Tomodachi Game

Tomodachi Game directed by Hirofumi Ogura is a dark psychological thriller that was released on the 6th of April 2022 as an anime adaptation.

The anime adaptation was done by Okuruto Noboru based on the work of Mikoto Yamaguchi who conceptualized the series and was written as well as illustrated by Yuki Sato.

The first season consists of twelve episodes that are mainly centered around a group of five friends that are one day set up by the organizers of the Tomodachi Game after their school trip money goes missing.

The games are focused to test the relationships and loyalty between friends and it is heavily implied that you never betray your friends during the games however the games are constructed in ways that make it either too easy to betray your friends or instill serious doubt among your friends.

How the psychological aspect plays a part in all of this is that all members in the games begin with the same amount of debt on their name tags however, they are not allowed to show anyone the amount behind their respective tags.

Anyone caught showing the amount behind their name tags to another person will instantly have their debt doubled and anyone that loses a game will automatically have all the debts of their friends carried into them instead.

So as a player, as a human, you don’t want to lose but you also don’t want to win either.

The games also are nothing out of the ordinary, so far in the first season the games are quite easy, you’ve played them before as a child but the stacks and bonus opportunities are what separate real friends from an acquaintance.

As a person, I understand the need to survive. It’s instinctive, it’s common sense and that’s exactly what the games are trying to get you to do.

To think of yourself first, to minimize your pain even at the cost of your friends but there’s one character who keeps beating the odds no matter what but never his friends, Yuichi Katagiri.

Yuichi Katagiri and his friends: Tenji Mikasa, Shiho Sawagari, Makoto Shibe, and Yutori Kokorogi have been entered into the Tomodachi Game by someone among them and to return to their normal daily routine they first have to compete and win the games but at what cost?

The first episode spares no time to waste in igniting some flame of doubt in suspecting one of Yuichi Katagiri’s friends with a simple game of reading cards, however by the end of the episode I was left completely speechless.

The anime doesn’t feature any outstanding animation quality or action that will leave you out of breath and has a lot of Japanese text during the moments of reading the instructions that may require you to pause the episode every once in a while but the dialog, the mental challenge and secrets revealed are shocking to the point of insanity lol…

Tomodachi Game which can be translated as “Friends Game” seems mild and innocent at first by its simplicity and childlike games at the beginning of the series however that doesn’t last long.

This takes a serious turn by the third game which sees some players risking their lives and dignity to survive the games.

What I enjoyed about this first season is how it’s made me see a different perspective on the word “Friends” and how it constantly challenges my values and morals as I think what would I have done in such a situation?

Completely and inexcusably forgetting that it’s not about you as an individual but all of you as a collective of friends to come together and find a solution to the games by trusting your friends to make the best decisions for you.

Let me know in the comments section below what some of your favorite moments of Tomodachi Game are.

Thanks for reading…