| Title: | Tomodachi Game
Friends Game
トモダチゲーム
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| Overall: | Unevaluated |
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| Keywords: |
2022, Drama, Fantasy, Friendship, Modern, Suspense, TV
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| Notables: |
KOBAYASHI Chiaki
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There's a problem in Yuichi Katagiri's class: Two million Yen that was collected for a class excursion has disappeared. Being a rather poor person, he is suspected. So are his friends class president Makoto Shibe and vice president Shiho Sawaragi, who was in charge of the money. These three, and two other friends as well, find themselves abducted and obliged to participate in a bizarre game in which they find themselves tempted to betray one another in exchange for money.
12 episodes |
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-1.25
0
There's a problem in Yuichi Katagiri's class: Two million Yen that was collected for a class excursion has disappeared. Being a rather poor person, he is suspected. So are his friends class president Makoto Shibe and vice president Shiho Sawaragi, who was in charge of the money. These three, and two other friends as well, find themselves abducted and obliged to participate in a bizarre game in which they find themselves tempted to betray one another in exchange for money.
12 episodes
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design |
Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer |
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| Unevaluated 4 |
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[series:4471#628] |
Tomodachi Game
(Two episodes watched):
If the goal of this show was to be 'psychological', and delve into complex human emotions like greed, jealousy, loyalty and friendship, then it gets off to a pretty slow start. I would assume that this show is trying to be psychological, but I can't be sure because episode one is more confusing than engaging. Basically, if I was abducted and found myself in a strange white-tiled room with my friends, agreeing to play a game that a weird character ('Manabu') proposes would not exactly be my highest priority. He says they are collectively on the hook for 20 million Yen, but there's no way such a claim would ever stand up in court since they have been kidnapped, after all. I would not feel any particular duty to participate. No threat is made that any sort of violence will be directed at them if they refuse. The reviewers at ANN categorized this as a 'Survival Game' anime, but I don't detect any serious threat to their survival. There needed to be a more credible explanation of why these five teens agree to take part. Are they each in desperate need of some money? I got the impression that Yuichi is poor but honest, and I don't recall any mention that anyone else needed money other than to replace the lost trip fund. At one point Yuichi exclaims "At this rate I'll begin to doubt everyone and my heart will turn black!". Huh? This seems to me more like a game played for simple amusement than one that will drive the players mad. In fact, it was so weak that it sort of reminded me of a sketch in the comedy Chronicles of the Going Home Club where one character fakes her own murder and attempts to torment her fellow club members, without much success. We see that real people are monitoring these five, and they seem to be just one group in a much larger experiment being conducted by some powerful organization. The rules of this game confused me, or maybe I just couldn't take them seriously since the characters clearly could not be held fiscally responsible in the end. Would you trust the promise your abductors made to pay you if you won? How do they know that the big 10 Yen coin in one game is really moving in the direction they want it to? How do they know that it isn't Manabu, rather than their friends, who is fabricating the scandalous rumors in game two? I watched episode two in hopes that it would be better, but it was more of the same. Yuichi is acting rather devious and evil all of a sudden--what made him do that? At one point in episode two they are promised that under certain conditions they'll be allowed to go home for awhile. But why in the world would they ever return once set free? I wish this show had made more sense and been easier to follow, because shows that really get psychological are rare and potentially intriguing, but it just makes no sense at all and I think I will quit watching.
Last updated Thursday, December 08 2022. Created Wednesday, April 13 2022.
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