Whats your favorite death game themed anime or manga?

SungJin-W00 said:
The manga of Darwin's game is pretty good, a survival game with a video game aspect like we can find in many other mangas but I like the supercities of this one. The mc evolves as we wish, he starts the game like a normal person, quite scared at the idea of ​​killing and being killed but soon enough he will be fed up and no longer worry about killing to survive . The anime is good but I prefer the manga because the drawings are very good but also the mc seems more mature in the manga

I would have liked to say Tomodachi game which is an exceptional manga and also one of my fav but inside you don't lose your life but almost. Players can find themselves with debts impossible to repay and fall to the worst morally and physically

Solo Leveling doesn't count since it's not a game but a real job

Lucifrost said:
My favorite is the Battle Royale novel. According to the mods who run this website, a novel is a type of manga.
https://myanimelist.net/manga/117586/Battle_Royale

Halqifibrax said:
Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 0 and Early Yu-Gi-Oh! manga

Early Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime Season 0 suppose to be Death Game themed anime/manga. The story about high school boy get possessed by ancient pharaoh spirit who punish evil people by playing games that risk of their life.

ChouunShiryuu said:
There was a short but entertaining one back in the day called "killer Queen" too.

Lucifrost said:

The guy who translated that did youtube playthroughs of the remake and prequel games.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FRpDBnLSFJWMxSGJ-T3rINU6QhbUjKk
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8FRpDBnLSFJfgBHS1cBWcwIS7yPyakMe

Esmera said:
Ohhh I have love-hate feelings towards these kinds of anime/manga. Overall, I'd say Kaiji is my favorite death game themed anime (not as focused on death, but still has some), with Alice in Borderland manga coming in second. Kaiji is one of the few that excels in portraying the psychological aspect, while Alice in Borderland is more fast-paced and has great themes. I remember also liking Mirai Nikki, Death Parade, and Deadman Wonderland, but it's been a long time since I've watched/read any of those so I can't say much.
If we're also including ones with high-stakes games (more about accumulating a large sum of debt, which is kind of equivalent to death? lol), I'd also like to mention Liar Game and Tomodachi Game manga. Liar Game has the most interesting and complex games, although sometimes the rules are difficult to follow and the characters are frustrating to watch. In terms of pure enjoyment, Tomodachi Game is one of my favorites, but it's one of those "turn your brain off and enjoy" kind of show since the twists can get pretty dumb.

ChouunShiryuu said:
I think my favourite will still be Mirai Nikki in this genre due to yuno. Imawa no kuni no alice would be #2 because of its smart puzzles but it focuses on others near the end instead of the protag bringing it down. Most of the genre, I can say I liked but don't really like enough to call them favourites.

Some other decent series that I recall and kinda liked are torikago no tsugai (some smart games like imawa no kuni), kamisama no iutoori ni (battle royale+ typical shounen+ harem), the original battle royale manga, the "doubt" series, tomogui kyoushitsu (risque), deadman wonderland (blood bending abilities),also I had expectations of this one called rengoku deadroll ( idk how it has progressed since then, but I was rooting for the author since he gets unfairly axed like with otogi taisen or simulacra), there's one called darwin's game(ther dimension deathgames), I liked btooom too (explosives and stuff). There's kingdom game (king's game sorta game with power dynamics) and ousama game (protagonist is gary stu though) then. There's also rozen maiden and tomodachi game, they got animes. There's a sister harem death game called kyousou no simulacra (from rengoku deadroll author), dorei yuugi is decent too but the MC virtue signals every 2 minutes. There's tatoe hae ni natte mou where the MC is pretty cold and badass and gets genderbent into a girl.

Then there's some less entertaining but still ok ones like bokutachi no ikita riyuu, real account, platinum end, real pg, battle game in 5 minutes (has anime too),killing bites with a real simp MC, there's two doku mushi mangas running concurrently even though one is a sequel of the other. there's life game.

Oh there was also one with a yandere called who killed cock robin, but i don't recall anymore if it was a battle royale or death game. "ore no genjitsu wa renai game? ka to omottara, inochigake no game datta" kinda is too, but you don't feel the death game vibes from it as he goes on to capture waifus within a fixed time limit (great manga though).

