Anime 50273 Tomodachi Game Reviews Filter Check 2

To be honest, im not disappointed at all. Ive experienced this type of shows before so im not too fused abt this show going bad or whatever. The thing abt this show is that, its called tomodachi game. You are meant to be invested in their relationship BUT the show decided to speed run all of that and just throw us into the first game. Like how the hell u gonna make the audience care if u just gonna do that in the first bloody episode. After 3 eps, i still dont care abt their relationship and still have no clue on ... why they're backstabbing each other . The friendship, as of now, seems superficial.

Also, those 2 girls need stfu because bro idc for ur forced exposition. Literally, its obnoxious to see them talking over in these eps especially the pink girl bruhhh.

This show might be good by the end, but honestly im not sure anymore. They have to make me at least think that they are friends but yeahhh. the whole suspense and mystery is not there anymore.

Before I start, personally, I haven’t watched a single death game anime, or even Squid Game actually, so I will not be making any comparisons to them. This is a strictly non-Squid Game comparison review. Ok, before you start saying “Who cares”, or “Who asked?”, let’s get into the review.

For a series that is supposedly about friendship, the friendship concepts were tackled a bit superficially, and it became more of a series about Katagiri Yuuichi’s wit and him being a scumbag to solve problems. I expected a bit more characterization overall, and it really does feel we’re just scratching the surface of this series. However, ... the plot twists and Yuuichi’s character were definitely fun to watch, and one of the more enjoyable series of this anime season, but a bit edgy for sure.

My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20

*Spoilers below

STORY: 17.2/25

The story is about five friends that get into a game called the Tomodachi Game, or Friends Game, after one of the five incurred a twenty million yen debt, and to pay off that amount, the group must clear a variety of games that test their friendships, and reveal their true colours.

The first game, Kokkuri-san, is a game where the participants place a finger on a coin in the middle of a board. Then, a question is asked, and the participants place their fingers on the coin and push it towards the answer they think is correct. The questions are simple, but as expected, someone sabotages the game. This was by far the most boring and basic premise of the show, and very predictable.

The next game, Bad-Mouth Sugoroku is a game where people bad mouth each other and submit the cards privately. The revelations, such as someone participating in compensated dating, and someone doing plastic surgery, are made to pit them against each other. This game was drawn out pretty long, and felt pretty shallow. It made the group of friends seem like they weren’t very close in the first place, since something pretty trivial, like doing plastic surgery, could cause a rift between the characters. A lot of these revelations create shock value, which in my opinion, is not a very good way to advance the plot.

The third game was a simple hide and seek game, except the hider can’t move, so they can’t get any food. It felt like a battle of wits between the two teams, but in the end, it was a pretty anticlimactic conclusion, with violence just being the answer to everything. Expected a bit more from this.

There are other backstories that I won’t go into here, but even though I have said a few negative things about each game, there are still positives, in that the suspense factor is handled pretty well, even if it relies heavily on shock value. Yuuichi’s struggles are always fun to see, and his ways to get through each game are enjoyable as well.

ART: 6.2/10

The animation is fine, but a bit lacking. The expressions could have been handled even better to evoke that sense of “evil” from Yuuichi, and all the other emotions from the other characters.

MUSIC: 8.9/10

Huge fan of both the opening and ending from this series. Nana Mizuki and Saji do a great job, and I never skipped them. The two themes were definitely a highlight of the show.

CHARACTERS: 11.5/20

The characters were introduced very poorly, and the developments for most of them seem to just be scratching the surface of their characterization and backstories, but I have to say Yuuichi carries the cast, and I’m sure you agree. He has the most distinct personality overall, as he creates most of the shock value. He is a scumbag, but he’s not completely heartless, as we saw in the third game. He does some crazy things, and he’s fun to watch, but it gets a bit repetitive.

The other characters each have their distinct personalities, but they just aren’t the most intriguing to watch. Tenji is arguably the more interesting one out of the remaining four friends, but as I said, we’d need Season 2 to see more of their backstories and developments.

ENJOYMENT: 12.3/15

I did enjoy this series despite its flaws, it’s what I call “popcorn entertainment”, just watching chaos unfold every episode.

