya, Kei Supporting

Ono, Kensho Japanese

Mizuse, Maria Supporting

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Tsukino Supporting

Itou, Shizuka Japanese

Manabu-kun Supporting

Takayama, Minami Japanese

Onigawara, Hyakutarou Supporting

Taniyama, Kishou Japanese

Kurosu, Nobuhiko Producer

Hidaka, Isao Producer

Komatsu, Reina Producer

Ogura, Hirofumi Director

Reviews

May 25, 2024

Vergil_nunpuia

Recommended

This anime is like a Sword art online where the protaonist must struggle to find the imposter among them.It is very unique and refresing in its genre.Those who have watched it tasted sweet and sour moment.The artstyle is decent and it is a mindful anime that need attention.It should be noted that this anime copied but less cheating and it is enjoyable enough even though it is not popular.The main character has hidden trait and abilities that he use to figure out the problem and solve it.

This anime is adapted well by the studio and the survival tactics were new and it is remarkably awesome ... to see characters competing each other.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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May 13, 2024

Marco_Yooo

Mixed Feelings

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

There has been a trend in the anime industry in the last few years, especially post-pandemic. There is just more and more anime coming out then ever before. Every single season is absolutely packed with a giant flood of (mostly mediocre) shows. Naturally, some shows will fall under the radar and “Tomodachi Game” was one of them for me.

Story – 7/10

This is a classic death game anime, a genre that has been absolutely milked to death in the 2010s, with a lot of infamous examples that range from incredible (“Danganronpa”) to...what did I just watch? (“Euphoria”). Tomodachi Game is somewhere ... in the middle. The show does not spend any time on trying to explain how the death game comes to be in the first place and rushes right into the plot. Every single game in the show has a certain set of rules to it. Especially the tag-game is really interesting and was probably my favourite arc. The mind games get pretty intense in this one, and the show is trying everything it can to stay realistic. I had a lot of fun with the death game itself and thought the resolutions were really well thought out. This is a very dialogue heavy show with little to no action and slow pacing, but it still manages to build up excitement arc for arc.
However, the big problem I have with the show is the whole story structure itself. I won´t go into spoilers, but the final episode and everything that happens before felt extremely random. The story seems to have no idea where it wants to go next and I seriously hope it won´t turn into a convoluted mess later on.

Art – 6/10

The animation itself is pretty solid. There isn´t much action here, so the screenplay itself is very laid back. There are instances where the art changes a little bit, especially during some of the more dramatic scenes, but other than that, there is not much to say here. The character designs are pretty boring and clearly inspired by other anime of the genre (Our main protagonist literally feels like a mix of Kirito from “Sword Art Online” and Light Yagami from “Death Note”).

Sound – 7/10

The opening is pretty good, but I thought the ending was better. The show reuses a lot of tracks during the dialogue scenes which can be a turn off to some people. I liked the way the show builds tension with the music, utilizing a very deep bass synthesizer. Other than that, there is not much to say in this category

Characters – 8/10

My god, it has been quite sometime since we got a black-haired, genius, edgelord protagonist and I am absolutely here for it. He fulfils every single cliché of the trope and is, like most of his clones, absolutely insane. But even I have to say that his deductions and mind games were really interesting and he managed to trick the audience a lot of the time. There is also an ongoing mystery about his past, that I am eager to find out more about.
The other characters are mostly fine. A lot of them where extremely cliché and even those that are a bit more interesting where written in a very inconsistent way (Looking at you, Tenji!).
Also, because the death game starts in episode one, there is not much time to explore the relationship of these characters beforehand. It is actually quite hard to believe they were actual friends considering what happens later on in the show,

Enjoyment – 9/10

I binged this show very quickly on a long train ride. This has some extremely high entertainment value, but the plot and characters themselves are pretty weak. I will watch the second season (if there will be one, let´s hope for it!). This is a great show for anyone who likes stuff like “Danganronpa”. If you can´t turn off your suspension of disbelief, maybe skip this one.

- Marco_Yooo

FINAL SCORE - 7/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Feb 18, 2024

Dark_Yagami

Not Recommended

A fun series of social strategy games, that’s unnecessarily cringe for the edgelord protagonist and unreliable character motivations of everyone around him.

The character motivations of everyone who is not the protagonist, are whatever is required to juke the audience and move the plot along. Sometimes that includes 180 degree turns of character personalities and even their underlying motivations. This undermines the sense that these are real people and friends of the protagonist, which ultimately undermines the tension of their precarious situations, because who cares about characters that don’t seem human, right?
...
Lots of everyone marveling what a genius the protagonist is and how much that turns them on and makes people want him.

The animation is sub-par.

That being said, the games themselves are creative (when they aren’t torture porn), the design and comedy of the creepy mascot was fun and memorable. I enjoyed working through the logic of some of the games. That earns it 3 stars.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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