For the ones whose names I forgot, there's one where they goddess summons a hero to isekai him but gets bludgeoned and he gets sent to a death game, there's one where a harem competes in a death gme (4 girls) and the losers will die. Chinese one called yama something, and a korean one with tower where time stops later on in the safe area location with a ruler of the safezone (it was good unlike most korean death game ones that are awful), another one where thelookalike of op's love interest wanted to wreck people who didn't save her family from the bus going down the cliff, one where the MC's gf was cheating on him and they all had to sacrifice something to save friends like saw (if anyone knows these names, please do share them XD)

There's a death game anime based on NisiOisiN's junni taisen light novel. I liked it but idk how to rate it. Maybe high rise invasion was one too? Decent manga.

As for games yup, there's danganronpa and nonary games lol I had a bad experience with both due to ppsspp and the point and click to find puzzle game respectively. Dangan is still pretty good and another decent one is Dies Irae (though it is a visual novel). There was a short but entertaining one back in the day called "killer Queen" too. If comedic ones count, then there is another one called minna daisuki kozukuri banchou. There's Fate/stay night as u said and it was entertaining too. Haven't even heard of tweeny, guess I found something to read haha.

Crow_Black said:


You may like The World Ends With You its another good death game.

MichaelJackson said:
While I admit Liar Game is probably the best one (If by best you mean how smart a manga can get), If I have to choose one for my favorite and only ONE, then Battle Royale. Yes, the death game genre peaked too early :

Most efective gorefest in manga after Ichi the Killer
Best thriller in manga and anime in terms of psychological tension
Best use of flashbacks in all manga and anime
Great art
One of the greatest conclusions in manga and anime
One of the greatest character sidekicks in manga and anime (Kawada)
Great main villian (not from a characterization point of view, but as a force of nature that makes the plot work).


Yeah, it has some flaws here and there, but as a whole, it´s massive.

LightWorker said:
Honestly I like most of them, but Battle Royale does it best. Novel was better from what I can remember? (had shit translation though) but the Manga was such cringe. I'm sooo happy that I decided not to buy the whole series ☠️☠️☠️☠️ Pot lid & Binoculars just pissed me off, just grow a set already!

I liked Btooom!'s idea also but...not the ending (haven't read the Manga though).

LightWorker said:
Battle Royale does it best. Novel was better from what I can remember? (had shit translation though)

Lucifrost said:

What's wrong with the translation? I don't remember having any problems with it. Takami said he wrote the story under the expectation it would be translated.

Serafos said:
Probably Death Parade. It's a really interesting show.

Halqifibrax said:
Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 0 and Early Yu-Gi-Oh! manga

Early Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime Season 0 suppose to be Death Game themed anime/manga. The story about high school boy get possessed by ancient pharaoh spirit who punish evil people by playing games that risk of their life.

Punkero said:
Gantz if it counts as "death game" (I guess it counts as survival at least), if not then "As the Gods Will 2".

Crow_Black said:


I may give liar game a watch sometime soon.

Millufer said:
Deatte 5-byou de Battle or Battle in 5 Seconds After Meeting. I heard the anime was paced quite poorly so just read the manga. The art is really good imo and every chapter always has some kind of twist, this isnt to say that the story only has mystery up its sleeve, but anyway the manga is really good though I havent read it in some months cus I caught up with it last time I read.

Windum said:
A hell lot of people mentioned crap like Mirai Nikki but only one mentioned Kaiji?

Come on people, watch good anime!

chronofantasy said:
Kaiji is a very good death game anime and even does a deep dive on the human psyche, making the experience a little more thrilling. I feel like this anime also inspired Squid games since Kaiji the ultimate survivor was the first anime to come to mind when I watched Squid game. Then Squid game made this genre become mainstream for a little while, even though battle royale/death game shows and video games have been around for a very long time.

I suppose mainstream games like fortnite too as a BR among kids and younger adults too helped this so lately it has been a good timing for anything BR.

Mirabem said:
I'm not the biggest fan of the theme, but somehow Imawa no Kuni no Alice is one of my favorite manga as well. As for anime, I guess I liked Gleipnir.

Crow_Black said:


alice in borderland for real should have an adaptation!

Millufer said:
Deatte 5-byou de Battle or Battle in 5 Seconds After Meeting. I heard the anime was paced quite poorly so just read the manga. The art is really good imo and every chapter always has some kind of twist, this isnt to say that the story only has mystery up its sleeve, but anyway the manga is really good though I havent read it in some months cus I caught up with it last time I read.

Momongo said:
my fav. death game animes are:

-mirrai nikki
-darwins game
-gantz
-Btooom!
-Tenkuu Shinpan