THEMATIC EXECUTION: 10/20

This show really struggles at executing the theme of friendship well. If they are such good friends, they shouldn’t be fighting this easily. They know they are being tested in a game, and rifts in friendships is what the management want, so why play into their hands?

The romance theme is just there to be another chaos creator. Of course everyone likes someone in the friend group, it just makes everyone lose their minds, and that is pretty realistic for sure.

The world building, pretty atrocious. Rules need to be explained better, and there can't be that many convolutions that feel shallow.

OVERALL: 66.1/100

A decent show which had good plot twists and a good main character in Yuuichi, but falls short on some story elements that I think could have been paced better to create a better plot. If you are a fan of mind games and plot twists, this is a solid one to watch, and if there is a continuation in the future, I’ll definitely watch it.

Tomodachi Game is a psychological thriller anime reminiscent of Squid Game in its set up and presentation. Even the premise of trying to expose/break the game by snooping around the backing organization is shared between the two. What's bizarre is that Tomodachi Game was made first. Crazy, right? Based on the early 2022 release date, I was sure that Tomodachi Game was riding the coattails of Squid Game's success in the previous year, but I was actually mistaken! Tomodachi Game's manga was first released almost a decade before, in 2013.

Anyways, that doesn't really have anything to do with the quality of it. Though possibly innovative ... for its time as a manga, Tomodachi Game was no more than just good as an anime. Though the thriller element and high level mind games certainly reigned supreme in the show, I couldn't help but be bothered by the convenience of certain events. Obviously, coincidences need to occur for a plot to progress, but there's a fine line between what's believable and what isn't. Unfortunately, Tomodachi Game put forth great concepts and gimmicks at the expense of crossing that line. Of course, there's more to watch for in any anime than the reasonability of its progression (in fact, we don't care about it a lot of the time), so I still recommend Tomodachi Game for anyone seeking a thrilling mystery to indulge in for just a few hours.

I'm not really disappointed in this anime may be mediocre but it's okay and I. Still enjoy it with the mystery and thrillers on it but the story on it not that great and the flow of plot I'm not fan of it . With the sound it's okay with its mystery and cool op . And sound of character is okay and the info of character and I'm not really fan of other characters they all look Sus
But I like MC that look evil and manipulate not idiot MC who always carried by supporting cast

With these story I know this may be not ... fleshed out or not turned great example on past anime that like this . But I still enjoy the show in many ways I'm looking forward on secret that's will reveal on show

English:
Honestly, I'm starting to explore these animes aimed at high IQ protagonists, I don't think it's a waste of time, because every great move he makes brings along a thought "could I have realized this?"
the anime is not really focused on animation but there are some moments that get chills, the story even had a good explanation but in the end a gang appears that had not been introduced and does not say how they found out about the game, in fact finally an anime of the kind that is not at all absurd like betting your life and the like
“anime 7/10 is very worth ... watching”

Brazilian portuguese:
Sinceramente estou começando a explorar esses animes voltado para protagonistas de QI elevado, não acho que é uma perca de tempo, porque a cada grande jogada que ele faz traz um pensamento junto “será que eu poderia ter percebido isso?”
o anime não é lá focado muito em animação mas tem uns momentos que chega arrepiar, a história até que teve uma boa explicação mas no final surge uma gangue que não tinha sido apresentada e não diz como ela descobriu sobre o game, aliás finalmente um anime desse tipo que não é nada absurdo como apostar a vida e afins
“anime 7/10 vale muito apena assistir”

As much as I want to hate this series I just can't do it.

Despite the countless info dumps, despite the mostly generic cast, despite the extremely poor and badly directed visuals, despite the forgettable music....

I still thought it was damn entertaining.

To it's credit some of the mind games were genuinely smart.

The first game and the rock paper fingers were pretty ok segments, and the second game actually impressed me with it's ending.

... And even the weaker segments while not being great, were certainly not bad.

But you know what is bad?

EVERYTHING ELSE!

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The entire show looks dead, there is never anything interesting to look at. The art is weak, the backgrounds are dull and boring, and the animation is laughable. Last time I was this not impressed by the production of a POPULAR show, was hige hiro, but I think this is even worse.

At the very least hige hiro had a handful decent looking shots.

This show is consistent with it's garbage visuals if nothing else.... Actually that's a lie. There are scenes that are even worse looking than normal, but I can assure you that, that's a one way highway.

