Tomodachi Game

What would have happened in games like ‘‘Squid Game’’ if the two factors being tested were money and friendship? What matters the most to you? Money? Friendship? Or would you risk losing millions of yen just to save your friends? Do you believe that they would do the same? This aspect is demonstrated through the anime of Tomodachi Game…

"Tomodachi Game” ("Friends Game") is a Japanese anime based on the Japanese manga of the same title. Hirofumi Ogura directed it, and Kenta Ihara wrote it, with Satomi Miyazaki drawing the characters, Michiru writing the music, and Hiroto Morishita directing the sound at Studio Mausu. The series was created by Okuruto Nobaru's studio and produced by Kodansha, Studio Mausu, Nippon Television Network, and King Records.

The show was broadcast on NTV, BS NTV, and AT-X from April 6th through June 22nd, 2022. "Double Shuffle" by Nana Mizuki serves as the opening theme, while "Tomoshibi'' by Saji serves as the closing theme. Outside of Asia, Crunchyroll has licensed the series. Medialink acquired the series in Southeast Asia and began simultaneously streaming it on Disney+ and Disney+ Hotstar in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand on May 13th, 2022, and in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore on June 8th, 2022. An English dub by Crunchyroll was released on April 19, 2022.

The anime series has 12 episodes, each of which lasts 22 minutes. It is aimed at the Shounen market and has a suspenseful genre and themes of high-stakes games, psychological games, and strategic games. Receiving a rating of R 17+ for its violence and profanity, Tomodachi Game follows the manga created by Mikoto Yamaguchi and written and drawn by Yuki Sato, which debuted on December 9th, 2013 in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine.

Kodansha has organized its chapters into Tankbon volumes for easier reading. The first volume was made available for purchase on April 9, 2014, and as of October 7, 2022, a total of twenty-one volumes had been distributed. Chiba TV aired a four-part adaptation of the television drama from April 3 through April 24 of this year (2017).

The live-action films Tomodachi Game Gekij-ban and Tomodachi Game Gekij-ban Final debuted in Japan on June 3rd and September 2nd, 2017, respectively. It was announced in June 2022 that TV Asahi would be producing yet another television drama based on a game that was later given the title Tomodachi Game R4.

Yuuichi Katagiri is a high school sophomore. He is a low-income student who lives alone and works part-time to get by. He places a high importance on his friends, following his mother's admonition that "friends are more essential than money." After an event, he becomes entangled in an excessive game of debt repayment. Yichi shows a very different side of himself as the game goes on. This side is vicious, good at manipulating people, and brutal to his opponents. He also has an amazing ability to figure out how rules work and what people are really like.

Shiho Sawaragi is Yuuichi's class vice president and the class's de facto coordinator. Shiho has black hair and dark eyes and dresses in her school uniform. She begins wearing the Observers' outfit in Chapter 47. She is a high-achieving pupil with an excellent belief in justice. She shows again and again how far she will go to protect her friends and the people around her. She also has feelings for Yuuichi.

Makoto Shibe is the president of his class. He is seen as a frivolous, rich man, but he is very honest and sincere. He is also known for being a virgin. He is a well-dressed adolescent with short blonde hair and dark eyes. Tenji Mikasa is Yuuichi's classmate and a brilliant student at the top of his class.

He is a senior in high school with black hair and spectacles, who stands slightly taller than normal and has the classy look of a model student. He is also a lively young man who does what he thinks is best, even if it means lying to his companions in order to preserve the truth. Yutori Kokorogi, a quiet, timid, but kind-hearted classmate, was tormented in the first year and then met Yuuichi and his friends when Shiho helped her out.

While her enormous breasts give her a sexy aspect, she has a calm demeanor that appears to be quite friendly on the surface. She is quite naive and perhaps a little arrogant too, at least as far as Yuuichi and the rest of the group know. This side of Yutori is incredibly committed to her friends, and she too has a tiny crush on Yuuichi.

The plot revolves around this group of five friends, who are kidnapped and taken away to participate in a game known as "Tomodachi." This is due to one of them having a debt of 20 million yen, and in order to pay it, they must participate in various games in which their debt is reduced or, in some cases, increased. Each of the games taking place this season proves that, and each one changes some factors but leads to the same question. This is, without a doubt, an incredible ride to watch.

As a youngster, Yuuichi had messy, short black hair. He started to grow it out further as he grew older, and he now has a longer fringe. He is a tall, skinny young man with the best jaw, eyebrows, and eye shape in the series. At first, he seems like a happy, hard-working student who works hard so he can go on school field trips with his friends. Throughout the story, he places a high emphasis on his buddies. He shows kindness and a willingness to give up himself to protect his friends, even going so far as to call himself a renegade to avoid future trouble.

So, the protagonists are an important part of the story, and these people are all very interesting. Yuuichi is, without a doubt, one of the finest leads in recent years, even comparable to Ayanokouji from "Classroom of the Elite."

He has such an unpredictable personality that you never know what he might be considering or how he solves the challenges he encounters. The fascinating issue here is that he can't trust any of his five pals because they all possess a trait that leads him to distrust them. Regardless, there is certainly room for anime to improve in this area.

This anime adaptation's weakest link is the art department. It's crazy, and one can only imagine how bizarrely it was done for this one anime. Nonetheless, it's not terrible, and at best, it's ordinary. There really aren’t many moments of noticeably higher animation quality, and the painting style is dynamic.

Bottom line: This stinks in terms of animation. Expect very few precise or fluid motions and transitions in this show. Background-wise, it is not awful at all and appears decent, although not exceptional. Lastly, VFX and CGI are a disaster, with sporadic use of CGI for the show's mascot and other VFX that just don't mix in at all.

Without a doubt, the opening theme is killer; Nana Mizuki did a fantastic job with the song, which had me listening for a long time. Saji did an excellent job with the ending theme as well, which was ideal for listening to after each suspense. There weren't a lot of major names in the cast, but the voice acting is shockingly amazing, especially in Yuuichi’s case, who gave an unbelievably good portrayal.

Finally, I highly suggest this series to everyone who enjoys thinking about how to score, solve riddles, or identify loopholes in games. or those who enjoy high-stakes gaming! If you love smart protagonists like Ayanokouji from "Classroom of the Elite" or Senku from "Dr. Stone," this series is a decent watch for you.

Even if you aren't a huge fan, consider watching the first six episodes rather than the initial three because they tend to turn off a lot of people due to the path it appears to be taking. So if you like what it has to offer, seriously consider watching it because you might end up liking it. Fairly recommended!