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The music leaves a lot to be desired. The opening and ending are pretty good, but the soundtrack itself is so forgettable I don't even remember it. And I finished the show 20 minutes ago.

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The characters are not the worst, but certainly not the best either...

Half of them are one dimensional plot devices, and the other half are somewhat interesting edge lords.

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In a perfect world this would have been directed by Tetsurou Akari and it would have been the edgier, less profound second coming of death note....

kind of like what we thought platinum end was going to be....

Here's the deal, other than the few decent-good mind games the story has NOTHING of value to offer, the production is shit, and the pacing while not being the worst thing ever is certainly not good either.

the show is in the low 4 high 3/10 category, but If like me, you enjoy these edgy death game types of shows, I say this is one of the more enjoyable ones.

it's not nearly as fun as mirrai nikki, or as stupid as gelipnir, but it is still enjoyable, and it would have been one of, if not the most fun to watch shows this year if it had good production.

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If I had to say what would make this show the perfect death game, these would be it:

1. Get better production: a competent director, a talented composer, and a bigger budget.

2. Change some of the character designs. the main characters have ok designs, but some of the side characters look stupid. you don't have to give a character a pink bowl cut to make them stand out. There are better ways of doing it. look at sonny boy, look at steins;gate, or vinland saga, or kaguya sama, or attack on titan.

3. Get a better script writer.

4. Add blood and gore. don't pretend like you're above it, with or without mind games, you're still an edgy death or I guess in this case "friend" game.

5. Make it an ecchi. now this may be the one thing people disagree with, but I firmly believe that in a show like this, tities are an improvement. there are rarely death games that are more than just mindless entertainment. and fanservice is always a plus in these kinds of shows.

This show is not deep, nor does it have a ground breaking story. the mind games are there purely for entertainment, there is no philosophy or social commentary, and if there is, it isn't good.

So just embrace it. be the generic death game but to perfection. Mirrai Nikki had this perfected years ago, if only it didn't mess it up with a shitty ending.

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Anyways this went for longer than it should have.

Do I think the show is worth watching?

Honestly, just read the manga if you're interested. the anime adds nothing to the experience. and I heard the manga has way better art and pacing.

I hope you have a wonderful day and, thank you for reading :D

I do not want to write a review on this as i have basically no opinion about this. This show was good at the start and once the twists happened i just got taken out of it. Too much happened than it all just fell flat at one time. The characters arent enjoyable enough to keep me entertained and the CGI creepy fuck looks genuinely terrible. i should probably rate this lower but the first 6 or so episodes were pretty solid and held up the show.

4.5/10 wouldn't really recommend this but if you want to watch it, watch it but dont expect too much.

ENGLISH:
The story is based on the classic anime model with a cold and calculating protagonist, bringing the main character (Yuuichi Katagiri) into a plot of psychological games between him and his friends.
In my opinion, it's a good anime to pass the time, but as the stages of the games pass, throughout the episodes, the results become predictable, but nothing that gets in the way of the experience.

One unexpected thing is the use of violence, so if you don't like blood, it's not a good option to watch.
In general, it's an anime that I recommend, but it's not the best scripts and developments, fans of Classroom ... of the Elite might like it if they're looking for a second option.

PORTUGUESE:
A história se baseia no clássico modelo de animes com protagonista frio e calculista, trazendo o personagem principal (Yuuichi Katagiri) em uma trama de jogos psicológicos entre ele e seus amigos.
Na minha opinião é um anime bom para passar o tempo, porém conforme as etapas dos jogos vão passando, ao longo dos episódios, os resultados vão ficando previsíveis, porém nada que atrapalhe a experiência.

Uma coisa inesperada é o uso de violência, então caso você não goste de sangue, não é uma boa opção para assistir.
Em geral é um anime que eu recomendo, mas não é dos melhores roteiros e desenvolvimentos, fãs de classroom of the elite podem gostar caso estejam buscando por uma segunda opção.

Honestly pretty disappointed with this. As a fan of the manga not only did this adaptation fuck up the anime, it also ruined my image of the manga. (More specifically helped me see the weak writing)

First issue that both the anime and the manga fall in, they don't build enough exposition for the characters. They just throw u into the story believing that some half-assed introductions to the main characters is enough to get us invested. It's not. Then they throw the characters into the game and waste half the episode going back and forth just talking about dumb ... pointless shit, specifically wasting half the episode over what the author seemed to believe how a group of teenage kids would react to being kidnapped. Clear pacing issues there.

Oh and like I implied, very unrealistic reactions btw, from the people who just got setup, tased, kidnapped, and forced into illegal gambling as minors, you'd think the author would resist making them react like shonen protags but nope. There's the constant useless one liner's of their inner thoughts and reminders of the game's rules and stakes. The author keeps fucking dumping the most irrelevant information about the character's traits as to make up for the zero build up. So many pointless tedious conversations take place and it feels like I'm fucking watching robots recreating how humans interact.

The first game they play shouldn't even exist, it's just there to create shock value and set the tone for the anime. It fails embarrassingly bad and the only real use it serves is the reveal of a traitor existing and even that was pretty anticlimactic.

Then the very forced and horribly written reveal that the main character is some super genius based off of his personality breaking and then him just passing the game with some half-witted bluff. Well it works but that really was not remotely enough to showcase that the mc is smart. Thing is I did end up like the mc's personality and he is shown to be actually smart in future manga arcs, but the first 2 games is just lazy writing on their part despite being actually creative.

The second game comes in and it's even worse in terms of how the characters react and interact with each other. Every shocked reaction is just some ugly freeze frame, so, bad cinematography. It spends far too long making the characters expose each other's secrets and far too long on some drama about their friendship. While that boring ordeal was going on, the main character was cooking up his plan to flush out the traitor. All cool except for the fact that the anime chooses to explain his plan through the conversations between the two women that are supervising the game watching in a security room.

Every time something confusing happens, it just cuts to them to explain it. Or it cuts to yet another shocked reaction from the supervisor and she gives the equivalent of the author telling us "Keep watching some plot twist just took place now but we can't explain it just yet.". They were just spoon feeding us a whole lot of information that we already know. While it wasn't exactly hard to keep up, it was sure as hell boring. They do this for about 3 more games in the manga, and it's so fucking annoying. The supervisor woman always hinting that he has some master plan under his little guise of being the underdog with a disadvantage. She sucks his cock dry the whole time until he wins and proceeds to spoon feed us the whole damn plan.

A recurring theme is the value of friends over money, it cuts to a monologue every now and then about Yuichi's moral dilemma of the teachings from his mother. Thing is, it's a cool and a more or less original theme, but not when they rely on the mediocre drama between the characters to make us care about their dumb friend group breaking apart. This anime seems to be under the impression that we're somehow invested in their friendships that they took like 2 minutes to nurture. Do I have to spell out that I do not give a flying fuck about their friendship. The kid mascot Manabu is always reminding us of the stakes of the games as if that'll shake me in my boots. And honestly they weren't at all high enough. Yeah sure that's a lot of money but none of us really give a shit, it's just a fucking number to us. The author especially relies on the friendship breaking as high stakes, but due to the lack of exposition, no one gives a shit still. The anime couldn't at all set the tone intended.

Pretty bad adaptation overall. The animation was pretty lazy and uninspired, it couldn't pull off the simplest of actual animation. For example, take someone getting punched. Rather than animating it, it's just another still frame with punching sound effects the whole time like it's a comic book. The animation is just so damn awkward, they keep trying weird angles and filters and POV's, all they accomplished was making it look like a fucking Bollywood movie. The sound is equally as lazy, sounds like some music I can find in a third rate roblox horror game. The voice acting is alright at best but mostly meh. The directing is horrible btw, they reaaally suck at setting the intended mood, I just end up cringing.

Another thing, for a psychological anime it's alright but its really missing an antagonist / a real opposing force. For now in the anime the "psychology" they rely on is the main character finding loopholes in the games and such. That's the most lackluster way to move the story along, and it's definitely not entertaining psychology. Even if the games are well made and creative, it still really needs good antagonists. The manga does get better, a lot better actually, and I can actually call it psychological in later arcs, but for now in just the anime, it's just a high schooler simply winning the games by finding loopholes. Essentially, it's missing a clash of who can outsmart the other.

The third game was rather fine but still weakly executed because of what they show us VS what actually happened (basically they fumbled the plot twist reveals). The anime did not pull that off right. The main character read his enemies and used the weaknesses in their personalities to achieve his preferred outcome. That's kind of psychological but the presentation of that information was not executed well either. Yet another failed attempt at making us feel that the mc is some genius manipulator. Oh and the first half of his plan was pretty dog shit.

When you make every one of his opposing enemies an idiot, obviously he'll stand out as much smarter than the rest. Every other character is just one dimensional and badly introduced, the third game just introduces a new crew even blander than the original one. It's so fucking stupid how it took one girl to make Yuichi's plan succeed. His 'master plan' that the supervisor hyped up was breaking their friend group apart using one hot girl. Ok yeah the took advantage of the weakest enemy team member to win that's cool but not when you make the enemies absolute idiots who are only capable of thinking using their wieners. It's not a very interesting to way to make Yuichi win a game in which his odds of winning were near zero. He was out numbered and at such a huge disadvantage, only to win the game using one female as simp bait. What a fucking joke.

Well to be fair the second half of his plan was actually fine and sort of enjoyable to see unfold, but the execution of the plot twists were disappointing, and the enemies fell for it so unnaturally. The two or so hurdles in his plan weren't enough to make it realistic or intense or even satisfying for me, they still were lured in too unnaturally. It was a really well made game but the enemy group needs a rework.

It went too smoothly and I believe they should've been written to be more engaged in not letting his plan work so easy. It's just disappointing how easily their relationship faltered by using one girl. It was such a forced plot and it felt lackluster because the battle of wits that we were supposed to experience was very one-sided because of how smoothly it went.

Basically I'm trying to say that in the third game, the enemy group was at such an advantage, they underestimated Yuichi and his plan worked way too well. He used the guise of being the underdog to win, and lot's of animes do this to be fair but that just makes it not engaging to the audience. This anime thinks that fully hiding his plan from the audience is entertaining but it's actually kinda counterproductive when they're just dragging out the reveal. They do this so many times in the manga except the antagonists get progressively harder to outsmart thankfully. It was such a lame way to see him win that's all.

It's really not until later arcs (only in the manga) that I reconsider my initial impression of the MC and believe that he actually is smarter than the rest.

Overall thoughts are (summary):

Art: 3/10
Lazy is the best way to describe it. Can't show emotions or reactions properly, and they didn't actually animate anything violent.

Sound: 3/10
Catchy OP but the soundtracks are music you'd find in a roblox game.

Plot: 6/10
Genuinely sort of creative but horrible execution and lazy writing in crucial aspects. Glossed over important things a lot and mostly presented very pointless information. Plot twist reveals were completely fumbled. Also lacking in actually high stakes and good antagonist(s).

Characters: 3/10
Mc and another future character are top tier in the manga but for now in this anime, the main crew are so unbelievably bland. It feels like I'm watching fucking robots trying to recreate human conversations. Also all of mc's opponents are morons so it's not exactly rewarding when the mc outsmarts characters with an IQ of a 5th grader that's hard wired to fall for his plans.

Enjoyment: 4/10
The psychology factor is missing a lot of things. We have Ms fucking obvious in the security room reexplaining everything that's taking place every 2 minutes like we lack eyes and ears. Every argument that takes place between the main crew makes me cringe without failure. The adaptation was horrid and the only thing that makes the show even slightly enjoyable are how creative some of the games can be. Still they executed the games horribly and it really ruined what had much more potential.

"Or, is it just that you care more about money than your friends?"

-- the following is a few paragraphs on my overall thoughts, followed by spoilers about some of this show's problems. reader discretion advised. --

TOMODACHI GAME

What a show this was. Watching the change in rating was fun enough, it jumped all over 7's backyard, and now seems to be heading for a high one. Checking forums every once and a while seeing people praise it and people absolutely dunk on it. Sitting thunderstruck weekly with a friend as it dragged on and on and ooonnnnn. The experience of watching Tomodachi Game while it aired ... was worth it alone.

This show is dumb. Like, immensely stupid. But dear god, if it isn't entertaining as hell. Every game has rules purely for loopholes, for some characters to misinterpret or not utilize to their full potential while the MC has already fully adapted to the situation and everything that happens was completely foreseen. Yep, it has an overpowered MC that can worm his way out of any situation AND he's incredibly edgy, it's the early 2010's my friends.

Yuuichi is a young man who must decide between the two most important things in life: friends or money. Now, everybody would choose the former of course... but what if the money was... a LOT of money.

Would your answer change?

That's basically the entire show. Lots of money on the line, choose your relationships or financial wellbeing. It works. We get abysmal accusations, terrifying twists, wacky whodunnits, and radical revelations and/or red-herrings (whatever floats your boat).

The problem lies in length and the edgy stuff that doesn't revolve around Yuuichi. Over the course of twelve episodes, three games (and an unofficial one) are conducted. Yeah, only three and it isn't like they're super complex or deserving of these heinous runtimes. So, at times, it feels like you're dragging your feet. The edgy stuff that doesn't work is Tenji's role in the second game - he's revealed to be a stalker and we get an episode completely from his perspective where it shows how much of a creeper he is when it comes to their friend Shiho (wanting her "all to himself" by cutting off the others from her and revealing he's been stalking her for over a year). The problem is that, for one, it's uncomfortable and not fun / interesting to watch, but that after, before the third game, he reveals his true intentions to Yuuichi that explains his behavior in a more interesting manner... so why did we need that episode where he becomes the worst character ever? He becomes a better character, but that episode still leaves a bad taste in the mouth. The other edgy stuff that's bad is the random moments of sexual harassment like during the last episode with Kokorogi and, as previously mentioned, Tenji's treatment of Shiho with some of his terrible lines.

Would I recommend Tomodachi Game? If you think it'll be enjoyable and you're okay with a dumb thing, you're golden. If not, steer clear! Just check out the OP, it's awesome.

TOMODACHI GAME

(I don't know If I can edit this later, but this is at episode 10 right now.)

To put it simply, it's fun at its best, but honestly, it's not fantastic. Some plot twists threw me for a loop while others I saw from a mile away.
Tenji was my favorite character, but I have to admit, they weren't good at showing who he was at ALL until much later in. The rest of the characters were either mid (Kuichi) or flat-out boring to be around (Shibe). Each character needs to have a PURPOSE to being there for this to be high stakes!
The management is ... also an obnoxious group of characters that had the same problem as squid game- why did we need to see them? The threat is SO much less now that we know this management is just a group of women. I want to know their motives! give me a reason to dislike them. I should not feel empty when I see the literal main threat of the game in front of me.


I hope the story gets better as it goes. It has potential, but for now, it's ok.

"Psychological - A Genre of story where characters face problems that are psychologically haunting. Commonly seen in thriller or suspense stories".

"Tomodachi Game" follows a group of 5 friends who one day have found themselves in a white room and were forced to play a debt repayment game with multiple rounds/levels. The only way to win this game is to "Trust Your Friends". If not, something unthinkable happens and it's not just the crippling debt.
A good psychological Anime explore the mental state of a said character when thrown in a scenario where they have to endure a lot of mental damage like Stress/Anxiety/Fear/Depression etc. Tomodachi Game ... does this but very poorly. It's a death game that is as basic and generic as possible. Yuuichi, the OP protagonist everyone knows about; Kokorogi the typical big-rack damsel in distress who loves the MC; Shiho, the bossy 'strong' girl character who lasted only for 6 episodes who's supposedly crazy in the head; Shibe, the typical goof with a lot of head weight; and Tenji, by far the only decent character in the entire show. This Anime suffers from, what I like to call an "Ugly Face Syndrome". They throw in an ugly face of a said character to show how mentally fucked up the characters are, which brings the shock value and creates tension. This isn't exactly a bad thing, some of my favorite Anime (Mononoke & Kaiji, for example) use the same trick but they succeed in doing so, because they let you perceive the inner conflict of the said character but Tomodachi Game fails to achieve this. It just shows this bunch of over-the-top characters 'evil' plans with exaggerated facial expressions and it's just nothing but a pure shock value because it carries no weight when you haven't established the inner conflict or given any solid reason to care for these characters. Tenji is the only one who had something of a character flashback which fleshed out his character a bit and made him into a decent character.

TL;DR
Basic & generic characters with no proper characterization makes for a poorly written psychological show. It's no different from an edgy death game Anime, except we have ugly faces instead of gore.
The MC antics might carry the show tho.

Is it full of flaws? Yes.
So, it's not entertaining? No. It IS entertaining. If you're here for entertainment, then the Anime is covered like many.
Cocky characters who exist to crushed by the MC, sexy female characters who ready yo fawn over him, a plot with ridiculously high stakes only for our MC to break with simple logic, a catchy opening and an OP MC with just the right amount of mystery surrounding his past with a believable weakness, atleast makes "Tomodachi Game" an entertaining Anime.

This anime treats You like an idiot.

To be honest, it has no choice, the plot is written in a way that there is no way You can deduce things on Your own so it retroactively changes the scenes You already saw. It does it in a half assed way at that. Most twists are basic that they only work because of plot armor and the fact that all the characters are kind of... idiots. Well... maybe not idiots, but they are so basic and flat that You really can't treat them seriously.

The psychology that is on display in the show is lackluster at best. It's ... basic and misunderstood. I don't expect the writers to be psychologists or therapists, but at least read a book by Strelau, Aronson or Ekman. It would make the show much, much better and less brain-dead.

The worst offender in treating the viewer as an idiot are the scenes in the security office when the women just spell everything out for You. It's annoying, like hell.

The main protagonist -Yuuichi Katagiri is a Light Yagami wannabe, if Light was deprived of charisma, intellect and charm. Oh, and he's an edgelord that acts like an emo and probably thinks he's cool. He's not. He's annoying and obnoxious.

To be honest, I hope the manga is better. Some people told me it is but after the anime... I'm not really sure I want to find out.

As a fan of "Kaiji," an anime that I hold in high regard for its masterful blend of psychological depth and strategic, I was drawn to "Tomodachi Game" due to its thematic similarities.

My thoughts, categorized into Story and Enjoyment:

Story: 6/10
"Tomodachi Game" wastes no time, plunging viewers directly into the "Friends Game" from the very first episode. This rapid progression, however, comes at a cost. The characters, labeled as "friends," are thrust upon us without background or development, As a result, I didn't feel much tension or understand the significance of their relationships.

Strategy Game: I really liked the games and the rules themselves but the way ... the games play out and the result is often easy to guess (Predictable)

Psychological: The anime failed to deliver the psychological intensity that fans of the genre, including myself, crave. It doesn't do as well is in how it shows the characters' inner struggles and mind games. It's not as gripping or deep as what I loved in "Kaiji." This anime doesn't really get into what the characters are thinking or make you feel the tension between them.

Enjoyment: 8/10
I found "Tomodachi Game" to be quite enjoyable. I just really like these kinds of shows where characters have to think hard and outsmart each other.

Summary:
If you are a fan of psychological & Strategy games animes, then "Kaiji" is a must-watch. If you've enjoyed "Kaiji", consider giving "Tomodachi Game" a chance.

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

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

First off, I have given this show up to 11 episodes when writing this review, because I genuinely find it entertaining. This is a good show to not think, turn your brain off, and listen. Its a good show to listen to in the background if you can understand the Japanese well enough.

Also, if you are new to watching anime. You will most likely enjoy the show a lot. People like me who have seen to much anime. This can get predictable at times but I still find it entertaining.

Story (5) -

I am giving the story a 5 because it lacks a lot. ... How they approach games and world-building is alright and there is obviously some thought put into it. Though, I think it could be improved with the games being more complex. I can't talk about the game specifically cause I don't want to spoil it.

Though the high stakes don't feel that high. It is most likely the fact that we don't know the characters that well. The high stakes rely on mostly money and debt. This is alright if its executed right but I feel like this dint get executed that well.

Art (6) -
The art is alright. Its kinda above average but its not amazing but not that horrible.

Sound (4) -
The sounds and sound design is decent. It isn't obnoxious but I wouldn't say its good. It gets the job done for what it is. The sound design of the show is no 1 mil sound design. Though, it isn't unbearable to hear.

Character (4) -
The character are decent. They feel flat at times and the main 5 you start with. You really on stick with 2. The two you do stick with. They do get some more depth, but its still lacking a lot of 3D dimensionalities.

I can tell this show really wanted to focus on the games and have the characters come in 2nd. Which is alright but there are better ways to execute it. Sadly, this wasn't it.

Enjoyment (7) -
Why is this so high? Cause this is a fairly entertaining show for how mediocre it is. With situation happening later in the series be far more interesting than the beginning. I cant blame anyone for dropping the show if they don't find it that interesting at the begging.

As I hate to say. It does "kinda" get better near the end. Atleast better as in more enjoyable to watch.

Overall (5) -
This will be a show that some people will love and most will think it's okay or bad. I fall in the ladder of thinking its okay. I am sure I will forget about this show after a month or two. Since it doesn't do anything new and outstanding to leave a lasting impression.

The characters have nothing of note for me to care. I like watching the shit that happens but that isn't because I'm invested to the characters. Im just invested in the semi-interetsing games they come up with.

This show was just ok across the board. Everything about it was just ok. Somehow the story is simple to follow but, is rushed and underdeveloped. The characters are fine for the most part, mainly one-dimensional even when these plot twists occurred. The games themselves were different than imagined they relied not on intellect but, on other avenues. I did not care for that. The art was fine.
The sound was fine. The show is fine. Series of games the MC and friends go through in a psychological and suspenseful time. I do not recommend this show if you want a developed story and good ... characters. I would probably recommend it if you want a psychological anime, albeit kind of bad.

This anime has stuck with me since it first aired. After watching over 200 others, that says a lot on its own.
If you watch this you'll likely end up questioning yourself, your friends or generally what person you are and how everyone around is or would be.. However, while I recommend watching this, since it's a great watch with surprises, ups and downs and the necessary deep matters/questioning that arises due to the base of it - my main reservation is that it ends on a cliffhanger.
This will likely not get a second season, yet there is a manga that will be finished soon, if ... it isn't already - hence no more adaptations. It's an ad for the manga, so if you don't mind that and like shows that are game based, or morally challenging, like X&Y from not long ago, then give it a go and just switch over to the manga. Be warned that it gets heavy.

I have very mixed feelings. Everyone lived in the Squid Game frenzy, everyone loved the parts, then as soon as the whole Korean series fanaticism was over, it was announced that the Tomodachi Game was coming, which was called a Squid Game tap, which means that there will be somewhat familiar scenes in this anime.

I went into it thinking that I would love this, because the preview gave me chills, and I had a positive feeling that it would be different from Squid Game. Indeed, I was not wrong about that. However. It was just as boring as the series, but I was still more ... excited. so now so-so.

I'll tell you. The story starts excitingly, when I could enjoy it until the fifth part, after that it was boring, and I was counting the minutes to see when it would finally end, or when something would happen that I would get my head around and finally like it. There were scenes in it that surprised me, sometimes at the beginning, sometimes at the end, but I'm really sorry that it couldn't keep me engaged throughout. I saw so much potential in this anime. That's why I was surprised why it got as such negative criticism...now I understand. The characters were good as they were, I couldn't sympathize with anyone, which was missing, I was nervous during a few scenes, but I didn't faint that much. I had mixed feelings at the end... will there be a sequel or not? It has not been confirmed, in any case, I am waiting for the news, because if there is a continuation, there is potential in it, and a lot can be gained from it.

As you might sigure out from synopsis, this anime is trying to be something like Squid Game in sort of its own way. I wouldn't really say it's bad anime but I wouldn't say it's good either. My review contains spoilers but not such would ruin your enjoyment or surprise.

Story in this anime is very plain and simple, nothing hard to understand. There are even reasons, why this anime could be good with some care:
1) Main characters are cool and look really smart, trying to push their limits
2) If you like logical and psychological anime, you'll see this one as interesting too
3) Animations and the ... style of story telling are nice

BUT... There are reasons why this anime is average:
1) Animation of Manabu is really weird and doesn't fit into the anime and disturbs you a lot
2) Twists in story are good but their explanation is most of the time done in a bad way
3) Reason for 2 might be as well the creators, because they are really trying to tie you up in some corner of informations to everything work well for them, even when plot contains big holes
4) Ending is opened

So while at the start it might appear as really cool anime, later it gets kinda weird and slowly stopping make sense. For those reasons it's really bad suspense/logical/psychological anime. But when you count all of it's parts, it's actually just average. Nothing super boring, nothing super cool, just ok. In the end there is nothing that can surprise you and you can start predicting the plot and outcome of events, which is really bad for this kind of anime. But I can imagine that people who don't care that much about this part, can easily enjoy it a little bit more.